SCREAMS OF BATTLE

Possibly the most unnerving experience one can have at Gettysburg is actually hearing – by ear or by EVP recording – the echoes of that horrific battle and its ghostly cries of pain and death. Such was the memorable experience of Mary Adelsberger as told to authors Jack Bochar and Bob Wasel in their book, More Haunted Gettysburg: Eyewitness Accounts of the Supernatural.
Mary had gone to Gettysburg with her two grown daughters on a cold February evening. There was plenty of snow in the ground, but the three women were determined to brave the weather and visit the battlefield monuments. On Wadsworth Avenue, they found a marker that said “95th New York Infantry, July 1, 1863.” Almost immediately, they began to hear men’s voices in idle conversation, as though they were sitting around a campfire. Reluctantly, they chose to explore the woods to see if they could find the source of the voices. Suddenly, they heard a voice shout, “Get up! Get up! Go! Go!” followed by the command, “Charge!”
The women were terrified, to say the least, and ran out of the woods as quickly as their legs could carry them. Yet behind them they could hear the agonized cries of men, screaming and moaning.
Mary and her daughters retreated to their hotel but, astonishingly, decided to go back to the woods, even though it was 12:30 in the morning. “I agreed to go with them,” Mary said, “but with a couple of stipulations: we would drive, not walk; I would not get out of the car; and one of them had to promise to stay in the car with me at all times!”
With those conditions agreed to, Mary and her daughters drove back to Wadsworth Avenue. “Jen opened the car door,” Mary said, “stepped out, and before she even had a chance to close the door, I heard it – the most horrible, blood-curdling screams and moans that anyone could possibly imagine!”
That was all the women needed to speed away in their car, their faces wet with tears.

THE PHANTOM ON HORSEBACK
Did you know that George Washington is credited by some as helping the Union Army in one of its most decisive engagements at Gettysburg? Wait a minute... George Washington? He was a general during the Revolutionary War and died in 1799, well before the Civil War. Yet Washington – or rather his ghost – is said to have appeared to the 20th Maine Division as they approached Gettysburg.
En route to the battlefield, these soldiers reached a fork in the road and were unsure as to which direction to take. Suddenly, an imposing figure wearing a tri-cornered hat appeared on horseback to lead them. At first they thought he was a Union general, but noticed that both the man and his horse seemed to emit an eerie glow. Furthermore, some recognized the man as strongly resembling George Washington, whom they knew from his famous portraits. Hundreds of the soldiers verified that they had seen this phantom.
The ghost led the division of soldiers to a strategic position at Little Round Top, where they were able to repel a flank of Confederates.
So well-known became this report of Washington’s ghost that Secretary of War Stanton later conducted a formal investigation of the matter. In his testimony, Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, who was in charge of the troops in question, said, “We know not what mystic power may be possessed by those who are now bivouacking with the dead. I only know the effect, but I dare not explain or deny the cause. Who shall say that Washington was not among the number of those who aided the country that he founded?”

THE PHANTOM OF DEVIL’S DEN

There is a large, distinctive outcropping of rock in one section of the Gettysburg battlefield known as Devil’s Den. Dozens of ghost sightings have been reported here by tourists over the years. One of the most well-known is that of a barefoot man dressed in a butternut-colored shirt and floppy hat, which fits the description of a rag-tag unit from Texas who participated in the battle. Those who have met this spirit report that he always says the same thing: “What you’re looking for is over there” as he points toward the Plum Run. He then vanishes into thin air.

THE PHANTOM SURGERY

Mark Nesbitt, one of the foremost authorities and authors on the ghosts of Gettysburg, relates one of the area’s most gruesome experiences. Pennsylvania Hall at Gettysburg College has been the site of many Civil War era ghost encounters, but perhaps none can compare to what two college administrators saw one night.

One hundred years previous, the building had been used as a field hospital for many of the fierce battle’s wounded. But on this night, as the two administrators were taking the elevator from the fourth floor down to the first, the long-ago nightmare wasn’t even on their minds.

Inexplicably, the elevator passed the first floor and continued on to the basement. When the doors opened, the administrators could scarcely believe their eyes. What they knew to be storage space was replaced by a scene from the hospital: dead and dying men were lying about on the floor; blood-covered doctors and orderlies were rushing about chaotically, trying desperately to save their lives. No sound emanated from the ghastly sight, but both administrators saw it clearly.

Horrified, they frantically pushed the elevator button to close the doors. As the doors closed, they said, one of the orderlies looked up and directly at them, seeming to see them, and with a pleading expression on his face.

