The Curse of Hex Hollow: The True Story Behind the York Hex Slayers

You know how curses and witchcraft aren’t real, right? How about “traditional folk remedies” and natural cures for things? Hmm, might be more believable but honestly we’ll get into this later and let me tell you now, a lot of things conceived of in 1820 do NOT hold up. Today we’re looking into the story of the so-called witch, Nelson Rehmeyer, and the people who murdered him who became known as the York Hex Slayers.

Say that three times fast. Thanks to YouTube commenter “Trevan Leib” for suggesting this topic, now let’s head back to a small rural town in Pennsylvania, USA, in the year 1928 and find out how far some people are willing to go to lift a curse.

What Was Going On In Stewartstown In 1928?

1928 doesn’t seem that long ago when you look at it written down—a lot of people were probably born in 19 something and it’s a time period we have loads of knowledge about as it was post World War One, there were photos, people had radios and cars and all sorts of stuff. It was nearly a century ago now, but it’s not like it was the dark ages or anything. So why were there so many witches around?

According to research, if you took a stroll through what later became known as Stewartstown Pennsylvania, you’d be falling over witches left right and centre. We’re obviously not talking the pointy-hatted, warty-nosed variety here, we’re talking “pow wow doctors” or people who used natural remedies and incantations in a strange sort of Christian / folk magic blend to cure people of whatever ailed them or provide protections etc. Actually, sounds pretty like the pointy-hatted, warty-nosed variety but there you go.

I guess this is more what might be called “white magic” as opposed to “black magic” but as there was also quite a strong religious vein running through it, it probably wasn’t cool to call it outright “magic” anyway.

There were a lot of German immigrants in Pennsylvania and over the centuries they brought over their traditional practices of healing which became known as “pow wow” or, slightly more Germanically, “braucherei.” Even though penicillin had been discovered, this type of folk medicine was still going strong—though penicillin was literally only discovered 2 months before the events of this case, so perhaps some slack can be cut.

Anyway, in this area of Pennsylvania at least, being a pow wow doctor was quite a popular side gig for a lot of people, one of them being Nelson Rehmeyer, a 59 year old farmer who lived by himself in a house in what is now known as “Rehmeyer’s Hollow” or “Hex Hollow.” So what was up with Nelson, then, and why was he blasted for being a “witch” as opposed to just your common or garden pow wow practitioner? Well, actually, it all starts with another witch, Nellie Noll.

That was more of a nickname, as there have been a couple of variations on her name but this one has stuck for obvious, fairytale sounding reasons. She was also known as the “River Witch of Marietta” so I guess being an out and out witch was ok, as long as you weren’t going around hexing and cursing all and sundry. Anyway, if there weren’t enough witches clogging up the place, here’s another to add to the cauldron—John Blymire.

The Three Witches

John Blymire was born in 1895 and had met Nelson Rehmeyer when he (John) was a child. Rehmeyer had successfully performed a pow wow remedy on him to cure him of a supposed hex that was causing him to waste away. Later on Blymire worked on Rehmeyer’s farm, digging potatoes so they definitely knew each other. According to The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca, Rehmeyer was seen as “a brooding giant of a man who reportedly could conjure Beelzebub, one of the major demons of hell.” Better make sure you dig those potatoes properly then, boy!

As he grew older, Blymire wasn’t a particularly charismatic or popular chap but he also dabbled in pow wow cures and, according to The Encyclopedia again, he had “modest successes as a witch”. By the time he was 17, however, Blymire started to be afflicted by the wasting disease he’d had as a child and had been unlucky with money. He began to think that the hex was back and he started to become obsessed with finding out how to break the curse. He needed to find out who had cursed him in order to lift it and spent an absolute ton of money asking other witches to perform spells to work it out but nothing ever came of it and the hexer was still unknown.

Blymire’s health continued to be bad and eventually, by 1928 at the age of 33 he was ill, divorced, and suffering from other episodes of frequent bad luck. He met a 14 year old called John Curry who had had a very hard life thus far and also thought he had a hex on himself. With this small piece of validation, the two became friends and Blymire’s search for the person who had hexed him carried on. Eventually he found old Nellie Noll and apparently had 6 sessions with her at 5 dollars a pop.

Adjusting for inflation, that cost Blymire over 80 dollars a time. And he’d seen over 20 witches prior to finding Noll! It’s not hard to see where his money problems were coming from.

Eventually—obviously not in the first session, got to keep them coming back for more—Noll revealed to Blymire that the person who had cast the hex over his life was none other than Nelson Rehmeyer. At this point, Rehmeyer was estranged from his wife and children and was living by himself in the two storey home on his farm. Blymire was surprised that his old acquaintance was actually a powerful witch who had cursed him so effectively but he now knew what he had to do to lift the hex. According to Noll, he either had to cut off a lock of Rehmeyer’s hair and bury it 6 to 8 feet down, or he had to find and burn Rehmeyer’s copy of what was basically the Pow Wow bible: a famous book called Pow Wow, or The Long Lost Friend by John George Hohman.

