Exploring America State by State

Category Archives: Haunted

The Jeepers Creepers School

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South of Coldwater, Michigan near the Ohio border, stands an old abandoned school built in 1908. I would like to be able to tell you the story of one of its pupils that went on to do something inspiring, but unfortunately, I do not know of such a story. I only know the tragic and sad story that took place at this school building after the death of a Coldwater High School counselor. On Easter day in 1990, Marilyn DePue and her husband Dennis got into a fight. After savagely beating her he forced her into his van and shot her in the head killing her instantly. He dumped her body behind an old church, that has since been demolished, then drove extremely fast down South Snow Prairie Road, passing a brother and sister out on an afternoon drive.

When the pair of siblings drove past the old school they noticed the van that had passed them. The two also saw a man hiding a bloody sheet behind the abandoned building. De Pue must have realized there was a blood soaked sheet in the van that he needed to hide. After the body was discovered by the police, on a tip from the siblings, Dennis became the prime suspect. He had fled the state and the police were not able to find and arrest him. Robert Stack featured the story on an episode of the popular television show Unsolved Mysteries.

After the episode aired, several tips came in saying a man by the name of Hank Queen, living in Dallas Texas, fit the description. Trying to question Dennis DePue, he led the police on a hi-speed chase and committed suicide before he could be taken into custody. The story of Marilyn DePue’s murder is thought to be the inspiration for the opening scene of the movie Jeepers Creepers.  The director and writer said it was not, but the similarities are uncanny. The old episode of Unsolved Mysteries can be seen on Youtube. The old school still stands silently among the farm fields. It is off limits to visitors, but you can still drive past it, hopefully you will not see anything nefarious taking place.

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Whispers Estate

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North of downtown Mitchell, Indiana on a block of modest homes is a rather unassuming two-story house. It has a wrought iron fence and a pair of stone angel statues in front of it. Looking at it from the outside, you would assume it was just another ordinary Midwestern home. Inside, the owner claims strange paranormal events happen, making it one of the most haunted locations in the Hoosier State. Known as the Whispers Estate, it was built in 1894. Dr. John Gibbons purchased the home in 1899 and used the lower floor as his office, where he saw patients. Dr. Gibbons and his wife had adopted several orphaned children and were well respected in the community. Their ten-year-old daughter Rachel was severely burned by a fire she started in the parlor. Two days later, she died in her upstairs bedroom.

The Gibbon’s ten-month-old daughter Elizabeth died in the home from a mysterious illness. Dr. Gibbon’s wife Jessie died of pneumonia in the same bedroom that Elizabeth passed away in. The house, having seen its share of tragedy over the decades, is said to be cursed by some of its former residents. Some people have claimed to see the spirit of a little girl roaming the house, possibly that of Rachel. They also have heard the sounds of heavy breathing and coughing in the master bedroom where Jessie died from pneumonia. They say the door knob on the closet door jiggles on its own and the door mysteriously opens. The home is known as Whispers Estate because guests have heard strange voices whispering in their ears.

 

If you love reading about strange an unique places in Indiana, I hope you will take a look at my Lost In Indiana book available on Amazon HERE

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The Haunted Mansion of Michigan

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This large second empire home stands surrounded by farmland in Michigan’s Thumb. The massive, ornate home was built in 1876 by John G. Bruce. He owned the Bruce and Webster General Merchants with his brother-in-law. Burnside Township was originally Allison Township, but the name was changed in 1866 to honor Ambrose E. Burnside, a union general in the Civil War. John G. Bruce was the postmaster for 16 years in Burnside. Most of the town was destroyed by a fire in 1881, but the mansion and general store were spared from the flames. In 1894 Bruce lost the general store to a fire, and rebuilt it with a brick building.

Bruce eventually sold the home to Cynthia Smith who died in the house from a fever in 1921. Cynthia’s son sold the house, and it changed owners a few times. It was eventually purchased by John Walker in 1926. Rumor has it, he was driving his automobile when he hit a pedestrian. Terrified at what he had done, he took the body back to the mansion and buried it somewhere on the estate. Some say the ghost of the victim, others say guilt, caused Walker to lose his fortune and he hanged himself in the mansion’s tower. It is said to be haunted; I am not sure about that, but it is a beautiful old house. It’s kind of spooky with the ghostly light green paint, and it seems like an odd location for such an ornate mansion that I would expect to be in a large city and not standing among the farm fields.

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The Schenck Mansion

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The small town of Vevay sits along the Ohio River between Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio. The beautiful little river town has a historic downtown surrounded by average midwestern homes. The one home that stands out is an enormous second empire style brick mansion that stands on a hillside overlooking the community of Vevay. The home known as the Schenck Mansion was built in 1874 by Benjamin Franklin Schenck, the son of the “Hay King” Ulysses Schenck.

