Pennsylvania Folktales with Jeffrey R. Frazier

Mr. Frazier, as he is about to begin his talk on various "fireside" tales he has collected over the years.

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But before we get into the details of his talk, let us first introduce Mr. Frazier:

Jeffrey R. Frazier was born and raised in Centre Hall, Centre County, and not only holds a BS from Penn State, but also an MBA from Rider University, New Jersey. Growing up in a “Tom Sawyer” sort of way, he has always loved the Pennsylvania mountains and has collected their folktales and legends for over fifty years, starting in 1970. Since the tales often sound “far-fetched” today, the author takes on the role of an investigative reporter to explore their origins, writing in a format that the average reader can enjoy. Sunbury Press has published his three-volume series titled Pennsylvania Mountain Landmarks and also is publishing the entire eight volumes of his Pennsylvania Fireside Tales series.

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After our shop's owner, Deb, gave a short "welcome" to all of those who attended, Mr. Frazier spoke about how his childhood helped to instill a love for our state's folktales. When he noticed another author had compiled some stories into a book, he felt inspired to do his own. He then gave a shortened version of how he went about first self-publishing the researched tales, before setting out to find Sunbury Press, who now have both of his series available for purchasing.

Mr. Frazier's books spread out on our table for our readers.

One of his series, Pennsylvania Mountain Landmarks, gives interested readers a wonderful array of unique geographic locations where rocks have naturally been eroded into different shapes. From Berks County, to Elk County, and Clearfield as well, there are so many natural wonders within our state. Though, we should also give notice that some of the places are extremely difficult to reach and required the author to hire a guide in order to visit them.

An example of such an area, would be the tale of "Two Pines" and the Indian that was killed atop of the rock. In the tale, two pine trees grew from the spot where the Native American had died, though the conditions were not conducive for the trees to take root. While the trees may not be there anymore, the story lives on and the owner of the land placed two wooden Indians there so that it would not be forgotten.

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The agenda for the evening was nine different stories that had been passed down through families and generations about everything from Indians, to Gettysburg, to lumber workers and more. To give you all a taste of what our audience members learned about, here is a short summary of the topics that were discussed:

King's Stool - Dauphin County

Has both a Native American and Irish connection to the large rock that resembles a king's throne. As the first Irish settlers moved into the area, it is said that they gave it the name of "King's Stool," while there is a grave there where an Indian died at its base after being mortally wounded from helping a kidnapped girl escape her prisoners.

A Gettysburg Soldier's Story?

Supposedly, a man by the name of Michael Sloan had been shot in the forehead and left for dead on the battlefield for three days until he was taken for medical aid. According to a family member's recollection, her father also told the story of seeing a confederate on Round Top, during his guard shift, and once they realized they were both Catholic, the two men lowered their muskets and talked. Despite these seemingly accurate re-tellings, all of the paper documents suggest that this soldier didn't enlist until a few months after Gettysburg, debunking his stories. Did PTSD have a factor in his mis-rememberings, or are the records not right?

Gettysburg Love Story

General John Fulton Reynolds was not just the highest ranking officer, from both sides of the war, who died at Gettysburg, but he was also hiding a secret that no one realized before they gathered his personal affects. His West Point Class Ring was missing, and a golden necklace with the name "Kate" was found around his neck. There were letters signed by the same name, even though everyone knew the General to be married to the military. When the mysterious woman stepped forth to big her final farewell, she joined the nunnery in order to fulfill their pledge to one another. Was their agreement inspired by a much older tale from the days of Charlemagne?

Sentinel Rock - Present-Day Caledonia in Michaux State Forest)

There was a rock, that has now suffered much erosion, where a man's face had been carved into the rock. The tale goes that an Indian Sentry failed at his post, to keep the last of their people safe, and the Shaman told him that he would forever look upon the pass without rest as punishment for allowing them to be slaughtered.

Sleepless Night in a Haunted House

This story was a personal one for the author, Mr. Frazier, as it had been handed down in his family, and tells of a lumberman looking for shelter in an abandoned cabin that his fellow workers warned him was haunted by the ghostly spirit of a lumberman killed years before. Unafraid of ghost stories, the man plunked his blanket and lantern inside the structure to go to sleep. But just as dawn was cresting the hills, a sound like logging chains rustling across the floorboards could be heard. To find out just what the ghost was, you will have to found out in one of his books!

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If you are interested in finding out more about these tales, among many others, our shop has a select number of signed copies available to pick up. A BIG THANKS to Mr. Frazier for coming on down yesterday to give our readers an interesting presentation, and to our staff members who took the images you see in this post. See ya next time!

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