Ohio's Historic Haunts

James Willis

Description

Ohio's premier paranormal researcher looks for the spirits behind the stories Many of Ohio's historically significant locations have developed a reputation for being haunted. While it might be almost impossible to prove the validity of the paranormal tales that surround them, one thing is clear: ghost stories help to keep history alive. But the questions remain: How did these stories get started? More important, are any of them tied directly to actual historic events? And do any facts support the ghost lore?Rather than rely on second- and third-person accounts, author and paranormal researcher James A. Willis sat down with the owners, employees, and patrons of Ohio locations that are said to be haunted - the Arts Castle in Delaware, the Fairport Harbor Marine Museum, the Haunted Hydro in Fremont, Loveland Castle, the Merry-Go-Round Museum in Sandusky, the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, the Zanesville Community Theatre, and many others. After conducting more than 200 hours of one-on-one interviews, Willis was able to piece together unique histories for each location, including eyewitness accounts from people who believed they experienced paranormal activity.But Willis wasn't content to stop with first-person accounts. He also brought high-tech "ghost-hunting" equipment into each location and spent a night attempting to collect empirical data to see if he could experience a paranormal encounter himself. What were the results of these vigils? You'll have to read the book to find out! Come along on a journey with Willis as he travels to the crossroads where history and folklore collide, and visit the fascinating Ohio locations where the past comes alive - in more ways than one!

Sujets

• Ohio

Informations

• Publié par: The Kent State University Press
• Date de parution: 30 septembre 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781631011801
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

OHIO’S HISTORIC HAUNTS
• JAMES A. WILLIS •
OHIO’S HISTORIC HAUNTS
Investigating the Paranormal in the Buckeye State
Black Squirrel Books™ Kent, Ohio
© 2015 by The Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio 44242
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2014049487
ISBN 978-1-60635-260-1
Manufactured in the United States of America
BLACK SQUIRREL BOOKS™
Frisky, industrious black squirrels are a familiar sight on the Kent State University campus and the inspiration for Black Squirrel Books™, a trade imprint of The Kent State University Press. www.KentStateUniversityPress.com
This book is intended as entertainment and as a historical record of ghost stories, legends, and folklore from Ohio. Many of these stories cannot be independently confirmed or corroborated, and the author and publisher make no representation as to their factual accuracy. Readers should be advised that some of the sites described in this book are located on private property and should not be visited without the permission of the owners, or visitors may face prosecution for trespassing. Sites open to the general public should be visited only during normal hours of operation or with special permission from the owners.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Willis, James A.
Ohio’s historic haunts : investigating the paranormal in the buckeye state / James A. Willis.
      pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-60635-260-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) ∞ 1. Haunted places—Ohio. I. Title.
BF1472.U6W55545 2015
133.109771—dc23
2014049487
19 18 17 16 15    5 4 3 2 1
For Steph—Thank you for your unconditional love, your unending support, and for never letting me give up, no matter how many times I tried to.
I still have no idea what I did to deserve you, but I’m glad I did it.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Equipment Used
THE LOCATIONS
NORTHWEST OHIO
The Haunted Hydro—Fremont
Sullivan-Johnson Museum—Kenton
Merry-Go-Round Museum—Sandusky
Northwest Ohio Literacy Council—Lima
Oliver House—Toledo
McKinnis-Litzenberg House—McComb
NORTHEAST OHIO
Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County—Steubenville
Fairport Harbor Marine Museum—Fairport Harbor
Anna Dean Farm—Barberton
Farnam Manor—Richfield
CENTRAL OHIO
Ohio State Reformatory—Mansfield
Bissman Building—Mansfield
Delaware Arts Castle—Delaware
SOUTHWEST OHIO
Loveland Castle—Loveland
Westwood Town Hall Recreation Center—Cincinnati
Inn at Versailles—Versailles
Museum at the Friends Home—Waynesville
SOUTHEAST OHIO
Zanesville Community Theatre—Zanesville
Clay Haus—Somerset
Twin City Opera House—McConnelsville
Warehouse Steak N’ Stein—Coshocton
Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
INTRODUCTION
Ghosts exist .
There, I said it.
I’m guessing that since you’re flipping through a book about ghosts and ghost hunting, you’re probably not too surprised by that statement. So I’ll do you one better: not only do ghosts exist, but I know what their purpose is.
Ghosts exist to help us keep history alive .
OK, so now that I’ve probably got more than a few of you scratching your heads (or shaking them in disgust), allow me to demonstrate with an example.
Let’s just say that there is a famous plantation in Ohio, the Willis Plantation. According to legend, the Willis Plantation is supposed to be haunted by Harry Willis, who built the plantation in 1904. During construction, Harry Willis lost his left hand in a bizarre gardening accident and had it replaced with a hook. He died on March 25, and ever since then, people visiting the Willis Plantation on the anniversary of his death are chased off the property by Harry Willis’s ghost, who has a hook for an arm.
OK, so now let’s look at that little ghost story. In fact, let’s take the ghost out of the story. What are we left with? Historical facts. Anyone hearing that ghost story for the first time walks away from it knowing the name of the building, who built it, that he lost his hand, and when he died. You could probably make a pretty good case that the ghost is the least important aspect of the above-mentioned story. But that would be shortchanging the ghost, especially since it’s been my experience that it’s the ghost that lures people in.
Think about it: interest in ghosts and ghost hunting is at an all-time high right now. Back in the 1980s when I started ghost hunting, it would be years before I ran into someone who also shared my obsession with the paranormal. Now they are everywhere. These days, it seems like everyone loves a good ghost story. But here’s the kicker: most people think they’re just reading. What they fail to realize is that they’re getting a history lesson disguised as a ghost story: history wrapped in a funeral shroud, if you will.
Once I had that unique premise for my book, I made the decision that, as a whole, I wanted this work to be different from any other ghost-hunting book I’d read over the years. I didn’t want this to be merely a collection of rumors and secondhand stories. I decided I wanted to focus on a set number of historical locations in Ohio that were reportedly haunted and then immerse myself in each location, soaking up the actual history as well as the firsthand stories from employees and owners who genuinely believed that they had encountered something unexplainable. And then I wanted to spend the night inside each location to see what, if anything, would happen.
So while each chapter will focus exclusively on a specific historical location in Ohio, I divided each chapter into three sections. It’s my desire that you read all three of these sections together as opposed to only one or two of them as I believe you need all three to get the full picture of each location:

