THE "HEX HOUSE" MURDER

Strange Tales of Pennsylvania Folk Magic & Murder

Strange things were afoot in Pennsylvania in the early twentieth century. A brutal murder in 1928 began a “hex scare” in the region, turning the authorities and the general public against what had always been seen as a common custom – the folk magic practice of “powwowing.” Prior to the bloody crime, the belief in and practice of folk magic was seen as nothing more than a quaint holdover from less sophisticated times. After the murder, though, it became a threat. Practitioners were no longer seen as backward or ignorant; now they were dangerous. The folk medicine that had been used for centuries was now a false treatment that kept people from getting the real medical care they needed. There was little room for superstition and hex doctors in the modern world. To city folk, it seemed impossible to believe that anyone still believed in magic in the modern world of the 1920s, but among the back roads, farms, and hollows of rural Pennsylvania, magic was alive and well.

Pennsylvania hex magic dated back to the earliest days of the colony, linked largely to the Pennsylvania German (or Dutch, as they are often called) immigrants and their descendants. The German settlers held strongly to elements of their culture, and blended customs of the Old and the New World to form a distinct identity. Even their language became a unique dialect. Though there were a great many different religious denominations among the German settlers, there was a common tradition of folk magic that was practiced by all, with the exception of the “Plain Dutch,” such as the Amish, who rejected the practice. For large numbers of these Germans, the belief in folk magic was entwined with their Christian beliefs.

At one end of the folk magic scale was “powwowing,” which had nothing to do with the Native American ceremonial practice of the same name. Powwowers performed magical-religious folk healing and drew their healing power from God. Generally, Powwowers provided cures and relief from illnesses, protection from evil, and the removal of hexes and curses. They also located lost objects, animals and people, foretold the future, and provided good luck charms. To carry out their practices, they used charms, amulets, incantations, prayers, and rituals. It was generally believed that anyone could powwow, but members of certain families were especially adept at it. These families passed the traditions down from generation to generation.

At the other end of the scale was “hexerei” or witchcraft. Practitioners of black magic drew their power from the Devil or other ungodly sources. The witch harassed neighbors and committed criminal acts with supernatural powers. Sometimes witches were called hex doctors. The term “hex doctor” can be confusing because it can imply many things. At times, the term was applied to powwowers who were also knowledgeable in the ways of hexerei and were skilled at battling witches and removing curses. These hex doctors fell into a sort of gray area between a witch and a powwower. Sometimes they cast hexes for a price or out of revenge. It was not uncommon for someone to seek out one hex doctor to remove the curse of another. For many Pennsylvania Dutch, and certainly for outsiders, powwowers and witches could not easily be placed into categories. There were many who labeled the use of any folk magic as witchcraft that was strictly forbidden by their religious beliefs.

Powwowers and hex doctors often worked against one another, with the common person caught in the middle. It was in this setting that folk magic flourished for more than two centuries.

Witches targeted their victims in many ways. Since hexerei was based around a farming society, many of the witch’s attacks were directed at animals and crops. They were often blamed when cows did not produce milk, when seemingly healthy animals mysteriously died, or when crops failed. When witches went after humans, they used a variety of torments. They were commonly suspected of causing illnesses, especially conditions that lingered and caused a person to waste away over time. A witch could also use spells to launch invisible attacks, causing seizures or fits, the sensation of being pricked or stabbed, or the feeling of being choked or strangled. Witches could also cause a run of bad luck for any individual that they attacked. The witch could even appear in the form of an animal, like a black cat, so that they could move about undetected and harass their victims. Needless to say, just about any type of misfortune could be blamed on a witch.

In addition to spoken words, the written word was also used for magic. Written amulets and charms were common, and many Pennsylvania Germans carried them on their person. Amulets usually included a written version of a protective charm and perhaps verses from the Bible. The paper they were written on was usually folded into triangles. If not carried personally, such amulets might be hung in a house or barn.

Ritualized objects were also used. These objects were actually mundane items, but they often acquired a special purpose. Sometimes the objects would be used as a surrogate for the afflicted or for the disease itself. Much of German folk magic depends on the principles of contagion and transference. Basically, the idea is that the evil or the disease is contagious, and can be transferred away from the afflicted person and into an object. The object could then be disposed of in a prescribed manner to keep the contagion from spreading. Traditionally, this kind of magic is known as sympathetic magic – and it often worked, as long as the person afflicted truly believed that it would.

Since the powwowers and hex doctors depended on charms, formulas, and incantations that were passed down through their families, they often collected them into “recipe” books, which contained the collective knowledge of a family line of powwowers. By the middle 1800s, these homemade volumes were joined by published volumes that came into common usage. Folk healers had always invoked and used the Bible in their magic, but they increasingly supplemented their knowledge with sources published by other powwowers.

The most famous and widely read of these books was compiled by a powwower named John George Hohman in 1819. Hohman was a German immigrant who settled on a farm in Berks County, Pennsylvania. As a side business, he published broadsides and books about the occult and medicine aimed at the local German population. In time, he published the most widely read grimoire (book of magic) in America. The compilation of spells, charms, prayers, remedies and folk medicine was called Der lang verborgene Freund, or The Long Lost Friend. It was the first book of powwow magic to achieve wide circulation. It has been in print in either German or English continuously since 1820.

Aside from being a collection of charms and recipes, the book itself became a talisman. In what was an example of a resoundingly successful early marketing ploy, buyers of the book were told they would be protected from harm merely by carrying it. In the front of each edition was an inscription that read: “Whoever carries this book with him, is safe from all enemies, visible and invisible; and whoever has this book with him cannot die without the holy corpse of Jesus Christ, nor drown in any water, nor burn up in any fire, not can any unjust sentence be passed upon him. So help me. +++”

The bulk of the book consisted of remedies and charms to cure common illnesses, fevers, burns, toothaches and other ailments. It also contained recipes for beer and molasses and even had a charm for catching fish. Many of the charms in the book were meant to provide protection from physical harm from weapons, fire, witches, and thieves. It also provided instructions on how to keep animals in a certain location, heal livestock and cattle, and even cure rabid animals. The Long Lost Friend soon became the primary reference for anyone attempting to understand the practice of powwow, and it gained a place of honor on almost every powwower’s and hex doctor’s shelf.

As an opposite number to the helpful charms of The Long Lost Friend was the far more dangerous book of witchcraft, The Sixth & Seventh Book of Moses. Drawn from the tradition of European grimoires and ceremonial magic, The Sixth & Seventh Book of Moses were purported to have been written by Moses himself, and allegedly contain secret knowledge that could not be included in the Bible. Described as two separate books, they are almost always published together in one volume, first appearing in Pennsylvania in 1849. The book soon gained an evil reputation among the German population and those who were familiar with its lore. It was associated with hexing because the text provided instructions on how to conjure and control spirits and demons. It also contained spells and incantations that were beneficial to the user, as well as spells that would duplicate some of the biblical plagues of Egypt, turn a staff into a serpent, and other miraculous happenings. Much of the volume is made up of reproduced symbols that were allegedly copied from old woodcuts. Some copies were printed, at least partially, with red ink. A few hand-copied editions were alleged to exist that had been written in blood.

Though hex doctors frequently acquired the book to enhance their reputations, merely owning the volume was believed to be dangerous, and if a hex doctor actually read it – that could be fatal. Reading the book was believed to attract the attention of the Devil or at the very least, cause the reader to become so obsessed with the book that they could do nothing but read it. The only way to break the obsession – should such a thing occur – was to read the entire book in reverse, starting at the end and working back to the beginning.

