HGB Ep. 592 - Adolphus Hotel

Moment in Oddity - Frank Lentini by Chelsea Flowers

Anyone who has listened to this podcast long enough knows that Diane and I are weird kids, and as such, we love learning about circus sideshow performers from back in the day. Many people who ended up performing in circus sideshows were sadly shunned in 'normal' society. But joining a circus gave them steady work and a family. One of those sideshow performers by the name of Francesco Lentini was born with a parasitic twin. Frank had his twin attached at the base of his spine with an extra full sized leg with a foot attached near the knee on his third leg. He was born in 1889 to a large Italian family that already had 11 children. As if dealing with the third leg was not difficult enough as a youngster, one of his primary legs was a full 2 inches shorter than the other. In total, Frank had 16 toes. Sadly, his hometown began calling him, 'the marvel' or 'little monster'. Frank's family sent him away to live with his aunt who found a home for disabled children for the young boy to live at. It was there that Frank witnessed many other children living with disabilities far greater than his and despite how much he hated his personal disability, the experience put his life in a different perspective. In 1898 when Frank was nine years old, he traveled to America where his father reconnected with an acquaintance who was an accomplished showman. By 1899, Frank Lentini had found a place for himself, becoming one of Ringling Brother's most popular acts. He performed with various circuses for nearly 40 years and earn several monikers in the process like, "The Great Lentini", "The Three-Legged Sicilian", "The Greatest Medical Wonder of All Time", and "The Only Three-Legged Football Player in the World". Frank was charming and comedic while engaging the crowd as he performed acts such as jumping rope, cycling, skating and kicking a soccer ball around the ring. He gave many interviews and even when questions were somewhat inappropriate, Frank used his quick wit to deflect invasive questions. It was known that Frank also had an additional *cough* appendage of another type. Frank Lentini was also successful in love, having four children with his first wife and finding love again after his separation. He performed until the very end when in 1966, he passed away from lung failure at the age of 77. I hesitate to call Frank Lentini odd even though he embraced and celebrated his oddness, so instead, I will call him extraordinary. 

This Month in History - Great Seal of US Adopted

In the month of June, on the 20th, in 1782, the Continental Congress officially adopted the Great Seal of the United States. The design process including several proposals took approximately six years. The Great Seal was primarily designed by Charles Thomson the secretary of the Continental Congress and William Barton. It is a national emblem and is used to authenticate important official United States documents typically numbering around 3,000 each year. The Great Seal began appearing on the U.S. one dollar bill in 1935. The principal elements of the seal are the American Bald Eagle which symbolizes America and is shown holding a scroll in its beak with the motto "E Pluribus Unum" which translates to: Out of many, One. The shield appears with red and white stripes representing the original 13 colonies and the blue on top of the unites the shield and symbolizes Congress. The Olive Branch and Arrows held by the eagle represent peace and war and America's power to choose between the two. While the Constellation of Stars above the eagle represents the new states taking their place among other sovereign powers. Beginning in September of 1789, the U.S. Department of State began managing the Great Seal of the United States and continues to do so today. 

Adolphus Hotel (Suggested by: Lori Gunter)

So many deaths have taken place at the Adolphus Hotel that it should be nicknamed "The Death Hotel." This historic luxury hotel in Dallas was named for a beer magnate and was once one of the grandest hotels in the Southwest. The entertainment hosted here was top tier with a long list of popular entertainers from various eras. And the Adolphus had the honor of hosting Queen Elizabeth II in the 1990s. The hotel today is still a luxury hotel located in the heart of downtown Dallas that has great food, drinks, a spa and...a few ghosts. Join us for the history and hauntings of the Adolphus Hotel!

Dallas would be a city built around elements of transportation. There is, of course, the discovery of oil, but the railroad was a key component shaping the city's development. The beginnings of Dallas, though, started with a small trading post on the Trinity River, which was established by John Neely Bryan who would go on to serve as its postmaster, ferry operator and store owner. That was after Texas had won its independence from the Spanish who arrived in the 18th century. Around that same time, the French had also claimed the spot. They both had pushed out the indigenous tribes of the Wichita, Kickapoo, Tawakoni, Caddo and Comanche. No one knows exactly what inspired John Neely Bryan to call his settlement Dallas. Theories include a Scotland town with the name or Vice President George M. Dallas. The town was officially incorporated as a city in 1856, nearly ten years after Texas was annexed by the United States. We've mentioned this fun fact at some point, but there have been a total of six flags that have flown over the Dallas area, France; Spain; Mexico; the flag of the Republic of Texas; the Confederate flag; and the flag of the United States of America, and that was the inspiration behind the amusement park named Six Flags. One of the first skyscrapers built west of the Mississippi was here in Dallas, the Praetorian Building constructed in 1909 that had 15 stories. The exterior was unique with neoclassical styling that incorporated gray granite, gold and terra cotta. The interior featured tile, marble and African mahogany. That building was eventually demolished in 2013, but before that there were rumors that it was haunted by the spirit of a woman named Sally who had been murdered there by a coworker. Some stay she still haunts the site.

Adolphus Busch saw Dallas as a city of the future and he invested in its real estate market. One of his biggest contributions to that market was the construction of the hotel that bears his name, The Adolphus Hotel. Busch was born in 1839 in Germany, the baby of a family with 21 brothers. The Busch family made their wealth in the winery and brewery supply business. Adolphus came to America in 1857 with three of his brothers and they ended up in St. Louis, Missouri. This was a move that Adolphus felt he had to make so he could build his own wealth. With 21 brothers, he wouldn't be inheriting much. He did get a bit though, which he used to found a brewery supply company after he served for the Union during the Civil War. Through his business Adolphus met a soap manufacturer who also dabbled in breweries named Eberhard Anheuser. The men became friendly and Adolphus ended up marrying his daughter Lilly in 1861. After that, he joined the Anheuser brewery business and bought out his father-in-laws partner. The company was renamed Anheuser-Busch in 1879 and as they say, the rest is history.

Clearly Adolphus became very wealthy with Budweiser, which was the most successful nationally-distributed beer of the pre-Prohibition era. He used some of that money to build the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas. The location where the hotel was built used to be occupied by the Renaissance Revival City Hall. Adolphus razed the old city hall. Construction began on the building in 1911 and the style was modeled off a Germanic castle with a 22-story tower that was the tallest building in Texas for decades. The architects were Barnett, Haynes and Barnett and they used elements of the Ecole de Beaux Arts architectural style, which is Parisian. This emphasized heavy masonry of red and gray granite while incorporating classical forms and features and elaborate ornamentation featuring gargoyles flanked by large heads of Greek gods. The interior was opulent featuring brass fixtures, gilded ornamentation, alabaster, silk and velvet draperies, sculptured panels in bas-relief and vaulted ceilings. And there was one bronze chandelier. This chandelier was ornamented with hop berries and leaves, along with the brand’s signature eagle with wings spread wide. The light had a twin and both were originally commissioned by Busch to hang above the Anheuser-Busch exhibit at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. After the fair, the chandeliers were moved to the stable where the Clydedales were kept. One chandelier still hangs above the escalators today.

The Adolphus Hotel opened on October 5, 1912 with great fanfare. The French Room was a part of the hotel when it opened and still remains today. This was truly a golden era dining room with classic European design with a honed marble floor, gilded Louis XVI style chairs, ornate sconces and twin Italian Murano glass chandeliers. Adolphus bought a Steinway piano for the hotel with an interesting backstory. Millionaire Benjamin Guggenheim had bought this piano in Europe and he was planning to bring it back with him when he traveled back to America aboard the RMS Titanic. A delivery snafu brought the piano to the dock the day after the grand ship had set sail, so it didn't end up at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Guggenheim wasn't able to retrieve the piano later because he DID go down with the ship, apparently after putting on his finest suit with a rose tucked into his buttonhole, while sipping on some brandy. That piano is still at the hotel in the French Room Salon.

