Tragedy on South Mountain

We sometimes romanticize the past, somehow believing that it was better, gentler and more wholesome than our present age. Despite Steven Pinker’s thesis that life has grown increasingly less violent, it is hard for us to discern that with the constant barrage of depressing and violent news. As evidence, let me point to the following story that life in the past was violent and difficult: There is a sign along the PA233 just outside Centerville, between Carlisle and Shippensburg. A plain blue sign reads:

With no explanation of what tragedy befell these young girls, the sign does not indicate the story of desperation, grief and hunger that eventually led to the erection of the sign. It is also a story of generosity, kindness and concern by many people. Unfortunately, that generosity and kindness came too late for the Noakes family.  

The Babes in the Woods, as they would come to be known, we three girls found on South Mountain. Initial reports indicated that the girls, whose ages were estimate to be about 15, 10 and 7, did not meet with violent deaths; however, later news media reports suggested that they were asphyxiated. The Shippensburg News Chronicle speculated that it might have been an accidental death. The actual story is more gruesome. The three girls were sisters, Norma (aged 12), Dewilla (10) and Cordelia Noakes (8) were from California. They had traveled east with their father Elmo Noakes and their housekeeper-cousin Winifred Pierce (18). Their mother had died some years before and the Winifred, the niece of the mother, had become their caretaker and according to some sources romantically involved with Elmo. The theory developed by the police was that Noakes was penniless and desperate. Rather than allowing his daughter starve, he took their lives.

When the bodies were discovered it created a media sensation. As it proved increasingly difficult to identify the bodies, media reports began to filter across the country to help piece together a story. Sensational stories, gruesome pictures and wild speculation followed. The kind people of the Carlisle area began to treat the young victims reverently, donating money for a proper funeral and burial. Hundreds of people attended a funeral and many wept openly at the young girls' fate.
The police concluded that Elmo and Nora sold their remaining possessions (a winter coat) and bought a rusty gun. Elmo used the gun to kill Nora and then took his own life.

The girls, Nora and Elmo are all buried in Westminster Cemetery in Carlisle. On December 1, several hundred people turned out for the funeral of the young girls in Carlisle. The entire family are buried in Westminster Cemetery in Carlisle.