To modern readers, all of the stories and claims of spells, hexes, magic books, and incantations may sound rather silly, but rest assured, they were all common traditions of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It might sound hard for us to believe today, but people at that time and place readily accepted such ideas. And that turned out to be the most crucial point of the “Rehmeyer” Hex Murder -- those involved truly believed in magic. They believed that it worked and could ruin their lives.

And they would do anything to try and stop that from happening.

The “Hex Murder,” the strange killing of Nelson Rehmeyer, captivated the people of the region and sold newspapers across the country. The story began with a young powwower named John Blymire, who was born in 1895 and learned the art of German folk magic at a young age. His family had been powwowers for at least three generations and probably longer. Although he did poorly in school, Blymire established a good reputation as a healer in York County. Starting at the age of seven, he began providing healing remedies and cures. Despite his early success, though, he began to believe that there was a shadow hanging over him.

One day, as he was leaving the cigar factory where he worked, an apparently rabid dog began running toward some of his fellow workers. Blymire approached the dog and spoke some words of a spell. The dog’s mouth allegedly stopped foaming and the animal became subdued. Blymire patted its head and the animal followed him excitedly for several blocks. The other workers were amazed at the dog’s apparent cure. But soon after, Blymire’s luck began to turn bad. He soon became ill and he started to believe that another practitioner of folk magic had placed a hex on him, possibly out of jealousy. He soon found himself unable to eat, sleep, or work his powwow magic. Blymire used several of his own magical charms to try and remove the hex, but he was unsuccessful. It was difficult to remove a hex if one did not know the identity of the witch who placed it.

John Blymire

Then one night, as he lay in his bed trying to sleep, the answer came to him. Just as the clock struck midnight, an owl outside hooted seven times. It was then that the idea came to Blymire that he had been hexed by the spirit of his great-grandfather Jacob, who had been a powwower and the seventh son of a seventh son. Since he could not fight back against a spirit, he decided that he would move away from his ancestral home and the cemetery where his great-grandfather was buried, hopefully breaking the spell. It seemed to work, and soon Blymire’s luck began to improve – at least for a time.

In addition to his work as a folk healer, Blymire performed a variety of odd jobs. He soon met a young woman named Lily and they married. The couple had two children, but both died in infancy. The youngest only lived for three days. These tragic occurrences led Blymire to once again believe that he had been hexed. Unable to determine the source of the new hex, he turned to other powwowers for help. One of them was a man named Andrew Lenhart, who convinced him that the source of the hex was someone that he knew well.

Blymire became suspicious of everyone around him, even his wife. Lily had reason to fear for her safety because, in 1922, one of Lenhart’s other clients murdered her husband after receiving similar information. The client, Sallie Jane Heagy, shot her husband, Irving, in bed after Lenhart was hired to “drive the witches” from her home. Sallie did not believe the treatment worked and was in terrible physical pain. She finally snapped one day, killed her husband, and later committed suicide in jail.

After consulting lawyers, Lily was able to obtain a judge’s order to have Blymire committed to an insane asylum. The doctors determined that he was obsessed with hexes and magic and needed to go to the asylum for treatment. Soon after, Lily filed for divorce and it was granted. Blymire didn’t remain locked up for long. Forty-eight days after he was committed, he simply walked out the door one day and vanished. No one even bothered to look for him.

Blymire went back to work at the cigar factory in 1928. While he was there, he met two other people who also believed that they were suffering because of someone who had hexed them. One of them, 14-year-old John Curry, was trapped in an abusive household and felt that a malevolent force was causing the trouble at home. Another man who believed he had been hexed was a farmer named Milton Hess. Hess and his wife, Alice, had been successful and prosperous until 1926, when a series of unfortunate events began at their farm. Crops failed, cows stopped producing milk, and they lost a large amount of money. The entire family believed that they had been hexed by someone, but they didn’t know who it could be. The talk of hexes reinforced Blymire’s own belief in spells and he became terrified by the idea that someone was out to get him. He began to consult other powwowers again, attempting to track down the source of the lingering hex.

Blymire turned to a well-known powwower in the region named Nellie Noll, the so-called “River Witch of Marietta.” The elderly woman identified the source of Blymire’s hex as a member of the Rehmeyer family. When Blymire asked which of them had cursed him, she told him to hold out his hand. She placed a dollar bill on his palm and then removed it. When Blymire looked at his hand, an image appeared. It was the face of Nelson Rehmeyer, an old powwower whom Noll referred to as the “Witch of Rehmeyer’s Hollow.” Blymire had known Rehmeyer, a distant relative, since he was a small child. When Blymire had been five years old, he became seriously ill. His father and grandfather, unable to cure him, took the child to Rehmeyer, who healed him.

Unable to understand why Rehmeyer wished him harm, Blymire went to see Noll again. She confirmed that it was Rehmeyer who had hexed him, and added that he was also responsible for the curses on John Curry and Milton and Alice Hess. Blymire told the other two men what he had learned, and also revealed a solution for ending all of the hexes. Noll had stated that the men needed to take Rehmeyer’s copy of The Long Lost Friend and a lock of his hair and bury them six feet underground.

Blymire and Curry decided to go together to Rehmeyer’s Hollow and obtain the needed items. On November 26, they were driven by Hess’ oldest son, Clayton, to the Hollow. They stopped at the home of Rehmeyer’s former wife, Alice, who said that Nelson could be found at his own home, which was about a mile down the road (see photo at top of the story). The men went to Rehmeyer’s door, and Blymire asked to speak with him for a few minutes. He later said that the older man was much larger and “meaner-looking” than Blymire remembered. They went into the parlor, and Blymire asked him questions about The Long Lost Friend and other elements of powwowing – never mentioning, of course, the true reason why he and Curry had come. After talking for a while, the men realized that it was late, and Rehmeyer offered to let them sleep downstairs. They agreed and while Rehmeyer slept, they looked for his copy of the spell book, but were unable to find it. They debated on whether or not to try and obtain a lock of his hair, but finally decided that Rehmeyer was too big for them to hold down while they cut his hair. The pair left in the morning after agreeing that they needed more help.

      

Nelson Rehmeyer, the man that Blymire believed had “hexed” him.

Blymire told Milton Hess that he needed a member of his family to help them subdue Rehmeyer. Hess and his wife offered their 18-year-old son, Wilbert, as an assistant. The next evening, November 27, the three of them arrived at Rehmeyer’s house. He let them in and they went into the front room. Rehmeyer never got the chance to wonder why they had come back for another visit. When his back was turned, the men tackled him to the floor and attempted to tie his legs with a rope they had brought with them. The exact details of what happened next varied slightly depending on which man told the story, but during the struggle, Rehmeyer was beaten and strangled to death. It’s possible that Blymire intended to kill Rehmeyer once he reached the house that evening, but if he did, he did not reveal his plans to the other two men.

When they realized that Rehmeyer was dead, they took all of the money in the house, hoping to make it look like a robbery. They left behind the book and the lock of the old man’s hair. He was dead – the hex had been lifted, they thought.

But if that was true, Blymire’s luck certainly didn’t improve.

The three men doused the body with kerosene and lit it on fire, hoping the flames would spread throughout the house and burn it down. When they left, Rehmeyer’s body was engulfed in flames, but somehow, the fire mysteriously went out. Some believe that perhaps the hex doctor was not yet dead when he was set on fire and that he might have moved enough to extinguish the flames, but had been burned too badly to survive. Regardless of what happened, evidence of the crime was left behind.