In the 1920s, the Adolphus Hotel premiered The Century Room on the 19th floor and this would have been THE place to be in Dallas at that time. If we could time travel back in Dallas, this would be a great spot as the room hosted a variety of entertainment that included the big band music of Glenn Miller, the singing of the Andrews Sisters and the swinging sounds of Benny Goodman. The hotel even added a retractable ice rink in 1930 to the room in order to host touring ice shows, which continued for 35 years as a major attraction. That retractable means that a dance floor would glide back over the ice after the shows for dancing. Former speed skating powerhouse and Broadway on Ice legend Dorothy Franey was hired by the hotel in 1943 to put on a show. She choreographed, directed, produced and starred in her “Dot Franey Ice Revue” show for more than a dozen years. Early on the motif of The Century Room was polar bear themed and this was changed to Hawaiian in 1940 with tropical murals and live palms. The rink became a permanent dance floor in 1965. In the 1970s, the room hosted a Hawaiian singer accompanied by five Hula dancers. There was also a fire-and-knife act and a band called the Johnny Scat Davis Band performed. 

Another form of entertainment coming out of the hotel was in the form of broadcasting. In 1936, KRLD radio began broadcasting live from the hotel and the studio brought in big names for appearances. This included Bob Hope and Kate Smith. Notable guests during this time included Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, Amelia Earhart, Jack Dempsey and Liberace. Of President Truman's visit, the Dallas Morning News reported that Truman came in for a drink and was shown to the Presidential Suite, where a bottle each of bourbon and Scotch awaited him. He saw this and turned and asked, "You know, I never drink any Scotch. Do you think I could trade that Scotch for another bottle of bourbon?" And Joan Crawford visited, but not without a list of demands sent ahead of time. These demands according to the D Magazine included "two bottles of vodka brought daily to her room, a carton of breath mints, extra towels so she could see to the bathroom herself, and no fewer than 20 pillows." Apparently this was a 10-page letter.

The first major restoration for the hotel was in the 1980s. After that, the hotel was visited by presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush, as well as First Ladies Rosalyn Carter and Barbara Bush. In 1991, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip came to America on an official state visit and they traveled to Dallas and stayed at the Adolphus. At the end of their visit, they asked to be introduced to every one who had served them during their visit. The Queen gave them an official portrait to be hung in the hotel lobby. Dallas creative and design firm SWOON the Studio partnered with the company Makeready to give the hotel a multi-million dollar refresh in 2016 and this erased all the extremes of the 1980s and took the hotel back to its elegant beer empire heyday. That restoration was completed in 2018 and the hotel entered Marriott's Autograph Collection portfolio.

Today, the hotel features 268 rooms and 139 suites, twin roaring fireplaces in the lobby, The French Room Bar & Salon (which had been The Century Room), City Hall Bistro and Spa Adolphus. One of the signature drinks offered is the Aperol Spritz, which has a vibrant orange hue and a bittersweet flavor that comes from an infusion of herbs and roots. This is part of a southern Italian tradition to stimulate the appetite called an aperitivo drink. Everything is just really luxurious and glamorous, except remember that part we pointed out about calling this place The Death Hotel? 

Holland Murphy, writing for D Magazine in 2018, managed to track down nearly all the recorded deaths that happened at this hotel and there are a lot of them.

The first one was from October 20, 1912 and happened right after the hotel's grand opening. "Just two weeks after the Adolphus’ grand opening, an Italian waiter fresh from Chicago fell three floors down the elevator shaft from the main lobby. He had turned to talk to someone and backed into the elevator, not noticing that the lift had gone up without him. The waiter’s skull was crushed, and he died two hours later at the Baptist Sanitarium where Drs. Rosser and Doolittle unsuccessfully “performed the operation of raising the bone."

On May 14, 1913, "A 45-year-old insurance man and shriner from New Hampshire went for a walk with a group of men after dining at the Adolphus, during which time he became ill and 'sank to the sidewalk.' His friends helped him back to the hotel, and 30 minutes later he was dead. The death was ruled an 'acute attack of indigestion and apoplexy.' Note: 'apoplexy' could mean 'stroke,' but it’s also possible the medical examiner used this as a blanket term for 'sudden death' since it was difficult to differentiate heart attacks from strokes, etc., back in the day."

On February 7, 1915, "During a business meeting with a Dallas gentleman, a 26-year-old traveling collector for an Iowa cement company pardoned himself to his hotel bathroom then subsequently 'threw himself across the bed and was soon in convulsions.' A one-third emptied, six-ounce bottle labeled “poison” was found in the bathroom. In the room there was a note believed to have been addressed to the young man’s stepfather that read, "I got the wrong bottle. Love to all.'" 

On December 26, 1917, "After stopping to let a passenger off at the sixth floor of the Adolphus Annex (the then-brand-new 12-story addition built onto the hotel), the 16-year-old 'elevator boy' attempted to hop on the already-ascending elevator but missed his step and fell 100 feet to the basement. The News’ report said the boy’s 'skull was shattered and both legs were broken.'"

On January 15, 1920, "Just after 11 p.m., in the Commerce Street entrance to the Adolphus, a chauffeur for Bower Auto Rent Company was fatally shot three times by a chauffeur for Adolphus Auto Rent Company. About 20 witnesses were on the scene and one of the victim’s coworkers explained that bad blood had brewed between the two men during a chauffeurs’ strike several days prior—and the gunman had a bruise and cut on his face to prove it."

On October 22, 1924, "A 30-year-old Mexican cook stuck his head in the elevator shaft to look for the elevator’s whereabouts and was instantly killed by the descending car."

On February 21, 1930, "When a model walked into a hotel room ready to assist a 60-year-old millinery salesman with his spring displays, she found nothing but a torn window screen. She notified staff and the man’s body was soon found in an air shaft. The young woman told authorities the man had recently been 'despondent' and had told her 'he wouldn’t see his family again.” Investigators ruled the case a suicidal jump. According to the News, 'The force gained in the fall from the eighth floor caused his body to tear through the galvanized iron roof of an air shaft in one of the inside courts. He had plunged on through to the bottom of the shaft and his head and body were badly torn and cut by the blades of the powerful fan.' That explained the loud crash and puff of dust from fans reported by kitchen employees the night before."

On October 8, 1933, "The 2-year-old son of a musician in the touring Henry Busse Orchestra climbed up on the windowsill to look out at a band playing on the street when the screen gave out. He fell 12 stories. The hotel’s assistant manager scooped the body up and ran to the house physician who was unable to do anything but pronounce the boy dead. In the court case to follow, a judge ruled the Adolphus not liable for the $1,156.15 sought by the boy’s distraught parents, saying 'the purpose of the screen was not to prevent people from falling but to keep insects out.'"

On June 24, 1940, "'With his clothes ablaze,' a 50-year-old man 'plunged' from his fiery 11th-floor room and died on impact when his head struck the hotel’s marquee. As described by the News in a lengthy story: 'While a crowd watched from the street, [the man] leaned out of the window, surrounded by smoke pleading ‘Please, somebody, save me.' Some witnesses believed the man was overcome by smoke and fell, while officials believed he jumped to escape the flames. More controversy ensued over reports that firemen were held up by the hotel’s night clerk and delayed when given the wrong floor. Four days later, after an 'extensive investigation,' jurors decided no state laws were violated during the incident." 

On August 3, 1946, "According to the fire marshal, a 51-year-old Dallas man woke and took his burned pillow and sheet into the bathroom after drifting to sleep while smoking. Yet after settling back in bed, he apparently succumbed to 'smoke and gas when the fire flared up again.'" 

On May 27, 1955, "A maid discovered a 36-year-old fashion buyer from Houston, visiting for a fashion show, dead in her room. It was determined to have been a natural death due to 'acute alcoholism.'"

On July 14, 1958, "The 'smashed body' of a 25-year-old prostitute was found in a small courtyard 14 floors below her room. The News described the woman’s body plunging down the '4×8 inset in the building, ricocheting from wall to wall' and also included such details as the book found on her bed (A Fool There Was). There were signs of a struggle, but the case remained a mystery for months. A 31-year-old man with a 'record for procuring' (that is, pimping) was questioned, as well as two others. But it wasn’t until months later, in January of 1959, when an 18-year-old woman was beaten and left in a Mercantile Continental Building closet, that authorities encountered Willie Philpot, whom the News noted as a 'Negro 2-time loser.' In the weeks to follow, authorities said Philpot confessed to a series of crimes (each News article seemed to mention different ones) including the Mercantile beating, the rape and slaying of a 10-year-old girl in Longview, the beating of several men in Sherman and Alabama, and the murder of the Adolphus prostitute. According to authorities, Philpot said he was employed at the Adolphus and, after delivering “food and set-ups” to the woman’s room throughout the day, she gave him whiskey. From a February 1959 News article: 'As they talked his hand ‘began to twitch’ and he flipped a towel around her neck, Philpot said. When she became still, he tossed her out the window and went back to work.' Philpot was eventually executed in Huntsville for the rape and murder of the 10-year-old black girl."

