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[0:30] Laura Camien: Welcome to The Spark File, where we believe that everyone is creative, but smart, creative people don't go it alone.

[0:43] Susan Blackwell: And I'm Susan Blackwell, and we are creativity coaches who help people clarify and accomplish their creative goals.

[0:51] Laura Camien: Know that just by listening to this podcast, you are joining a warm and wonderful clan of creatives.

[0:57] Susan Blackwell: But hold up, you may be asking yourself, what exactly is a Spark File?

[1:02] Laura Camien: Well, if you're asking yourself that, we'll tell you.

[1:05] Susan Blackwell: A Spark File is a place where you consistently collect all your inspirations and fascinations. Every episode, we're going to reach into our personal Spark Files and exchange some sparks. And from time to time, we're going to talk to some folks who spark us too. And your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take some of those sparks of inspiration and make something of your own. So without further ado, let's open up the Spark File.

[1:31] Laura Camien: Ooh, it felt a little spooky.

[1:36] Susan Blackwell: That is the right tone for today's Spark.

[1:39] Laura Camien: I don't mind it.

[1:40] Susan Blackwell: Oh, you're sparking me.

[1:41] Laura Camien: I'm sparking you.

[1:42] Susan Blackwell: And so you know the tone.

[1:44] Laura Camien: That's right.

[1:45] Susan Blackwell: But before we get into it, there are so many exciting things happening in the Spark File world. We are moments away from the New Year's creativity kickoff, which is happening right at the top of January. I mean, you don't want to miss it.

[2:03] Laura Camien: If you have not registered, you really, really should.

[2:07] Susan Blackwell: Also, it is a great gift for yourself or another creative in your life that you love, or both of you should come.

[2:14] Laura Camien: Do it together.

[2:16] Susan Blackwell: Do it together. What a great reset as you go into the new creative year.

[2:23] Laura Camien: Come on.

[2:24] Susan Blackwell: Come on. We've got such fun things. The Spark File creative community. We got Blaze coming.

[2:28] Laura Camien: Blaze is about to blaze.

[2:30] Susan Blackwell: So go to thesparkfile.com and check it out. But listen, Laura Kamian, I'm going to spark you today.

[2:35] Laura Camien: I'm ready.

[2:40] Susan Blackwell: I'm ready for it. I have always been fascinated by a lyric in the Christmas song, It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. That lyric is, there'll be parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and caroling out in the snow.

[2:52] Laura Camien: Okay.

[2:53] Susan Blackwell: Track super wintry. Yeah. There'll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago.

[3:02] Laura Camien: There'll be scary ghost stories.

[3:03] Susan Blackwell: What the hell? For Christmas? As a kid, I was like, Andy Williams, what are you talking about scary ghost stories? Are you confusing Christmas with Halloween?

[3:15] Laura Camien: But according to an article on history.com written by Elizabeth Yuko, Andy is indeed singing about a Christmas tradition. In several cultures, it is common to tell spooky stories during the winter. Winter ghost stories became especially popular in Victorian England, and you'll see this in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

[3:39] Laura Camien: Well, I was going to say that Ghosts of Christmas Past kind of has a combo on these themes.

[3:44] Susan Blackwell: Got it, sister. Okay. And then more recently in Susan Hill's gothic horror novel, The Woman in Black, which, if you have read it recently, which I have, begins on Christmas Eve. So every once in a while here on the pod, we'll share a spark in the form of a story, just a great spark of a story that would make for a great creative project if someone was so inclined to take it and make it. And in keeping with tradition, I've got a story for you.

[4:19] Susan Blackwell: It's a scary wintertime story, and it's all the scarier because it's true and it's very close to home.

[4:28] Laura Camien: So I am just, I get to just relax and take in a delightful story, well, maybe a scary story, which I will delight in.

[4:39] Susan Blackwell: I'm ready for this.

[4:40] Laura Camien: You're ready?

[4:41] Susan Blackwell: Oh, this is very exciting. Well, let me tell you, my sources for today's spark come from a fantastic blog post published on AmericanCatskills.com. There is no author credited, but if you're listening, I tip my hat to whomever wrote this story. What a great, great long form blog post. Other sources include a YouTube video by an account called Wally Life and a Facebook account called Uncovering New York.

[5:17] Laura Camien: You went deep.