Two days later, a neighbor discovered Rehmeyer’s body. The shocking crime stunned the community, but the terror and excitement that followed was nothing compared to the story that soon emerged. Alice Rehmeyer informed the police of Blymire and Curry’s visit, and they were soon picked up as suspects. As details of the events emerged, newspapers across the country covered the story of the “York Witchcraft Murder” with great interest. Every bizarre detail of Blymire’s hex-obsessed life was described for the public. When the men went to trial, there were daily reports of the proceedings. Hess received 10 years in prison, but Blymire and Curry ended up receiving life sentences for the murder. Both were eventually paroled and lived uneventful lives. Curry, the youngest, served in the military during World War II and became a talented artist.

The “Hex Murder” in York County received wide coverage, and while the local authorities did not launch any official assault on folk magic in the area, the press and authorities in other parts of the state eventually would. The sensationalistic newspaper coverage of the case brought intense scrutiny to folk practices, and they were labeled a form of witchcraft. The press maligned all practitioners of powwowing, even if they only practiced the most benign healing services. Lurid descriptions of magic and strange beliefs filled the newspapers and shocked Americans who were unaware that such things were still taking place in the twentieth century.

Law enforcement officials, doctors, and educators began working together to put an end to what they considered superstitious and dangerous practices. Many of them began attributing supernatural motivations to any strange new cases that they encountered. During the Rehmeyer murder trial, York County Coroner L.V. Zach claimed that the deaths of five children in the previous two years had been caused by powwowers. He said that the children’s parents took them to folk healers when they were sick, instead of real doctors and, as a result, they died. He did admit there had been no formal investigations of these cases, but that they were a matter of common knowledge. The New York Times featured the coroner’s (questionable) claims in an article under a dramatic headline that read, “Death of 5 Babies Laid to Witch Cult.” The newspaper quoted unnamed officials of the York County Medical Society, who said that the coroner’s count of deaths attributed to witchcraft was much too low.

Soon, any death that was even vaguely connected to a powwower – or rumored to have a connection – was labeled a “hex murder.” In March 1929, the body of Verna Delp, 21, was discovered in the woods at Catasuqua, near Allentown. On her body were three pieces of paper with magical charms written on them, supposedly to protect from murder and theft. A coroner’s report identified three poisons in her body, and it appeared that she had taken them voluntarily. The young woman’s adoptive father, August Derhammer, revealed to the police that he had recently learned that Verna was taking treatments from a powwower and that she had been planning to visit him on the day that she died. The powwower was identified as a man named Charles T. Belles, and he was arrested thanks to the fact that the police were sure they had another hex murder on their hands. At first, Belles denied treating Verna, but later admitted that he was treating her for eczema. He claimed to only be a faith healer, not a hex doctor. The authorities didn’t believe him, and even though they could find no evidence to link him to the crime, continued to hold him in jail. As the investigation continued, it was discovered that Verna was pregnant and she had not seen her boyfriend, a truck driver named Masters, for several months. She had not yet told her family of the situation and was possibly looking for a way to end the pregnancy. Even after this new information came to light, the police still believed that Belles was partially responsible for her death. The obsession with hexes and powwow distracted the police from other possibilities in the case, including a botched abortion attempt, suicide or murder by someone other than Belles. By April, they still had no evidence that Belles was involved with the murder, but he was charged anyway. He finally received a hearing in mid-April after lawyers filed a writ of habeas corpus. He was released on $10,000 bail, and charges were eventually dropped. The murder of Verna Delp was never solved.

The press jumped on another case of “murder by powwow” in January 1930. Mrs. Harry McDonald, 34, a housewife from Reading, died after receiving severe burns in her home. She had apparently been given some sort of ointment from a hex doctor with instructions to rub it on her skin. At some point in the night, her body went up in flames when she got too close to her stove. She was seriously injured, and when her husband, who worked the night shift, found her in the morning, she was on the verge of death and could not be saved. The woman’s brother told reporters that he believed the lotion she was using was flammable and caught fire, killing his sister. He had no evidence of this, but the press latched onto this theory and kept the story alive with “occult” connections for weeks.

Another “hex panic” murder occurred on January 20, 1932, when the body of a Philadelphia man named Norman Bechtel, 31, was discovered in Germantown under a tree on a temporarily vacant estate. The accountant and Mennonite Church worker had nine stab wounds in and around his heart. Some of the wounds appeared to form the shape of a circle, and were delivered with such force that they not only penetrated his suit and overcoat, but his eyeglass case in his pocket, as well. A crescent-shaped cut was made on each side of his forehead and a vertical slash ran from his hairline to his nose. Two additional cuts ran off the vertical slash in the direction of the crescent cuts. All of Bechtel’s valuables had been taken and his car was later discovered six miles away. From the bloodstains in the automobile, it was clear that Bechtel had known his attacker well enough to let him or her into his car. The case gave all the appearances of a robbery gone bad – but then there were those pesky facial cuts, which detectives surmised might have special occult significance. When it was learned that Bechtel had grown up on a farm near Boyertown, where powwow was common, the police immediately started searching for evidence of another hex murder. Captain Harry Heanly, the chief investigator, had the victim’s apartment searched for any possible connection with folk magic, but all they found were Mennonite books and pamphlets. After following a few more leads, the police still had no answers, so the press began calling the “mystery” a “hex murder.”

Then in April 1937, William Jordan, 36, confessed that he and four others had killed Bechtel, who they had been attempting to blackmail. Most of the details of Jordan’s confession were not publicly released, as Bechtel had been involved in “several love affairs” and had a large life insurance policy. Needless to say, the case had nothing to do with magic.

If these cases had been the only ones tied to powwow, it’s likely that the hex scare would have died out sooner and the public would have lost interest. That was not mean to be, though, for another actual hex murder occurred in 1934, which sealed the fate of folk magic in the state for decades to come.

The last true hex murder in Pennsylvania occurred in Pottsville, in Schuylkill County, on Saturday, March 17, 1934. A shotgun blast ended the life of Mrs. Susan Mummey, 63, as it tore through her living room window while she was standing next to her adopted daughter. Mummey was attending to the injured foot of her boarder, Jacob Rice, who was seated in front of her. The oil lamp that her daughter was holding shattered as the shot tore through the window. Mummey was killed and the other two took cover, not knowing if more shots would follow. They waited all night in fear, thinking that an assassin was lurking outside. Finally, as morning approached, Rice decided to make the two-and-a-half-mile trip to Ringtown to report the crime.

Initially, the police thought the murder was the result of some backwoods feud that turned violent. But soon the case took a bizarre turn when Albert Shinsky, 24, confessed to the killing. He claimed that the killing had been self-defense, and that Mummey had placed a hex on him seven years earlier when he was working in a field across from the Mummey farm. There had been a dispute about the property lines and one day, Mrs. Mummey came over the fence and stared at him for a long time, he said. He claimed that he then felt cold perspiration come over him and his arms went limp. From that point on, he was unable to work – but that was just the beginning of the torture.

Shinsky claimed that whenever he saw a sharp object, it would change into the shape of a black cat with flaming eyes from which he could not look away. The cat also appeared to him sometimes when he was in bed at night. It would creep slowly across the room and jump onto the bed. The appearance of the cat made him so cold, he claimed, that he had to get up and run around the room in order to get warm again. He sought help from several powwowers, but nothing worked. His family thought that he was lying and was just too lazy to work, but Shinsky seemed to genuinely believe that he was hexed. Eventually, when he could take no more of the supernatural harassment, he killed Mummey. He told the police that the minute she died, he felt the curse lift from his shoulders.

Prosecutors wanted to give Shinsky the death penalty for the murder, and the press once again emphasized the danger of the strange beliefs and practice of folk magic. Over objections from the police and the prosecutor’s office, a commission of doctors ruled that Shinsky was insane, and he was sent to Fairview State Hospital. He remained in mental institutions for most of the rest of his life.

