The following story appeared in the Weekly Messenger shortly after the close of World War II.

The paper at that time was mailed to all Pleasant Hill, Illinois service men and women around the world. The article is a bit of local lore that many of that era heard on numerous occasions and is being repeated to keep alive some of the color of Pleasant Hill's past. The Pleasant Hill community has been the birthplace of many humorous tales involving local residents of the past. The stories are so amusing they live on and on, and when repeated are enjoyed by the listeners as much as when the events occurred years before.

One tale, judging by the number of times it has been told, deserves an academy award as the "Cream of the Crop". This particular story is the Ghost experience of William H. Barnes, better known in this locality as "Poddy", a familiar figure on the streets of Pleasant Hill until his death in 1944.

Slight variations have been noted in the story from time to time, but the basic facts simmer down to the following.. The all-star cast involved consisted of George Moore, Cleve Windmiller, Bert Hoover, Jim Youngblood and W.H. "Poddy" Barnes, and they will be herein- after be referred to as "Churney" Moore, "Cleve" Windmiller, "Shad" Hoover, "Youngblood" and "Poddy".

The setting for the event was on what is known as the Bybee Farm at the north edge of Pleasant Hill along the ridge to the north of Crescent Heights Cemetery. The farm is now owned by Bob Webster. It was about 11:00 o'clock on a very dark night around the turn of the century. First it is necessary to explain the "Gold-Bob" craze that was an important topic of conversation in the community at that time. The said "Gold-Bob" was a small metal gadget suspended on the end of buckskin cord and when in the presence of metal, especially gold, it gyrated in a manner as if to say, "It's Here", keep looking!

Churney was the owner of a "Gold-Bob" and it was reported the ingredients placed in the "Bob" where supplied and mixed by S.H. Clare, a druggist in Pleasant Hill for many years. "Churney" stated he had forgotten the secret formula but recalled experimenting with the "Gold-Bob" and the uncanny manner in which it located gold. He reported on one occasion he and Prince Hosford were giving it a test and Prince had a number of tin cans inverted on the floor and under one of the cans he would place a gold coin. "Churney" had no trouble locating the cup that hid the gold coin, with the use of his "Gold-Bob".

One time however, it failed to settle on any of the tin cups and "Churney" was beginning to wonder what went wrong. Finally Prince admitted there was no gold under the cups; he had the gold coin in his hand. Several years previous to the ghost experience, an old shack stood along the ridge on the Bybee Farm, which was occupied by an old fellow by the name of McDonald. The story handed down was that he "McDonald" heard his dogs barking viciously one night but never left his bed to determine the reason. The next morning there was evidence someone had dug a hole near his house and had unearthed a pot. The pot was still there and marks were on the inside of it indicating it had been filled with gold coins.

For years afterwards Pleasant Hill people wondered if other pots of gold remained buried near the site of the dwelling. "Churney" was hoping the "Gold-Bob" would lead him to the hidden treasure somewhere in that area. He often talked with "Poddy" about the gold that was supposed to be buried at the McDonald homestead and the possibility of flinging more with the "Gold-Bob". From this background of circumstances, "Churney", "Cleve", and "Youngblood" conceived the idea of working a ghost scene on "Poddy" and "Shad".

"Poddy" later admitted the entire story sounded plausible to him and "Shad", since buried money had seen found there before. "Churney" had the "locator", so why not go there and dig. Churney and Cleve developed a plan of action and Youngblood was to be the ghost, was the unknown member of the party as far as "Poddy" and "Shad" was concerned. They were convinced only four men in the entire community knew about the proposed search for the gold.

The plans were discussed by the men, Churney, Shad, Poddy and Cleve, and solemn obligations were taken not to divulge the secret mission to anyone. The big night came and the party of four men with the "Gold-Bob" quietly slipped out of town to the Bybee Farm with tools to dig near the site of the old cabin. "Youngblood" had previously arrived at the scene and was hidden nearby in the brush awaiting their arrival. He was wearing a white sheet over his cloths and over the sheet, a black overcoat. When the treasure hunters arrived the allocated a spot and started digging and it wasn't long before they had excavated a whole five feet deep, the approximate size of a grave.

