In the tiny town of Blanchester in southwestern Ohio once stood a hotel owned by Edward Hawk. By the early 1900s business had dwindled to such an extent that Hawk was on the brink of financial ruin. The hotel's troubles had nothing to do with its accommodations-- for it was a fine establishment-- nor its owner, who, by all accounts, was a jovial and hospitable fellow. Edward Hawk's financial woes were the result of a wooden rocking chair that was said to be cursed.
Normally, a man in Hawk's situation would've been able to solve the problem by getting rid of the cursed piece of furniture. But, try as he might, the chair refused to leave the premises.
(Interestingly, not too long ago a reader sent us a story featuring a cursed chair with similar qualities)
The trouble with the chair began on the day of its arrival. It was delivered to the hotel-- then known as the Bindley Hotel-- along with fifteen other brand-new chairs, and it claimed the life of the very first person who attempted to sit in it. William Rockhill was the unfortunate man who died in the chair, but after it was revealed that Rockhill had a long history of heart troubles, no one gave any thought to the possibility of a cursed or haunted chair.
As months passed, the "hoodoo chair of Blanchester" claimed more victims: One man's head was cut open by it, one man was forcefully thrown out of it, one man's finger was smashed beneath it, one toddler was trapped beneath it, one man's collarbone was broken by it, one man was pushed down the stairs because of it, and one dog was knocked unconscious by it. In total, 20 guests at Hawk's hotel, most of them male, were injured by the chair.
Hawk tried his best to give the chair away, but by this time the chair had already earned a sinister reputation throughout Clinton County.
Stranger still, the chair apparently could not be destroyed.
"I can't smash the blamed thing any more than I can smash the hoodoo," said Hawk to The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1906. "I took it out in the back yard the other day-- couldn't get one of the men about the place to touch it-- and tried to send it to kingdom come. I was swearing mad at the crazy thing. It was ruining my trade, my disposition and my appetite.
"Will you believe it, sir, the very first blow I aimed at its murderous back the axe flew off the handle and hit me such a whack on the shoulder I was lame for a week. I'll acknowledge I was some scared and I gave up trying to turn the chair into fire wood."
A porter at the hotel by the name of Sun Dent related his own bizarre incident involving the cursed rocker. It happened in August of 1905, just a few days after William Rockhill died in it. Dent attempted to carry the chair from the reception room to the porch. Just as he reached the door the chair gave him a "shove" which knocked him over. As a result, the porter suffered a bruised shoulder and a severely lacerated scalp.
Three weeks later, a traveling salesman named Edward Crossland sat in the chair while he had his boots shined by Mr. Harrison, the hotel's bootblack. Both men reported that the chair, for some unknown reason, pitched forward and dumped the salesman on top of the bootblack. Harrison suffered a broken arm as a result.
Harrison, who was superstitious by nature, attempted to remove the "hoodoo" by painting a white cross on the back of the chair. The demonic rocker was then removed from the building and placed on the porch, where it claimed its next victim.
Frederic Schwartz, a guest from Cincinnati, was sitting on the porch enjoying an afternoon cigar when the chair tossed him out of it. Schwartz was knocked out cold, and suffered a fractured wrist. The chair was examined and, sure enough, it was the rocker with the white cross painted on its back.
Less than a week later, Mike Brannigan, the hotel's gardener, tripped over the chair and broke his collarbone. The following day, Mrs. Clarence Haynes, a frequent guest at the hotel, was walking across the porch when her gown became entangled in the chair. In her struggle to extricate herself, she fell down four steps. Fortunately, her injuries were minor.
A few days after this incident, Hawk's young nephew, Bill Gregory, was playing in the vicinity of the chair when it overturned, trapping the child beneath. The chair "refused" to budge; it required several strong men to return the chair to its upright position.
The rocker's next victim was Dave Downing, a 200-pound grocery salesman. Although he had heard tales of the haunted chair, he was determined to sit in it. "Sun, bring me that hoodooed chair," he called out to the hotel porter. The porter refused, so Downing went out onto the porch to carry the chair inside for himself. However, he tripped over the rocker and fell down the stairs, landing on the street with the rocking chair next to him. This only strengthened his resolve, however; he carried the chair back to the porch and sat down. The chair pitched backward, causing Downing to strike his head against the wall. When the groceryman regained consciousness, he declared that he had had enough. He wasn't about to find out whether or not the third time would be the charm.
It was after this incident Hawk decided to move the chair to the attic. Later that evening, a fire broke out in the attic. Smoke filled the hotel, and a thorough investigation revealed that only one thing had been burned-- the cane seat of the cursed rocking chair. After this, Hawk gave the chair to a local farmer from Pleasant Plain named Riley Andrews, who loaded it into his wagon and drove away. Two days later the chair was returned to the hotel, with Andrews claiming that his son had fallen out it and had broken his arm.
Hawk then gave the chair as a wedding present to a friend, Will Devers. Devers returned the chair the following morning, claiming that it had moved around on its own accord throughout the night.
The roof of the Bindley Hotel was destroyed by a tornado in June of 1912, and Hawk decided to wash his hands not only of the hotel, but of the town of Blanchester itself. He put the hotel up for sale. Records indicate that Bindley Hotel was sold to E.H. Kiser in November. For some reason, Kiser gave the hotel back.
In January of 1913 Hawk finally sold the struggling hotel to a businessman named E.B. VanTuyl. Hawk relocated to Cincinnati, taking a position as assistant manager of the Gibson House.
This would prove to be a wise decision for Hawk. Just a few days later, a fire broke out in a barbershop that was located inside the hotel lobby. A barber named Everett Osborn was severely burned. Unfortunately, historical records fail to mention whether or not a notorious chair with a bad reputation was involved.
Sources:
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 7, 1907. Page 42.
The News-Herald (Hillsboro, OH), June 6, 1912. Page 1.
The Wilmington Journal, June 19, 1912. Page 4.
The Wilmington Journal, Nov. 13, 1912. Page 2.
Chillicothe Gazette, Jan. 21, 1913. Page 1.
Wilmington Journal-Republican, Jan. 22, 1913. Page 1.