The case seemed to confirm in the public eye that the belief in witchcraft was some sort of threat to society. Practitioners of powwow still had a few defenders, though, and they retained plenty of clients, but the tide of public opinion had turned against them.

Thanks to the two murder cases – and the many suspected cases that were inflated by the newspapers – Pennsylvania’s school system declared war on the belief in hexes, especially in the rural areas where it seemed most prevalent. It was hoped that within several years, a new focus of modern medicine and science could erase the superstitions that seemed to plague the countryside. State authorities also launched a campaign against powwowers and hex doctors directly, arresting and prosecuting them for practicing medicine without a license. Combined with the sensational stories in the media, and the assault on folk magic in general, many of the remaining powwowers went underground. Except for the few who retained public storefronts, most of those who continued to practice avoided the public spotlight and downplayed their work to non-believers. They continued to provide services, however, to those who sought them out. As time went on, fewer members of the younger generations showed interest in learning about the old ways of healing and hexes, but the practice refused to die out completely. Many modern healers still exist today, and while they may not be linked to any kind of witchcraft, German folk magic remains alive and well – although believers in the craft today seem far less likely to be driven to murder.

THE MOST HAUNTED HOUSE IN OHIO?

The True Story of Franklin Castle

In the middle 1990s, when I began writing about ghosts and hauntings across the Midwest, there was one house that I was frequently referred to by people in Ohio – Franklin Castle. Officially known as the Tiedemann mansion, the unusual structure had long been called the most haunted house in the state. During its long and rather odd history, the ghosts became an integral part of its lore. For years, tales were told of doors that exploded off their hinges, lights that spun around on their own, electrical circuits that behaved erratically, the inexplicable sounds of a baby crying, and even a woman in black who had been spotted staring forlornly from a small window in the front tower room.

According to local tales, there have always been ghosts in this house. And this should come as no surprise considering the dark deeds, murders, and diabolical events that have been linked to this place. But how many of those stories are true, and how many are merely the stuff of legend? 

Hannes Tiedemann
At the edge of Franklin Boulevard in Cleveland, you’ll find the castle – a place where it is hard to separate fact from fiction. It’s an eerie and forbidding stone structure that has long been considered a spooky place by history buffs, architects, and the general public alike. Rising high above the street, its stone tower looms over the property. The exterior is adorned with menacing gargoyles and for decades, its windows were dark and filled with shadows. There were originally over thirty rooms in the house and intricate carvings filled the interior. The entire third floor was a grand ballroom and the top floor offered sweeping views of the city and Lake Erie.  

And, of course, there were the rumors. Secret passageways, it was said, honeycombed the house and sliding panels were used to hide the entrances to these hidden corridors. It was claimed that a young girl was once murdered in one of these hallways by her uncle, because he believed her to be insane. In the front tower, a gruesome ax murder had once taken place and it was in that tower that one of the former owners found a secret cabinet that contained human bones. Cleveland’s Deputy Coroner, Dr. Lester Adelson, examined the bones in January 1975 and stated that they were very old, and definitely human. Many believed that the forgotten bones had been left there by the house’s original owner, a successful banker with a penchant for evil.

Hannes Tiedemann was a German immigrant to Cleveland, who started out as a barrel-maker and a wholesale grocer. He later turned to banking and founded the Euclid Avenue Savings & Trust, which made him very successful and very wealthy. He decided that he wanted a grand home that befit his newly acquired social status and hired the famed Cleveland architectural firm of Cuddell and Richardson to build it for him. When the house was designed in the late nineteenth century, Franklin Boulevard was one of the most upscale residential areas in Cleveland, perhaps second only to Euclid Avenue’s so-called “Millionaire’s Row.”

The house was built over the period of 1881-1883 and it was meant to not only provide an upscale residence for his family, but also to provide a temporary place for friends, family, and others emigrating from Germany to stay when they first arrived in Cleveland. The house replaced an earlier house on the property, which was torn down during the construction of the castle. Hannes moved into the house with his wife, Louise; his mother, Wiebeka; their children, August, Emma, and Dora; and several servants. More children were born, but the stories say that life in the castle was never happy. By 1891, it had turned tragic.

In January 1891, Tiedemman’s mother and his daughter, Emma, died within weeks of one another. Although Wiebeka’s death was from natural causes, Emma died from diabetes. In those days, death from the disease came as a horrible, lingering starvation for which there was no cure. Over the next three years, the Tiedemann family would bury three more children, one of them just 11 days old. It truly seemed as though the family was cursed.  

To take his wife’s mind off the tragedies, Tiedemann began extensive renovations on the house. It was during this expansion that the ballroom was added to the third floor, as well as the turrets and gargoyles on the exterior, giving the house a more castle-like appearance. Gas lighting was also installed throughout the house and, the legends say, so were the secret passages, concealed rooms, and hidden doors. Unfortunately, though, the hidden passageways and secret chambers in the house have vanished with time – if they existed at all. No trace of them can be found today, other than a small stairway that was used by the servants to get from the kitchen to the front door, which were commonly found in large homes of the era.

Of course, the absence of such mysterious passages tends to cast doubt on some of the more heinous stories of the house – that Hannes Tiedemann used the tunnels for his sexual indiscretions and even to commit murder. In one tunnel, leading away from the ballroom, Tiedemann was supposed to have murdered his niece by hanging her from a rafter. She was insane, it has been said, and he did it to put her out of her misery. He is also supposed to have murdered a young servant girl on her wedding day because she spurned his advances. Another version of this story claims the murdered woman was actually Tiedemman’s mistress, killed because she wanted to marry another man. Some say she is the woman in black who haunts the tower room. But, if there are no “secret passages” in the house, do the stories of the murders committed in them – stories that seem to form the foundation for the ghost stories in the house – have any truth to them at all?

Even without them, however, there was still plenty of death and tragedy linked to the house. On March 24, 1895, Louise Tiedemann died at the age of 57 from liver failure. Hannes remarried a short time later, leading many to speculate about the circumstances of Louise’s death. Soon after, Tiedemann sold the castle to a local brewing family named Mullhauser and moved to a grander home on Lake Road. His second marriage did not last long. He divorced her after only a year, leaving her with nothing. 

By 1908, Tiedemann’s entire family, including his son, August, and his grandsons, had passed away. There was no one left to inherit his fortune or to comfort him in his old age. Tiedemann died later that same year, suffering a massive stroke while walking in the park one day. Had the curse been lifted from the house, or was more tragedy coming?

The “Haunted House”
In 1913, the Mullhauser family sold the castle to the local German Socialist Party, who officially used the house for meetings and parties. Rumors quickly spread, though, that the Socialists were actually using the place as a headquarters for spy efforts during World War I. Years later, a German shortwave radio was allegedly found hidden in the rafters. The infamous “secret passages” were claimed to be the scene of a brutal murder during the Germans Socialist occupation of the house.

The house was mainly unoccupied during this time, but it’s possible that they may have rented out at least portions of it. During an interview in the 1970s, a Cleveland nurse recalled that she had cared for an ailing attorney in the castle in the 1930s. She remembered being often terrified at night by the sound of a small child crying. More than 40 years later, she told a reporter that she "would never set foot in that house again."

In January 1968, the German Socialist group sold the house to James Romano. Romano, his wife, and their six children, soon moved into the mansion, a place that Mrs. Romano had always been fascinated with. They planned to open a restaurant in the house, but soon changed their minds. On the very day that the family moved in, she sent her children upstairs to play. A little while later, they came back downstairs and asked if they could have a cookie for their new friend, a little girl who was upstairs crying. Mrs. Romano followed the children back upstairs, but found no little girl. 