The History
Far too often, people get caught up in the ghost stories associated with a location without looking into the history. To me, that’s getting only half the story. Often if you know the history of a location, what might seem like random ghost activity suddenly makes sense. For example, a rocking chair that rocks on its own at night might be interesting, but if you have historical documentation that states the woman who once owned the chair liked to rock herself to sleep in it every night, well, that might not prove that ghosts exist, but it certainly helps build the case that they might!
The Experiences
More often than not, books on ghost lore will fall into the trap of simply retelling the same stories that have been handed down from generation to generation. I’ve been guilty of doing that myself. There’s nothing wrong with it when you are merely trying to chronicle or document the stories associated with a specific location. But for this book, I wanted to go beyond that. For that reason, I made the decision that when it came to collecting the ghost stories, I wanted to interview each and every person and hear his or her stories firsthand. And I didn’t want people who had been in the building for only an hour or so (or not at all). I wanted the people who owned the building or who worked there—the ones who knew the building inside and out. The ones who knew the normal noises the building made … and what wasn’t normal.
The other reason I wanted to interview everyone was so that I could look them all in the eye while they were telling their stories to see if they were being honest with me. Did these people really see a ghost? I’ll leave that up to you to decide. What I can tell you is that, without a doubt, each and every person who told me about the experiences was convinced that he or she had an encounter with the unexplained. They might not have all said the word “ghost,” but they all said they had no explanation for what they experienced.
The Vigil
This is where I feel my book is breaking new ground. I’m not just going to tell you stories about these locations, I’m going to spend the night inside each and every one of them. I chose to call it a “vigil” because, despite what certain ghost reality shows will tell you, a proper ghost investigation takes longer than a few hours. Often it takes multiple visits and weeks and weeks of research.
Also, the purpose of the vigil is not to determine whether or not any of these locations are haunted. Again, that would take multiple visits and research. Rather, I simply wanted you to get an idea of the sights and sounds of all of these locations. Oh yeah, and I dragged a whole mess of equipment in there with me, too, just in case I got lucky and there were some ghosts hanging around the night I was there.
So are you ready to join me on the ghostly adventure of a lifetime? Great! Then let’s grab some equipment and get going!
EQUIPMENT USED
Since so much has been made about “ghost-hunting equipment” and its importance in an investigation, I thought it would be helpful to explain the different types of equipment I took with me on my overnight vigils. More importantly, I will explain why I chose to use this equipment.
First, it is my opinion, regardless of what others will try to tell me, that there is no such thing as a device that can detect ghosts. Sure, on the Internet you can find all sorts of equipment that will claim to detect ghosts and even allow them to speak directly to you. But here’s the thing: we don’t know what ghosts are (or, to be honest, if they even really exist in any sort of tangible form). So how can someone claim to have a device that can detect something we don’t even know exists?
For that reason, the vast majority of equipment that I use is designed to detect atmospheric/environmental changes that are caused by energy. I base this on the idea that we are all forms of energy. Since you can’t destroy energy (only change its form), where does our energy go when we die? It’s my personal belief that it’s the energy people are seeing/feeling/sensing and calling a “ghost.”
HAND-HELD DEVICES
Infrared (IR) Thermometer
These are handy because you can just point t