[5:18] Susan Blackwell: So thank you. Thank you to those sources. You ready, Laura?

[5:19] Laura Camien: I'm so ready.

[5:20] Susan Blackwell: Here we go. So a couple of years ago, I was laying in bed with my husband on a lazy Sunday morning in upstate New York, where we lived at the time. It was autumn, it was gray outside. He was scrolling on a website called Find a Grave, like you do, and he made an amazing discovery that back in the late 1800s, his relatives had left their lives in Bavaria and settled in America. Now some settled in California, where my husband is from, and some, we learned that day for the first time, settled in upstate New York.

[6:04] Susan Blackwell: And on that lazy Sunday morning, we learned that the graves of my husband's people, the ones who settled on the East Coast, were very near where we were living at the time. And I just thought that it was amazing that there was this whole branch of his family that landed so close to where my husband and I eventually landed 150 years later, and that we were only learning about them now. No one in his family talked about any kin in New York.

[6:33] Laura Camien: Wow.

[6:34] Susan Blackwell: Super weird.

[6:35] Laura Camien: Wow.

[6:36] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. So Laura, I know you love history.

[6:38] Laura Camien: I'm loving it so much.

[6:40] Susan Blackwell: This is awesome. Buckle up, buttercup.

[6:42] Laura Camien: Okay.

[6:43] Susan Blackwell: So naturally, we were intrigued, and we started digging more, and we started learning more. Not only were many members of my husband's family buried nearby, we also learned about the Stone Arch Bridge, located in Canosa Lake, New York. Now the Stone Arch Bridge is beautiful. Still there. It's so picturesque. Imagine three stone arches topped by this beautiful pathway, all of it reflected in the water below. It's the kind of place where nowadays people have their wedding photos taken. And in addition to its beauty—

[7:29] Laura Camien: Pretty.

[7:30] Susan Blackwell: Pretty. The Stone Arch Bridge is also known as the setting for one of the most grisly local crimes involving, content warning, witchcraft, hexes, insanity, suicide, and murder.

[7:38] Laura Camien: What?

[7:39] Susan Blackwell: Happy holidays, everyone. So this story centers on a local farmer named George Markert. George Markert was regarded as, quote, honest and respected by nearly all his neighbors. He was described as an inoffensive man. He enjoyed a glass of beer and minded his own business, end quote.

[8:03] Laura Camien: What's not to like about George?

[8:04] Susan Blackwell: What's not to love about George? So George immigrated to the United States in the 1860s from Germany. In his 20s, he married Caroline Height, who had a brother named Adam Height. After Caroline Height died, George Markert remarried a widow, and he lived with his second wife and her grandson, little Johnny Markert. So George Markert eventually saved enough money, scratched together enough money to purchase a small farm in Canosa Lake, only 15 acres. One newspaper article referred to Markert as probably the poorest man in the community.

[8:44] Laura Camien: So on the evening of Tuesday, January 19th, 1892, that's 133 years ago, George Markert had supper with his family, and then around 6 or 7 p.m., so you know, it's January, it's dark outside already, around 6 or 7, he went to the nearby Halfway House Inn for a nightcap. And the Halfway House Inn was located about half a mile from George Markert's home. And after drinking his beer, George left the inn around 10 or 11 and headed in the direction of his home.

[9:18] Susan Blackwell: So the snow is falling, it's quiet, it's dark, George Markert is making his way home. He's almost there, he's about 125 yards from his house. And just as he is crossing over the beautiful stone arch bridge on that cold winter night, George Markert is shot five times in the head at close range, beaten with a heavy walking stick which fractured his skull, then dumped over the side of the stone arch bridge, 27 feet into the cold water below.

[9:59] Laura Camien: George!

[10:00] Susan Blackwell: Gosh! Why?

[10:01] Laura Camien: Why shoot someone five times and beat them?

[10:06] Susan Blackwell: And drown them?

[10:08] Laura Camien: And drown them!

