Hawk Mountain
Schaumboch's Tavern
Berks-Schuylkill County Line
There is nothing more beautiful than a Pennsylvania forest during the peak of Autumn. Mother Nature supplies a firework display of red, orange, and gold to give life to the landscape before its ultimate death.
One location in the Coal-Region well known for its “Fall Feeling” and spectacular views is Hawk Mountain. Ascending the Blue Mountains, a visitor will encounter the Hawk Mountain sanctuary that has been present since 1938. This sanctuary showcases natural wonders such as a beautiful wooded area, scenic trails, a river of rocks left behind since the glacial period, and the most sought after views of hawks and the occasional eagle majestically flying through the blinding blue sky.
The Lenni Lenape tribe was situated on the Blue Mountain long before Europeans came to the area. This Native American group considered the mountain sacred ground. The tribe was said to have religious rituals upon the Mountain. Once the European settlers inhabited the area, the Lenni Lenape resorted to violence to show their displeasure and refusal to give up the ritualistic land. This continued to the point in which there were several documented massacres on and around the Hawk Mountain region.
Documented accounts have shown there were a series of Lenni Lenape attacks on area families during the mid-1700s. One of the most infamous was the massacre of the Gerhardt Family. The family was large, comprising a father, a mother, and six children. On a cold February day in 1756, a collection from the Lenni Lenape tribe attacked the small cottage the Gerhardt Family called home. Reports cited the family members were ambushed, murdered, and scalped within their own home. Another source claimed one child was burned to death, hiding beneath a bed. Only one member of the family made it out of the ordeal alive, 11-year-old Jacob. The young boy fled into the woods as the attack ensued. Jacob found shelter with a neighboring family, who ultimately raised the young boy into adulthood.
Shockingly, Jacob Gerhardt opted to return to the location where he witnessed his family’s massacre. Possibly to deal with the trauma or being drawn back to the tragedy, Gerhardt erected a one and half floor sandstone structure with chestnut wood as a compliment. This small cottage became Gerhardt’s home for the next fifty-eight years, near the summit of Hawk Mountain.
After Gerhardt’s death, the property changed hands twice before ultimately being sold to an unknown couple: Matthias and Margaret Schaumboch (or Schaumbocher).
Schaumboch's Tavern
By most accounts, Margaret was a lovely person. Beautiful, warm, and engaging. Her husband, however, was quite the opposite. A small man in stature but unusually strong and abrasive, Matthias was not viewed favorably by any of the area’s residents. He was known to be a vile, temperamental man who was despised and feared by those who knew of him. Matthias and his wife opened their home as a tavern for long from home travelers and peddlers to lodge within.
Over time, Matthias’ ornery reputation grew, and rumors circulated about his less than cordial demeanor and actions. Reports surface of odd occurrences witnessed at the tavern as well. Moans and shrieks could be heard echoing down the mountain from the Schaumbooch barn. A collection of peddlers and travelers last witnessed in the area went missing. However, all seemed to have one ominous connection. One of the last locations they were witnessed was Schaumboch's tavern. Matthias Schaumboch became the main suspect in local residents' opinions.
It is believed Matthias would welcome the travelers inside with open arms. He would converse with the weary travelers while slowly intoxicating them with a potent homemade cider and false charm. Matthias sprung at his opportunity as his visitors became more intoxicated. He led the weary visitors to the adjacent barn, robbed the men of any valuable belongings, and ensured the travelers would never identify him by murdering them in cold blood.
A local passerby claimed to enter the Schaumboch barn after hearing peculiar sounds. Upon entering, she witnessed Matthias scrubbing blood from the barn’s wood walls. Realizing someone had entered, Matthias turned and hurled a tirade at the visitor to be gone. In his rage, Matthias picked up an axe and threatened to plant it deep in the skull of the unwelcomed visitor. Terrified, the visitor fled, never to return.
