The Daily Telegram (Clarksburg, W. Va.), March 3rd 1905
Wild Man Attacks Train
Giant Creature In Human Form With Bristles On Face Is At Large Near Morgantown
The citizens of Monongalia county are thoroughly aroused over the strange and murderous actions of a man in that country, whose identity has not been established so far and whose capture seems a remote possibility, unless the state authorities organize a posse and force him to surrender.
Only a few days ago as chronicled, a man was seen standing on the track in front of a passenger train nearing Morgantown. He was violently waving his hands. The train did not stop and he was compelled to step aside to save himself. As the train was passing he fired several shots at it.
Later a fellow named Lynch was arrested suspected of the deed and is yet held. But after his arrest the matter of trying to hold up passenger train continued and Thursday afternoon at Opekeiski as the passenger train was coming towards Fairmont a strange looking man stoned it. The train stopped after having run him and the brakeman went back to arrest the fellow, but as he approached him the fellow showed fight and the trainman grew so nervous over the man’s strange appearance that he returned to the train.
By the time he boarded the train, it had started again, but the brakeman called upon the passengers to volunteer to go with him and capture the giant – he was at least six feet tall and wore a beard all over his face which looked more like a mass of bristles than whiskers. The passengers were not sufficiently alarmed over the attempt made by the fellow on their lives to organize themselves into a posse and pursue him.
Disclaimer: This 1905 newspaper article was published prior to 1931. Under United States copyright law (specifically the 95-year rule), this work has entered the public domain and is thus free to use or republish. It is presented here as an interesting and folkloric newspaper oddity.
Context: “Wild Men” or “Wild People” were purportedly “feral” people who lived in the wilderness in European folklore, representing nature. They were often depicted as tall and hair-covered. In the 1800’s and early 1900’s, stories of encounters with people in or from the wilderness including hermits, houseless people, or people going through a mental health crisis, were often reported in American newpress and labeled “Wild Men” as a popular newspaper curiosity genre.
Source(s): https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn85059715/1905-03-03/ed-1/?sp=1
[ Special thanks to: Theresa of Theresa’s Haunted History of the Tri-State for locating this article within the Library of Congress online archives. ]
Categories: Newspapers, Wild People