[10:09] Susan Blackwell: Why indeed. It's overkill, literally. So about 9 a.m. the next morning, George Markert's wife, realizing that her husband had not come home the night before, asked their little grandson Johnny to go to the inn to ask after his grandpa. And along the way, Johnny came upon two neighbor men who were on their way to cut firewood. When all of them approached the stone arch bridge, the two men and the boy found large bloodstains in the snow and tracks where a body was dragged and thrown over the side of the bridge. They didn't find a body, but they did find a shattered chair leg, an open pocket knife, and a blood-soaked cap, all belonging to George Markert. The chair leg was frequently used by Markert as a walking stick, and Johnny instantly recognized the walking stick because he had found it the summer before and gifted it to his grandpa George.

[11:07] Susan Blackwell: Footprints were found in the snow that were made by a size 11 rubber boot. Seeing this bloody scene with George Markert's personal effects strewn all about, one of the men said, well if Markert is dead, height killed him.

[11:25] Laura Camien: Height.

[11:26] Susan Blackwell: Height. So Johnny ran back to his house and yelled, Pa is murdered and thrown over the bridge! Why would someone attack and kill a poor local farmer so brutally? According to a local paper, George Markert was an honest, good-hearted man and no enemies except the heights.

[11:49] Laura Camien: The heights.

[11:50] Susan Blackwell: Whoa! Are we going to find out why they're enemies?

[11:54] Laura Camien: Okay.

[11:56] Susan Blackwell: So after the crime scene was discovered, a group of about 80 people were organized and they began to search for the body. They navigated boats up and down the river, raking the ice. Other searchers walked along the banks with poles and rakes. For over 48 hours, the search continued without success. Then on Friday morning, the local constable noticed something in the water that looked like a coat. The constable hooked the object that had been snagged under three feet of water and pulled it to the surface. It was the body of George Markert, stiff, covered with soft ice. The body was found about a half mile downstream from the Stone Arch Bridge. George Markert's autopsy revealed eight lacerations of the scalp as though made by some blunt instrument like a club, an eight-inch skull fracture, and five pistol-shot wounds. All the bullets found in his body.

[13:02] Laura Camien: Whoa.

[13:04] Susan Blackwell: Robbery was determined to not be the motive as the little money that George Markert had in his pockets was undisturbed. It was also felt that nobody would have committed the deed for money as the man was poor. But if robbery was not the motive, then what? What was? Would you guess a hex?

[13:25] Laura Camien: I would not guess a hex.

[13:28] Susan Blackwell: And who would bludgeon, shoot, and drown a man so brutally? Would you guess the Heitz?

[13:35] Laura Camien: Only because you've led me to believe they might be involved.

[13:41] Susan Blackwell: So Adam Heitz was the brother of George Markert's first wife who had died, as I told you. Adam was immediately suspected of the crime for he had not been on good terms with George Markert and had long wished him dead. Who was it that said if he's dead, the Heitz did it?

[14:00] Laura Camien: Newspaper article.

[14:04] Susan Blackwell: You see, Adam Heitz believed that the poor farmer, George Markert, was a hexenmeister or sorcerer who possessed supernatural powers and that he practiced the black art of witchcraft. Adam Heitz also believed that George Markert was a principal midnight visitor to the hexen or witch pulpit, where those practicing the black art were said to work their dark magic.

[14:31] Susan Blackwell: Adam Haidt believed that George Markert had placed a hex on Adam and his family, which had led to a variety of strifes, personal illness, cows who gave bloody milk, the death of a horse and several of their cattle, ruined crops and foiled business plans. The Haidts also believed that George Markert's hex had led to the death of several family members. Adam Haidt believed the hex began about 22 years before the murder, around 1870, when George Markert patted him on the back three times and said, you are a good brother-in-law, a good brother-in-law, a right good brother-in-law. Adam Haidt claimed, from that time on, I was ailing more or less all the time. I didn't know and no doctor could tell me what ailed me.

Medicine done me no good. My trouble never hindered me from work, but I was always ailing. Then all at once, I got better. Adam Haidt claimed that his health improved greatly during the several years that George Markert had moved away to Connecticut, but that the pains had started again as soon as Markert returned at an early inquest into the murders in late January, 1892. Adam Haidt talked openly about his belief that George Markert had cursed him, that George Markert would stroke his whiskers and then twist his hand at the end of each stroke as if he was throwing something at Adam, and that was part of the curse. As a result, Adam suffered pain in his head, his legs, and his side. He visited a doctor.