Rumors swirled regarding the sinister deeds of Mathias. Word circulated Matthias was taking extreme measures to conceal the evidence. Chopping up the bodies, scrubbing the bloodied barn walls, and disposing of the evidence on his property. The insinuations climaxed one day when a man peddling civil war artifacts and uniforms in the area had gone missing. It seemed the salesperson was alive and well one minute and gone the next. Schaumboch was witnessed in Reading attempting to sell civil war artifacts and uniforms only a week after the peddler’s disappearance.
Word circulated and authorities paid the mountain tavern a visit. However, once the authorities arrived, Schaumboch attempted to order the men off his land. His attempt at intimidation did not work. The officers checked the grounds quickly, ultimately finding no evidence of misdeeds.
A group of local people had had enough. They believed Schaumboch was guilty of the disappearances and turned to vigilante law. The residents took the matter into their own hands. It is said they concocted a plan to destroy the tavern and put Matthias on trial on their own. Upon hearing this, a local squire approached and reasoned down the angry mob. However, the news eventually made its way to Matthias. Knowing his exploits may be coming to an end, it is said he had a mental breakdown and his health began to fail. The rumors continued as Schaumboch's health deteriorated. Over time, Matthias became so ill he was confined to his bed. It became obvious his last breath was rapidly approaching. A man of the cloth was summoned to preside over the dying man. There, it is said, Matthias gave a confession that was eye-opening but not shocking.
The dying man looked into the clergyman’s eyes and confessed the rumors were true. He had murdered at least 11 weary, isolated travelers over the years. Matthias said the number was most likely higher, near 15, but he had lost the exact count. The clergyman pressed the dying man for details.
The murder weapon of choice - an axe.
The way to conceal his heinous deeds - dismemberment.
After intoxicating his visitors, Matthias would lead them into the barn, strike the men, rob them, and then cut the body into pieces. Some body parts he would take into the woods for the wild animals to consume the evidence. Matthias believed another necessary act was to decapitate the body, put the head in a stone-weighted sack and throw the evidence into one of the several wells on the property. This was necessary to ensure the victim’s identity was never known. There have even been claims Matthias resorted to the cannibalism of his victims. One claim insinuated Matthias attempted to serve a type of pork in sausage to patrons, but the taste seemed odd and was like nothing ever tasted before.
Matthias stated he lost count of the number of victims because, ultimately, it did not matter. He was at the mercy of the voices from the mountain who spoke to him day and night, ordering him to kill. The voices would take control, and Matthias was powerless to stop them.
The clergyman listened, but did not initially believe the confession. Matthias was dying of dementia and had been losing his thought process rapidly. Surely he was hallucinating from the effects of the lingering illness. Mathias’ health continued to wane until he took his last breath on March 10th, 1879.
Schaumboch was buried nearby in the New Bethel Cemetery. The weather was said to be calm the day of Mathias’ burial. Legend has it, as Matthias’ coffin was about to be lowered into the ground, with no warning, a lightning bolt crashed into the hole Mathias’ body was being lowered within. The pallbearers, terrified by the lightning bolt, dropped the coffin, causing it to turn. Mathais’ coffin was dropped, and he was buried face down. Witnesses have claimed lighting struck the spot where Mathias now calls home on several occasions since his burial.
If Matthias Schaumboch's confession of killing and dismemberment of at least eleven people is true, he would be one of the first serial killers in American history.
The next owners of the property were William Turner and his large family. Turner concocted a sweet goldenrod tea and served it to travelers as they traveled over the mountain. The family lived within the small tavern for close to twenty years. There have been claims the family found human bones partially buried on the property and bones and skulls within three wells on the property.