Mrs. Romano also reported hearing organ music coming from different parts of the house, footsteps in the hallways and on the stairs, disembodied voices, and the sounds of people coming from the former ballroom. The Romanos consulted a Catholic priest, who declined to do an exorcism, but told them that he sensed a bad presence in the house. He advised them to leave. Instead, they turned to the now-defunct Northeast Ohio Psychical Research Group, who decided to investigate the castle. If the stories are to be believed, one of the ghost hunters actually ran screaming from the house in the middle of the investigation.  

After enduring years of ghostly activity, the Romanos had reached their limit by 1974, and sold the house to Sam Muscatello, who was eager to cash in on the castle’s eerie reputation. He began offering guided tours of the house and making notes about alleged encounters by visitors with the woman in black, strange sounds, vanishing objects, and cold spots in the castle. He also used the media to generate publicity and once, during a live segment on Cleveland radio, host John Webster had a tape recorder pulled off his shoulder and thrown down a staircase. Webster later recalled, "I just stood there holding the microphone as I watched the tape recorder go flying down to the bottom of the stairs, where it broke into pieces."

Another time, during a television piece, crew member Ted Ocepec witnessed a hanging ceiling light that suddenly began turning in circular motions. Someone suggested that perhaps traffic vibrations on the street outside had caused the movement of the light. Ocepec didn’t think so. "I just don’t know," he said, "but there’s something in that house."

Muscatello began searching for the alleged secret passages in the house and that was when he found a pile of human bones behind a panel in the tower. Although few deny that real human bones were removed from the castle, whom they belonged to and how they ended up there has been debated. Some took the bones as proof that Hannes Tiedemann was the murderer that legend claimed him to be, but others, however, believe that Muscatello stashed the bones there as “evidence” behind the haunting at Franklin Castle. 

Unable to make the castle into the tourist attraction that he had hoped it would be, Muscatello eventually decided to sell the place. It was purchased by a doctor, who later sold the house – for the same price he paid for it – to Cleveland’s Police Chief Richard Hongisto. The chief and his wife declared that the mansion would be the perfect place to live but then, less than a year later, they abruptly sold the house to George Mirceta, who knew nothing of the mansion’s reputation at the time. He bought the castle because of its gothic architecture, but soon learned that it was alleged to be haunted. Following in the footsteps of the Sam Mustatello, he started offering tours of the place.

Mirceta lived alone in the house, but had many visitors. During his tours, he asked his visitors to record any of their strange experiences in a guest book before they left. Some claimed to see a woman in white, others a woman in black. Some told of hearing babies crying, or seeing things move about. One woman even claimed that she felt like she was being choked in the tower room. Mirceta admitted that he couldn’t explain all of his experiences in the house, but he maintained that it was not haunted. If it was, he told a reporter, he would too scared to live there. "There has to be a logical explanation for everything," he told an interviewer.

To the Present Day
In 1984, the house was sold again. It was purchased by Michael DeVinko, who almost immediately began making major renovations to the house. DeVinko, whose stage name was Mickey Dean and who was the last husband of singer and actress Judy Garland, spent close to $1 million restoring the house over the next decade. He claimed to have no problems with the resident ghosts, but surmised that it may have been because he was taking care of the old place again. He successfully tracked down the original blueprints to the house, some of the Tiedemann furniture, and even the original key to the front door, which still worked. Despite all this, DeVinko still decided to move out and put the house up for sale in 1994. 

The castle was sold again in 1999, but was torched by an arsonist soon after, causing substantial damage to the place. The new owner spent a large sum of money in repairs but was never able to complete the restoration of the house. During the time that he worked on the house, the owner stated that he was unsure if it was haunted, or whether he believed in ghosts at all. However, he did say that many of his friends and family had odd experiences in the castle. He added that it was not a scary place, but it was a little creepy, especially in the middle of the night. He said, “I've heard strange sounds and hoped to see something or hear something that would prove to me that ghosts exist, but so far it hasn't happened. So far it's been no spookier than sleeping alone in any old house that creaks in the wind or has rattling pipes."

In 2003, the house was sold once more and the new owner, a local land developer, announced hopes of renovating the mansion and turning it into the Franklin Castle Club, with a restricted membership. But three years later, it was discovered that there was no truth to the “plan.” No repairs had been made and photographs that had been publicized were either close-ups of individual pieces of architecture, or were older pictures from other sources. No work had been done, no memberships sold, and there were even claims that the house had been used a location for filming pornography. The owners were no longer permitted to allow anyone on the property.

Five more years passed and in July 2011, it was announced that the castle had been rezoned to allow it to become a three-family dwelling, and a sale was pending. It was purchased later that year by a European tapestry artist named Chiara Dona dale Rose. A permit was granted for residential exterior alterations in 2012 and local news sources reported that it was to be converted into a multiple-unit property. Renovations have been made, but it remains a work in progress, and closed to the public.

Is Franklin Castle truly as haunted as the stories say, or are the legends of the house simply tall tales that were overblown by previous owners to get paying tourists in the door? At this point, no one can say for sure. As more of the incorrect history of the house has been debunked, the source of the ghost stories becomes harder to find. But if we dismiss the stories of Hannes Tiedemann as a brutal killer and the tales of secret passages and mysterious murders, does that mean the castle is not haunted at all? No, I don’t believe that it does. No matter what, the castle is a place that is marked by both tragedy and death and the events of the past may have certainly left an impression behind. As with other legendary spots, it may turn out that Franklin Castle is just as haunted as we have already heard that it is – just not for the reasons that myth and legends about the place like to claim.

By Troy Taylor / American Hauntings
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AMERICA'S 10 MOST HAUNTED PRISONS & JAILS

COMPILED BY TROY TAYLOR

For more information on any of these locations, see Troy’s DEAD MEN DO TELL TALES series of books!

When compiling a list of America’s most haunted places, prisons and jails are usually high on the list. The amount of trauma, pain and terror experienced by the men who are incarcerated often leaves a lasting impression behind and horrible events that occur behind the prison’s high walls tend to cause the spirits of the men imprisoned to remain in death, just as they were in life. There is no escape – even after death.

 1. EASTERN STATE PENITENTIARY

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Founded by the Quakers in 1829, who envisioned the stone castle as a place where criminals could become penitent for their crimes (hence the name, “penitentiary”), the prison was a place of total isolation. Inmates were confined in windowless rooms and allowed no contact with any living person. Many of them were driven insane by the solitude. Punishments for breaking the rules were extreme and suicides became common. Solitary confinement was ended in the 1870s and a century later, the prison was closed down. Since that time, ghost stories and paranormal encounters have become commonplace. Apparitions have been seen, mysterious footsteps heard and strange sounds reported.

2. ALCATRAZ

San Francisco, California

The “Rock,” the name given to Alcatraz Penitentiary, was the ultimate American prison. It was the place where scores of the country’s worst criminal offenders, bloodletters, badmen and escaped artists called the end of the line. Although it started as a military prison, for 29 years the prison kept the country’s most notorious lawbreakers – including Al Capone, Doc Barker, George “Machine Gun” Kelly and others – confined behind stone walls. The initial prison was built in 1859 but fell into disuse by the 1920s. It was then re-opened in 1933 to be an escape-proof federal prison. It was a brutal place of punishment and confinement with few privileges. Suicide, murder and even insanity became common. In 1946, several inmates attempted a violent and bloody escape from the Rock, but failed. There were a handful of other attempts, but only one successful escape in 1962 when three bank robbers, using handmade rubber rafts and dummies with real human hair, vanished into the dark waters of the bay. Alcatraz was closed down one year later, in 1963. Regarded as one of America’s most haunted places, ghosts have been widely reported ever since, even by staff members of the National Park Service, which now operates the property. Ghosts have been sighted, along with strange sounds, screams, yells, weeping and eerie music.