On March 15, 1971, "A witness said he warned the hotel porter to make sure the elevator car was on the 2nd floor to load band equipment, but just after replying, 'Yes, it’s here,' the porter stepped into the elevator shaft and met his death." 

In the wake of all this death, spirits seem to have been left behind. Over the years, hotel guests have reported hearing loud footsteps outside their rooms, as if purposely trying to be loud. When staff heads to the hallway, they find no one. Some guests even call the front desk complaining about big band music playing in the wee hours of the morning and again, when staff checks, there is no one playing the piano or any music playing anywhere. Security guards and other staff feel like they are being watched at night by something they cannot see. Doors slam on their own. Housekeepers have experienced a tapping on their shoulders while working in the restroom areas, and staff has also witnessed windows flying open when they approach them.

There is the spirit of a young woman named Caroline. The ghost lore attached to her claims that she fell to her death from the ninth floor because she was trying to retrieve a dropped necklace. Her full-bodied apparition has been seen in the hallways and sometimes in the elevators. Some guests have reported seeing her reflection in mirrors. The ghost of a former employee named Charlie is reputedly here. Charlie had worked as a bellhop and he died in the 1920s. He still seems to be doing his job and appears to carry luggage for guests and get them an extra pillow or towel. When guests approach management to thank them for Charlie's hard work, they are told that there is no Charlie on staff, especially one wearing a bellhop outfit from the 1920s.

One of the spirits said to be here is a jilted bride. Her legend is that she took her own life on the 19th floor after she was left at the altar in the 1930s. Guests claim to hear her disembodied wails and the 19th floor does seem to be the most haunted. Elevator doors mysteriously open and close on their own. Some claim that 1930s music box sounding music accompanies her activity. aristolek on YouTube made a video featuring this phenomenon in 2009 writing, "We were on the elevator at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas, Texas..got off on the 19th floor and ALL of the elevator doors were opening and closing like crazy..as well as the phones ringing..this happened two nights in a row." Johnathanlewis8800 wrote in 2023, "No joke, I service this location and the elevators and doors are always freaking me out."

msmyers707 commented, "You are so right this is not a set up. I went there 2 days ago and only stayed one night. I saw the lady in white at about 3am in the upper mezzanine grand ballroom with the painted murals and piano. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. unbelievable....I could not sleep! I will not be staying there again." belladonnaminx1147 commented, "Ask to go to the 19th floor (which is currently under renovation to recreate the scene of the ballroom). They will give you the tour. But do it in the day because at night you don't want to be with whatever entity is up there."

lorimulherrin1637 wrote in 2022, "My husband has twice had  strange things happen when he has stayed there. The 1st time he experienced several drawers mysteriously opening during the night. And the 2nd time he heard the sound of children laughing & running around the hall during the middle of the night when he had a room near the elevators."

Leahbeasley4792 wrote in 2022, "I’m staying here tonight because my husband works across the street, and asked me to come up because he got a nice room from his company! We asked a few of kids to come up, but only two did, because the others told me it’s known to be 'haunted,' which I have no issues with! We asked around where and why when we got here and learned about the 19th floor, so we went up, and as we passed one room, we could hear older music playing and peeked through the doors! It looked like a ballroom, but nobody was around at all so just assumed it was music always playing! We kept walking and really didn’t notice a thing! When we came back around to the ballroom, I noticed and said, 'Awe they stopped the music.' So my kids joked around asking me if they should play music for me! Now that I read all of this, I wish I had known that the music playing in that ballroom was part of the 'haunting.' I’m still awake at 5am and want to go back up but everyone is asleep! I won’t go back up alone, but very interested in all of this, it’s sad that they can’t move on for some reason! This hotel is very nice, and not at all scary! Only went to that floor from stories from my kids, and seemed very normal until I read all of this, which happened at 2:00am!" 

The Adolphus Hotel was built to be a grand hotel and not only did it meet that goal, it continues to be a gorgeous hotel today. Many of its contents and fixtures hark back to an earlier era. Could some of those "contents" be ghosts? Is the Adolphus Hotel haunted? That is for you to decide! 

HGB Ep. 591 - Haunted Sault Ste. Marie

Moment in Oddity - The Effigy of Sarah Hare

There is a most unique effigy that can be found inside the Hare Chapel of Stow Bardolph's Church of the Holy Trinity in the United Kingdom. The effigy is a bust made of wax in the likeness of a 55 year old spinster. She died in 1744 from blood poisoning after pricking her finger on a needle. Her name was Sarah Hare. Her will that was dated August of 1743 stated: 'I desire to have my face and hands made in wax with a piece of crimson satin thrown like a garment in a picture, hair upon my head and put in a case of Mahogany with a glass before and fix’d up so near the place were my corps lyes as it can be with my name and time of Death.' It is believed that Sarah's effigy is dressed in her own clothes and that perhaps the brown curls upon her head are from one of the wigs that she owned. It is unknown whether her replica was created pre or post mortem. Did Sarah Hare have a premonition of her death? It was said that her early demise was punishment for sewing on Sundays which was her habit. Her disturbingly life-like wax effigy is the only one of its kind in England except for those located at Westminster Abbey which certainly makes this unusual bust odd. 

This Month in History - The Birth of George Richard Strauss

In the month of June, on the 11th, in 1864, composer George Richard Strauss was born in Munich, Germany. Richard was a musical child prodigy. His father Franz was a principal French horn player and was renowned for his talent. Franz began Richard's musical education at a young age. Richard began learning the piano at age four and the youngster began to compose his own musical pieces at the mere age of six. Richard may have studied musical theory and composition formally, but it was his father's love of the works of Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart and Schubert that heavily influenced his musical developement. Franz provided his son with advice, comments and constructive criticism. His father also featured Richard's compositions in performances by the Wilde Gung'l, an amateur orchestra Franz conducted from 1875-1896. When Strauss traveled to Berlin, he learned the art of conducting by observing Hans von Bülow during his orchestral rehearsals. Although Strauss is known for many operas and tone poems, his most widely known operas include Salome, Elektra, and Der Rosenkavalier, and his tone poems titled Don Juan, Death and Transfiguration and An Alpine Symphony. George Richard Strauss's accomplishments are too numerous to detail here. The talented German composer and conductor continued creating new pieces all the way up until a year prior to his death in 1949 at the age of 85.

Haunted Sault Ste. Marie (Soo)

Locals call it "The Soo." Sault Ste. Marie is the name of two cities that sit across the St. Mary's River from each other. One in Michigan and one in Ontario, Canada. For Michigan, this is its oldest city and was established by the French in 1671. The Upper Peninsula almost seems to be in a different world when it comes to the state of Michigan as it is separated from the mainland of the state by not only water, but also the island of Mackinac. The paranormal is strong here. For 16 years, the Michigan ParaCon was held in the Soo and the hosts of that continue to run paranormal events there. That's because there are several haunted locations here. Join us for the history and hauntings of Sault Ste. Marie!

The Upper Peninsula was home for centuries to a variety of indigenous groups. These included the Dakota, Lakota and Nakoda Sioux, also known as the Seven Council Fires. The Ojibwe migrated from the East Coast into the area starting in the 1300s and they pushed out the Sioux. The rapids of St. Mary's River inspired them to call what would become the Soo, Baawitigong, which means "at the cascading rapids." The first Europeans to settle would be the French and they changed the name to Saulteaux (soul toe), which means "rapids" in French, which developed into Saults de Sainte-Marie. (souls de sont marie) The first major structure was a Jesuit mission founded by French missionaries Claude Dablon and Jacques Marquette in 1668. That makes this city one of the oldest in the country. It IS the oldest permanent European settlement in Michigan. In 1671, French officials conducted an elaborate ceremony that proclaimed France's appropriation of the territory around Lake Superior in the name of King Louis XIV. They invited a bunch of tribes to witness this. We're sure they were thrilled. 