There have been many reported apparitions and paranormal occurrences within a close proximity to Schaumboch's Tavern. Some have claimed to see Matthias walking in the woods disposing of his victims’ remains. Visitors to the small building have heard wails and screams during the daytime and nighttime hours. Many skeptics have claimed the wails are simply area wildlife, however, those that have heard the noises are adamant it is the sound of a person in agony. Disembodied footsteps and voices have been heard throughout the tavern. It seems as though the spirits within enjoy quickly walking up behind visitors. Just as the visitor turns to see who is about to overtake them from behind, the approaching steps stop and no one can be seen.
It is believed the spirit of a young girl haunts the tavern as well. She was said to be deaf. However, legend has it the young girl enjoyed playing a penny whistle. It is said she tragically fell down a series of steps within the tavern and was killed in the fall. People have claimed to hear a young girl sobbing within the tavern. They have also claimed to feel a sad presence within the small structure.
Witnesses have claimed to see a wispy apparition within the former tavern, barn, and the grounds surrounding the small home. Some have also claimed to see Matthias walking in the woods, disposing of his victims’ remains. Claims of phantom lights and voices within the woods have also been experienced as well.
One of the most famous claims is the sighting of a glowing, towering apparition of a man-like form. The apparition is said to be close to 10 feet tall and has been witnessed emerging from the woods as though asserting its possession of the mountain. One claim came from a man who was driving down the mountain late one night. His vehicle began to act peculiar as he approached the tavern. The vehicle puttered out and lost power. Just then the man looked into his rearview mirror, there emerging from the forest near the tavern was a glowing figure of a man. The glowing apparition was about ten-feet tall.
These sightings seem to be connected with not just Matthias, but also the Lenni Lenape Indians. The tribe considered the mountain sacred and conducted rituals within its forested areas. Claims of the glowing apparition are said to be connected to the rituals and possibly the voices that demanded Mathias murder his victims. These otherworldly experiences have been witnessed from the late 1800’s up until current day.
The Blue Mountain Hermit
Matthias Berger wanted solitude. Coming from Germany in his early 20s, the lure of nature was too much for Matthias to pass on. He served in the army and afterwards devoted his life to religion and meditation. The five-foot four-inch hermit constructed a small hut near Drehersville upon Hawk Mountain. There, he began living a life of solitude. Berger took up the job of chopping wood to make the little money he felt he needed to pay a visit to the community for supplies. Berger may not be seen for several months at a time, but this was not unusual. The area townfolk knew Berger as a recluse and labeled him the Blue Mountain Hermit.
The recluse spent close to forty years living a life of solitude. His only companion was a dog. He lived mainly on “Blue Mountain Tea” that he made himself, bread, potatoes, and any game he could kill. Berger’s views would be radical by today’s standards. He believed any man that solved the mysteries of the skies and earth was possessed by the devil, but they worked for him. He stated his goal was to reach one-hundred years old living his life of solitude. Sadly, he would come up twenty-three years short by the hands of another.
On July 17th, 1890, a badly decomposed body was found atop Hawk Mountain. After a thorough examination, the conclusion was the body was that of Matthias Berger. The Blue Mountain Hermit had not been seen for just over three weeks. Next to the body lay a club covered in dried blood. The hermit’s shirt was torn to shreds, showing a life-or-death struggle had taken place. The hermit’s small shack was searched. It appeared as though the front door had been ripped from its hinges. Furniture was splintered and broken. Clothing and personal artifacts were thrown all over the small shelter as though it had been ransacked. It was common knowledge the Hermit was in possession of money saved from decades of work. The most widely accepted theory was an individual murdered the Blue Mountain Hermit during a robbery attempt. However, some theories have speculated there may have been a more sinister, otherworldly cause for the hermit’s violent demise.
Hawk Mountain is surely a special place. As inviting and beautiful as the area is, it is also scarred with tragedy and death. The next time you traverse up Hawk Mountain, be sure to bring binoculars and a camera. Also, make a stop at old Schaumboch's Tavern. Just be sure to keep your car running. You may need to make a quick getaway if a glowing 10 foot tall apparition wants to make its presence known or the former tavern owner brandishing an axe attempts to coerce you inside.