A strange and documented regional history
An evolving guide to the people, mysteries, incidents, and folklore threaded through New Jersey’s Pine Barrens.
Built from clippings, written from scratch
Newspaper clippings guide the research, but this site publishes original summaries, identifies uncertainty, and points readers back to sources whenever a usable citation is available.
Begin with a story
Jacob B. Simons was a veteran of the Mexican–American War whose death near Indian Mills was reported in 1893. The surviving research points to exposure after a medical emergency as the likely explanation, while his grave records service with the 2nd Pennsylvania Volunteers.
Charles Reily, a former Medford undertaker, was found dead near the north end of town in September 1909. Officials initially considered violence by another person, but their investigation concluded that he had taken his own life after a period of poor health.
William I. Reily, a Medford undertaker and Charles Reily’s son, died in December 1916 after injuring himself at his workplace. Contemporary reporting said he was 45 and survived by a wife and four children.
Research notes connect a 1934 triple homicide with the Ong’s Hat road area. This entry remains provisional while the victims, exact location, and contemporary reporting are reconciled from citable sources.
Anna Maria “Kate” Nehrwein, a German immigrant with connections to Jersey City, was found dead outside Atsion in 1887 after residents had seen her wandering through the area. An inquest attributed her death to exposure or another natural cause, though reports of missing possessions left local doubts unresolved.
This research file concerns deaths associated with the Chattin family and the Brooksbrae area in 1917. The public entry remains provisional until the people, sequence of events, and newspaper accounts can be independently reconciled.
The working index
Unfinished pages are visible and honestly labeled. That makes the gaps searchable without turning tentative notes into claims.