GHOSTS AS SACHS BRIDGE

Constructed in 1854 and originally known as Sauck’s Bridge, this 100-foot expanse over a creek not far from the battlefield also has its share of ghost encounters. One I’m very familiar with is told by Stacey Jones, founder and director of the Central New York Ghost Hunters. As I am affiliated with that group, I have heard Stacey recount this story many times, but she tells it best, perhaps, to our friend Jeff Belanger in his book, Ghosts of War.

Members of Stacey’s group were visiting Gettysburg in May, 2004 (this was before I joined the group). It was a warm Saturday night when they decided to venture out to Sachs Bridge to see if they could get some interesting photos or EVP. After they were there for awhile, a strange fog rolled in, seemingly out of nowhere. “And then we started seeing lights,” Stacey told Jeff. “They were coming from the field across from Sachs Bridge. These orange lights were coming from the ground and going up in an arch about 12 feet in the air and then coming back down again.”

The group then began to hear the sounds of neighing horses and what sounded like the distant rumble of cannon fire. “That lasted about 20 minutes,” Stacey said, “and then the fog disappeared and everything stopped.”

The group left the bridge, but seven returned later that night, thinking there might be more to experience. They weren’t wrong.

It began with people-sized shadows that seemed to be darting about in the field of tall grass across from the bridge. This was followed by a return of the arching orange lights that shot up from the grass, and then the unexplained smell of flowers and a penetrating cold. For a while, all was quiet. “There were no more shadow people,” Stacey recalls, “and no more lights, but we heard men’s voices out in the field. We couldn’t make out what they were saying. And we could hear movement in the tree line. The voices came right up beside us on the tree line... and then we started hearing the horses again.”

Finally, when members of the group heard the sound of a man growling quite close by, they hightailed it out of there.

GETTYSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA IS well established as one of the most haunted areas in the United States. During its three days of intense battle ending on July 3, 1863, more than 7,800 brave Union and Confederate soldiers lost their lives, and tens of thousands more were wounded and crippled. American against American. It’s no wonder that hundreds upon hundreds of ghosts have been sighted and haunting activity experienced at this National Military Park. Tourists and ghost hunters have snapped photos with enigmatic images; dozens of fascinating EVP (electronic voice phenomena) recordings have been made; and one of the most interesting and compelling ghost videos was shot there.

Following is but a small sampling of ghost encounters people have had at Gettysburg:

JEREMY’S GHOST AT THE FARNSWORTH HOUSE INN

It’s been called one of the most haunted inns in America. Built in 1810, this brick structure is said to be the dwelling place of several Civil War era ghosts, and many people – both staff and guests alike – can attest to strange goings-on there.

My friend Jerry visits Gettysburg often and has stayed at the Farnsworth a few times, with interesting results. A few years ago, he stayed in the Sara Black room, located in an added-on section of the inn. “I was lying on the bed when all of a sudden it shook,” he says. “It was a pretty good jolt and that bed is pretty heavy.”

In March, 2009, Jerry returned to Farnsworth with his girlfriend, Deb, but this time booked the McFarlane room, which is in the original part of the house and where the ghost of a little boy named Jeremy allegedly visits on occasion. “It was Sunday morning and we were supposed to check out by 11 a.m.,” Jerry says. “We had not experienced anything paranormal in the room, so as I was getting out of the shower I asked Jeremy if he could give Deb an experience before we left – and I added a ‘please’ at the end of my sentence. When I opened the door and walked out of the bathroom, Deb asked if that was the first time I walked out of the bathroom. I said yes and asked why. She said that before I came out, she heard someone walk from the bathroom to the closet. She wasn't dreaming and she said it was inside the room. I then told her what I asked Jeremy. Is it a coincidence? I don't think so. I think Jeremy or someone was hanging around and heard me.”

THE GHOST OF LITTLE ROUND TOP

Civil War battles have been the subject of many motion pictures, but one of the best and most moving was 1993’s Gettysburg. During the filming of that movie, much of which was done right on location at the actual battlefields, some of the participants had an unexplained encounter. Because the film required so many extras to serve as soldiers, the production hired re-enactors who regularly portray the Union and Confederate armies.

During a break in filming one day, several of the extras were resting at Little Round Top and admiring the setting sun. They were approached by grizzled old man, who they described as wearing a ragged and scorched Union uniform and smelling of sulfur gunpowder. He talked to them about how furious the battle was as he passed around spare rounds of ammunition, then went on his way.

