User:L0callack/Lackawaxen Tragedy

The Lackawaxen Tragedy, a series of unfortunate deaths that occurred in Shohola, PA during the summer of 1931, rocked not only the community, but the nation. A small family of five at the time, the Petigot family experienced a string of tragic deaths; a domino effect of one tragedy after another. Something new to not only Pennsylvania, but the United States.

A quiet, but communal, group, the Petigot family was well-liked amongst their peers - even despite the raucous nature of their two eldest, Jon and Emma. Their father, William, owned the town's local hardware store as their mother, Marie, watched and cared for the children. Unfortunately, her years of depression slowly segregated her from her matriarchal duties. By 1929, the family suffered greatly from the fall of the stock market of the Great Depression, and it wasn't long before the family felt more separated, than in sync. Then, on August 17, 1931, the family suffered their first tragedy. Jennifer, the family's youngest, drowned in the nearby Delaware River - just a stone'a throw away from Lackawaxen Road. Too much for an already depressed woman to handle, Marie decided to take her own life by hanging herself in the family's den. Shortly thereafter, troubled by the family's financials and the death of his wife and daughter, William placed his mouth over the nozzle of his shotgun and pulled the trigger. Shocked by the quick, life-altering events, Emma and Jon were unable to reach our for help and eventually caused their own deaths (though there are no documents stating how they met their demise), all within the same house as their parents. Today, locals report not only gargling sounds within their own homes off of Lackawaxen Road, but creaking sounds accompanied by the name Marie and the ripple of a distanced shotgun discharge.