Show Notes
In November 1928, Nelson Rehmeyer was killed inside his farmhouse in southern York County, Pennsylvania. He was a farmer and a practitioner of powwowing, a Pennsylvania German healing tradition that used prayers, scripture, and folk remedies.
John Blymire believed a hex was responsible for years of illness, sleeplessness, and bad luck. After a woman told him Nelson was the person behind it, John became convinced that he needed Nelson’s copy of The Long Lost Friend or a lock of his hair to break the curse. He recruited 14 year old John Curry and 18 year old Wilbert Hess, and the three went to Nelson’s home looking for a way to end the supposed hex.
In this episode, we follow the murder at what became known as Hex Hollow, the beliefs and rumors surrounding the case, and the trials that followed. All three men were convicted of murder, but the story that survived in newspapers and local folklore often obscured the person Nelson was before his death.
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A. Monroe Aurand Jr., The “Pow-Wow” Book and account of the murder trials (1929)
Commonwealth v. Curry—Pennsylvania Supreme Court opinion (1930)
Morning Register—“Curry Goes on Trial,” January 11, 1929
Morning Register—“John Curry Is Convicted,” January 12, 1929
Knickerbocker Press—Wilbert Hess verdict coverage, January 13, 1929
Eugene Guard—“Witch Trial Stirs East,” January 9, 1929
Amarillo Daily News—December 7, 1928
Camden Chronicle—January 18, 1929
Glencairn Museum—“Powwowing in Pennsylvania: Healing Rituals of the Dutch Country”
Berks History Center—“The Origin and Practition of Pow-Wow”
YorkBlog—What happened to the defendants? Part I
YorkBlog—Part II: John Curry’s portrait of Buddy Marrese
YorkBlog—Part III: Recollections of John Blymire and his son
YorkBlog—“Visiting the scene of (York County’s hex) crime”
YorkBlog—“Powwowing was done for good”
YorkBlog—Part IV: Jeannette Harvey’s recollections
YorkBlog—“Little-known facts about Hex murder trial emerge”
YorkBlog—“Trials of Hex helps make sense of notorious York County murder case”
YorkBlog—“York County’s Hex murder house visit offers surprises”
YorkBlog—“York County’s Hex murder: 5 quick facts”
CrimeReads—“A Tale of Witchcraft and Murder in Jazz Age America”
David W. Kriebel—“Powwowing: A Persistent American Esoteric Tradition”
Order of the Jackalope—“Bound in Mystery and Shadow”
Bonham Daily Favorite—December 11, 1928
Daily Iowan—January 9, 1929
Eugene Guard—“Boy of 14 Given Life Prison Term,” January 12, 1929
YorkBlog—“Evil in York County’s Hex murder came from outside—relative”
YorkBlog—“York County’s Hex murder: 5 more quick facts”
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