3. OHIO STATE REFORMATORY

Mansfield, Ohio

The Ohio State Reformatory (made famous in the film, “The Shawshank Redemption”) was opened in 1896 as a prison for criminals too old for juvenile facilities and not hardened enough for the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus. It saw untold thousands of prisoners during its years of operations and while once applauded as a place that could humanely reform first-time offenders, the conditions deteriorated to the point that it became known for abuse, torture and murder. Already considered overcrowded and inhumane by the 1930s, the massive prison was kept open until 1986, even after a federal lawsuit was filed by the inmates that cited that it was unfit for human occupation. Since the closing of the reformatory, stories have circulated that it is haunted by the tormented spirits of former inmates, guards and prison officials who have simply never left. Apparitions have been reported, footsteps have been heard and unsettling encounters have taken place in the cells where the inmates once lived, suffered and sometimes died. One of the resident ghosts is reported to be Helen Glattke, the wife of Warden Arthur L. Glattke. She died in 1950, in an apartment in the administration wing of the prison, when a loaded handgun fell from a closet shelf and went off. Her spirit has remained in the apartment ever since, often manifesting as the smell of perfume.

4. OHIO PENITENTIARY

Formerly in Columbus, Ohio

The Ohio Penitentiary opened in 1834 and while first condemned by reformers in the early 1900s, it was not closed down until 1979. The prison has since been demolished, but haunting memories of it remain. During its years of operation, the prison saw scores of deaths from fire, cholera outbreaks, murder and executions in the state’s electric chair, but nothing matched the horror of the fire that engulfed the prison in April 1930. The blaze swept through the west block of the penitentiary and killed 322 inmates in a single night. While the prison was still open, inmates complained of ghostly sightings and eerie happenings but when the buildings were finally torn down, tales quickly spread of apparitions among the ruins. Eventually, the prison was replaced by a sports arena – which is also rumored to be haunted.

5. MAXWELL STREET POLICE STATION

Chicago, Illinois

The police station in Chicago’s Maxwell Street neighborhood – known as “Bloody Maxwell” because of the escalating crime rate in the area – was constructed in 1889. At that time, the surrounding part of the city was home to thousands of Italian immigrants, including the Genna Brothers, who partnered with Al Capone’s organization during Prohibition to make bootleg liquor within blocks of the police station. It became a notorious police station, known for corruption, bribery, brutality and torture. Many lawbreakers never left the basement “dungeon” alive. The station was closed down in 1997 and became to be used by the security officers for the nearby University of Illinois Chicago campus. It’s currently being used for filming for the television show, “Chicago PD.” Although the cops and criminals of the station’s past are long gone, stories say that they still linger here, especially those who were brutalized and killed in the “dungeon.” Screams have been reported coming from the basement, along with moaning, crying and the sounds of rattling bars and handcuff chains.

6. LAKE COUNTY JAIL

Crown Point, Indiana

The Lake County Jail, located in the county seat of Crown Point, was built in 1908 and enlarged twenty years later. At that time, county sheriffs were required to live at the jail and so the combined residence and jail included all the facilities needed for its purpose as a law enforcement institution. Located within the walls were the family’s living area, warden’s residence, department offices, 150 cells, maximum security accommodations, institutional kitchen, food storage, heating and cooling systems, barber shop and a garage. It was considered to be one of the finest in Indiana and thought to be escape-proof. However, on March 3, 1934, gangster John Dillinger proved it to be otherwise when he made a daring escape that gave the jail its continuing infamy. The jail remained in operation until the 1970s, when it became a historic site. As restoration has continued over the last two decades, stories have emerged about a haunting at the jail. Apparitions have been seen in cells and corridors, strange photographs have been taken, doors open and close by themselves, lights turn on and off and disembodied footsteps and voices have often been reported by volunteers and visitors alike. 

7. POTTAWATAMIE COUNTY JAIL

Council Bluffs, Iowa

Built in1885, the old Pottawattamie County Jail is one of the most unusual houses of incarceration in America. The jail has a three-tier cell block with ten cells on each tier. It was originally designed to rotate continuously throughout the night by means of a water wheel in the basement, earning it the nickname of the "squirrel cage jail.” In this way, all of the prisoners could be watched from a central location. Unfortunately, the 45-ton cell block was simply too heavy to work right and it became stuck frequently. Eventually, the jailers gave up on the plan and a night guard had to be hired. The cylinder continued to be used until 1960, when a prisoner died in his cell and the cell block jammed, trapping the body in the cell for several days. After that, cell doors were cut into every cell. The jail was closed down in 1969 and during its history, four deaths occurred within its walls. One man died of a heart attack, another in a fall when he tried to write his name on the ceiling, another hanged himself in his cell, and the last after an accident when an officer accidentally shot himself in the confusion of protecting the jail from an angry mob during the Farmer's Holiday Strike of 1932. It's no surprise that these unlucky individuals -- along with others -- are believed to still linger at the old jail.  

 

 8. WEST VIRGINIA PENITENTIARY

Moundsville, West Virginia

The prison was built on the edge of Moundsville in 1866. The prison remained open for 129 years, finally closing down in 1995. During that time, the structure housed thousands of prisoners. Many lost their lives here, through both state sanctioned executions and during prison violence. Since its closure, the prison had become known as one of the most haunted sites in the country. Staff members and visitors alike have reported ghosts in North Hall, where the most dangerous inmates were housed, in the execution chamber – where “Old Sparky” sent many to an early grave – and the “Hole,” a brutal solitary confinement area that often drove inmates to insanity and suicide. With death, violence, murder and horrible conditions combining to make a terrifying haunting, ghost hunters have flocked to the former penitentiary over the years. Visitors claim to have experienced the sound of phantom footsteps, voices and noises that have no explanation, inexplicable cold chills, overwhelming feelings of panic and more.

 9. WYOMING TERRITORIAL PRISON

Laramie, Wyoming

The westward expansion of the railroad brought more than money and high times to the people of Laramie, Wyoming. It also brought a score of unsavory men and women and a crime rate that rivaled much larger eastern cities. As a result, the Wyoming Territorial Prison was built as a federal penitentiary in Laramie in 1872. The facility was plagued with problems from the start, with a fire in 1873 and a number of escapes. Of the 44 prisoners accepted in the first two years of operation, 11 escaped. By 1877, the prison was overcrowded and as its reputation worsened, changes were made and a second cellblock was constructed. It became a state prison from 1890 to 1901. There were at least five cells for female inmates, and several solitary confinement cells. Soon-to-be-famous outlaw Butch Cassidy was incarcerated here from 1894 to1896. After its closure in 1903, the prison was given to the University of Wyoming, which used it for livestock breeding experiments until 1989. It opened to the public as a historic site two years later – and stories of ghosts began to circulate. With more than 1,000 inmates housed there over the years, it’s too be expected that some of the prisoners or guards might linger behind. However, there is one prisoner who reputedly is more active than the others. His name is Julius Greenwald and he was sent to prison for the 1897 murder of his wife. Prison lore states that Greenwald was adept at making cigars and convincing prison staff to allow him to make and sell cigars while incarcerated. He allegedly made the cigars from his cell on the third floor – a cell that was removed during a renovation of the site. Allegedly, Greenwald’s spirit did not appreciate this and has manifested as a phantom cigar smell at the prison ever since.

