3512 Strasburg Road , Pomeroy

This picturesque Victorian Inn and restaurant seems like an ideal setting for a good ghost story. It looks like it should have a weeping woman in white or maybe a brooding man in black.
The Stottsville Inn was originally built in the early 1740s by Thomas Truman. It was rebuilt in 1858, by David Stott, given the Victorian look and the name, the Stottsville Hotel. When Mr. Stott retired, his sons took over the hotel business and the inn enjoyed a great reputation and was visited by two US Presidents, Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison.
According to the Inn’s website, “on Wednesday, December 17, 1890, Josephine Stott Chandler married Horace G. Emery in a ceremony held at the inn. Noted in the inn's ledgers as ‘A day which will be remembered…,’ the place must have been an extra special setting for a wedding ceremony.” This is where the legend starts.
According to tradition, Josephine was a beautiful young woman who was unfaithful to her husband, Horace. He caught her and murdered her in her room and then killed himself, leaving what has to be one of the strangest suicide notes in history.
The text of the note reads: “I love, love, love you. You are the dream of my life. Come with me to the shoe store and I will make love to you. Love, Horace. Then there is an extremely odd post script; “P.S., I can't live without you so I will commit suicide in the barn. I will bite a cow's leg and he will kick me in the head and kill me. For without you, life is nothing.”
I have not been able to track down the origin of this sordid tale. Research into the history of the inn and the lives of Josephine and Horace reveal facts that indicate this fanciful tale of adultery, murder, and suicide were just that; someone’s fancy.
Josephine was really the daughter of Maris Taylor and Elizabeth Stott and they did own the Stottsville Inn according to 1870 census records. The Chester County Historical Society records have copies of Josephine and Horace’s wedding announcement. They were married on December 18, 1890 at the home of the bride. The next mention of Josephine is in 1893, when it was reported that she had died “after several weeks of suffering” at her sisters’ home. The Chester County Death records have this entry; “Emery, Josephine C., white, female, 37, married, West Chester, , 1893/07/06, Coatesville, Bronchitis”.
At that point I was thinking, “Well, the murder part is made up, but maybe he did commit suicide after she died so tragically just three years after their wedding.” Further research revealed that the suicide part of the story was not true either. The census records of 1900 show that Horace Emery was alive and well and living with his mother in Coatesville.
So who haunts the Stottsville Inn? It is possible that Josephine and Horace remain there, trying to clear their names of these accusations of adultery, murder, and suicide.
The current owner, Jack Selah, and the employees of the Inn are quick to tell you that the legend has no basis in fact whatsoever. Josephine was not murdered and Horace did not commit suicide. Mr. Selah is a very friendly and open gentleman who gladly gave me a tour of the entire building. He stays in the inn, so he began telling me that in the room he normally stays in he often wakes up in the morning to find that his personal items have been moved around. Guests who have stayed overnight in the room have reported similar incidents. He is unsure who it is that may be haunting the inn.
What did we find at the Stottsville Inn? Order your copy of Supernatural Pennsylvania to find out!
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