Category Archives: Illinois

At the north end of Watseka, Illinois is a large brick two-story home. It looks like an ordinary midwestern house, but a story from its past makes people wonder what secrets the walls contain. In 1877, Mary Lurancy Vennum was born near the town of Watseka. At the age of thirteen, she had trouble sleeping at night, telling her family that she heard voices calling to her. She started having seizures and psychotic episodes, claiming to be possessed by someone else’s spirit. Her relatives told the family to have her admitted to an asylum for treatment. Instead, her parents took her to see E. W. Stevens, a local renowned spiritualist.

According to Stevens, Vennum’s body was taken over by other spirits. She spoke in different voices and became several different people, including an old woman named Katrina Hogan and a young man named Willie Canning. Eventually, she became possessed by the spirit of Mary Roff, who had died twelve years earlier. Mary Roff’s parents lived in the home that stands on the north side of town and after meeting with Vennum, they were convinced she was possessed by their daughter’s spirit. They invited Vennum to live with them, and after staying at the Roff home for several weeks, Mary’s spirit eventually left and Vennum returned to her normal self. She later married and moved to California, living a long life.

E. W. Stevens wrote a book titled The Watseka Wonder about the ordeal. C. W. Raymond came to own the house after the Roffs. He served as a federal judge in the Oklahoma territory, and after his death in 1939, Raymond’s step-daughter Katharine Clifton inherited the house. She owned several farms in the region and built a runway behind the house so she could fly an airplane around to view the status of the crops. Currently the home is owned by John Whitman, who restored it to its original condition. It is used for private events and rented to guests on Airbnb.

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In The States, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.

Alton Illinois sits on the other side of the river from St. Louis Missouri and is considered part of the metro St. Louis area. Up on a hill north of town sits an old brick mansion surrounded by large old trees. The home is said to be one of the most haunted houses in America. It was built in 1869 by Henry McPike. He was a local businessman and politician who served as Alton’s mayor for a few years.

The mansion sits on fifteen acres, and McPike grew award-winning grapes for the wine he made in the home’s cellar. The family lived in the home until their deaths when the house was sold to Paul A. Laichinger in 1925. He lived in the home while renting rooms to others until his death in 1945. The home sat neglected for decades, and vandals broke in and stole most of the architectural components of the house. It was saved from the wrecking ball when it was sold at auction in 1994 to Sharyn and George Luedke.

The Luedkes began the process of renovating the home and noticed strange occurrences—the sound of voices or whistling or cold spots as people passed through the rooms. They believe it was the spirits of Henry McPike and his family. His daughter was known to participate in whistling competitions and maybe she is still whistling from beyond the grave. The home is privately owned but is open for tours and ghost hunts. You can see more at their website www.Mcpikemansion.com

I visit a lot of privately owned houses and places and admire them from the road since most have no trespassing signs posted. I was pleasantly surprised to see a sign welcoming visitors to the McPike Mansion by the owners. I hope people that visit will be respectful and the owners will continue to make it available to the public. You can learn more about the mansion on their website HERE

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In The States, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.