History & local legend
At St. Marys Catholic Cemetery in Elk County, Father Cooney’s gravestone became the focus of a childhood ghost story. Young visitors expected an image to appear on the stone in moonlight. What they expected to see depended on who told the tale: some described a figure carrying a woman, while others imagined blood on the marker.
Author Kathleen Valentine recalled hearing these stories while growing up in St. Marys. In a May 18, 2012 post, she remembered visiting the cemetery with other teenagers and the boys’ expectation that the girls would become frightened. Her recollection centers on the shared anticipation of the visit rather than an apparition she saw herself.
The cemetery register identifies the priest as Reverend Cornelius T. Cooney, born in 1892 and deceased in 1935. Valentine later transformed the childhood legend into fiction, changing his name to Father Cuneo.
Sources
- Kathleen Valentine, A Ghost Story Based in Legend, May 18, 2012, the town lore and her own high-school visit, syndicated author post
- Elk County PAGenWeb, surveyed St. Marys Catholic Cemetery register lists Reverend Cornelius T. Cooney, 1892–1935, ordained 1918
- Ann Heffner and Bob Nay, St. Marys Catholic Cemetery location and survey methodology
- GeoNames, Saint Mary’s Catholic Cemetery, Elk County
