Swamp Church in November

One of my favorite "abandoned" building discoveries, Bethesda Evangelical Church...aka...Swamp Church in Farmer's Mills, PA, is a picturesque little church that sits back a gravel lane just a stone's throw from Penn's Cave in central Pennsylvania.
The church was founded in 1855 and boasted a small congregation of a half dozen or so families. In the 1880's a large portion of the congregation left to settle in Kansas and the last formal church service held there was in 1961. It is now privately owned and has been beautifully renovated. 
One of the most interesting things about this little chapel is the ghost story that is attached to it. It is said that in the 1880's, Jacob and Rebecca Shultz were sitting on their front porch on a chilly May evening (May 3...which just happens to also be my birthday), when they noticed a dark figure passing by on the road in front of their home, heading toward the church. The figure was that of a woman holding a child. She was weeping and calling "Will, Will, Will", over and over again.
The couple watched her approach the church. As she stood in front of the building, the doors were flung open and the gaslights and candles ignited. She proceeded to the front of the church, presenting her baby to the invisible congregation. She then returned back down the aisle, showing the child to the empty pews... left and right. Upon reaching the back of the church, she promptly disappeared and the lights were extinguished.
This spirit lady is thought to have been a member of the congregation who was betrothed to a young man who joined the Union Army and left Farmer's Mills in late 1862. He is believed to have been killed in action in Chancellorsville, Virginia during the battle that took place there in 1865. 
Since she was unmarried and with child, the young woman was subsequently shunned by the congregation. 
No one appears to know her name but her chants of "Will, Will, Will" have reportedly been heard by others over the years and it is also claimed that the young, brokenhearted mother appears once a year at midnight with her child, beseeching the acceptance of the congregants of the little Swamp Church in Farmer's Mills.
Just to add a short post script to this story...when I first discovered Swamp Church, I was so enamored of it that I chose it as the site of my wedding in 1994. It was a little difficult to track down the owners, but when we did, they were more than happy to allow us to hold our small family ceremony there. It is really a very quaint and lovely place. Unfortunately, that marriage only lasted six years. Hmmm...maybe...nah...couldn't have been cursed or anything, right? Although we did get married on the thirteenth. Hmmmm...


"Wooden, white, weathered and worn,
surrounded by hard pack, thistle and thorn.
Whitewash fades from warping walls.
The steeple bell no longer calls
the faithful in to find their pews
and be inspired by God’s Good News.

The scene is quaint and some say, sad.
An empty church. But it’s not bad
because the seeds of faith they grew
have been transplanted someplace new.
The good news soon to be revealed
is of the increased harvest yield.
God’s field hands have been moved to where
they can witness, love and care
for those whose lives are in the lurch.
See, that building’s just a building.
God’s people are The Church."

~ Jeff Hildebrandt, Little Country Church