The fur trade would take hold in the 18th century through the British-owned North West Company. The most influential European settlers at that time were the Johnstons. John Johnston was a Scots-Irish immigrant from Belfast who came to the Upper Peninsula to fur trade. He arrived in 1790 and after a while, his men abandoned him, so a prominent Ojibwe chief took him in. While there, Johnston noticed the chief had a beautiful daughter. He wanted to marry her, but the chief knew that these European men would abandon their native wives, so he told him to come back the next spring and then he could marry her. So Johnston did just that. Her name was - oh boy, clutch your pearls everybody as we try to pronounce this - Ozhaguscodaywayquay. (Oz hag us coe day way quay) Later she was baptized and took on the Anglicized name Susan Johnston. History would remember her as the Woman of the Green Prairie. The family would gain prominence with all parties in the area including Native Americans, First Nations, and Europeans from both Canada and the United States. The couple would go on to have eight children who learned fluent Ojibwe, English and French. 

Later, the Soo would come under British colonial rule. After the War of 1812, a US–UK Joint Boundary Commission came together to figure out what would be Canadian and what would be American using St. Mary's River. Through this, the United States banned Canadian traders from America. That kind of separation lasted through to the end of the 19th century when American and Canadian communities in Sault Ste. Marie were each incorporated as independent municipalities. The US built Fort Brady in 1822 to help protect the locks. In 1866, this old fort was abandoned and a new one was built upland and completed in 1893. During World War II, the fort was used to train troops in cold weather battle. After the war, the fort became surplus so it was sold to the Michigan College of Mining and Technology. In 1966, Fort Brady became the site of the Lake Superior State College of Michigan Technological University. Today, it's known as Lake Superior State University.

The locks have become a tourist attraction, but also serve a very important purpose. The falls of the river became a choke point for trade through shipping. Ships would have to be portaged around the rapids to get to Lake Superior. This was a long process, so then it was decided to just take the cargo itself around the rapids. So a ship would be unloaded, cargo portaged and loaded back onto another ship. Then it was decided to build a lock. This first American lock was called the State Lock and it opened in 1855. That lock has been expanded over the years and is known as the Soo Locks. The locks move nearly 86 million tons of cargo every year and allow freighters to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. The Canadian side built their own passage way in 1895, the Sault Ste. Marie Canal. The locks at this canal were the first in the world to run on their own power station. The Canadian Pacific Railway came through the city to help bypass the locks as well around 1888. The Canadian Sault Ste. Marie incorporated as a village in 1871. The Michigan side incorporated as a village in 1879. The two cities would join forces during World War II to protect the locks from Nazi attacks. 

The twin cities not only share a history, but they share a haunting reputation. Here are some of the haunted locations on the Michigan side of things:

The Second Childhood & Adults Too Shop

This was a thrift shop that was located at 221 W. Portage Avenue, but is permanently closed now. Portage Avenue got its name from the need for an overland portage around the rapids and is part of the Sault Ste Marie Historic Commercial District, which contains a total of 150 buildings. These are buildings with Italianate, Late Victorian, Richardsonian Romanesque and Commercial Brick styles. This is from the National Register of Historic Places Application, "Sault Ste. Marie was a roaring frontier river
town catering to crowds of sailors, laborers, Indians, and tourists looking for exciting times, and cheap liquor flowed like water. Then in August of 1886, following a hot, dry spell, fire broke out in a pile of wood chips next to a bakery and quickly spread through the wooden structures. When the conflagration was finally put out, most of Water Street lay in charred ruins. Merchants rebuilt, though some relocated to Portage and Ashmun Streets. Exactly a decade later, in August 1896, a gasoline stove in a restaurant blew up. Within hours, the flames, fanned by gale force winds, raced down Water Street consuming nearly every structure on the south side, over- half the businesses in town. That finished Water Street-as the City's commercial center and the businesses moved to Portage and Ashmun Streets. At this point, a narrow thoroughfare known as Plank Alley formerly ran south to Portage Avenue. Lined with saloons and paved with two inch planks, sixteen feet long, it comprised the main route to Water Street in the early days." So that's how Portage Street became a prime spot and clearly fire was an issue in the heart of the city. The original structure that is now the thrift shop is believed to have been built by a sea captain and his family ran a store out of it. That captain's spirit is said to haunt the place and his disembodied footsteps have been heard often on an upper floor. There was a doll dressed as a Christmas caroler that got moved to different locations in the store overnight. 

Palace Saloon

The Palace Saloon is a three-story stone building located at 200 W. Portage Avenue and serves up Mexican and American cuisine. The building was built in 1903 and was originally The Brunswick Hotel. The name came from the bar that was installed. Apparently Brunswick was a company that made pool tables and bars and this was brought in by the railroad. This was a speakeasy during Prohibition. A man named Sam was the first owner to start the Palace Saloon and it passed through his family.This restaurant has activity throughout the building from the basement to the top floor. A full-bodied apparition of a man in black who has a wide brimmed hat has been seen sitting in one of the booths, #3, many times. A lady with a big hat in 1920s attire is seen sitting with him sometimes. Employees said that contractors working in the basement ended up leaving because footsteps walking above them when no one was in the building were so unnerving they couldn't take it. A waitress was so scared when she was there one night and heard lots of footsteps that she actually called the police to come because she thought someone had broken in. And people have been touched on their back. An employee was really spooked after something he couldn't see brushed past him on the stairs. Some people believe that the owner Sam is a spirit here. 

The Hotel Ojibway 

The Hotel Ojibway is said to be the finest building in the city and has stood here since 1927. The hotel sits overlooking the Soo Locks. The hotel originally had and Egyptian architectural style and decor and was a luxury hotel offering the finest in amenities at the time with a barber shop and beauty shop. It opened with a grand gala on New Year's Eve in 1927. The pollen-free air blowing in over Lake Superior brought hay fever sufferers looking for relief. In 1947, a couple who managed the hotel, Leon and Beatrice Deglman, bought the hotel. Leon eventually passed and Beatrice took over managing by herself until her death. Famous people like boxers Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis have stayed here as well as President George H.W. Bush in 1992. Today, the hotel is run by Wyndham and features over 100 guest rooms. There seems to be several spirits here. One of them is the spirit of a tall man wearing a top hat. Guests and employees have reported seeing this full-bodied apparition wandering through the lobby area. He is always very well dressed and some people think he is Leon. The most haunted location is Room 616 and guests see and hear a woman in this room. People believe that this is Beatrice. Other activity includes doors opening on their own and housekeeping gets some help. Rooms are sometimes made up when the maid arrives to turn over the room after a check-out. Guests report their suitcases unpacking themselves. Michigan Paranormal Soul Tribe investigated in 2022 and they said, "During our short Estes Method session at the Ojibway Hotel, we believed we were speaking with a male and female couple. While trying to ask questions about who they were, the man tried to silence the woman by talking over her multiple times."

Antlers Restaurant

The Antlers Bar & Restaurant is located at 804 E. Portage Avenue and is kind of an odd looking building. It looks like it is tall enough to be two stories, but there are only windows at the bottom of the building on the front. On the side of the building there are what look to be windows on the second level, but they are all closed up. It looks as though an addition was added to the other side at some point and this is just one level. The outside is covered in stone. The interior gives a log cabin vibe and has 200 mounted animals. The original name of this location was The Bucket of Blood Saloon and it was built in 1903. During Prohibition, this became a speakeasy and brothel hidden behind the front of an innocent little ice cream parlor. The owners were arrested when the police realized that a lot more money was being made than what an ice cream shop would be pulling for revenue. The history of the restaurant goes back more than four generations. Owners include Tony Rogers, Jack Brulle, Al Lelievere, the Kinneys - who were two cops from Detroit and are the ones to accumulate most of the taxidermy - the Cunninghams and finally the Szabo family who still owns it today. There are thought to be two spirits here who are female. They are not named, but one is believed to have been a lady of the evening who may have been murdered here and the other was either a bartender or waitress. The activity usually involves electronic devices that turn on and off by themselves, like the televisions, and one night the jukebox turned itself on and started playing "The Star Spangled Banner" after the place had shut down for the evening. The spirits also open and close doors, cause the lights to flicker, and sometimes even push unsuspecting visitors on the stairs. A & E featured this location on an episode of "My Ghost Stories" in 2012.