At first, the extras assumed he was part of the production company, but their minds changed when they looked closely at the ammunition he gave them. They took the rounds to the man in charge of giving out such props for the movie, and he said they did not come from him. It turns out the ammunition from the strange old man were genuine musket rounds from that period

Hall of Records is reportedly a library buried under the Great Sphinx of Giza, which is in the Giza pyramid complex.It is rumoured to house the knowledge of the Egyptians by papyrus scrolls , much as the Great Library of Alexandria housed Grecian knowledge.There is debate as to whether the Hall actually exists or not, but all excavation in the area has so far yielded no conclusive results.Though repeatedly denied by mainstream Egyptologists, the mythology of the Hall of Records is a popular one among those who hold alternative theories of Ancient Egypt while conducting scientific inquiry in the mysteries of that time. The sources on which this topic is based are not robust. The origins of the story about the "Hall of Records" are unknown, though the idea that there is a cavity around the sphinx dates back to Pliny the Elder. In Pliny's Natural History, he states that "[the Egyptians] are of the opinion that a King Harmais is buried inside it."The psychic Edgar Cayce had several psychic readings of the Hall of Records. He claimed that in 1998 the Hall would be discovered and opened and humanity would move into a new era of prosperity. Cayce also suggested that the opening would coincide with the Second Coming of Christ.

According to some, the Hall was not the work of Ancient Egyptians at all but another society (this has ranged from advanced prehistoric societies to a superior race of intelligent beings). Accordingly, this society sealed the Hall away with scrolls of their accumulated knowledge at about 10,500 BC—the last period of time when the constellation of Leo was located between the Sphinx's paws when it rose in the night sky. Skeptics have relegated such notions to be much like the supposed inhabitants of Atlantis in Hellenic Myth. The study of and the search for the Hall may fall under the category of pseudoarchaeology if such activity does not use methodology that is part of the established scientific method; Bauval and other investigators had been specially care about this point, making clear distinction between precise methodologic scientific hypothesis and the rest of possible subsequent implications and speculations. Also of note, following Cayce, there are two other Halls of records rumored; one in or around Bimini, and another in the Yucatan jungle, most likely the ruins of Piedras Negras.

Tulpa is a Tibetan Term, and refers to beings that originate on the mind and then, through intense belief and visualizations, actually become physical relatives.
It's not the case of a person or group of people becoming so convinced, through rumours and legends,that they all imagine the same entity out of some kind of shared hallucinations. It's a kind of one mind, or several minds, creating a very real physical real living being that eventually takes on life of its own, gathering strength as more and more people begin believing in its existence and usually becoming even harder to get rid of than it was to visualize in the first place.

While some may joke that Ohio is hell on Earth, local lore suggests that the Devil may have once taken up residence in the Buckeye state. If this really is the Devil's stomping grounds, it looks like hell has finally frozen over.

Did the Prince of Darkness once reside in northwest Ohio? If local history has anything to say about it, there might be a strong case for that claim. Although you won’t find Lucifer’s exact street address in the local telephone book nowadays, there are a few historical speculations that he might have had a swamp settlement.

Before Ohio became a state in 1803, the northwestern part of the state was completely covered by a low, wet swamp, later referred to by white settlers as The Great Black Swamp, due to the dark murky waters. The area, 40 miles wide by 120 miles long, was made 20,000 years ago by a migrating glacier and was a true hassle for the early pioneers. Living in the area was impossible, and traveling through the area was extremely risky for those brave enough to face wolves, snakes, and biting flies that carried cholera, typhoid and malaria. Even local Ottawa and Shawnee Indians did not even reside in the swamp and only used it to hunt. Although no human could tolerate the swamps deadly elements, it might have been the dreadful yet ideal place for the likes of Satan.

According to the Pioneer Scrap-book of Wood County Ohio, originally printed in 1910, an area of swamp known as the "Devil’s Hole" was the suspected location of these mysterious happenings. In 1811, as General and later president William Henry Harrison and his troops made their way from Sandusky to Ft. Meigs in what is now the present town of Perrysburg, they were stopped in their tracks near present day Bowling Green Ohio by the impassible swamp. Harrison, very aware of the dangers of getting stuck in the swamp, sent an unnamed scout to survey as much as he could and report back to him. The scout then set out and after a few hours became lost in the swamp. After a full day of fearfully struggling through this "man-trap", he eventually found his way back to his original trail. When asked of his whereabouts, the fearful scout said he had got lost in the "Devil’s Hole". Although the name was born, the legend of Devil's Hole was far from finished.

