History & local legend
York’s former county courthouse on Market Street hosted the January 1929 trial of John Blymire, one of the men charged in the killing of Nelson Rehmeyer the previous November. Blymire believed Rehmeyer had placed a hex on him and wanted a lock of his hair or his copy of The Long Lost Friend to break it.
That belief led Blymire and his companions to Rehmeyer’s home, where the confrontation ended in murder. At trial, the supposed curse became inseparable from the explanation of the crime.
Writer A. Monroe Aurand described Blymire yawning at about 7:40 on the third evening of the proceedings. The jury found him guilty and recommended life imprisonment. Afterward, Blymire reportedly said that he could finally sleep.
Sources
- A. Monroe Aurand Jr., An Account of the Witch Murder Trial, 1929, printed pp. 3–4, PDF pp. 99–100
- Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Commonwealth v. Curry, 1930, the companion case and testimony about the book and hair
- Society of Architectural Historians, York County Courthouse, Market Street
- York County Planning Commission, county facilities and administrative center address
- Esri, 28 East Market Street address point