The Satisfied Frog Pub 

The Satisfied Frog was located at 209 W. Portage Avenue, but is permanently closed now. It looks like that happened in March 2025. We're not sure what it is today. The building was built in 1897. Reported activity here includes nickels turning up on a formerly vacant bar. The most well-known spirit here is of a little girl. She has been heard and seen and likes to hang out towards the back of the building. A picture taken several years ago featured a picture of a young woman who had a gnarled, disembodied hand gripping her shoulder, but there was no other woman in the picture. Nobody knows where this hand came from.  

Museum Ship Valley Camp

The Museum Ship Valley Camp is located in the downtown area. The Valley Camp is an actual 550-foot long freighter that worked for 50 years before being parked in the marina and reopened as a museum.  The ship was built in 1917 and never had anything happen aboard it that would lead to haunting activity, but it does have several artifacts on board that could lead to activity. Two lifeboats from the tragic sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald are featured in a display at the museum. The Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest ship to sink in Lake Superior. Gordon Lightfoot wrote and composed the song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" in 1976. Verse 4 goes: 
"When suppertime came the old cook came on deck sayin'
"Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya"
At seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in, he said
"Fellas, it's been good to know ya"
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
And Verse 5:
Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her
They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters   

The bulk carrier got its start when the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin contracted with Great Lakes Engineering Works to make the ship. The keel was laid on August 7, 1957. The name Edmund Fitzgerald comes from the President of Northwestern Mutual at the time. The ship had three central cargo holds and the interior was said to be fairly luxurious with deep pile carpeting, tiled bathrooms, drapes over the portholes, and leather swivel chairs in the guest lounge. Passengers had two guest staterooms to choose from. Even the crew quarters were nicer than most ships with air conditioning and a large galley and fully stocked pantry. The pilothouse was outfitted with "state-of-the-art nautical equipment and a beautiful map room." On the day before the sinking, November 9, 1975, the Fitzgerald was carrying a full cargo of taconite ore pellets. She embarked from Superior, Wisconsin and was heading to a steel mill near Detroit. A severe storm blew up the next day with near-hurricane-force winds. This caused larged waves that reached as much as 35 feet high. The Fitzgerald began to sink a little after 7pm near the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and she sent out the message, "I have a bad list, lost both radars. And am taking heavy seas over the deck. One of the worst seas I've ever been in." This didn't include a distress signal. The Captain of the Fitzgerald, Ernest M. McSorley, sent one last message that read, "We are holding our own." But they were not. All 29 crew members perished. No bodies would ever be recovered and the cause of the sinking was never known. Those who have studied the wreck have reasoned that maybe she was just swamped too much or ran aground on a shoal or a combination of things. Many new regulations were put in place after the sinking. 

Visitors and investigators have reported hearing coughing sounds and have seen shadowy figures along the decks of the Valley Camp at night. Maranda Crawford, the Sault Historic Sites Office Manager, recalled in an article by UP Matters, "One time I was up in one of the coal passer’s bedrooms and it was before we were open for the season, we were cleaning the room and stuff, and one of the lights was blinking. So, I unscrewed it and set it on the bed and not touching anything on the bed, it lit up and went out and I have never been back in the room since." Tim Ellis of the Upper Peninsula Paranormal Research Society told the Course of Horror Blog, "Over the years we have had the chance to investigate the Valley Camp and during those times witnessed a number of weird and unexplainable things.  We have witnessed what are known as shadow figures twice on the ship.  Once in the theater room walking back and forth, and the other in the galley area where the workers would have eaten their meals.  It was standing in the doorway and then gone as fast as we saw it.  One member had a piece of coal thrown at him in the coal room area, when no one was behind him that could have thrown it.  But our biggest catch there was the Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) we captured.  Two of our people were down in the coal room area asking questions and doing an audio recording.  On playback you hear a cough in the background and you hear one of our guys say….”Did you hear that?  Some just Coughed.”  Then the other person says, “or it sounded like someone coughing.”  And just as she is saying that, we captured a male voice saying right over the top of her words, 'I am coughing.'" 

Haunted House 

Jade wrote about a home that she lived at located at 408 Dillion Street, "I no longer live in the home but after moving out all of my family slowly started to let out strange things that happened to us while we stayed there. My brother had the most experiences, one where he was even carried downstairs in the night by something he could not see. He also saw what he thought to be a soldier in the basement while he was sleeping and heard his name being called out from the basement multiple times. I myself never saw anything but I always had the feeling of being followed or watched when I was in the basement or in the kitchen (specifically if the door to the basement was open) We also since moving in had seen lights flicker and dim for no reason and experienced it still until the day we left. I have heard from many friends and people I knew that the house is indeed haunted and is known to be. I have never been able to find any history on what could possibly be residing in the home and as I no longer live there i can not find an investigator to help. But if there is any information about this house that would be helpful my family and I would very much appreciate it."

Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario has its haunted locations as well. Paranormal Survivor shared a story in Episode 3 of Season 2 about a psychic who used a Ouija board in her home with a group of friends and unleashed nightly shadow figures and one of her friends started speaking in a strange tongue. She even claimed that spirits dueled on her lawn. The psychic told "The Sault Star" that it was the scariest experience of her life. There are haunted locations here too. 

Windsor Park Hotel in Ontario

The Windsor Hotel on Queen Street was built in 1895 by the architects Findlay and Foulis. The hotel was expanded in 1919 and again in 1931. That addition raised the hotel to nine stories and made this the tallest building in the city until 1974. This was a luxury hotel until bankruptcy shuddered its doors in 1996. Dr. Lou Lukenda bought the building and opened it as the Windsor Park Retirement Residence. In 2010, Algoma University bought the building to use as a student residence, which they had to sell for a bargain in 2015 because of declining enrollment and a tight budget. This next owner restored the building to be used as senior residences again. An anonymous woman wrote, "About nine year's ago a friend of mine and her mom were working there as maids. They got me, my sister and my mom jobs there as maid's. I was told about the hotel's history my first day working there, but like most people, didn't believe it at first. As part of the job, we had to push large metal stands full of sheets and towels and cleaning stuff. My first day on the job, I was told about the second and fourth floor of this hotel. The second floor had one large suite called the Victoria Room that was used for large meetings. It was said that a young woman was killed in there and that her spirit never left. I was told that no matter how hard the hotel tried to rent that floor out, no one would stay on it. The 4th floor was famous for a ghost everyone called Joe. I was told shortly after the hotel was built that he had stayed on the 4th floor and died from a gas leak in his room. I was also told you could tell when he was nearby because you would be able to smell heavy cigar smoke and hear whistling whether it was on the floor or in the room or in the elevator. Once again I didn't believe it. My first shift I had to clean the fourth floor. There were only four rooms on that floor and not one guest in any of them. In all the time that I worked there, I had cleaned the room where Joe died. I had experienced the heavy cigar smoke, the whistling and once I couldn't get the door to open even though it was not locked and there were no other people on that floor. When I finally got ready to leave, I was told everyone that worked there went thought the same thing I had. And that it was very rare when someone agreed to take a room on the 4th floor. The elevator also sometimes has a mind of its own and goes to the 4th and 5th floors on its own. A security guard who worked here in 2015 when the building served as an Algoma University residence, claimed that the fifth floor gave him the feeling that an eerie presence was there at times and he even said that a CCTV camera caught a flash of a fast-moving incandescent person.

The Algonquin Hotel

The Algonquin Hotel is located at 864 Queen Street East and was built in 1888 by local politician and businessman William H. Plummer. This is the only large hotel from the Victorian era that survives in the city. The hotel stands four-stories and the architecture features a central tower with a conical roof and was designed by architect J.B. Sweatts. This is a smaller hotel with only nine rooms. Ghost lore connected to the hotel claimed that a young man died in a fire on the third floor and that his spirit still wanders the building, mainly the basement. He sometimes appears on the top floor as well. Pilar Fiser, who has worked at the Algonquin since 2009, told the Penticton Herald in 2024 that she had "an unexplainable incident that occurred while the bar was closed due to COVID. Around 3 a.m., the alarm — designed to trigger only when something significant activates it — rang out. Upon checking, she found that all the doors to the bar were securely locked and there was no one inside, prompting her to review the security footage. The footage revealed something white moving back and forth in the bar. 'It was like a – I don’t know how to describe it – almost like a hollow,' said Fiser. 'It was nothing from outside, no light coming in through the windows.'" Fiser also said that she sometimes feels a presence in the basement and she thinks that it is a lost soul, but a good one. 

