The Werewolf of Northumberland

On the Paul farm not far from Snyderstown in Northumberland County there lived an old hermit. The man had the local reputation of being a “woolfmann”, or werewolf. In the 1850s, the daughter, May, befriended the old hermit, who would often sit on a log and watch her tend the sheep. It was said that wolves which came in to prey on the sheep would be scared off by the sight of the old man. One night a local farmer shot a large gray wolf, which he tracked to a hut where the “woolfmann” lay dead. The area where his hut stood became known as “Woolfmannsgrob”, the werewolf’s grave. May Paul later claimed that in subsequent years, wolves would never prey on her sheep. At times, she said, a large gray wolf would appear, snarling at the interlopers. Was it the ghost of the “woolfmann” protecting her?