Monday, February 3, 2020

Sort of a ghost story

No, this is not Edgar Allan Poe's "House of Usher" nor is it the "House on Haunted Hill," although this stately, old mansion does have a few things in common with the 1839 short story and the 1959 film. Madness, dark secrets and spirts of long-dead individuals seem to be associated with all three places.
This house is a residence in Dakota and was the site of a recent holiday "get-together." The photograph was taken when arriving and walking toward the house to enter it. This house currently is occupied by a divorced man and his two teenage daughters. A few years ago, sensing a deepening, inner anxiety gathering in his wife, the husband asked her what she would like for an anniversary present. Without hesitating, she replied: "The biggest, oldest house in town for me to refashion any way I want." The next day, she began her search and this house soon became the light at the end of her tunnel. A few weeks later, papers were signed and her wish was granted ....
The house has an interesting history. It was constructed in the early 20th Century for a riverboat captain upon his retirement. A few years after moving into it, the old captain was found dead in his bedroom. His blood-stained clothes made it evident he had been murdered. The killer was never found.
Being a bachelor, the elderly captain's family had the house and its contents sold. Over the next century, several occupants told stories of seeing the old captain roaming the house in the dead of night. Two more known deaths occurred in the structure, one an accident and the other a suicide. Town gossip was that the entire story of both incidents was never made public.
About three years and a few hundred thousand dollars later for age-appropriate renovation of the "oldest, biggest house in town" purchased as an anniversary-gift to a wife, she announced her wish for her next anniversary present -- a divorce from her husband and for him to retain custody of their two daughters. The wife was granted this wish, as well ....
It seems there should be a moral -- or two .... or three -- to the story of this house, does it not?


11 comments:

Anita said...

A beautiful old house
This was a bit of a story..and its true it just makes it creepy..what a spoiled wife..Never happy with anything..yes it was for the best she divorced..Poor husband and child then.
Hope they do not live in that house.It should rather just be torn down.Full of old legends, superstitions and creepy.I am very superstitious when it comes to houses. Its energy.And yes I have moved twice in my life just after a few weeks after living in such haunted houses.The Hauting of Hill house is a good movie(.Season two is coming soon).I dont like old houses so very much to live in .Bad experiences.I moved into a new house were the old was destroyed ..- but strange things started to happen ..- I moved..But upon closer examination it turned out that the new house was built on a Norse cemetery. -So the moral is to think about your place of residence

I could speak for a long time about ghost energy and so on..but for me..I rather not explore such energies..You can say you dont belive in such stuff but if there is good enery there is bad..What do you make of it?Fram?!
Have to go now helping A witht his math Derivative I dont understand a shit and neither do he
Soo see you soon!

Takker veldig mye for fin kommentar hos meg
Du gjør meg så glad!

Heldig er dem som er dine venner!

Klem Anita


Fram Actual said...

Yes, the house is beautiful. You should see the inside, Anita. The renovation largely was to make the interior look like it did when it was new more than a hundred years ago. It is stunning, and the workmanship is outstanding.

I am "pretty much" superstitious. I try not to be, but there are some things about which I cannot help myself .... such as wearing Thor's Hammer, for instance. I do not believe in ghosts per se, but I try to be open minded about "spirits" and energy powers and some seemingly unexplainable phenomena. Big, old houses do not bother me, even those "haunted" in stories and through superstitions.

I have mentioned before that I have a penchant for spending nights sleeping on old battlefields, sort of in hopes of encountering something out of the ordinary. I once spent a night in a hollow where an eleven-man cavalry patrol, including one of my ancestors, was annihilated by Sioux and Cheyenne on or about July 2, 1867. I spent a night sleeping in a burrow where evidence and Sioux and Cheyenne accounts indicate Captains William Fetterman and Frederick Brown placed their revolvers to each other's left temples and, on signal, pulled the triggers as they were about to be overrun by Indians. That took place on the afternoon of December 21, 1866. So far, I have slept soundly and dreamless on all occasions.

I do, to some extent, believe in mind over matter and have practiced it. I think it mostly depends upon each of us as an individual. I will try to explain that further sometime.

As for the wife in this post, yes, she most certainly got what she asked for and, maybe, what she deserved. The story ends with the divorce and she left town, so who knows where her future led? And, I do encounter people who literally see life and the world through eyes (meaning minds) which are truly delusional or confused in some ways. I think of them as genetically imbalanced, and this lady has the sound of one such individual.