In 1859, the Ohio General Assembly passed a law that required citizens of Northwest Ohio to participate in draining this great swamp of standing, disease-infested water. However, with the Civil War looming in the southern states, little progress came to draining this deadly area. It wasn’t until the late 1860s that Northern civil war soldiers were commissioned to survey the area and find the most sensible routes to create crude wood plank roads to aid in the massive overhaul expected for the landscape.

According to local lore, a survey team of six men was commissioned to survey and document an area 11 miles north of Bowling Green, Ohio presently known as "Devils Hole Road". The men were adequately prepared for the uncertain journey with compasses, tents, and survival equipment and the best medicine for the swamp’s many diseases. However after what should have been a 3-day round trip journey, the men were never heard from again. Obviously very concerned for the survey team, the general in charge commissioned another smaller team to find the whereabouts of the first survey team. The second team was dealt the same fate. Gone, without a trace. Could both teams have got stuck in the "Devil’s Hole" and were unable to escape?

Another incident of the mysterious area appeared in the September 1872 issue of Bowling Green’s Sentinel newspaper. According to the article, a group of marauders on the run from the law might have hid out near Devil's Hole. The article says that "Buried in the heart of the dense woods some miles to the northwest of this place, known as 'Devil’s Hole', two men recently discovered a small, low built shanty, covered with bark and entirely obscure from the vision of man or beast by the dense undergrowth, at no greater distance than ten paces. It is off from any road and there is a single path leading to and from it. Just behind it, a hole had been dug for water, and near it are troughs cut in a log as if for the purpose of feeding horses." "…Everything about it denotes that the utmost precautions of secrecy have been taken. From its location and other circumstances, persons living nearest the locality are suspicious that it is a rendezvous or stopping place for horse thieves." However, no human was ever found to be actually living there. Was it simply a horse thief drop spot or a drainage ditch to hell?

Finally, in the fall of 1992, I was driving home one early evening from my freshman classes at Bowling Green State University to Perrysburg, when I spontaneously decided to take the alternative to I-75 and drive down Route 199. The drive was going just fine until I reached the intersection of Route 199 and Devil's Hole Road. Suddenly without any warning, a quick flash and a loud bang in front of me made me jump out of my seat. I almost flipped the jeep into the 15-foot deep drainage ditch next to the road. I brought the Jeep to a stop and got out to investigate. I was amazed at what I saw. A piston from my engine had actually shot through the hood of the car and went flying into the deep ditch beside me. The Jeep engine was smoking and the car was completely ruined. It took a good 10 minutes before a passerby stopped and promised to notify someone to come out with a tow truck and rescue my car and me. Was this the work of a crummy mechanic that helped me work on my Jeep, or was it something much more evil?

Coincidence? Maybe. Regardless, Devil's Hole Road might be noted as the Great Black Swamp’s version of the Bermuda Triangle. Even local history professors at B.G.S.U were unaware of any history of Devil's Hole Road. Tina Amos, secretary of the History Department, said that although the professors are unaware of any stories about Devil's Hole Road, it is a bit noteworthy. "The only thing I know about Devil's Hole Road is that they have a very difficult time keeping the road signs up -- they're a popular item for dorm rooms, etc. Apparently they have now painted the name onto the bridge abutments," she said. Needless to say, Devil's Hole Road still remains a local legend niched in local history as an unexplained phenomenon.

Drunks, murder, and cholera. Yep, it’s time to travel back to Ohio for another bone chilling ghost story. Come along as we visit the Columbian House; a restaurant and inn that is wildly popular with both the living and the dead.

Some places were just meant to be haunted. Some places just can’t shake the restless souls from the past that refuse to die over time. Some places, like the Columbian House of Waterville, Ohio, have a 175-year history of ghosts that just doesn’t go away. It has absorbed itself into the very foundation of this yellow building and has become an eerie particle that has made this present day restaurant an infamous spot for ghost story glory.

This historically recognized place has all the classic Hollywood movie examples of a haunted house. Over the years, many guests, staff members and owners of the Columbian House have reported a variety of unexplained phenomena. They include weird cold spots, sounds of loud footsteps and pounding fists in the night, and ghosts that appear in the form of cloud-like smoke. And it doesn’t stop there. Claims of objects that inexplicably fly across a room, and the frightful feeling of being nudged by something unseen are nothing groundbreaking to the locals who have heard these different stories in one context or another. Things that give your goosebumps goosebumps.

One of the things that is unusual about this building is that there are many stories and old gossip that speculate on who or what may be responsible for what has been going on inside. It’s really up to you to decide.