This had originally been published in 1820 and collected together all the traditional remedies and incantations that were practiced by the Pennsylvania Dutch community. Handily, Noll told Blymire that Rehmeyer had also hexed his friend John Curry and another man who had recently asked Blymire for help. This other cursed man had a son called Wilbert Hess who was about 18.

Now the stage is set for the final showdown but first, a look at some of the examples given in the book The Long Lost Friend. There have been mentions of “pow wow” and “incantations” so far, so let’s examine what this actually entailed. This may come off as mocking the beliefs of a bunch of early twentieth century rural types but honestly, you need to hear some of these things. Here’s what to do if somebody’s saying untrue things about you:

A Good Remedy Against Calumniation or Slander: Take off your shirt and turn it wrong side out, and then run your two thumbs along your body, close under the ribs, starting at the pit of the heart down to the thighs.

Hey! That’s all there is to it! And if it doesn’t work, you obviously weren’t starting from the pit of the heart properly. Here’s another one that apparently Blymire himself practiced effectively:

A Very Good and Certain Means of Destroying the Wheal in the Eye: Take a dirty plate; if you have none, you can easily dirty one, and the person for whom you are using sympathy shall in a few minutes find the pain much relieved. You must hold that side of the plate or dish, which is used in eating, toward the eye. While you hold the plate before the eye you must say: Dirty plate, I press thee, wheal in the eye do flee.

Let’s have a couple more for the road:

To Banish the Whooping Cough: Cut three small bunches of hair from the crown of the head of a child who has never seen its father; sew this hair up in an unbleached rag and hang it around the neck of the child having the whooping cough. The thread with which the rag is sewn must also be unbleached.

Imagine if you were the only child in town who hadn’t seen its father. The money you could make selling hair! A lot of fakers who had seen their dads presumably got in on this action though, as this cure is followed by:

Another remedy for the whooping cough which has cured the majority of those who have applied it: Thrust the child having the whooping cough three times through a blackberry bush without speaking or saying anything. The bush, however, must be grown fast at the two ends and the child must be thrust through three times in the same manner, that is to say, from the same side it was thrust through in the first place.

Yikes! And this apparently was effective in a majority of cases? How many people tried it? Maybe any child being shoved through a thorny bush multiple times in grim silence was too scared to ever cough again.

This book and the stuff in it was still being used in 1928! There are things you can make from herbs and plants that will help cure things but some of this stuff is totally ridiculous. Anyway, Nellie Noll had told John Blymire to find Rehmeyer’s copy of this book and burn it and lo, the hex would be lifted. Blymire was a bit scared of Rehmeyer’s powers, however, so he asked his young friends John Curry and Wilbert Hess to help him and thus the seeds for the death of the witch were sown.

The Witch is Dead

The three men turned up at Rehmeyer’s farm one day but he wasn’t there so they popped in to ask his estranged wife where he was and she said he was probably in town visiting his new lady friend. They went back past his farm much later that night and saw a light on so decided to try again. Blymire chickened out of confronting Rehmeyer about the hex, though, as he was sure Rehmeyer was much more powerful than him and had already worked out what they were trying to do. The three visitors spent the night at the farm before leaving the next morning.

Blymire now put a plan in place and, after buying some rope, the three men once again went to Rehmeyer’s farm on the night of November the 27th, 1928. They confronted Rehmeyer about the book but he denied knowledge of having it. Things got heated and Blymire attacked Rehmeyer with Curry and Hess holding him down. He was tied and strangled with the rope while also being beaten with a block of wood and kicked until he was dead.

The clock in the kitchen stopped at one minute past midnight on what was now Thanksgiving day.

Blymire felt immediate relief from the lifting of the curse and said “Thank God! The Witch is dead!” Noll hadn’t said anything about killing to lift the curse but I guess it must have worked anyway. The men then trashed the place, found a few coins to take and set Rehmeyer’s body and the house on fire to destroy all evidence of their crime.

Strangely, though, the flames went out and even though the house was a wooden one, it failed to burn. The body was discovered two days later when a neighbour of Rehmeyer’s noticed that his mule hadn’t been fed and was making a lot of noise. Because Blymire and his chums had spoken to Rehmeyer’s wife about his whereabouts, police quickly honed in on them and they were all arrested without a fuss with Blymire readily confessing what he’d done.

