MILTON — Well, his name isn’t “Simon.”
Linda Stauder and her fiancé Gene Snyder Jr. found a little more than they expected while tackling a renovation project at their home at 720 Broadway.
The couple is replacing an old wall and sidewalk along their house with a deck. But the backhoe pulled out more than concrete, rocks and dirt.
A marble tombstone, with the name “Reuben Cooper,” inscribed as clear as day, was discovered among a scoupful of debris Saturday morning.
For Stauder, the find “validates what I’ve seen.”
She said she has seen Cooper’s ghost on several occasions, but referred to him as “Simon.”
“I’ve seen his presence; he’s not a scary ghost,” Stauder said, describing him as a hard-looking man in his 40s.
It turns out, Cooper died shortly before his 55th birthday, at 54 years, 11 months and 27 days, as inscribed. He passed away April 26, 1894.
“I never believed in ghosts until I lived in this house,” she said, who has lived there since 1994. She added she sees the spirit about twice a year and on the second floor. He often just walks through. Once, Stauder recalls, she wasn’t able to pull shut her front door when she was leaving the house because something was pulling from the other side. When she looked, though, nothing was there.
“That was kind of creepy.”
Snyder moved in seven years ago and has never seen the ghost. Stauder’s son, Cody, hasn’t seen it either, as far as she knows. Her other son, Justin, now 21, said he has, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience.
“I don’t remember much, but it’s pretty nuts now (finding the tombstone),” he said, now living in Lewisburg.
Stauder believes the old farm house she lives in was built circa 1830s, but doesn’t know if Cooper may have owned the property. She assumes it was commonplace to have a tombstone and grave right up against the house at that time. Between the house and the tombstone, Snyder said, is a layer of red clay mortar, which he believes is for protection.
At some point, someone built the wall and sidewalk over the grave area. Stauder said longtime neighbor Nancy Walters, who first moved in next door when she was 4-years-old, doesn’t remember the wall and sidewalk not being there. So, it’s believed that the addition was made quite some time ago. Stauder plans on doing some more research into one of the oldest remaining homes in the area. She and Snyder understand that the farmhouse once came with 65 acres of land in that vicinity.
The couple contacted Doug Diehl, the borough’s code enforcement officer, who made an inspection Monday morning. He said he hasn’t seen any thing like it. His recommendation is to not disturb the grave, if it is there.
Stauder and Snyder agree. When the deck is finished, they plan to replace the tomb out of respect.
“If it’s his burial spot, I’ll put it back in its rightful place,” Snyder said.
Stauder hopes the finding serves as a warning to others in town who may be doing some renovation projects at their old homes.
“Be careful where you dig.”

Jeff Shaffer: 570-742-9671
jeff@standard-journal.com