The History

In 1828, pioneer John Pray had completed his construction of the Columbian House: a small trading post complete with tavern and overnight hostel. Located in Waterville, Ohio, along the banks of the Maumee River, the building itself was constructed of 14-inch hand-hewn black walnut beams laid together with wooden pegs in true early-American architectural style.

Waterville, originally a small 50-lot village established by white settlers in 1817, is located 15 miles south of what is present-day Toledo, Ohio. After its construction, the Columbian House quickly became the centerpiece of this young village and was a popular stagecoach stopping post that catered to weary travelers trekking between Fort Wayne and Detroit. With the opening of the busy Erie and Miami canals in 1843 (the same year Pray sold it), the building had served as a vital stop for people who desperately needed shelter to escape the extreme summer humidity and unforgiving Ohio winters.
Columbian House

The Columbian House was in an ideal location for a man like Pray to establish a business, especially since it was in the area of the village that would become the town square and main social gathering place for the locals. In 1837, Pray added a third story that was used as the town’s ballroom and he converted the second story into a multi-use floor that held a single jail cell for prisoners in transit as well as a dressmaker’s shop, school, drugstore and doctor's office.

Over the years, the building has switched hands many times and has seen its share of changes. In the early 1900s Waterville residents wanted the building destroyed because of the alleged evil that lurked within its walls. Maybe this lore is what prompted the Columbian House’s most famous guest, Henry Ford, to throw his 1927 Halloween party there.

Despite their attempts, every time the destruction of the Columbian House looked inevitable, a new owner was always found and new restorations were completed on top of old ones. Although there are still signs of early crude building tactics (such as loose wooden floorboards) that would be a modern architect’s nightmare, the building has stood the test of time to have seen many bizarre events and have hosted thousands of visitors, some of who might still be there.

Sheepherders, Crazy Women, the Town Drunk, and Cholera

The first reported incident of unusual activity was recorded in the early 1840s. Legend has it that a traveling sheepherder checked into the Columbian House for a night’s stay. The next morning he had vanished without a trace, leaving the town residents baffled at the mysterious disappearance until 30 years later when a local farmer confessed on his deathbed to the senseless murder and abduction of the sheepherder. He described the location of the body in Waterville and the remains were exhumed and the mystery solved. Some say this might have been the beginning of the lingering ghostly spirits. Is it possible that the sheepherder’s soul is still trapped in the sleeping quarters, his moaning apparition wandering the halls during the night, waiting for his body to return?

Another story of unusual activity might be traced to a tale based in the late 1880s. A local 28-year old woman was reportedly so upset by her stepfather’s cruel treatment that, in an attempt to kill him, she accidentally stabbed her adoring stepbrother with sewing shears. The stepfather punished her harshly by imprisoning her in an inn room at the Columbian House. The woman remained there for a period of time, locked in one of the rooms. Maybe the temporarily insane woman’s intense, angry energy was so powerful that it trapped her spirit within the structure’s walls and will not leave until she receives fair justice from her evil stepfather.

A third story is that the jail room might be haunted by an old town drunk. Apparently this local alcoholic would become so intoxicated and become so belligerent that he would be locked in the jail room overnight to sober up. Guests of the house would hear him pounding on the door on a nightly basis demanding to see a doctor with claims he was ill. Almost every night was the same routine that quickly grew very annoying to the inn’s paying customers that wanted quiet. One night in particular, his pounding was extremely loud and went on longer than normal. Clearly irritated by his crying wolf, the other guests ignored his cries and cursed his name. The next morning he was found dead in the locked room with no explanation as to why. Since then, that particular jail room door will not remained closed no matter the attempt. If the black walnut door does manage to remain closed, fists are heard loudly banging against it from the inside. Was that night’s batch of corn whisky a bit too harsh? Was he trying to escape something in the room that was really making him sick?

Another story says that a traveler walked into the tavern at the Columbian House and after a few minutes, dropped dead on the spot from the dreaded cholera. Because it was such a contagious disease and could be extremely dangerous to the small community, residents acted quickly and placed the diseased body into a pine coffin that apparently was too small. Aware that there was no time to make a new coffin that would fit the corpse, the residents folded his body into the box, forcing it to fit in order to close it and bury the man. Could it perhaps be possible that the diseased man’s immortal karma wanders the dwelling because he was improperly laid to rest?

Over the years many guests of this alleged "haunted house" have reported different incidents that could not be explained, but were very noteworthy nonetheless. Some people have reported to have seen an actual apparition. According to a local newspaper article, guests have seen a ghost in the form of a light. Others that have stayed there have said they have felt small jabs and hands patting them although no other person was around.

