Concord Township Boasts of Pirate's Haunted House

In a deserted spooky house in Markham, Concord township, there is, according to legend and neighborhood gossip, the full-fledged ghost of an ancient pirate, and his buried treasure.

 

The house, located on the Baltimore Pike in Concord township, was built in 1810 on land granted to by WIlliam Penn to Nicholas Newlin in 1683. The land passed through several generations of Newlins and finally came into the hands of Colonel Frank M. Etting, in 1875.

 

From that time on, according to local tradition, the spirit of a Captain Leare haunted the house in 1769, legend has it. Captain Leare, one of the most notorious privateers of his day, looted many ships in the Caribbean Sea and took his loot to Newcastle, Del.

 

Fearing to hide it so close to the base of operations of another buccaneer, Captin Leare, so ran the legend, carried his booty over land eight miles to the old Newlin homestead at Markham, and there buried it under a tree stump. At that time, according to various Delaware county historical books, the house and 90 acres surrounding it, were owned by a mysterious "Mr. Leare" whose occupation was unknown.

 

The good captain disappeared, physically and historically, and it is a safe assumption that he met the fate of other buccaneers who were roaming the area in those days.

 

The property remained unoccupied for decades and finally was taken over by Colonel Etting, in 1875. The Etting family lived here for many years, but local gossips will tell you that guests in the gloomy 10-room house seldom remained more than one night.

 

Eerie whispers, uncanny knockings and cat-like footsteps on the stairways led to early departures. The hosue was searched from the cellar to the third floor an numerous occasions in an effort to trace the weird noises, but without success.

 

Finally, the Etting family left the place and it remained vacant for years. Numerous tenants rented it, but after unusually short stays, departed for other sections.

 

The last tenant was Elmer Journey, of Concordville, who remained there for more than a year and then moved out. Journey is noncommittal, but folks who were his guests there overnight tell of queer noises which cut their calls short.

 

Today, the house stands bleak and deserted. The floors are rotting and the walls are crumblng. A huge wagon and carriage shed lie in the rear of the house and only add to the gloomy atmosphere.

 

The treasure, according to history and our oldest resources of Concord township, lies under  a stump. This story, they  aver, they heard from their fathers, who in turn heard it from their fathers.

 

The stump is there. It lies under a side porch of the desolate mansion.

 

You will never convince the natives of Concord towsnhip that it isn't there, and you will never induce any of them to enter the house after dark.

 

They will tell you, emphatically, that they don't believe in ghosts, but....1