Sault Ste. Marie Canal

The Sault Ste Marie Canal we mentioned earlier was designated a National Historic Site in 1987 and this includes all the buildings that go with the canal, many of which were constructed from red sandstone excavated during the construction of the canal. In 1897, the Superintendent’s Residence was built. Also added was the powerhouse, the Administration Building, the Canalmen’s Shelter and Stores Building. The website Northern Ontario Travel reports about the canal, "The Superintendent’s Residence and Administration Building are both known as a hub of paranormal activity. The ghost of a young girl, in a frilly dress and with a cute-as-a-button smile, has been seen within both. Sometimes she giggles and disappears, other times she is a silent witness to a world that is no longer her own. Some have reported hearing a crying child, the sound so despondent that it rends the heart. Ghost hunters and lovers of the paranormal can visit, if they dare."  

An anonymous person shared, "A place where I lived from age 5-6 was on Wallace Terrace here in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. We lived in the upstairs apartment, which had a long stair case on the back roof that lead to the ground and one inside the apartment that lead to the front door and one small apartment downstairs. My mother used to tell me I would tell her of people in the closet crying. Later she said she had heard that a man had killed his two small children in my closet and then killed himself in there. I had lived in this place again many years later and I moved out not too long after moving back in. This place has now been turned into four apartment all in the same house.

The twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie harbor history and quite possibly some spirits. Is Sault Ste. Marie haunted? That is for you to decide! 

HGB Ep. 590 - Lake Lanier

Moment in Oddity - Coffin Hideaway Inspires Profession

Recently I came across an old newspaper article about a man named Tom Williams who grew up in a little town in Vermont. He describes how he came to be an undertaker as his profession. As a child, Tom lived next door to an odd older gentleman by the name of Wilson. Wilson was a cabinet maker by trade and he had some unconventional thoughts about death and burial for the times. His skills in woodworking were something to be admired. The craftsmanship and care he put into his work were stunning. Wilson had said that when his time came, he was not about to go into the earth in a misfit coffin that was poorly made. So Tom's neighbor created a gorgeous coffin of mahogany, with solid silver plates and handles for his personal use. Wilson's coffin was stored in his barn. A location where Tom and his friends would often play hide-and-seek around. One day Tom thought that the coffin which was so nicely furnished, would be a fantastic hiding place. The interior was so plush and comfortable and certainly none of the other boys would think to look within it. Tom would hide in Wilson's coffin many times and actually fell asleep in it once for several hours. Tom loved that coffin and his experience with it as a child is what led him into the undertaker business. When Wilson passed away, Tom prepared his quirky neighbor's body and buried him in the coffin in which Tom used to sleep. There are many strange and unusual places where kids hide while playing hide-and-seek, but choosing to hide in a coffin and subsequently falling asleep, certainly is odd. 

This Month in History - Train Crash in Bangladesh

In the month of June, on the 4th in 1972, an express train crashed in Jessore (JOSH-or-ee), Bangladesh. The Deputy Commissioner of Jessore reported that 10 coaches were destroyed by the impact and many others were thrown from the tracks. In the terrifying accident, at least 76 people were killed and more than 500 were injured. The train was loaded far beyond capacity which was not uncommon in Bangladesh. The express train was traveling from Khulna, a southern port town, when the train-station operator threw a switch to the wrong track as it was passing by the station. With no safeguards in place to avoid such an error, devastatingly, the passenger train slammed full speed into a freight train that was stopped at the station. Not only were passengers killed and injured, but also many people who were standing on the platform. Sheik Mujibur Rahman (RAYh-man), the Prime Minister at the time, ordered emergency relief measures and sent officials for an inquiry. 

Lake Lanier (Suggested by a bunch of listeners)

Lake Lanier in Georgia is an extremely popular recreational area. This is a man-made lake that was created when the Buford Dam was built in 1956 and covers 50,000 acres. Many lakes across America have been fashioned in this way without causing hauntings. That's not true for Lake Lanier. What is it that makes this lake so haunted? Was it the destruction of the black community of Oscarville? Could it be the handful of cemeteries that were supposedly relocated before Lake Lanier was filled? On this episode, we are joined by the hosts of the Spirits Uncorked Podcast, Elizabeth Grimes and her sister Erica. This duo also started Lanier Ghost Tours and they are here to talk the history and hauntings of Lake Lanier! 

One of the sunken towns under the waters of Lake Lanier is Oscarville. Oscarville got its start during the post-Civil War Reconstruction era. A large number of former slaves came to the area to start farms and it was very prosperous. There were over 1,000 residents and many owned or rented farms. Others were tradesmen. Atlanta had a race riot in 1906 and these tensions boiled over to Oscarville, which was north of Atlanta. In 1912, a series of racial conflicts erupted in the town. The first was the Ellen Grice Incident. Ellen was a 22-year-old woman who accused two black men of attempted rape. Five black men were arrested and it was thought that perhaps Ellen was in a relationship with one of the men and that it had been discovered and she was covering her tracks by lying about the attempted rape. Why five men were arrested when she said there were two is beyond us. 

Several days later, an eighteen-year-old white woman named Mae Crow was found raped and unresponsive in the woods outside Oscarville. She was in a coma for two weeks before finally passing from the head trauma she had suffered. A confession was coerced out of 16-year-old black male named Ernest Knox. Four other black residents were arrested as accomplices. One of them was Rob Edwards who was shot by a white vigilante group of 2,000 who broke into the jail. They dragged his body to the town square and hung him from a noose. Ernest Knox and another man named Oscar Daniels were found guilty and sentenced to hang. This was illegal at the time, so the judge ordered that the hangings take place behind a blind. The blind was burned down the night before, but the hangings went forward with 8,000 people watching. It was believed that none of these people were responsible for what happened to Mae Crow. 

Then came the night riders who were white vigilantes that attacked black communities in Forsyth County. Oscarville was fire bombed several times and many of its residents died during these night rides. By the end of 1912, many of the black residents of these communities in Forsyth County had left. 98% of Oscarville's black community had left. A very sad statistic is that the expulsions of blacks in North Georgia were the most successful in the nation. Eventually the land that made up Oscarville was sold over time to the government and in 1950 the remains of the town were flooded. 

The Buford Dam was built in 1956 to dam the waters of the Chattahoochee River to form Lake Lanier, which was named for Confederate veteran and poet Sidney Lanier. Twenty cemeteries had to be relocated and 250 families were displaced as 50,000 acres of farmland was destroyed. The lake itself covers 38,000 acres. Construction was stunted several times as funds ran dry and the mayor of Atlanta had to keep returning to Washington, D.C. to pressure for more funds to ensure a water supply for residents of Atlanta. Through the years, the lake has saved the Chattahoochee from drying up during droughts. There have been ongoing fights over water rights, but the creation of lake Lanier seems to have more positives than negatives. Unless one looks at the deaths. There have been at least 500 of them. It's easy for people to get caught in the sunken buildings and other debris. These deaths, along with the destruction of twenty cemeteries has led to hauntings. 

There is the Curse of Brown's Bridge: The "Curse of Browns Bridge" refers to a series of tragic accidents and paranormal incidents reported near Browns Bridge on Lake Lanier, according to Atlanta Ghost Tours. The story centers around two young women, Delia Parker Young and Susie Roberts, who disappeared after a car crash on the bridge in 1958. Subsequent deaths and unexplained occurrences have fueled the belief that the area is haunted, with stories of apparitions, sudden car trouble, and eerie presences.

The Lady of the Lake: It is believed that Delia Young appears as a full-bodied apparition in a blue dress near the lake. 

Spirits of unrecovered bodies from drownings and unmoved bodies from the cemeteries.  