Some people describe being followed by something from room to room. One staff member of the Columbian House claimed that the ghost is like "a cloud or a puff of smoke" that usually hangs around in doorways and then disappears. He said that he has also felt the classic “cold spots” and has personally witnessed furniture he had arranged suddenly out of position moments after leaving the room.

Another unusual incident occurred in the 1970s when the owners of the Columbian House hosted a wedding reception. Photographs were taken of the bride and groom in front of the fireplace on the first floor. When the pictures were developed, a bone chilling "image of a face" was seen in the fireplace.

Another unusual reporting of this "presence" happened around the 1930s when Toledo antiques dealer Charles Capron moved into the Columbian House for business purposes as well as to reside. Capron, described as a serious man of intellect and reason, had heard the local lore of how the building was haunted but dismissed any such notion as nonsense. Within a matter of a few days, Capron began hearing different things in the middle of the night such as cries for help, moaning and groaning, and footsteps outside his door.

No longer desiring to lose another night’s sleep due to these weird noises, Capron had a work associate spend one night in a room at the end of the hall opposite his bedroom on the second floor. He needed to know he was not going crazy. He instructed the associate not to come out of the room at all during the night and to lock his door from the inside. He also locked all of the outside doors so that nobody could get inside the building.

Moments later as Capron lay down to sleep, he began to hear moans and groans along with heavy footsteps. After a few frightful moments of this, Capron flung his bedroom door wide open only to glance down the now empty hallway to his associate’s door. Hearing Capron open the door, the associate also opened his door with a terrified look on his face. They swapped their immediate experiences and swore to each other that neither had left the room.

Eventually, the pair went back to their rooms and moments later the footsteps and the moaning continued. The noises proceeded to make their way to the first floor where Capron had many of his antiques. Suddenly, there was a loud crash that sounded to the antique dealer of a large mirror breaking. Presumably very scared, Capron and his work associate waited until morning to go downstairs to clean up the mess of shattered glass. However, to their surprise, the mirror that Capron thought had been broken was hanging from the wall, untouched and unbroken.

Over the next few years Mr. Capron became less interested in his antiques and more with his haunted building. He restored it, made major repairs, and opened it up again to the public as an inn. From this time until he abandoned the building around 1940, guests and workers swore that they had witnessed and heard ghosts inside the establishment.

Time passed and this historic building was left alone, only to have the windows broken by vandals and the inside of the house exposed to the harsh Ohio winter elements. The walls were literally crumbling. It appeared that the ghosts had finally accomplished their goals and had driven the living away. It was not until 1943 that Ethel Arnold and her son George from Findlay, Ohio bought it and once again saved it from the wrecking ball. They repaired the building and re-opened the inn, spirits and all. Although Ethel herself never claimed to believe in the ghost stories that locals had passed down to her, her son and daughter-in-law Jacqueline testified otherwise.

In the 1970s George and Jacqueline Arnold acquired the building, converted it into a restaurant and furnished it with period pieces to give the restaurant its authentic, original look. The Arnolds were very straightforward with the reporters that asked them about their experiences both working and living on the site.

"We’re haunted", Mrs. Arnold claimed in a 1980 interview. Both her and her husband as well as staff members of the restaurant have "seen the presence", which they say had been spotted in the downstairs hallway or near the fireplace. She stated that, “most of the appearances of the ghost occur in this front waiting room," but pointed out that, "the ghost has plenty of room to move around."

One story she recalled in the interview was the time when a non-believer friend of hers came over to dispel the alleged ghost stories and was suddenly "nudged or poked" from behind. When she turned around to see the culprit, nobody was there. That quickly challenged her beliefs in the ghost.

Another story involved her daughter walking down a hallway when she "swore that someone was walking behind her and she stopped in her tracks." Suddenly, she "felt someone run into her, but there was no one there."

According to a different article in a local newspaper a few years later, the eldest Arnold son recalled that several years before he "saw an apparition with the general appearance of a person" near the downstairs bathroom. Still another story revealed that a waitress witnessed a pair of eyeglasses that "seemed to float" from a kitchen counter to her feet.

"We find all kinds of things-prankish things," said Mrs. Arnold. "Doors are locked or unlocked when there was nobody there. Things have disappeared forever with no reasonable explanation," she added.

Today, the Columbian House is still open on certain nights for a great home cooked meal served by candlelight. The restaurant, located at 3 North River Road in Waterville has remained a popular destination, complete with traditional furnishings that make it appear like you are stepping into an early 1800s time warp. The wait staff and owners are happy to show ghostly photos (on display) and are certain to share stories on the building’s rich history and its popularity with both the living and the dead alike.