While the motive of killing a witch to lift a curse might have bought him some sympathy with a jury of his peers, the judge for Blymire’s trial refused to have any mention of witchcraft, hexes or curses allowed in their statements, confessions or during the trial. This was kind of weird as the whole thing was planned under the idea of lifting a hex. They were tried with robbery as the motive instead which was pretty ludicrous as while they had stolen a bit of money after killing Rehmeyer, it amounted to only a couple of dollars and Rehmeyer was known to be somewhat poor.

Of course, the whole witchcraft element did come out, the trial was known as the “York Witch Trial” and the press reported splashy headlines such as “Burn Hermit for Casting Spell on Farmer’s Family: Powwow Doctor, 2 Boys Held for Murder”, “‘Witch Murder’ Trial Starts at York Today” and “Murder Farmer to Get Lock of Hair To Break Spell, Three Confess.” This sent interest in the case worldwide which also highlighted the practices and belief in pow wow cures in Pennsylvania at the time. Far from being some hush-hush under the table type of thing, being a pow wow doctor was big business, with some getting paid large sums and even getting deeds to people’s farms for payment to protect them or shove their kids through blackberry bushes.

The York County Medical Society lamented the number of children dying from lack of proper medical intervention and the whole thing was very embarrassing to York County. In the end though, justice prevailed and all three men, even John Curry who was only 14, were found guilty. Curry and Blymire got life sentences and Hess was sentenced to between 10 and 20 years. Curry and Hess were actually paroled in 1934, after serving only 5 years or so.

Blymire was eventually paroled in 1953, after serving over 23 years in prison. They all returned back to York County, living crime-free and quiet lives.

Was this actually justice, though? As mentioned, Curry was 14 years old when he was sentenced to life in prison, although he was let out a lot earlier. He was a believer in curses, hexes and witches and had been badly let down by the adults in his life, making it easy for him to fall in with Blymire’s plans.

Blymire himself was also clearly suffering from some sort of mental illness. As well as the frantic and expensive consultations with various local witches, he was convinced it was his wife who had cursed him at one point and his father-in-law ended up getting him committed to a psychiatric hospital with a diagnosis of “borderline psychoneurotic”. After 48 days of being there, however, Blymire left by just walking out, his wife divorced him and no further attempts were made to help him.

This is where it gets dicey for us looking back at the case now because it wasn’t strange or abnormal to believe in hexes and being cursed in this part of the world at this time. It seemed to be quite the norm, in fact, so the mental states of the perpetrators weren’t really seen as a factor in the case. Nowadays, any murder cases involving mentions of witchcraft or curses are looked at very differently but it must be said that while it was considered an embarrassment back in 1928, even now, there are traditions like pow wow healing carried out all over the world. Sure, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but if your child has whooping cough, please take them to a medical doctor.

Rehmeyer’s Hollow Today

Because it’s out in the middle of a field in a quiet area and a grisly murder with occult overtones happened there, it’s no surprise to learn that what is now referred to as Rehmeyer’s Hollow or Hex Hollow has quite the spooky reputation. There have been sightings of UFOs around the area and black dogs with red eyes although obviously there’s no proof of this and there isn’t much more detail about anything weird happening there since the murder.

The fact that the house didn’t burn down stoked rumors of Rehmeyer’s witchy abilities for a while, however, maybe the wood was just a bit damp or the fire wasn’t started in a good spreading area or any other of the many reasons why it didn’t reduce the house to a pile of ash. In fact, far from being a scary, haunted place, the house has stayed in the Rehmeyer family and was used as a rental home for many years, following some renovation work.

In 2007, though, Rehmeyer’s great-grandson, Rickie Ebaugh, took over and has been restoring it back to what it would have looked like in 1928, presumably as a way to get the ghost busters and tourist dollars rolling in. While it was a creepy place anyway, it’s now even more so as he has taken up the floor where his great grandfather was beaten to death and set on fire, so you can see the place where his body actually burned through the floor. There’s even a plexiglass window over it now and apparently you can still see some blood stains there!

Blooming heck. Photos of the interior of the house can be found on a website called housecrazysarah.life and the author writes under a photo of a rather smug looking Rickie Ebaugh: “What a tribute he is providing for his unfortunate ancestor!” You say tribute, House Crazy Sarah, some might say a macabre way to make some supernatural buckaroos.

A documentary called Hex Hollow: Witchcraft and Murder in Pennsylvania was released in 2015, covering the pow wow aspects of the case as motive and interviewing descendants of Rehmeyer and Blymire. It’s a creditable 7.2 on IMdB right now so maybe give it a watch if you want to find out more about the case. Rickie Ebaugh’s in it, too, just so you know.

While it seems that the house was supposed to be open for tours when Ebaugh took it over, because of problems with people breaking in, it’s definitely not currently open and it’s not clear if it ever was. On the Facebook page for the Hex Hollow documentary, it says: “We keep getting messages asking if tours of the Hex House are available. The answer is NO. There are no tours of the house, and at present, the owner has no plans to open the house for anybody.

