Since ancient times, humans have loved a good tale. For thousands of years, these tales were told orally. In today’s world, many satisfy their love for a fantastic story through books, television or movies. But the oral tradition lives on in the tales we tell about our areas’ spooky spots. Rarely do we find detailed accounts of the stories of haunted areas. Whether it’s short details we tell about albinos in Hummel Park, schoolteachers murdering children with axes in Sarpy County, or seven sisters being murdered by their brother on Seven Sisters Road, these tales mostly live through word of mouth.
In the beginning of this series about Seven Sisters Road, we retold the tale of how Seven Sisters Road came to be haunted, next we gave tips on what to do if you wanted to experience it for yourself. Now, we will delve into whether there is any fact in this folktale and why seven is important in folktales.
Seven Sisters Road, Fact or Fiction?
Were there seven sisters with one brother ever?
There are actual records showing a family did live near here that had two parents, one brother and seven sisters.
Do any records exist that show tragedy hit this family?
No. In fact, dates of death can be found for the sisters. They all differ, with one sister even living into her 90’s! In one blog we ran across while looking into this, a historian did say that this family was notorious but definitely not for the brother murdering his sisters or anyone and stringing them up in trees on the seven hills.
Do seven hills even exist?
Yes and no. Seven hills did once exist. However, there are now only four, due to the passage of time and the building of a road where the path once stood.
What happened in the 1960s on Seven Sisters Road that got the police involved?
Over the course of a week in the 1960’s, multiple people reported seeing a monster along this stretch of road. Multiple reports talked about red, glowing eyes.
Where could the origin tale of the supernatural happenings on Seven Sisters Road have come from?
As we all know from our elementary school playgrounds, details can change when humans share stories, whether it’s from a game of telephone or the stories of crimes and tragedies, our love for a good tale leads facts to become fiction.
Here’s what we know about local history that could have led to the tale of the Seven Sisters and the road they, and a red eyed monster, now haunt.
- Otoe County had five lynchings happen during the 1800’s. This ties it with Omaha for the highest number in the state of Nebraska. Just as some believe that the tale of lynchings at Hummel Park in Omaha were born from the lynchings that happened in Omaha, it could tie into the tale of the seven sisters being hanged by their brother (or father, the tale can differ) in Nebraska City area.
- Specifically, one of these lynchings could attribute specifically to the Seven Sisters Road tale. On July 23, 1887, Lee Shellenberger was lynched after being dragged from the jail by a masked group of a hundred or more men. The crime Lee had been charged with and ultimately was executed by vigilante justice was the murder of his eleven year old daughter, Margaret “Maggie” Shellenberger.
- Newspapers at the time reported that Lee and his wife (Maggie’s stepmother) had murdered Maggie in a way to attempt it appearing as a suicide. Their motive? Maggie had a valuable property as an inheritance. Her throat was slashed. Due to the way the body was found, it was quickly determined it had not been suicide.
- Maggie had a brother. Newspapers reported that the Shellenbergers had planned to wait a bit and then murder him as well, dispose of the body in the woods and act like he was a runaway to get his share of the inheritance as well.
- A newspaper account says Lee’s farm was three miles south of Nebraska City. The reported distance from Nebraska City to Seven Sisters Road is three miles.
The original story has so many components of the already existing fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel. Why the conversion to seven sisters? Maybe tales of the family that did exist with seven sisters and one brother merged into Shellenberger’s story. The actual existence of seven sisters may have been too tempting for an eyewitness to not weave it into the tale of poor Maggie for future generations.
The Power of Seven
- Seven has always been believed to be a number of power, stretching back to ancient religions worldwide. This could be because of its status as a prime number. The fact that with the naked eye seven planets could be seen in the sky could contribute to the belief in seven. Rainbows have seven colors. Ladybugs have seven spots. There are seven notes in a music scale. Seven has captivated us forever. Our research of the Seven Sisters Road tale, multiple other spiritually active spots in the nation have tales told involving the number seven (look up the House of Seven Ladders). Seven is a common theme in folktales and other stories that have been told through time. There were seven dwarves in Snow White, seven brothers feature in folktales from around the world, the Irish believe that the seventh son of the seventh son will have powers.
- Some believe the reason for the importance of seven is that we have seven chakras.
- Others believe it is because it represents the sum of the spiritual realm (represented by 3) and the material (4) realms.
Regardless of how the local lore of Seven Sisters Road came to be, many agree it is one of the scarier spots in Nebraska. Hearthside Candles & Curios would love to hear about your experience traveling down Seven Sisters Road outside of Nebraska City!