10. MISSOURI STATE PENITENTIARY

Jefferson City, Missouri

The Missouri State Penitentiary, known as “The Walls,” was constructed in the early 1830s to serve the newly admitted state of Missouri. The earliest prisoners made the bricks that the first walls were built from. The initial prison population consisted of one guard, one warden, fifteen prisoners, and a foreman for the brick-making operation with an assistant. Eleven of the fifteen prisoners were from St. Louis, and all were incarcerated for larceny except for one, who was imprisoned for stabbing a man during a drunken brawl. Needless to say, the prison grew many times over the years until it closed down in 2004. During its operation, it saw many infamous prisoners, including Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd, James Earl Ray and Bobby Greenlease kidnappers Carl Austin Hall and Bonnie Heady. They were executed at the prison. In 1954, there was a major riot at the penitentiary. The Missouri State Highway Patrol, Missouri National Guard, and police departments from Jefferson City, St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri were called in to help quell the disturbance. When it was all over, four inmates had been killed, 29 had been injured and there had been one attempted suicide. Four guards had been seriously injured and several buildings had been burned. During its operation, forty inmates were executed in the gas chamber and Time Magazine once called it the "Bloodiest 47 acres in America" for the frequent violence inside its walls. It probably comes as no surprise that since its closure, the penitentiary has become a hotspot for paranormal activity. Staff members and visitors have reported dozens of eerie encounters with lingering spirits, which have been seen, heard and encountered first-hand.

AMERICA'S 10 MOST HAUNTED PLACES

COMPILED BY TROY TAYLOR & APRIL SLAUGHTER

Co-authors of the upcoming book, DISCONNECTED FROM DEATH

BELL WITCH CAVE

Adams, Tennessee

Few accounts of ghostly phenomena in American history can compare to that of the Bell Witch. Beginning in 1871 and lasting nearly four years, the Bell family was plagued by disturbing experiences in their home. What began as simple yet inexplicable rapping and scratching noises quickly escalated into violent personal attacks. When the entity responsible for the anguish found its voice, it claimed to be the “witch” of Kate Batts, a former neighbor who’d fostered resentment for John Bell over bad business dealings. John fell ill and would eventually die, all at the hands of the witch who was more than willing to take credit for his demise. The spirit left the family in peace for seven years, only to return to taunt them again for weeks. Whether or not the ghost was the spirit of Kate Batts or something far more sinister, nobody really knows, but it is speculated that when it retreated, it took up residence in a cave close to the Bell home near the Red River. Many who visit the cave today report experiences such as hearing the sound of footsteps, seeing apparitions, and even feeling as though they have been pushed or slapped. Some believe the ghost of Kate Batts is the culprit, while others believe the cave’s famous resident was never a human at all. You can read more about it in "Season of the Witch!" 

WAVERLY HILLS SANATORIUM

Louisville, Kentucky

This massive structure was built in 1926 to house and treat patients afflicted with tuberculosis; a disease that gripped much of the nation, but was particularly prominent among the residents of Louisville. Hundreds of patients were admitted and treated for the disease, but many of them did not survive. Treatments were not only painful and usually ineffective, they were often deadly. Bodies were removed via the “bloody chute” which was a tunnel leading from the back of the building down a hill to a railway where they were kept out of site of the surviving patients. By 1943, advances in medicine had nearly eradicated the disease in the U. S. and the sanatorium closed. A year later, it was re-opened as the Woodhaven Geriatrics Sanitarium and would remain in operation until 1982, when conditions and budget cuts led to mistreatment and the neglect of patients and the state of Kentucky shut it down permanently. Waverly Hills has exchanged hands a number of times over the years, but one thing remains constant… visitors to the building continually experience a wide range of paranormal phenomena from hearing disembodied voices, feeling an ominous presence, to seeing shadow figures move from room to room. With so much and death and suffering that occurred within its walls, is it any wonder that the sanatorium is considered one of the most haunted locations in the country? Read more about this location in “Haunting of America!”

THE MYRTLES PLANTATION

Near St. Francisville, Louisiana

This plantation was originally built in 1794, and in the many years since, has become a home of ghostly legend. The most famous of which tells of a jaded house slave named Chloe, who – knowingly or not – poisoned her master’s wife and children. Another tale includes the tragic death of previous owner William Winter, who was shot on the porch of the house and then wounded, made his way into the house and up the staircase to the 17th step where he collapsed and died in the arms of his beloved. While stories such as these would certainly support the claims of paranormal activity within the home, they are unfortunately untrue. No record exists of Chloe, and those she allegedly poisoned all died at different times from yellow fever. William Winter was indeed shot, but died immediately and did not stumble into the house. Even so, there are a few ghosts of the Deep South that have made The Myrtles their home. The apparition of an African American woman wearing a green bonnet has been seen (and photographed) on the premises. Children are often seen playing in and around the house and peering into windows. The grand piano on the first floor often plays on its own, only to stop as soon as anyone enters the room to investigate. The legends of The Myrtles may not be accurate, but one thing remains true… it is a home with a deep history that continues to haunt visitors to this day. Read more about this location in “Haunting of America!”

THE LEMP MANSION

St. Louis, Missouri

The Lemp family began building their empire in the beer brewing business in St. Louis in 1838. Driven and quite successful, the Lemps enjoyed many prosperous years in the industry, but with success also came hardship. Death would first visit the family when it came for William Lemp Sr.’s eldest son, Frederick. In 1901, and at only 28 years of age, his health rapidly deteriorated and he passed away, leaving his father completely devastated. Ultimately unable to pull himself out from underneath the sadness, William retired to his room in the family home on the morning of February 13, 1904 and shot himself with a .38 caliber revolver.  His daughter Elsa Lemp Wright would follow in his footsteps in 1920 after struggles with a rocky marriage and the decline of the family business. The Lemp plant was eventually sold to the International Shoe Co., which devastated William Lemp, Jr. By December 1922, Will had slipped into a terrible depression and social withdrawal and he too took his own life in the Lemp family home. The remaining Lemp brothers, Charles and Edwin, were largely involved in other ventures, but tragedy would reduce the family yet again. In May of 1949, Charles was found dead in the home he’d loved, a victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Edwin passed away at his estate in Kirkwood at the age of 90 in 1970. The family home was sold after Charles’ passing, and while it briefly served as a boarding house, it fell into disrepair until 1975, when it was purchased and remodeled as a restaurant and inn by Dick Pointer. During renovation, the Pointer family experienced phantom footsteps and voices in the house. Restaurant staff have reported seeing apparitions appear and vanish at will, glasses inexplicably flying from the shelves, and hearing the bar piano play entirely on its own. In 1980, an article appearing in LIFE magazine named the Lemp Mansion as “one of the most haunted houses in America.”  Discover the full history in “Suicide &Spirits!”

THE BATTLEFIELDS OF GETTYSBURG

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Famous haunts across the country attract large numbers of ghost hunters every year, but few of them can compare to the allure and reputation of Gettysburg. Three bloody days of battle during the Civil War in June of 1863 resulted in a large number of casualties, and this small town was ill-prepared to handle the fall out. Nearly one third of all the soldiers engaged in battle here were dead by the end of the third day; a catastrophic loss leaving bodies strewn in all directions. The wounded were treated in homes and businesses that were made into makeshift hospitals while the dead were exposed to and rotted in the Pennsylvania summer heat. The suffering and death that occurred in the fields, in local homes, and the surrounding areas has left a lasting impression on the land, as is evident by the sheer number of paranormal encounters that are experienced and recorded here. It is said that when the ladies of Gettysburg traveled through town following the battle, their only relief from the overwhelming stench of death were scented handkerchiefs pressed tightly to their faces. “Phantom smells” of peppermint and vanilla are experienced by visitors even to this day. Apparitions seem to frequent homes and various other buildings, disembodied voices and the sounds of war still linger in the air. The most active location in Gettysburg is an area called The Devil’s Den. Visitors find it difficult to keep their electronic gear up and running, as inexplicable failure is common here. Many people have often encountered an unkempt man amongst the boulders, who approaches to speak with them and suddenly vanishes. Soldiers are seen, gunfire is heard, and the weight of the devastation that occurred here is quite often felt. Those who visit the battlefields of Gettysburg come hoping for an encounter with those on the other side… and few are disappointed. Discover the many stories of Gettysburg in “Soldiers& the Supernatural!”