Sources-
"Eye Opener..on Restless Spirits" -Kate Jamieson, unknown year and publication
"Ghosts Among Visitors to the Columbian House" -Sentinel-Tribune 11/29/81
"Ghost Lives with Area Family" -Sheila Hart-The Collegian,10/31/80
"Ancient Hostelry Again Gives Ghosts the Pitch" -Jean Douglas-Toledo Blade,6/28/48

San Francisco is famous worldwide for its Golden Gate Bridge, trolley cars, and drag queens. But not too long ago, a different kind of queen sauntered up those treacherous 90 degree hills; none other than the famous Voodoo Queen of San Francisco, Mary Ellen Pleasant.

Born into slavery near Augusta, Georgia in 1814, Mary Ellen had a difficult and unfortunate start in life. As a child, she witnessed the cruel torture and murder of her mother that left her as a young orphan. Although it is unknown exactly how Mary Ellen escaped from slavery, she managed to escape to New Orleans and was later sent to live as an indentured servant with a liberal Quaker family in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
Through her time spent with the Quaker family, Mary Ellen learned the skills and wit necessary to be successful on her own. With their help, she began a small business in Boston, where she later met her first husband, James Smith.

James Smith was heavily involved in helping slaves escape their captors and Mary Ellen soon, too, became fully involved in this work. Though she admired him greatly, James Smith was cruel to Mary Ellen and treated her badly up until his death sometime around 1844. His symptoms were later discovered to be those of poisoning and although many were suspicious of Mary Ellen, charges were never brought against her.

As Mary Ellen continued her work helping slaves escape to their freedom, her life became increasingly dangerous. In 1850, she was forced to flee to New Orleans and go into hiding. It was there that she met the famous Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Marie Laveau.

Marie Laveau had devised an ingenious system of gaining inside knowledge and secrets about the powerful New Orleans elite. She used that knowledge as blackmail to gain wealth, power, and influence. Over a short period of time, Marie Laveau rose to the height of New Orleans’s power structure and began to use her status and influence to aid colored and enslaved people. Mary Ellen took care to learn Marie Laveau’s methods, knowing that they might one day be useful to her.

In 1852, Mary Ellen decided to flee one final time, escaping to the foggy streets of San Francisco. Because she lacked her Freedom Papers, she used her fair complexion to her advantage and lived as a white person. Using the techniques she learned from Marie Laveau, she too gained the secrets of San Francisco’s wealthy and elite. She knew so many of San Francisco’s darkest secrets that even the San Francisco News wrote that, “Folks took care not to snub her. You never knew when she would find out something about you.” Under the guise of “voodoo magic”, she became feared by many and was soon able to leverage this fear to gain freedom, rights, and privileges for many of San Francisco’s colored residents.

During her years in San Francisco, she lived in a mansion that quickly became known as “The House of Mystery” because of the wild, secretive parties that were rumored to have been held there. It was a grand old mansion at the corner of Bush and Octavia Street, bordered by a grove of six eucalyptus trees that Mary Ellen planted herself.

While the title of “Voodoo Queen” helped her climb to the upper ranks of San Francisco’s elite and amass a fortune that peaked at $30,000,000, this title would also be her downfall. After getting involved in a disastrous lawsuit against Senator William Sharon, she soon became the object of gossip and suspicion. Her good name was ruined and her title of “Voodoo Queen” brought on connotations of shame and disgrace. Those who once regarded her with respect began spreading horrible rumors about her. According to the San Francisco News, “People said she was a blackmailer, a procuress, a thief, a horsewhipper of children.”

After losing her status and power, Mary Ellen’s fortune quickly began to disappear. She spent the final years of her life nearly penniless, wandering outside the house she once owned and sitting under the six eucalyptus trees she planted when she first came to San Francisco.

Today, many believe that the spirit of Mary Ellen still wanders the corner of Bush and Octavia Street, often appearing between those great eucalyptus trees. Some say that they hear her screaming or see a glimpse of her figure walking between the trees. Others say they feel a sudden sensation of pouring rain or what feels like someone spitting on them. It is also widely believed that if you make a specific wish on that corner, it will surely come true.

