History & local legend
Moonshine United Zion Church in Lebanon County has a legend about six pairs of blue eyes appearing in its windows. The story says they become visible when someone walks counterclockwise around the church at midnight. It grew out of the notorious 1878 murder of Joseph Raber and the trial of the men called the Blue-Eyed Six.
Raber was killed in Indiantown Run by men involved in a scheme to collect his life insurance. During the trial, a reporter noticed that the six defendants all had blue eyes, giving the case its lasting nickname. Five were eventually executed at the county prison in Lebanon; one was acquitted.
The churchyard’s connection to the crime is Raber himself. He is buried at Moonshine, while the six accused men were buried elsewhere.
Sources
- Moonshine United Zion Church, its account of the window legend and the burial of Joseph Raber
- The Pennsylvania Rambler, visit to Raber’s grave and history drawn from the contemporary trial coverage
- Pinpoint Pennsylvania, The Blue-Eyed Six and Moonshine Church, Fall 2019
- Moonshine United Zion Church, public location and parish information
