The Bricked North Window: A Child's Secret of Harlow Creek

The Bricked North Window: A Child's Secret of Harlow Creek

Cold facts hide in Harlow Creek: a schoolbook from 1896 found open in the snow with no nearby footprints, a sixteen-word penciled confession by a ten-year-old that names the north window, and a school board that voted four-to-one to brick that very window shut. Which of those actions buried the truth, and why did a town choose to seal its only physical trace?

In this episode, we tell the sequence of discoveries and documents that link a death on February 14, 1899, a child's written witness, and a 1899 schoolboard resolution to close the north aperture - and we ask whether the bricked window was meant to hide a crime or simply to end an old mystery.

Person: Clara Zeller
Date: February 14, 1899
Location: Harlow Creek schoolhouse, Depot Street
Event: North window bricked over in December 1899 by a four-to-one school board vote
Document: Sixteen-word letter authenticated in 2017

- A McGuffey's primer labeled "Harlow Creek School, 1896" was found open in the snow on County Road 7 on the morning of February 9, 2019, with no footprints within twelve feet.
- Clara Zeller, age ten in 1899, wrote and placed a sixteen-word note in the primer: "I saw what James Greer did to Martin in the snow by the north window... Clara, age ten."
- The Harlow Creek schoolboard minutes record a December 1899 resolution to close the north aperture with matching brick, passed by a four-to-one vote; Henry Zeller voted no.
- The burial register records Martin Greer, age nine, cause of death "exposure," dated February 14, 1899, with an added line in a different hand: "found at the school."
- Document examiners authenticated Clara's pencil letter in 2017, confirming paper stock, pencil composition, and degradation consistent with late nineteenth-century origin.

To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.