We would also like to add there isn’t much to see, anyway. The house is very small, about 850 sq ft; most of Nelson’s belongings have been removed because of frequent break-ins; there’s no blood on the walls, only black mold; and you will not see or hear Mr. Rehmeyer’s spirit. If the house ever does open for tours, we will let you know ASAP.”

So there you go.

It’s sad to say that Nelson Rehmeyer was murdered because of the cultural beliefs of his community. Everyone believed or at least encouraged Blymire that someone had hexed him and then Nellie Noll gave him a name and method for breaking the curse. Once the deed was done, Blymire apparently felt such relief that his suffering was over that he didn’t really mind being jailed afterwards.

Was this justification for killing someone? Of course not! Rehmeyer had absolutely nothing to do with Blymire’s suffering, aches and pains, financial problems or anything relating to him at all.

The wasting disease he had cured him of was more than likely just malnutrition that Blymire eventually overcame as it was a cure that took several months to work. It involved ants eating an egg that had been boiled in Blymire’s urine which has obviously not stood the test of time as a cure for wasting disease. It would have been more effective to just eat the egg but hey, I guess that’s why some of us aren’t earning anything as a pow wow healer.

Why Noll named Rehmeyer is not known. Maybe Blymire suggested the name and she agreed or she had her own axe to grind with him. She didn’t instruct Blymire to murder him, however, just get some of his hair or destroy his pow wow book. For all his supposed witch powers, it seems that Rehmeyer wasn’t difficult to destroy after all. Almost as though he really was just a normal man.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the story behind the York Hex Slayers?

The York Hex Slayers refers to three men—John Blymire, John Curry, and Wilbert Hess—who murdered Nelson Rehmeyer in 1928. They believed Rehmeyer had cursed Blymire, and they sought to lift the curse by either cutting a lock of Rehmeyer’s hair or burning his copy of the ‘Pow Wow, or The Long Lost Friend’ book.

Who was Nelson Rehmeyer?

Nelson Rehmeyer was a 59-year-old farmer who lived in Rehmeyer’s Hollow (also known as Hex Hollow) in Pennsylvania. He was known as a pow wow doctor, practicing traditional folk remedies and incantations.

What were pow wow doctors?

Pow wow doctors were individuals who practiced traditional folk remedies and incantations, blending Christian and folk magic elements. This practice was common among German immigrants in Pennsylvania and was known as ‘pow wow’ or ‘braucherei’.

What motivated John Blymire to kill Nelson Rehmeyer?

John Blymire believed he was cursed and that Nelson Rehmeyer was responsible. After consulting with various witches, including Nellie Noll, Blymire was convinced that Rehmeyer had cursed him and that killing Rehmeyer would lift the curse.

What happened to the three men who murdered Nelson Rehmeyer?

John Blymire, John Curry, and Wilbert Hess were all arrested and tried for the murder. They were found guilty; Curry and Blymire received life sentences, while Hess was sentenced to between 10 and 20 years. All three were eventually paroled and returned to York County.

What is the significance of the ‘Pow Wow, or The Long Lost Friend’ book?

The ‘Pow Wow, or The Long Lost Friend’ book, published in 1820, contained traditional remedies and incantations practiced by the Pennsylvania Dutch community. Blymire was instructed to burn Rehmeyer’s copy of this book to lift the supposed curse.

What is the current status of Rehmeyer’s Hollow?

Rehmeyer’s Hollow, also known as Hex Hollow, has a spooky reputation due to the murder that occurred there. The house, which did not burn down after the murder, has been restored by Rickie Ebaugh, Nelson Rehmeyer’s great-grandson, but it is not open for tours.

What was the public reaction to the York Witch Trial?

The trial gained worldwide attention and highlighted the practices of pow wow cures in Pennsylvania. The York County Medical Society lamented the lack of proper medical intervention, and the case was seen as an embarrassment to York County.

What were some of the remedies mentioned in the ‘Pow Wow, or The Long Lost Friend’ book?

The book included remedies such as using a dirty plate to relieve pain in the eye, thrusting a child through a blackberry bush to cure whooping cough, and cutting hair from a child who had never seen their father to sew into a rag for the same purpose.

What was the outcome of the trial for the York Hex Slayers?

The trial focused on robbery as the motive rather than witchcraft. All three men were found guilty; Curry and Blymire received life sentences, while Hess was sentenced to between 10 and 20 years. They were all eventually paroled and returned to York County.

Sources

• Original Decoding the Unknown video: The Curse of Hex Hollow: The True Story Behind the York Hex Slayers
• Hero image source by thegetty / openverse, cc0.