They talked softly and made little noise as they worked. They thought someone might be spying on their project. Occasionally they would hear a noise in the brush and all would listen intently. "Churney" would usually ask if the rest thought someone was watching them. The said noise was being made by either "Churney" or "Cleve" throwing a clod or dirt into the brush when "Poddy" or "Chad" were not looking. Finally after hearing another rustle in the brush, they decided to investigate to determine if there was someone spying on them and this departure from the open grace gave "Youngblood" to leave his place of hiding and drop into the hole with the black overcoat over him.

The two men, Churney and Cleve had also dug a hole near the bottom of the hole along one side and "Youngblood" was able to crawl in the niche and was completely hidden. After the four men made a thorough investigation and were positive no one was near, they returned to the hole and all they could see was complete darkness below. The hour was late and a storm was approaching from the west and "Churney" suggested returning to town.. "Cleve" at this point reported he had the power to call up the spirits of the dead; that he had done it many times before and believed he could do it again.

He wanted to contact the spirit of Mr. McDonald. There was considerable doubt about his ability to do this and they insisted he prove it. "Cleve" agreed to try. First he had the group to join hands and remain very quiet. After several moments of silence, "Cleve" reported he wasn't able to make contact with the spirit in that manner. He then had the four men gather around him and place their hands on the wooden spade handle. This he said was necessary if the spirit was to be contacted. "Poddy" at that point suggested that they leave well enough alone, as he had begun to get scared.

Cleve mumbled something again, and still nothing happened. By that time Poddy and Chad had come to the conclusion the spirit was not going to be called up and went back and sat down next to the hole where "Youngblood" was hiding. Cleve insisted he try again and this time in a slow loud voice he called out into the darkness of the night. "Old Man McDonald, if thy soul is in hell, show thyself by arising at this moment. At that instant, the "Spirit" robed in white, began to rise toward the men.

Variations of the story appear from here on, but the following are the basic facts. Shad ejected backwards from the hole and fainted. Poddy was setting with his legs crossed like an Indian would set and ejected straight over the hole with his feet churning in mid air. When his feet hit the ground, both his shoestrings busted.

About this time "Shad" began to come to and saw Churney and Cleve start to run. Shad didn't waste any time leaving the scene. Destination, Pleasant Hill. By this time By this time Poddy had it in high gear. Nearby was a four foot high woven wire fence with two barb wires on top. Poddy cleared the fence with all ease. A slight variation in the story at this point. Some reported only one barb wire on top of the fence. Further facts as told, were that Poddy crossed a freshly plowed field and there were only three visible tracks in the dirt. One when Poddy entered the field, one in the center of the field, and one when he exited the field.

Others reported there were occasional marks as if something floating through the air had brushed over the field. Others reported the strides measured 20 to 25 feet across the field. Still others reported Poddy had run into the fence and had pulled staples out of the fence post for half a mile. At the time, Poddy reached town, John and Clay Thomas were going into the odd Fellows Hall above the Citizens State Bank Building. They heard some stomping around the corner and had thought I.D. Webster's Belgium horses had gotten loose. But about that time they looked up and say Poddy coming around the corner and reported he was running so fast and leaning over so far that his ear was scooping up gravel.

They finally got Poddy stopped to see what happened. Poddy said "My God", I just saw a ghost. John and Clay also reported Poddy was carrying a rock in each hand, and was squeezing them so tight that water was running out of the rocks. After all was said and done, Churney said "I knew exactly what was going to happen and didn't have a bit of trouble running myself." Poddy attested to the fact many times that it was several days before he was convinced the ghost experience was a hoax and it was many more days before he felt at ease after dark. The people of the area will swear that the "Ghost" scared Shad so bad, that from that night until his death, he always made sure he was under the roof of his house before the sun set.

The participants all agreed - that Poddy and Shad were really frightened.

(P.S.) - as stated before this story has been around for a long time, as a small lad I remember Poddy and Churney, but I do not know who wrote the story ... Bill Browning