Lydia Rose 003 wrote on Reddit in 2018, " One night while I was swimming in the lake, my aunt uncle and dad up on the camp site, I started to swim to the inner part of the lake, the park where all the rotting buildings are and cars underwater. I was playing by myself when I felt a pull. Something was tugging my leg, it wasn’t a seaweed like plant that grew there, it felt like a hand. Two to be exact, I started to scream and struggle to stay on top, I was too far out for anyone to hear me. I was only 7 but my swimming was pretty strong for a seven year old. I started trying to kick the thing that was underneath me trying no no avail. I gave up. I let it take me under water. I started to drown, when I felt something pull my arms and pull me up I was back to shore somehow and I started to cough and looked up at the man. He looked like a kindly African American person. He wore a hat with no shirt on and swimming trunks. The only problem, my family and I where the only ones camping since it was a Sunday night and I didn’t have school the next day. I thanked the man me coughed up the water. He said it was no problem and started to walk to the camp site. I followed him and asked my dad and uncle who where making hot dogs on the grill, 'that man saved my life' i told them and they looked at me like I had two heads. 'Lydia, what man?' My dad asked confused and I stopped. 'The man that just saved my life and walked up to the camp site he was.' I looked and he was gone. I told them what happened and they looked spooked. My skin was still cold from the water and oxygen or lack thereof." 

To join Lanier Ghost Tours: https://lanierghosttours.com/ 

Check out the Spirits Uncorked: Under the Water Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5c4IIEYI2WWmHWZPSv6pvr?si=2876580191634691 

 

HGB Ep. 589 - The Elke Sommer Haunting

Moment in Oddity - The Black Banquet

As taphophiles, if Diane and I were invited to a meal at someone's home and our place setting was decorated as a tombstone, we would love the ambiance that our host had created. However, far before our current day, back in 89 A.D. Roman Emperor Domitian hosted a banquet. This event is known to history as the Roman 'Feast of Death' or 'Black Banquet'. The soiree was macabre and the guests at the party were senators. It was held in a black themed banquet hall. The walls and ceiling were painted black, the dishes were black and topped with funerary cuisine of the time, slaves dressed as apparitions brought the various courses of the meal to the guests, and each attendee had a headstone inscribed with their name. During the meal, Emperor Domitian spoke about death and slaughter. The Emperor's goal was to instill fear in the senators, exerting power and control over his guests who thought they may possibly be executed at any moment. Clearly he delighted in the mental torture of his banquet guests. The senators likely spent the entire night wondering if they would be summoned for their execution. Instead, the next morning Domitian sent messengers to notify the guests that their personal gravestones were made of solid silver and that the gravestones and slave boys were a gift. The timing of the 'Black Banquet' occurred during a period when Domitian's reign was marred by political instability and paranoia, hence why he felt the need to intimidate the senators. We all know that tomorrow isn't promised and this Roman "Memento Mori" style of banquet certainly served as a reminder to the guests that it is important to enjoy life because we all must die. But the extent that Emperor Domitian went to for that extra flair and intimidation, certainly is odd.

This Month in History - Melitta Bentz Passes (Suggested by: Ruth Dempsey)

In the month of June, on the 29th, in 1950, Melitta Bentz passed away. Melitta was a German inventor and entrepreneur. Kelly is particularly thankful for the invention she is so widely known for, the paper coffee filter. From a young age, Melitta noticed practical problems and easily came up with solutions. In 1908, when Melitta was married with three children, she solved a problem that made her name famous, even today. At the start of the 20th century, coffee was being brewed by percolators which would oftentimes, over-extract the coffee grinds giving the resulting beverage a bitter taste. Cloth filters were already used in the process of making coffee, however they were challenging to use and clean. Melitta pondered what could be used to produce a better tasting cup of coffee by an easier method. In 1908, she removed a sheet of blotting paper from one of her children's notebooks and with a perforated brass pot, she created the first paper coffee filter. Her results offered a cleaner, better tasting cup of coffee and her design was patented on July 8th, 1908. Melitta and husband Hugo Bentz realized the commercial potential of her invention. They began the manufacturing of her coffee filters in their home, but quickly graduated to factory production. Her invention is still in use today having undergone few changes. Melitta Company remains a world leader in brewing equipment, coffee filters, and sustainable coffee operations.

***???And FUN FACT, listener and Executive Producer, Jacquelyn passes a Melitta Coffee plant in southern New Jersey while traveling on I-295.

The Elke Sommer Haunting

Benedict Canyon. What isn't haunted about this place? Actress Elke Sommer and her husband at the time, Joe Hyams, moved into their Benedict Canyon Drive mansion in 1964. Not long after they unpacked their boxes, they became aware of strange things happening in the house. Some were subtle, but others woke them up in the middle of the night. The couple tried cleansing the house, but ended up running from the home after a mysterious fire erupted. They never lived in the house again. Join us for the story of the Elke Sommer haunting. 

Let's set the stage here for our haunting with our two main players, Elke Sommer and Joe Hyams.

Elke Sommer is a German actress known mainly for her movies from the 1960s and 1970s. She was born during World War II in 1940 and her family was evacuated from Berlin to Niederndorf. Her father was a Lutheran minister and died when she was fourteen. Elke had attended a preparatory school for university and really struggled with her studies. She asked her mother if she could drop out in 1957 and her mother agreed. Elke set off for London to work as an au pair. She attended an English language institute three times a week. Sommer would eventually be able to speak seven languages. The following year she went to Italy for holiday and was spotted by film director Vittorio De Sica when she competed in a beauty contest. Her surname had been Schletz and she was encouraged to change it and she decided on Sommer. 

It didn't take long for Sommer to achieve sex symbol status and she emigrated to Hollywood where her popularity as a pin-up girl exploded, particularly after she posed for Playboy. She would make two appearances in the magazine, first in September 1964 and the other in December 1967. Sommer was blond and beautiful with high cheekbones and her acting career would be prolific with over 99 movies under her belt by the time she retired in 2010. She starred as the leading lady in movies with Paul Newman, Bob Hope, Dean Martin, James Garner. Dick Van Dyke, Peter Sellers and Sharon Tate. Sommer even won a Golden Globe in 1964 as Most Promising Newcomer Actress for the film "The Prize." Some listeners may remember her from Hollywood Squares. She appeared on the game show many times between 1971 and 1980. A little fun fact was that in 1984, a bitter feud started between her and Zsa Zsa Gabor, which ended in 1993 with a multimillion-dollar libel suit in which Gabor had to pay Sommer $3.3-million in damages  for defamation.

Joe Hyams was born in 1923 in Massachusetts. He attended Harvard University, but didn't finish because World War II erupted and he enlisted with the Marines. He fought in the South Pacific and received both a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star Medal. After the war, he went to New York University and earned both a bachelor's and master's. The New York Herald Tribune hired him as a journalist in 1951. A stroke of luck got him an interview with Humphrey Bogart. He was given a room at the Beverly Hills Hotel by his editor as a reward for a really great article. As he lounged at the pool, he struck up a conversation with a man near him who turned out to be Bogart's press agent. The agent brought Hyams into the room where Bogart was and Bogart asked what he wanted to drink. When Hyams asked for a Coke, Bogart got pissed and said, "I don't trust any bastard who doesn't drink, especially a pipe-smoking newspaperman or a man who has more hair than I have." Now Hyams must have been a guy with a lot of confidence because he picked up his notebook and headed for the door as he told Bogart, "I don't drink and I certainly have more hair on my head than you do." Bogart told Hyams to wait a minute and invited him to lunch and gave him the interview because he was so impressed with his candor. Hyams was on a roll and within a week, he had interviewed Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn, Frank Sinatra and Spencer Tracy. The Tribune was so happy they decided to keep Hyams in Hollywood and that became his specialty. He worked as a syndicated columnist from 1951 to 1964. Hyams became a powerhouse in the entertainment industry becoming someone that filmmakers relied upon and many movie stars became friends with him. The long-lasting friendship he had with Clint Eastwood was legendary. Studio heads referred to him as "The Dean of Publicity." Films that he worked on included East of Eden, My Fair Lady, Bonnie and Clyde, Blazing Saddles, The Exorcist, A Star Is Born, Woodstock, Chariots of Fire, JFK, Unforgiven, Eyes Wide Shut and Mystic River. All of these are amazing films and three of them won Best Picture Oscars.