Regardless of whether or not these accounts of Mary Ellen’s hauntings are actually true, it is certain that her spirit will always be an important part of San Francisco. While many tried to ruin the good name of Mary Ellen Pleasant, her extraordinary dedication to the freedom of slaves and to the equal rights of all humans will always be remembered as her greatest legacy. Although Mary Ellen may not have been a true “Voodoo” Queen, it is without question that she will always be the original Queen of San Francisco and the true Mother of Civil Rights in California.

Popular and well-loved, Madame Delphine LaLaurie and her husband were highly regarded within Louisiana's 19th century aristocracy. But hidden within the walls of their house were horrific secrets that would come to shock a city that’s seen it all.
Located in the French Quarter of New Orleans, LA, the LaLaurie House is probably the best known haunted house in the entire city.

To a person quickly passing by, the house appears to be just like the other surrounding homes in the French Quarter; an elegant remnant of a time that has long passed. But upon closer and more careful observation, scars on the outside of the home begin to shed light to the horrific past hosted by this house.

The scar in reference is located on the third floor of the main side of the house. Anyone who stops to look at the house for a moment will probably notice that one of the third floor windows has been cemented shut. This seems quite odd, but when you learn the reason for this, it is perfectly reasonable.

Let us go back to 19th century New Orleans. The city is still a part of France and the French Quarter is filled with wealthy and respectable French citizens. Among these are the LaLauries. Popular, and well-liked, the LaLauries were part of the aristocratic community that populated the city at that time.

And who wouldn't like the LaLauries; they were famous for their large and extravagant parties that entertained and delighted much of New Orleans's upper-class. But it wasn't this side of the LaLauries that would make this house famous. Rather, it was the dark secret that the LaLauries kept securely hidden on the third floor that would forever shock and appall the city. Soon, everyone in the New Orleans would know why the LaLauries always kept a certain door in their home locked.

While the LaLauries were quite agreeable and pleasant in their public lives, behind closed doors, horrible tempers and sadistic pleasures ran rampant. Madame LaLaurie, in particular, could fall into a monstrous rage when upset. When this happened, she would often take her anger out on one of her servants by severely beating them.

One evening, a young girl less than thirteen years old who was a slave of the LaLauries fell victim to her rage. Madame LaLaurie was preparing for an evening out and was having her slaves prepare her. The young girl was in charge of the Madame's hot curling iron. Mistakenly, she burnt Madame LaLaurie's scalp. It would prove to be a fatal mistake.

Madame LaLaurie was incensed. She immediately began beating the girl. Terrified, the young girl ran from the room and down the hallway of the third floor. She was desperately looking for a place to hide and began turning the knobs of the doors in the hallway. She ran to a particular doorway that was always locked. But tonight it wasn't.

When the young girl entered the room, she witnessed a horror even more frightening than the one chasing her in the hall. Looking around the room, she saw fellow slaves chained to the walls. Every single one of them had been victim of some sadistic experiment of the LaLauries. One gentleman's limbs had been broken by the LaLauries and then shaped to grow back in a contorted and horrendous form. Some had limbs removed, while the remaining bore scars from the removal of teeth, ears, and other body parts. Overcome with fear, the young girl ran and jumped out the window, falling to her death.

The event stirred concern, suspicion, and rumors within the New Orleans community. But the LaLauries were not caught. They simply cemented the window shut, paid a small fine, and went back to their daily lives.

The discovery of the LaLaurie's secret would not happen until a few years later when a fire broke out in the home. Because the homes were so close together, the law at that time required that the firefighters check every room in a house that has been on fire to ensure that there were no remaining embers. For the LaLauries, this meant that the firemen would have to enter the third floor room. Anticipating what would happen, the LaLauries left the city. When the firemen came upon the room, they chopped down the door and were disgusted with what they saw. Word of the LaLaurie's demented actions spread across the city faster than fire and within a short time a mob had formed to lynch the LaLauries.

Because the LaLauries anticipated this, they were able to escape the city and go into hiding in the surrounding swamps. Although the city searched for them, they were never found. It was later rumored that they somehow escaped to France where they lived out the rest of their lives.

Ever since this event, the city has looked upon this house as being haunted. Those who have lived in the house since, have confirmed it. Maniacal laughing, the sound of whips cracking, and a ghostly Madame LaLaurie have all been reported by later inhabitants of the house. One individual who was of African descent reported having been attacked by the ghost of Madame LaLaurie. He claims to have been awakened from his sleep while being choked by her ghost. Fortunately, his life was saved by another ghost that he described as resembling a slave (possibly one that died at the hands of the LaLauries).

To this day, the people of New Orleans remember the dark history of this house. The scarred exterior serves as a daily reminder of the LaLauries and of the tragedy and terror once experienced by this city.