Adam Livingston moved his family from Pennsylvania to a parcel of
farmland near a village then known as Smithfield, West Virginia,
sometime in the 1770s. The village’s name would evolve over the
years to the more pragmatic name of Middleway. However,
colloquially, it would also acquire the moniker of “Clip” or
“Cliptown” for the bizarre events that would transpire there. A
few years before 1790, the once-thriving Livingston family would
begin to endure supernatural harassment so extreme that they were
beleaguered and exhausted, leaving their neighbors and visitors
bewildered. According to one popular account, a mysterious Irish
stranger appeared at Livingston’s door seeking shelter one dark
and stormy night. Livingston provided hospitality to the weary
traveler until the stranger summoned his host when fearing his
death was near, begging that he send for a priest to deliver last
rites. While Livingston was generous in his accommodation, being
a Lutheran and having a disdain for Catholic priests, he refused
to send for one. The stranger died during the night and was
buried in unconsecrated ground the next day. Soon after, it seems
a curse had befallen the Livingstons. Progressing as many stories
of prolonged poltergeist bedevilment do, the haunting started
with strange and unexplained noises about the home. Then, unseen
forces would smash their crockery, light their bedding on fire,
and roll great balls of fire from the hearth across the floors,
causing panic. Livingston’s cattle all died, and his barn burned
down. The entity’s most noteworthy destruction was making a
persistent sound of clipping as if by invisible shears and
leaving any family or visitor’s cloth or leather sliced, often
with crescent shapes cut into them. This peculiar practice would
lend the phenomenon its name, the “Wizard Clip.” While we may
never know the accurate details of the happenings, something
otherworldly apparently did materialize at the Livingston
homestead. We can more easily explore why such mystical
occurrences transmogrify into enduring folklore. To help us with
that challenge, we’re joined by author and intelligence analyst
Michael Kishbucher, whose recent book, The Appalachian Legend of
the Wizard Clip, thoroughly investigates this early American
story. Aiding in the elucidation is Appalachian folklore expert,
lead researcher, and producer for Small Town Monsters Heather
Moser. Cautiously pull up a chair close to the fire as we examine
the obscure yet harrowing tale of “America’s first
poltergeist.”
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