He visited another doctor. He even went to New York City for two weeks at the St. Francis Hospital in the Bronx. Adam said, I was there two weeks and got no relief. They gave me medicine three times daily, which I couldn't take, and they said they didn't know what ailed me. The professor examined me and found me sound, but he shook his head, afraid-like, and seemed glad when I went away. Adam saw more doctors. He saw a priest. He even saw a witch named Mrs. Stein, who lived on 85th Street in New York City. Oh my gosh. Right? I want to go check out her place, 85th and what? You know I looked for that address. You know I could not find it. I was like west side, east side, help me out, but Adam could find no relief.

Then one day, Adam found a revolver and a box of cartridges under the railroad bridge near his home. He brought them home, wrapped them up in rags, and hid them away. When George Markert's body was found, letters written from Adam Height to George Markert were discovered in George's coat pocket. Two years before he was murdered, when George Markert had received several threatening letters from Adam Height, George went to a Judge Potts and showed the letters to this local judge, and the judge advised George Markert to prosecute Adam Height, but George never did it, as he felt kindly towards Adam based on their relationship and family connection. What? But Adam Height did not feel kindly towards George Markert.

Adam dwelled on the many tragedies that had afflicted the Height family over the years. In 1874, Nicholas Height, Adam's brother, died from his injuries after being hit by a train, and Adam claimed that George Markert had possessed Nicholas to go on the track in front of the train and be killed. Okay. In 1882, Adam Height's father-in-law died instantly after falling from a wagon, striking his head and fracturing bones in his neck. This, too, Adam blamed on George Markert. In 1887, Adam Height's mother-in-law was brutally murdered by a drunken ex-sailor commonly known as Sailor Jack. That's its own scary story. Again, Adam Height blamed the event on George Markert, believing that Sailor Jack was not a witch, but that he must have been possessed by one.

My gosh. It was thought that there were probably 20 people, in addition to Adam, in that Kenosha Lake community of 200 people that believed in witchcraft. Those 20 people believed when a neighbor's barn burns, they say he has incurred the anger of the witches. When a neighbor's child falls sick, they resort to mysterious devices and incantations to get it out of the power of the witch. They put chalk marks on the doors to keep the evil spirits away and carry charms about their necks. They do many strange things that have been handed down as a means of preventing evil.

[19:14] Laura Camien: Susan, this is late 1800s?

[19:17] Susan Blackwell: Yes, sadly. We're not talking about the 1500s or the 1600s or the 1700s. We're talking about a new wave of people who believe that witches are bringing the evil. In the weeks following George's murder, Adam claimed that he knew nothing of the murder and that the first that he had heard of it was when the officers came to his house the following day. But upon several searches of the Height Home, a number of pieces of incriminating evidence were found. A blood-soaked .38 caliber revolver, which had recently been fired, a bloody handkerchief, and an overcoat with blood spots. Bullets from the revolver matched those found in the head of George Markert. It was also discovered that Adam Height's son, Joseph, had two scratches on the back of his left hand.

Bloodstains were found on Joseph's clothes and a pair of Joseph's boots had rubber bottoms on them, the tracks of which matched the footprints in the snow at the scene of the murder. Joseph Height, Adam's son, was 22 years old at the time of the murder. Prior to being suspected in Markert's murder, Joseph was regarded as having a good reputation. The trials of Adam Height and Joseph Height were held separately in August of 1892, seven months after the murder. They opted to try Joseph first. So when Joseph, the son, took the stand to present his version of the story, they said his testimony was given in a voice hardly audible, even to the persons nearest to him. Joseph confessed to having committed the crime, but claimed that he had acted in self-defense.

He believed that George Markert had placed a curse on his father and that he wished to help his father in having Markert remove the curse. On the night of January 19th, Joseph waited for George Markert at the Stone Arch Bridge. You see, folklore holds that witches are powerless over running water, so if you want to defeat a witch, wise to do so on a bridge. When George arrived at the bridge that night, Joseph asked, uncle, won't you please take the spell from father? Markert responded by saying, I didn't put any spell on him and cannot take it off. Joseph asked again, dear uncle, won't you please take off the spell? Markert again responded that he could not. Joseph drew his revolver and fired five times, then beat George with his own walking stick, then threw him into the cold water below. Since the hex had been activated with three pats to Adam's shoulder, the witch must be killed three ways to break the hex. Shooting, clubbing, and drowning.

