Haunted Hagerstown Maryland: Washington County/ Saint James School Ghost Expedition 2016

The Saint James School in Hagerstown Maryland is a coeducational college preparatory school founded in 1842 by leaders of the Oxford Movement in the Episcopal Church.

The story of St James begins in 1792 with the construction of the Fountain Rock mansion on the Conococheague Manor estate owned by General Samuel Ringgold.

The name Fountain Rock is an translation of Indian phrase “Bai Yuka.” According to legend, an Indian princess who had fled her captors discovered the fountain spring. When she returned with her tribe she named the water source Bai Yuka.

After the death of General Ringgold in 1829 the Conococheague Manor estate was sold at auction to service debts. The 20 acre portion containing the Fountain Rock mansion was acquired in 1841 by Washington county Episcopal clergy to build a preparatory school and college.

Fountain Rock was repaired and renamed Claggett Hall and the school officially opened in October 1842. Claggett Hall was named for Thomas John Claggett, the first bishop of the American Episcopal Church. The school obtained a charter as St James College in 1844.

The first building constructed by St James College was Kemp Hall in 1851, named for Bishop James Kemp the successor to Bishop Claggett. Kemp Hall was destroyed by fire in 1857 and was rebuilt in 1869

During the Civil War, St James College was closed in 1864 when Confederate soldiers briefly arrested the headmaster Rev Dr John B Kerfoot.

After Reconstruction, she school reopened in 1869 as a college preparatory school for young men under the leadership of Henry Onderdonk, a former president of the Maryland Agricultural College (presently the Univerity of Maryland). Claggett Hall was destroyed by fire in 1926 and was rebuilt in 1928.

Enrollments at the school expanded over the years under distinguished headmasters such as Adrian Onderdonk and Rev John Owens. The school became coeducational in 1978. female dorms were instituted in 1990.

Most haunting legends at St James School seem to be attributed to the late General Ringgold whose apparition is said to appear on campus as a masked ghost rider or with a phantom horse-drawn coach. Some legends concern apparitions of the Indian princess. Poltergeist activity has been said to occur in the dining hall (Kerfoot Rectory) and the Alumni Hall.



A paranormal investigation was conducted at St James School in 2013. Our expedition in Aug 2016 obtained several instances of including strikingly a clear response “Claggett” to the standard control question for location identification. Forensic image analysis also suggested a possible shadow form or apparition.





REFERENCES

Lally, K. (1990, Nov 22). St. James School near Hagerstown to let girls board. Baltimore Sun, baltimoresun.com



Dickey, P.S. (1974). National Register of Historic Places Nomination: St James School. Maryland Historical Trust. WA-I-014 (1974). Maryland State Archives, MSA SE5-20757, msa.maryland.gov



St James School, Maryland. Wikipedia wikipedia.org

University of Maryland. University of Maryland Past Presidents: Henry Onderdonk. University of Maryland, umd.edu





IMAGES



St James School, Old Smokehouse (1973), Hagerstown MD, Photo: Paula Stoner Dickey. Maryland Historical Trust, Maryland State Archives, MSA SE5-20757, msa.maryland.gov



St James School, Kemp Hall (1973), WEST ELEVATION, Hagerstown MD, Photo: Paula Stoner Dickey, Maryland Historical Trust, Maryland State Archives, MSA SE5-20757, msa.maryland.gov



St James School, Claggett Hall (2016), Infrared Image of 3rd Floor, Photo: © Maryland Paranormal Research ®. All rights reserved.

Mr Henry Onderdonk, Mary Latrobe Onderdonk and family on steps of main building (1893), reproduced in “Saint James School: One Hundred Twenty-Five Anniversary,” pamphlet, 1967.

St James School, Claggett Hall (1973), NE ELEVATION FROM NE, Hagerstown MD, Photo: Paula Stoner Dickey, Maryland Historical Trust, MSA SE5-20757, msa.maryland.gov



St James School. Drawing (c 1850), Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh pitanglican.org