In the early 1800s, many Europeans came to the Ohio River Valley in the hopes of starting a new life in the United States. Many Swiss families came to the area around Vevay, and the county was given the name Switzerland County. In 1817, Ulysses Schenck emigrated from Switzerland to Vevay and set up a mercantile business selling goods to local farmers. Realizing there was money to be made in transporting hay downriver, he purchased a steamboat to ship the feed grown by local farmers. As business grew along with his wealth, he became known as the Hay King. With the money gained from his father’s business, Benjamin Schenk built his grand home on the hillside overlooking the town. Tragically, he died two years after construction began in 1874 and was never able to live in the completed home. His widow and children lived in the home a few years before moving away. The house on the hill sat empty for decades until the family donated the home to the Indiana Baptist Convention in 1923.

The mansion was given back to the family in 1928 and then sold to the Wiseman family in 1945. The home had changed owners several times over the decades, and the upper floors had been divided up into apartments. In the late 90s, Jerry and Lisa Fisher purchased the home and renovated it into a bed and breakfast. The new owners fixed up the old mansion, bringing it back to the grandeur it once had when it was originally built. In 2020, the home was sold to tattoo artist Kat Von D, who starred on the TV show LA Ink. She is using it as a private residence. There are rumors of the home being haunted. One of the stories claims that the land that the mansion was built on originally had a home on it that burned down. The owners of the home were trapped inside and burned up with the house, and their spirits still roam the property. The fact that Benjamin Schenck died before the home was completed also lends one to believe his spirit still haunts the home he constructed. I am not sure any of it is true, but it is a beautiful historic house along the Ohio River.

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The Stone Mansion

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The town of Winchester Indiana sits on the eastern side of the state and is mostly known for the speedway named after the town. South of downtown is a massive second empire style house known as the Stone Mansion. The house is not made of stone, but brick. It is named for Asahel Stone, the man that had the home constructed. He was a Civil War General and also served as a Congressman.

The house was constructed in 1872 for Asahel and his wife Lydia. They lived in the home almost two decades until Asahel died in 1891 and Lydia about a year later in 1892. They were buried next to each other in nearby Fountain Park Cemetery. A cemetery that was created when Asahel donated the land for it to be used by the citizens of Winchester.

The Stones did not have any children and the home passed through several hands over the years. In 2019 the home was purchased by a non-profit organization called Save The Old Properties (S.T.O.P.) Some clam the old house is haunted by the spirits of its former owners. I am not sure about that but they do give tours of the historic home. you can see more at thier website HERE 

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The Ann Starrett Mansion

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The Ann Starrett Mansion stands in the town of Port Townsend, Washington. The house was built in 1889 by businessman and contractor George Starrett for his wife Ann. The couple lived the home for twenty years raising their raising their only child Edwin with he help of a nanny and two servants. The home is now a bed and breakfast welcoming guests to spend a night in the ornate house.  As with many old houses with prominent families it is said to be haunted by the spirit of the Sarretts and their Nanny. I am not sure if it is but if I were a ghost it sure seems like a beautiful place to spend eternity.

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The Dungeon in Northern Ohio

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In downtown Fremont behind the Sandusky County Courthouse is an old sandstone building. From the front, it looks like a Victorian-Romanesque style house. From the side, an additional three story wing comes off the rear and has bars on the window. They are there because the old structure at one time served as the county jail and sheriff’s residence. When it was dedicated in 1890, the keynote speaker was former United States President Rutherford B. Hayes, who was a resident of Fremont.

President Hayes was an advocate for prison reform, and at the time the jail was built, it was a modern facility with cells designed with prisoner safety in mind. What lies underneath the building was far from safe and humane for early prisoners of Sandusky County. In the 1840s, during the beginning of Sandusky County, log cabins with iron bars on the windows were used to confine people who broke the law. The primitive building did not serve its intended purpose well because it had dirt floors and a few prisoners dug down under the wall and escaped. After a few years, it was evident that some other form of incarceration was needed. Instead of building up, they went down and dug a dungeon lined with stone walls. The prisoners were held in dank cells poorly illuminated by kerosene lamps.

The Dungeon was used for over a decade until a new jail was built on top of it. The old jail finally closed in the 1990s after a new jail, to meet current standards, was constructed. There was talk about razing the old building, but it was decided to use it as office space for the county. Over the years, people have noticed strange things happening in the old building. They have heard strange sounds and footsteps of people who were not there. In the middle of the night, the motion detectors will go off when nothing is on the video surveillance. I can’t say for sure if the old jail is haunted, but there were some tragic events that took place within its walls. One inmate in the old dungeon who had been arrested for murder had a visitor slip him a razorblade. He used it to commit suicide in his cell. On the third floor is an old gallows that was used to hang prisoners sentenced to death. The last hanging was done in 1883. John W. Radford was hanged for shooting and killing his wife.