[22:29] Laura Camien: Oh wow, I did not see that coming.

[22:41] Susan Blackwell: Joseph testified that he was alone when he killed Markert and that his father Adam had nothing to do with it. The jury found Joseph Height guilty of second degree murder and he was sentenced to hard labor in the state prison at Dannemora for the term of his natural life. When he arrived at Dannemora, the prison physician examined Joseph and thought an asylum would be a better place for him as he thought Joseph was insane. Ultimately, the father, Adam Height, was found not guilty on the grounds that there had not been enough evidence that he had incited his son Joseph to commit the crime. Adam Height, upon his acquittal, was set free and after a time returned to Canosa Lake where almost immediately he was considered a menace to the peace and safety of the people of that neighborhood.

Local citizens were afraid of him and they hoped to secure his incarceration in a lunatic asylum before another life is offered up on the altar of witchcraft. Even his wife Barbara filed a complaint against him for ill treatment and sought to have him adjudged a lunatic. Adam was again arrested with plans to bring him to the Middletown Lunatic Asylum. Many thought Adam would resist but he consented to go when officers told him that his disease could be cured at the hospital. Adam was examined by several state doctors who judged him to be insane and he was officially committed on June 1st, 1893. He was to remain at the hospital until such time as doctors could certify that he was mentally sound.

That time never came. Adam's family never came to visit him at the hospital and he died at the hospital four years later from chronic melancholia and inflammation of the spine. Attempts were made by the hospital officials to notify Adam's relatives of his passing but no response was received. The site of that hospital where Adam lived and died was just down the road from where I lived at the time with my husband. After serving 20 years of his sentence at Dannemora, Adam's son Joseph was pardoned with the rationale that he was the unfortunate victim of superstition drilled into him by his father who instigated the crime. But then in 1939 Joseph Height committed suicide by hanging himself. While the supposed hex placed on the Height family was disregarded as ignorant and superstitious, there is no doubt that the Height family continued to suffer tragedy in the years after the murder.

Adam Height had three sons, two of whom committed suicide and the other was committed to a mental hospital. Since that infamous cold snowy night in January of 1892, there have been many ghostly sightings of the murdered George Barkert around the Stone Arch Bridge. A few years ago on a gray chilly autumn day, my husband and I visited that Stone Arch Bridge. It's so peaceful and so beautiful. It's hard to imagine such a violent event taking place there. And then we took a short drive to see the graves of so many of the people that you've heard about in this story in the graveyard. Everywhere I looked, grave after grave carved with the name Height. Height. Height. My husband's people. For my husband's last name is Height. And that is your wintertime ghost story, Spark. Happy Holidays, Sparklers!

[26:36] Laura Camien: Spooky! Oh, what a great story. I mean, not great for the Heights and for George.

[26:48] Susan Blackwell: Wow. Oh, man. But it's a good story for us.

[26:54] Laura Camien: Had to be killed three ways. Killed three ways. Because of the hex. Over water. Three ways over water.

[27:03] Susan Blackwell: Wow. That's how I take my eggs.

[27:09] Laura Camien: I was going to say, there's a joke in there. Thank you, Zuz. Wow, what a great Spark.

[27:16] Susan Blackwell: Thank you.

[27:17] Laura Camien: Thanks, Laura. I guess that's it. This spooky episode of The Spark File was made on the lands of the Lenape and the Mohican people. And as always, we hope this put another bunch of sparks in your file. Listen, if there's a spooky Spark you'd like us to explore, or if you'd like to learn more about how to coach with us, or to join the Spark File community, you can write to us at GetCreativeAtTheSparkFile.com, or just check out our website, TheSparkFile.com. We will even happily take your feedback. But first, you know, you know the price of admission. You've got to share a creative risk that you have taken recently. You can follow us on social at The Spark File and be sure to subscribe, rate, and five-star review this podcast.

It really does help other listeners to find us. Also, if you liked this podcast, we hope you'll share it with people that you love. And if you didn't like it, be careful. Ooh, something lights you up like this story gets your creative sparks flying. We are writing you a forever permission slip to make that thing that has been knocking at your door. It's your turn to take that spark and fan it into a flame. You know, you got to take it and make it. Wow.

[28:55] Susan Blackwell: Let's open up the Spark File.