The Mystery of the Wizard Clip

Raphael Brown Diabolical Activity, Priestly Intervention, and Conversions in Colonial America This tale is almost too strange for belief. It features a Russian prince, a Lutheran family, an Irish priest, several Protestant ministers, diabolical activity, traveling salesmen, and Colonial farmers, as well as delicate and intricate family relationships. It has all of the elements of an exciting Catholic novel...AND IT IS ALL TRUE! Don t miss this wonderful story. Adam Livingston was an honest and industrious Lutheran who owned considerable property in York County, Pennsylvania. Due to mysterious causes, however, his property began to diminish in various ways. For example, his barn burned down, and his horses and cattle died. As these losses continued, Livingston and his family decided to move. Therefore, early in the 1790 s, with his second wife and several children, he left Pennsylvania and migrated to the lower end of the lovely Shenandoah Valley, where he settled on a large estate located in the triangle formed by Charles Town, Martinsburg, and Winchester, all of which were then in the state of Virginia. But there too, the same mysterious forces continued to afflict the Livingston household. There too, the cattle and horses died. Now the very house in which Adam and his wife and children lived seemed to have become haunted: at night they were kept awake by weird noises, such as loud knocks and rumblings as of galloping horses and wagons. Even in daylight their furniture would be suddenly banged about and their crockery smashed onto the floor by invisible hands. Chunks of fire rolled out of the beds across the rooms. At times the heads and legs of chickens and geese were seen to drop off suddenly. But by far the most sensational of these devilish afflictions was the strangely persistent clipping and cutting that attacked almost every piece of cloth and leather on the Livingston estate. Sheets, tablecloths, shirts, dresses, suits, and even leather boots and saddles, whether in use or locked up in closets, were skillfully slit and clipped into crescent shaped strips by invisible shears! The noise of the scissors clipping merrily away was distinctly heard on many occasions by different members of the family. Soon the whole countryside was talking about the mysterious Wizard Clip at the Livingston s place, which eventually came to be known as Cliptown a name which is still in use locally. After studying the bible and learning that the ministers of God had the power to cast out evil spirits Mr. Livingston began to ask the assistance of a number of those he knew, all protestant ministers of course. But it was not until he was finally prevailed upon to contact a Catholic priest, the good Father Dennis Cahill, that good things really started to happen for the family.