The Castle was built in 1855 by Melvin C. Clarke, an attorney, abolitionist, and the city's first solicitor, elected in 1854. Clarke lived in the home for a mere three years before selling the property to John Newton, Esq., in 1858. Clarke would later see battle during the Civil War and die in the battle of Antietam.
On July 17, 1886, John Newton passed away and the estate was sold the following year to E.W. Nye, a newspaper publisher. After only two years in the home, Nye passed away unexpectedly, leaving the elegant home to his daughter, Lucy Nye Davis.
Lucy had married a man named Theodore Davis, and together, the couple had two daughters: Jessie and Grace. Jessie, who was 14 years old when her mother inherited the home, had her own wedding reception in the house when she married John Lindsay in 1896. When Jessie was 55 years old, she inherited the home for herself, and lived there until her death on February 14, 1974. She was just short of 100 years old, and according to legend, had become somewhat of a recluse in her older years, rarely leaving the house and spending the majority of time either in her upstairs bedroom, or in her first floor library. Her advanced age and reclusiveness led the neighborhood children to believe that Jessie was a witch.
After she died, however, L. Stewart Bosley and his sister acquired the property, and spend the next two decades fixing it up and restoring it to its 19th century glory. Unfortunately, both brother and sister died before their vision was realized. On April 24, 1992, the Betsey Mills Corporation took over operation of the home as an historical asset to the city of Marietta, to be used for education and public functions. It was opened in 1994 to the public for tours and historical events.
It was during one of these events that the resident entity made itself known to a group of girls and their guides. The Girl Scouts were at the house for a day of historic cooking, arts and crafts, followed by a sleepover, when they heard footsteps coming from above them...in the location of Jessie's former bedroom. This happened several times with different troops, all hearing the same footsteps coming from the upstairs bedroom.
Other odd things that have happened in the house include a door being locked behind two docents, seemingly by phantom hands, light anomalies, and strange moaning. Even a hygrothermometer, installed to keep tabs on the temperature and humidity levels for museum purposes went haywire. At 2am, around the time when the odd moaning noises were most often heard, the data from the device was reporting a severe drop in temperature, coupled with an increase in humidity.
It doesn't appear that The Castle is open for public ghost hunting or paranormal investigation, but ghost stories and haunted history tours are given during the Halloween season, in addition to other creepy events, such as a mock Victorian funeral presentation. The house is also a stop on Marietta's Haunted Trolley Tour. For more information see the link below:
Photo from the Castle Homepage
Additional details on the history and hauntings from John Kachuba's Ghosthunting Ohio.
do you let individual groups do overnight investigations
ReplyDeleteI have no affiliation with this location, so I cannot set up investigations here. I do believe that the current owners are open to the idea, however, but you would have to contact them. Contact information is available through the Castle's website, which I've linked to in the post.
Delete