THE STANLEY HOTEL

Estes Park, Colorado

This beautiful and historic hotel, which sits in the picturesque community of Estes Park, has been home to ghostly activity experienced by staff and guests alike for years. Famed writer Stephen King was so impressed by the hotel that it became the inspiration behind his novel The Shining. No one knows exactly when the activity began in the hotel, or why, but experiences have long been a part of the hotel’s mystique. Nearly every room has been host to one phenomenon or another, though most of the activity seems to occur on the fourth floor. Guests often report that items are inexplicably moved in their rooms, and children are heard at odd hours running and playing in the hallways. F.O. Stanley (of Stanley Steamer fame) and his wife Flora opened the hotel in July of 1909, but neither seem to have left it behind. It is not unusual for guests and staff to briefly encounter F.O. walking through the lobby, and the sound of the piano playing on its own in the Music Room is often attributed to Flora. The beauty and comfort of the Stanley Hotel attracts hundreds of people every year; more, if you count those who remain unseen.

THE WINCHESTER MYSTERY HOUSE

San Jose, California

Haunted houses are interesting, but there aren’t any in existence that can compare to the oddity of the Winchester Mystery House. The story begins with the birth of Sarah Pardee in 1839 to a family in New Haven, Connecticut. At the age of 23, Sarah married William Wirt Winchester, heir to the Winchester rifle empire. Life seemed to be going well until disaster struck four years later. Sarah had given birth to her first and only child, Annie, but the infant fell ill and passed away a mere nine days later. Sarah drew inward from the loss, and struggled to regain a balanced emotional footing. In 1881, Sarah lost her husband William to pulmonary tuberculosis, which only added to her agony. Urged by a friend to visit a Spiritualist medium for guidance, Sarah was told that a terrible curse loomed above her family for all of the deaths the Winchester rifles had been responsible for. The medium relayed to Sarah that her husband wished for her to move on and build a home she could inhabit with the spirits of those who’d lost their lives to the weapon. In order to remain living, Sarah needed to keep construction on the home constant. If she ceased, she would die. Sarah and her vast fortune moved west, eventually settling in California’s Santa Clara Valley in 1884. She purchased an existing six bedroom house resting on 162 acres and immediately began construction on her new home. As time passed, the house continued to grow. Crews worked round the clock to add entire wings, doors that were joined to windows. There were countless staircases that led nowhere; a blind chimney that stop short of the ceiling; closets that opened to blank walls; trap doors; double-back hallways; doors that opened to steep drops to the lawn below; and dozens of other oddities. Sarah also maintained a connection to the spirits in her home by communing with them in a séance room she had constructed for that purpose. After one such session on September 4, 1922, Sarah retired to her bedroom where she passed away at the age of 83. The mansion is now a California Historical Landmark, and many believe that the spirits Sarah worked so hard to appease still occupy the house. Inexplicable footsteps, banging doors, strange lights and cold spots are just a few of the things reported to have occurred in the home over the years.  Read more about this location in “Haunting of America!”

BACHELOR’S GROVE CEMETERY

Chicago, Illinois

This cemetery sits on land first set aside for burial in 1844. Now largely abandoned and sheltered by trees on the edge of the Woods Forest Preserve, this piece of land has become fairly well known for the accounts of paranormal phenomena it has produced over the years since the last recorded burial in 1989. Problems arose in the 1960s when vandalism and decay descended on the cemetery. Headstones were broken, stolen, and defaced. Caskets were unearthed and bones strewn about the ground. Rumors of occult rituals taking place also began to surface. Today, the cemetery is unkempt, overgrown, and surrounded by a large chain link fence, which has proven to be a poor deterrent for anyone determined to enter the premises. The apparition of a horse has been seen emerging from a small stagnant pond near the rear barrier of the cemetery, pulling a plow and driven by the ghost of a man who had allegedly drown when the horse plunged into the pond, dragging him under. The apparition of a woman wandering aimlessly around the cemetery, holding an infant has been a common sight, though she seems unaware (or perhaps disinterested) in interacting with anyone who encounters her. The surrounding area seems to be equally active, as phantom vehicles have appeared only to vanish on the nearby roadway. For several decades, individuals have reported the appearance of a phantom farm house appearing and disappearing from sight in various locations nearby as well. Many cemeteries are often rumored to be haunted; the phenomena experienced at Bachelor’s Grove leave little doubt that it is.  Read more about this location in “Haunting of America!”

YORKTOWN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Yorktown, Texas

Tucked away in a small south Texas town sits a privately owned vacant building that was once the Yorktown Memorial Hospital. Built in 1950 and operated by the Felician Sisters of the Roman Catholic Church, the hospital remained in operation until it closed its doors in the late 1980s. It is reported that close to 2,000 people passed away in the building, and over the years, stories of strange occurrences have poured out from within its walls. Caretakers of the property often see and hear sounds emanating from within, as though the hospital were still in working order. Women crying out as if in labor, the groans of individuals in a great deal of pain, disembodied conversations, and shadowy figures moving from room to room are commonly experienced. Investigators who have repeatedly visited the building report encountering spirits who have identified themselves on several occasions and seem to recognize them upon their return, engaging in lengthy conversations via Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) and the use of Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC) devices. Orbs of light (seen with the naked eye) have been witnessed moving about the halls and doorways of Yorktown, and the activity within is no less active in the daylight hours than it is at night. While no one knows exactly what sets this hospital building apart from any other, one thing remains clear… Yorktown is one of the most consistently active paranormal locations in America. Read about this location in April's "Ghosthunting Texas!"

THE VILLISCA AX MURDER HOUSE

Villisca, Iowa

On the morning of June 10, 1912 the bodies of eight individuals were discovered bludgeoned and blood-soaked in the Moore family home in the tight-knit community of Villisca. J.B. Moore, his wife Sarah, their four children Herman, Catherine, Boyd, and Paul were all murdered, their skulls crushed with an ax, along with Lena and Ina Stillinger, two young girls who had spent the night. J.B. Moore’s brother Ross had been alerted by neighbor Mary Peckham who became concerned about the family’s well-being when she realized there was no activity in the usually busy home. Ross’ discoveries of the bodies sent the community reeling, as nothing quite like this had ever happened in their town before. News spread quickly, and soon the house was overrun with those curious about the murders, which likely destroyed whatever evidence there might have been. While there were several suspects in the case, it was unfortunately never solved and remains a mystery to this day. In the years that have passed since the grisly discovery, the Moore home has had various owners and tenants, but in 1994 it was purchased and restored as closely as possible to its original condition by Darwin and Martha Linn. Individuals who have stayed in the house have reported waking to the sound of children’s voices when there were no children present at the time. Children’s laughter, moving objects, and strange banging sounds are just a few of the experiences many have had in the Villisca Ax Murder House. Read the true story of the Villisca Ax Murders in “Murdered in their Beds!”