5 Mysteries From the Past That Remain Unsolved

2. Patience Worth

Today, Ouija Boards have a bad reputation for being gateways to parasitic hauntings and demonic possession, but in 1913, an Ouija Board was the springboard for an unusual relationship that resulted in the creation of close to 5,000 written works.

Pearl Curran lived an uneventful life in St. Louis as a housewife. Her life was a relatively easy one. Her husband was a hard worker and provided Pearl with a maid to help with the housework, leaving Pearl free to pursue other activities including playing the piano and getting together with friends to go to the theater.

Pearl spent idle afternoons with her mother and a neighboring friend having tea and playing with an Ouija Board, an activity that was common in the early 1900s when the spiritualism movement was still prominent. Pearl didn’t take the Ouija Board too seriously, but one afternoon a very precise message came through the board: “Many moons ago I lived. Again I come. Patience Worth is my name.” This was the beginning of a 25 year relationship between Pearl Curran and Patience Worth.

Through the Ouija Board, Patience stated that she had lived in Dorsetshire, England in 1649 or 1694. When pushed to give more details about her history, she stated that “Yesterday is dead. Let thy mind rest to the past.” She did eventually reveal that she had made her way over to America where she was killed by Indians.

Pearl was intrigued by her contact with Patience, resulting in her devoting a large portion of her time to contact with her through the Ouija Board. As she developed a stronger bond with Patience, Pearl realized that she no longer needed the board to establish contact and that the words of Patience were now forming directly in her mind. Pearl eventually hired a secretary so that she could dictate what Patience was saying, but in the end she began to keep her own records, first using pencil and paper and the a typewriter.

Over a 25 year period, Pearl recorded approximately 5,000 works dictated by Patience including a play, a number of novels, poems and several shorter works of fiction and historical accounts. Pearl wasn’t known to have any real knowledge of many of the topics dictated to her. Much of it was written in an archaic language, and many of the items and places described by Patience were unfamiliar to Pearl.

The relationship between Pearl and Patience began to wither in 1922. Pearl’s life took several hectic turns including a pregnancy when she was 39 and the deaths of her husband and her mother later on. Eventually the connection between Pearl and Patience died off completely.

So what was the truth behind Pearl Curran and her contact with Patience Worth? No evidence has ever been found to verify that Patience Worth lived during the 1600s, but it was highly doubtful that Pearl concocted Patience on her own. Pearl’s education was limited and she wasn’t known to have the sort of extensive knowledge that would have been necessary to produce some of the intricate works that were dictated by Patience. So was Patience Worth a spirit who was reaching out from the distant past? Or did Pearl Curran concoct the story out of boredom? There have been a variety of arguments supporting both theories, but the truth went with Pearl when she passed away in 1937.

1. The Jersey Devil

It’s thought that a strange creature haunts the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The appearance of this creature is a frightful sight, having a horse’s head, a forked tail, a reptilian body and bat wings. What is truly amazing is the fact that sightings of the Jersey Devil, as the creature became known have been reported since the mid-1730s.

The story begins in 1735, when Jane Leeds, a poor woman who lived with her children in the Pine Barrens became pregnant with her 13th child. Mrs. Leeds wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of another child to care for and was heard to say on several occasions that the “Devil can take the next one.” Apparently the devil heard her complaints, because when the child was born it was the hideous creature described above. As soon as he was born, the child scrambled about the Leed’s home momentarily before darting up the chimney and into the surrounding woods.

Rumors began to spread of the monster loose in the vicinity, and soon dogs, cats, small livestock and even the occasional child began to turn up missing. The remains of the animals were often found but the children that disappeared were never seen again.

In 1740 a minister was asked to perform an exorcism, supposedly one that would last for a century, but the creature was once again spotted in 1800 by Commodore Stephen Decatur, a visiting naval hero. Decatur took a shot at the creature when it flew overhead, but the Jersey Devil flew away, apparently unscathed. The Devil was next spotted by former King of Spain, Joseph Bonaparte when he was hunting in the Barrens and continued to be reported through the 1800s.

In 1909, the Jersey Devil was spotted by thousands of people who claimed to have seen the creature or discovered its footprints. This created a mass panic that resulted in schools closing and a community who was afraid to venture outside. Sightings during this time included many reputable witnesses, including police officers.

There were additional sightings in 1927, 1930, and 1951, with numerous reports being made to the police. In 1960, local residents were once again terrorized by the creature when terrible screams were heard in the area. State officials attempted to ease the concerns of the frightened community, but the mysterious screams were never explained.

The most recent confirmed sighting was reported in 1993 when a forest ranger found that the road he was driving on was being blocked by the creature. His description was different than those given by other witnesses, making many wonder if there was more than one monster in the vicinity. The ranger and the creature stared at one another for several moments before the bizarre beast took off into the woods.

There are still random sightings of the Jersey Devil today, but not nearly so many as there have been in the past. Is the creature indeed the result of a cursed birth? Or is it a creation born of legend and nervous individuals? With the number of credible witnesses claiming to have seen the Jersey Devil, it’s hard to simply dismiss the creature as the result of the imaginative minds of flighty people. Until concrete proof of the creature is finally discovered, the answer will remain hidden in the remote wilderness of the Barrens.

—

Well there’s our list of mysteries from the past that remain unsolved. Love to get your opinion on these stories in the comments below or on any of our socials.