If you thought this post was interesting you will enjoy reading my Lost In Ohio book available on Amazon HERE

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The Legend of Gore Orphanage

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While doing research, I come across many tragic and strange urban legends. Some are wild fictional tales, and others are true stories about horrific events. The legend of Gore Orphanage is a wild tale based on a series of events. The legend goes that Gore Orphanage along the Vermillion River in Northern Ohio burned down, killing several children. Remains of the building can be seen in the woods and the spirits of the children roam the area.

To start with, there was no such place as Gore Orphanage. A road of that name does exist. It was originally named Gore Road. Not for blood and horror, but for the shape of a piece of cloth used in making a woman’s skirt. There was an orphanage on the road and that was probably when the name changed. The name of the orphanage was Light of Hope. It was a farm that was established by Reverend Johann Sprunger and his wife. They built it after their first orphanage in Berne, Indiana burned down but no one was killed or injured in the fire.

The new orphanage in northern Ohio in 1902 housed about one hundred twenty children. A few years later, some of the children ran away and told of the horrific conditions and abuse. They were forced to live in rat infested barracks and fed very little food. Treated like slaves, they were forced to work on the farm, and many of them were whipped by Sprunger. He would also rent out children to other farmers in the area. When they were investigated in 1909, the Sprungers admitted to the abuse, but they were not prosecuted because there were no laws prohibiting it in Ohio at the time. Johann Sprunger died two years after the investigation, and the orphanage was officially shut down.

During that same time period, one of the most horrific events in Ohio and the United States occurred in the town of Collingwood east of Cleveland. In 1908, a fire started in a three story elementary school. One hundred seventy six students were burned or trampled to death when they were trapped in the fire. The children tried to exit down the front stairs but were blocked by the flames. Trying to escape out the rear of the school, the doors opened inward, and many of the students were crushed up against the doors, desperately trying to open them.

At the southern edge of the Orphanage’s farmland was an old abandoned mansion. Named Rosedale, the massive Greek revival house was built in 1841 by Joseph Smith. He moved to the area from Massachusetts and had great success as a farmer. He built the home for his family, and after losing a fortune in railroad investments, he had to sell the house in the 1870s. Spiritualist Nicholas Wilbur purchased the home and moved in with his family. It was said that he would hold seances with his wife and children to speak with the dead. At that time, spiritualism was all the rage, and it was not uncommon for people to try to communicate with spirits. The Wilburs moved out of the house, and by 1901, it was abandoned. Four of their grandchildren died of diphtheria after they moved away, but rumors persisted that they were buried on the property.

Smith Mansion before it was demolished

While the house sat abandoned in the early 1900s, local teenagers dared each other to enter the home, saying that it was haunted. Vandals set fire to the mansion, and it burned to the ground in 1923. In the trees off Gore Orphanage Road are some stones used in the foundations of the old mansion. The tragic events in the region, an old abandoned mansion, and a road named Gore Orphanage have combined to become the urban legend of the Gore Orphanage. I am not sure who owns the property of the former mansion or if it is open to the public. There was a sign for a park near the blocks from the old mansion so it may be part of a county park but I am not sure.

If you thought this post was interesting be sure to take a look at my book Lost In Ohio now available on Amazon HERE

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The Most Haunted House in Indiana

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The small town of Cayuga is in the western heartland of Indiana near the Illinois Border. The cross shaped house is said to be the most haunted house in the Hoosier State and was featured on the first episode of the History Channels The UnXplained  hosted by William Shatner. Called the Willows Weep house it was built in the 1890s and several people have died in the home. The man who built it died in the home and three or four people have committed suicide in the home. They say the home is possesed by an evil spirit. I am rather skeptical about the ghost stories but since I saw it on The UnXplained I took a drive past it when I was in Indiana. It was a rather ordinary looking home and I snapped a pic from the road.

P.S. I had a little fun in photoshop with the pic.

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The Mystery of the Stone Merchant Ball

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The historic cemetery in Marion, Ohio covers over one hundred fifty acres and has numerous headstones and monuments. One monument in particular has intrigued people ever since it was placed in the cemetery over a century ago. Charles B. Merchant was a prominent resident and businessman in Marion. When he died in 1896, his family placed a large monument at his gravesite to honor his memory. A large black granite ball was placed on a stone plinth. The ball was polished smooth except for a small circular section. When the five thousand pound ball was placed on the mount, the rough section was facing down so that it would not be seen. A few years later, someone noticed that the rough spot was now facing outward. Somehow, the sphere had rotated. The massive ball was lifted and the spot rotated back down, and this time some tar was added to the stone base to keep the sphere from moving. Once again the ball rotated, despite the addition of the adhesive tar. To this day, the ball continues to rotate over time. Visitors to the cemetery can see the circular spot on the sphere that was once facing down. No one knows why or how the ball is moving. Some speculate that it may be supernatural forces.

This is not the only monument of this type to experience strange rotations. The Witch’s Ball in Memphis, Michigan does the same thing. You can see my post about it HERE

This is one of the many stories from my book Lost In Ohio. You can learn more about it on Amazon HERE