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Reverend Jeremiah Ketcham
| “ | Of course! It's right here. It's history. John Ketchum. Listen. They ran him out of Salem for being a witch. He built his house exactly where you're living. You're living on some sort of special ground that... Devil worship. Death. Sacrifice. | „ |
| ~ Carolyn in the 1979 version of The Amityville Horror. |
| “ | I just read about this man, Ketcham... who tortured Indians on my land. In my basement. I read about how he slit his throat... so that his presence would live forever. | „ |
| ~ Kathy Lutz in the 2005 version of The Amityville Horror. |
John Ketcham (also spelt Catchum or Ketchum) was a real man who existed in Amityville, he was born in Washington County, Maryland to a Daniel Ketcham and Keziah Pigmon Lewis. In May 1784 when John was two his family moved from Maryland to Kentucky, settling down in Shelbyville. In 1803 John married Elizabeth Pearsy and had six children in Kentucky and another six in the Indiana Territory. He was a self taught surveyor, building contractor, and even judge. His official title Colonel John Ketcham was gained from his help in killing the native Americans who were in the Indiana Territory. He was also a founding father of Brownstown, Indiana and given the title of General Andrew Jackson's elector. This info is found athttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ketcham_(Indiana_surveyor)
Here is a link showing John's father and mother in WikiTree, though not all the children are listed https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ketchum-743
All Ketchums/Ketchams are all from this same family as the Ketcham family in America comes from 1590 Edward Ketcham from England; he immigrated to east America in 1629.
An extract from Chapter 11 of The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson states:
- One of the more notorious settlers who came to the newly-named Amityville in those days was a John Catchum or Ketcham who had been forced out of Salem, Massachusetts for practicing witchcraft. John set up residence within 500 feet of where George [Lutz] now lived, continuing his alleged devil worship. The account also claimed he was buried somewhere on the northeast corner of the property.
Ketcham was a common name in Suffolk County, New York during the 17th century. A page from the late George Lutz's website notes:
- According to RootsWeb.com - in 1622, a man named John Ketcham was born in England. He was the second of four children belonging to Edward Ketcham and Mary Hall. The family immigrated to Ipswitch, Massachusetts when he was about 20 years old. He visited Salem where he was "made free" via Salem's court system. It would seem he arrived here as an indentured servant. In 1646, he married. One year later, he purchased a plot of land from his father-in-law. One year after that, he became a representative of Ipswich to the Massachusetts Bay General Court at Boston.
This particular John Ketcham is not known to have had any links to witchcraft. In the November of 1974, Ronald DeFeo murdered six members of his family at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville. DeFeo's defense lawyer William Weber claimed that his research showed that the house was built on land owned at one time by John Ketcham. While the Ketcham family did own land in Amityville and there is a Ketcham Avenue in the town, claims of a direct link with 112 Ocean Avenue remain controversial.
The Amityville Horror website gives reason why there are so many Ketcham locations around Ocean Ave.: It was a descendent of this John Ketcham, by the name of Zebulon Ketcham, who would later become a major player in Amityville. Ketcham Avenue, near Ocean Avenue, is named for this Ketcham, not his forefather. Zebulon Ketcham joined the local militia during the Revolutionary War and in 1790, George Washington would have dinner at Ketcham's hotel, in what was then called Huntington South.
The 2005 film version of The Amityville Horror contains a character, a cult preacher named Reverend Jeremiah Ketcham, whose evil actions towards Native Americans in 17th century Amityville during his "mission" are said to be the cause of the haunting at 112 Ocean Avenue. In the film, Reverend Ketcham slit his own throat as part of a ritual that would allow him to live on forever in the house as a ghost, and his ghost reenacts his suicide in front of George Lutz, splashing blood all over him. This is a fictional speculation, and is based loosely on a claim made by the parapsychologist Hans Holzer that the haunting was caused by a Native American chief whose body was buried on the site of the house.
Ketcham was also a very well known family that lived in Amityville within the 18th century. Many historical buildings were owned by them and are now museums in Amityville. However, surviving members claimed that there was never a witch in the family. As to whether or not they ever owned the Ocean Ave. lot has never been verified.