Chester County

Depending on what part of St. David's you are looking at, it might be in Chester, Delaware or Montgomery counties as it straddles the line where the three counties come together. The old original church now falls into Radnor township in Delaware county, but the bulk of the graveyard lies within Chester county in Easttown township, and, just to be confusing, the modern St. David's is in Montgomery county, across the street.

There are some families that just seem to attract the unusual and the historic Wayne family of Chester County seems to have garnered far more than their fair share of unusual happenings. From the bizarre nature of the Revolutionary general's burial ( a story I'll cover elsewhere) to the family's ancestral home, any place attached to the family seems to be affected.

A violent murder in 1855 has provided a wealth of stories in the North Coventry area. At the time of her murder, Hannah Shenkel (often spelled as Shingle in early records) was in her early 60's and had been living alone, a spinster, for years. In her early years, she was said to have been very attractive to the local young men, but she chose instead a solitary life and developed a reputation for being eccentric. On October 21, 1855, one of the few neighbors she trusted, Mr. John Miller, came by the house to check on her, but got no answer at her door.