In November of 1964, Joe Hyams and Elke Sommer married. She was his third wife and he was 17 years her senior. The couple would eventually divorce after seventeen years of marriage and Joe would refer to them as the best years of his life. They were a good match as they were both deeply immersed in the scene of Hollywood. And they were about to be deeply immersed in the world of the paranormal. They decided to buy a home at 2644 Benedict Canyon Drive in North Beverly Hills. The same Benedict Canyon where the Manson Murders took place and where the Paul Bern-Jean Harlow House is located. Both of those locations were haunted. Now we have a third haunted location. It didn't take long for Joe and Elke to realize that their home was being shared with spirits. Hyams wrote an article for the Saturday Evening Post entitled "Haunted" published in the July 2, 1966 issue detailing their experiences. 

So at this point, Joe and Elke haven't seen anything, just this guest at the house. Hyams explains in the article that he is a man of facts, not given to this type of fantasy. And his wife Elke fears nothing. She once killed a rattlesnake in their backyard with gardening shears. Two weeks after moving in, they were about to have their reason and fearlessness challenged when Elke's mother comes to stay. Hyams writes:

So the couple are trying to explain these strange things with reason. Even though two guests have now seen the same strange man in the house, it surely must just be someone outside of the house. Which to us would be pretty troubling. We'd opt for a ghost frankly, rather than a prowler. The couple are also trying to blame the ghostly party sounds on outdoor noises like trees. How do trees make party noises? The real test is about to come because Joe is left alone at the house for a few weeks while Elke went to Yugoslavia to make a film. Hyams felt like he was never alone during that time, as though something were always watching him. And then he started finding the window in the bedroom downstairs always unlocked and wide open in the morning after he made sure everything was locked up tight. He also heard the front door open and close twice at night. But he always found it locked. 

At this point, Hyams decides to put the house under some surveillance. He picked up some electronic detection equipment and three miniature radio transmitters. He also got three portable FM radios and plugged a tape recorder into each. He placed a radio by the driveway entrance, another at the front door and a third on the bar in the dining room. And since the chairs where making noises, he used chalk to outline where they were on the floor. That night, sure enough, the mic on the bar picked up the noises of chairs moving. Joe picked up a .38 caliber pistol he had and he crept downstairs to catch the intruder. He flips on the switch and aims his gun and...nothing. The room is empty. And even weirder, the chairs were still within their marks. Here's what he wrote about what happened next, "Upstairs, later, I listened to the tape recording. The noises had stopped when I went downstairs. The sound of the switch snapping on, and even my nervous cough, had come through clearly - and so had the sound of chairs being moved after I left the room again." 

Joe was unnerved enough that he invited a friend, Gordon Mueller, to come stay with him and there was no activity during that time. Then Joe headed to Yugoslavia to meet up with Elka and left Gordon at the couples house and let's just say, Gordon was NOT alone. He felt that the house was really creepy and he stayed in the downstairs bedroom with the window that opened on its own. And the window opened on its own. Gordon moved to the couple's bedroom since it had a lock on the door. A private detective kept an eye on the house and found doors and windows open even though Gordon had locked it up tight before leaving. Joe and Elke returned and the noises in the dining room continued, which stopped bothering them because it was such a regular occurrence. They left the house again for a trip and Joe stopped by to get the mail and their pool man, Marvin Chandler was there. Marvin asked Joe if someone was staying at the house and when Joe said "no" he told him, "That's what I thought. But last Tuesday afternoon I saw a man in the dining room - a big man about six feet tall, heavy-built, with a white shirt and black tie. When I went to the door to ask him when you were coming back, he disappeared - just seemed to evaporate in front of my eyes." 

Despite all of this, Joe still didn't believe that what was happening in the house was paranormal. He knew there had to be an explanation. When a friend suggested that someone might be squatting in the house somewhere, Joe got the original blueprints for the house to see if there were any secret rooms. Nope. He had termite inspectors get under the house and see if there were any openings, Nope. Joe checked the attic for himself. Nothing. And thus began a time of soliciting the services of several mediums. Several claimed to see spirits in the house. One was supposedly a young woman who had died in Europe from a lung illness. Why she would be here, who knows. Another clairvoyant claimed a European man who had a mustache and was heavy-set liked to hang out in the dining room. And another medium who worked with the LAPD to find missing people said she saw a sloppy man who was in his 50s that had been a doctor and died of a heart attack. This was backed up by a visit from Spiritualist Brenda Crenshaw. She went into the dining room and said, "I see a man above average height, about 58 years of age, a doctor who died of a chest or heart condition outside the country." These last two really hit home for Joe because he was in the process of writing a book about a doctor and they hadn't been able to finish because the doctor died. The mediums had said that the ghost claimed to have unfinished business with the man of the house.

The American Society for Psychical Research suggested that Elke and Joe hold some seances. They held five of them. Joe was unimpressed and felt that they got no information. So he asked the couple who had owned the house before him and Elke if they had experienced anything strange and they had heard the noises in the house. Particularly disembodied footsteps in the dining room. Once when this happened, it scared the woman so much that she called for a taxi. She told Joe, "I locked myself in the upstairs bedroom and called a taxi. A short time later it arrived and stopped in the driveway by the front door. I kept waiting for the taxi driver to ring the bell, but he didn't, so I shouted to him from the bedroom window. When he answered, I ran down the stairs., got into the car and asked the driver why he had not rung the bell. The driver told me he saw a man standing by the door and assumed he was the fare. The man had vanished when I shouted from the window."

Elke was pretty scared after all this, so Joe agreed to have the house exorcised. The clairvoyant who conducted the cleansing commanded the spirit to leave in the name of Jesus Christ. She then told the couple that the spirit left. At the time that Joe wrote this article in 1966, the couple had no intention of moving. Elke concluded that the spirit was her father. Joe finished this article with, "The night after the exorcism, I locked the downstairs doors, checked all the windows carefully, and went to bed anticipating a quiet night. Just as i was falling asleep. Elke nudged me and said, 'Listen.' I sat up in bed and listened. The dining room chairs were moving again."

Joe Hyams wrote another article for the June 3, 1967 Saturday Evening Post. The couple had now been in the house three years and they had left. Joe titled the article "The Day I Gave Up The Ghost." The reason they left was a mysterious fire that started in the dining room. Joe wrote:

 

Interestingly, one of the mediums had told the couple that she had a vision of a fire starting in the dining room and she told Joe to up their fire insurance. He regretted not taking her advice. The fire was so hot that it melted their silverware. The reason the ghost may have set the fire? The couple had been told that making the place unfamiliar by redecorating might chase the ghost away. Maybe they just pissed it off. They had also been talking about moving, which may have displeased the ghost as well. The fire was almost completely contained to the dining room, despite wall-to-wall carpeting and lots of draperies.

Despite the fact that the ghost seemed to have knocked on the bedroom door to alert Elke and Joe about the fire, Elke insisted they move because something in the house, she thought, had tried to burn them alive. Interestingly, Joe maintained in the second article that he and Elke still didn't really believe in ghosts. The house was bought and resold seventeen times in the next few years and is privately owned today. Through the years, numerous people had witnessed strange events at the house. Many people would claim to get such a weird feeling from the house that they wouldn't even enter the house. Joe and Elke eventually divorced and Joe died in 2008. Elke is still alive and living in Los Angeles. She's in her 80s.

A photographer named Allan Grant came to the house after the fire to take some pictures for Joe's article. He was a skeptic when he arrived, but he was a believer by the time he left. He said, "Something happened that spooked me. On one roll of film that I shot in a particular room where they first spotted the ghost there were about four or five frames of film that were progressively fogged down to the end of the frame, giving it a ghost-like appearance, especially (of) Joe Hyams, who was in the shot. When that was processed and I took a look at it, I thought, there’s no way that would happen…in the center of a roll…something else had happened that I couldn’t explain and I’ve spent years as a photographer and that had never happened to me before….Something did happen in that house." Grant reasoned that a sticky shutter or sticky diaphragm could cause some of the issues, but with some of the pictures, both of those things would've had to have happened and he said that would be "quite a coincidence."

In the end, Joe and Elke had 36 sensitives and mediums come through the house and while none could agree on who the spirits were, they all had the same conclusion. The house was haunted. Was the haunting of Elke Sommer real? That is for you to decide!

Photo: Angelo Frontoni, portrait of Elke Sommer and Joe Hyams at their home in Benedict Canyon