Folklore of Lake Erie

Folklorist Judith S. Neulander has taught at Case Western Reserve University. She is a prolific author and speaker, whose research has been featured in the Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times.

Introduction
Part One: Folklore in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Origin of the Name 'Erie' in Myth and History
Long Tail: The Underwater Panther of Lake Erie
The Ohio Country Witch-Wife
Buried Treasure and Witchcraft: Legends of Lake Erie's Canadian Loyalists
Part Two: Folklore in the Nineteenth Century
Jenny Greenteeth the Storm Hag of Lake Erie
The Ballad of James Bird: Death and Curse of a Lake Erie Deserter
Tall Tales of The Erie Canal
Underground Railroad: The Lake Erie Waterway to Freedom
Medicinal Magic: Lake Erie Folk Medicine
Hulda's Rock: "An Indian Legend"
Willoughby Body-Snatchers and the Ghost of Eli Tarbell
Part Three: Folklore in the Twentieth Century
Ghost Ships of Lake Erie
The Witch of November: America's Deadliest Maritime Disaster
Prohibition, Al Capone, and the Middle Island Mystery
Ghost Horse on the Cedar Point Carousel
Curse of The Lake Erie Quarrymen
The Lake Erie Cow Monster: A Possible Origin for South Bay Bessie
Lake Erie's Black Sunday and Blue Moon
How Lake Erie Got Its Name: An Example of Onomastic Wordplay
Birth of a Lake Erie Proverb
Part Four: Folklore in the Early Twenty-First Century
Weather Lore: The Groundhog's Spring Forecast
The Woolly Bear's Winter Forecast Festival
La Chasse Galerie or The Flying Canoe
South Bay Bessie: The Lake Erie Sea Serpent
Mad Anthony Wayne: A Lake Erie Ghost Seeks His Lost Bones
Johnny Appleseed: A Folk Hero's Ties to Lake Erie
Bloody Mary in the Mirror: A Lake Erie Variant
The Black Dog of Lake Erie: Shipwreck Lore
Johnny Morehouse and His Dog: Inseparable Ghosts on the Miami Erie Canal
The Three Sisters: Occupational Folklore on Lake Erie
Cholera Cemetery: Revenge of Those Buried Alive
Confederate Lookout at Johnson's Island Cemetery
The Lincoln Ghost Train: Tradition and Transformation on Erie's Shore
The Vampire Crypt of Erie Cemetery
Gore Orphanage: Evolution of a Legend on Erie's Lakeshore
Remains of Nephilim and Modern Conspiracy Theories on Lake Erie
The Ohio Grassman: A Lake Erie Cryptid
The Lake Erie Mirage
The Great Lakes Triangle
Lake Erie Campus Lore
Lady of the Lake: A Haunted Summer Camp
The Lady of Lake Erie Quilt
Traditional Foodways on Lake Erie's Shore
The Art of Lake Erie Ice Fishing
New Year's Eve Fish Drop on Lake Erie
Lake Erie and Fast Food Folk Religion
UFO Base under Lake Erie
Nuclear Plant Spawns Mutant Monsters: Bessie, Blinky, and the Lake Erie Chomper
The Lake Erie Salt Mine: An April Fools' Day Prank
Evil Fish: The Galloping Goby Blues
Superman: Lake Erie's Own