Possessed by a ghost.
Miss Toops, age fourteen, of Westminster, Md., sees at intervals a full-sized ghost – a man with a red face and sandy whiskers. Early in the summer there were rappings and movements about the house, which convinced the mother that her daughter really did see a ghost. One morning, when they slept later than usual, a little bell was run violently, and the tableware was tossed from the kitchen into the bedroom. After this the spirit played mischievous pranks almost every morning.
When Mrs Toops would be spreading the tablecloth, it would be snatched out of her hand, and plates, knives, and forks would be thrown to the floor. One of its favourite tricks was to strip the beds of their covering, and on several occasions a feather bed was tossed to the floor. There were frequent pulling matches between the mother, the daughter, and the ghost, the latter trying to get possession of sheets and counterpanes as they were being spread on the beds.
One day the ghost, seen only by the daughter, but heard by the mother, was unusually troublesome. They were hoeing in the garden, and every few minutes they would be stopped in their work, and would be unable to raise their hoes from the ground. The mother told the daughter to strike him. The ghost said, “If you strike me, I’ll be the death of you.” She, however, directed a blow at his face, and instantly fell down in a fit. The girl has spasms nearly every day, in which she loses consciousness. These come on her whenever she resists the ghost, or refuses to obey him. – New York Tribune.
Burton Chronicle, 2nd October 1879.