I struggled through plane and solid geometry, trigonometry, algebra and physics in high school, but readily admit math is the area in which I am least knowledgeable. Actually, I do not like mathematics and never did apply myself, which probably explains my lack of ability there. Good luck, to you and Alexander.

So, here we are again -- Anita with a comment and Fram with a reply. I greatly enjoy your presence and I am glad I make you happy.

Vi får se hva i morgen og i morgen og i morgen bringer, for å parafrasere Willie Shakespeare ....

Fram Actual said...

Thank you, for the complimentary words, Nastya, and I very much appreciate your interest. I just returned from visiting your blog and think I will find it fascinating for a variety of reasons.

And, you are right. The internet and the sea of blogs are excellent ways to meet people from around the world and to learn about customs and traditions in varying regions. I look forward to learning more about you and your life as time marches on .... take care and be safe ....

Anita said...

Tusen takk F.for fin kommentar hos meg❤

Ønsker deg og dine alt godt i verden

Klem Anita

Fram Actual said...

Thank you, Anita ....

I want to mention that the reason I got a bit carried away about J.M. Longyear and Longyearbyen is because when I was a journalist in Michigan I not only was allowed access to the Longyear research library, but allowed to check out books from there -- which was a unique and very rare privilege and honor. Most of the material dated to the 19th Century and provided a wealth of otherwise lost and forgotten information. I spent many hours both at the library and at home pouring through books once owned by the Longyear family and eventually felt like I knew the family members personally -- including the young boy who drown.

Your post made me think of Michigan, which was a good time for me and one I like to remember.

Be happy
Be strong
Be Anita

Anita said...

Ja takk!Jeg vil gjerne ha navnene på bøker fra Longyerbyen!

Yyes thank you!I want info about old books from L.

Det ser ut som du har kjennskap til litt av vært
Jeg er inne i en Svalbard periode akuratt nå
Skjønner ikke helt hvorfor men tror jeg liker "det livet" som er "livet" om du skjønner hva jeg mener

Livet er så kort.Det er best å gjøre ting, oppleve ting, mens man kan

Men viktigst av alt.Ta vare på familie ,kjære og venner og kjærligheten

Nå skal ikke jeg plage deg mer..

Åhh håper du koser deg og har det fint

Jeg skal sy litt på en bunad jeg har tenkt meg til 17 mai

Masse hilsner

Fram Actual said...

I cannot recall the exact titles of any of those books, Anita, but, for instance, there were books with very detailed histories of the United States from its origin into the mid-1800s -- one to 1856, if I recall correctly. They related occurrences of railroad and steamboat accidents, for example. Hundreds of people often were killed when a steamboat exploded, and such events were more common than aircraft crashes are today. Think about it .... the books offered kinds of precise details which are not found in contemporary books.

It was there I first read the entire transcripts of the courts-martials of Major Marcus A. Reno, Seventh Regiment of Cavalry, on March 8, 1877, at Saint Paul, and on November 28, 1879, at Fort Meade, Dakota. He faced charges related to his actions at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25-26, 1876, in which George A. Custer and a few hundred troopers were killed by Sioux and assorted other tribes. Reno was dismissed from the army as a result.

There is a J.M. Longyear research center in Marquette, Michigan, which has online research possibilities, and a Longyear museum in Brookline, Massachusetts, near Boston. Both places are "treasure troves" of things Longyear. Computers and the internet make research exploration easier and more convenient in these times.

The pursuit of knowledge is the most worthy way to spend one's days on earth, I think. In the end, it may have served no purpose, but, in the least, it is an enjoyable way to spend the brief hours of life we have here.

Dog sled excursions and races are becoming a popular activity in this neck of the woods. The John Beargrease Marathon (400 miles) and the Gunflint Mail Run (two categories, 100 and 65 miles), both in the north shore area of Lake Superior, are the best known. Tomorrow, the 40-mile Lake Minnetonka Klondike Dog Derby will be staged, and I think I might drive to the nearest point it passes and watch for a while. As another illustration of the hardiness of people here, this morning the temperature was minus three degrees Fahrenheit and hot air balloons were filling the sky. Too cold for me personally these days, but to ride in one during mild weather is treat.

Since May 17 is Constitution Day in Norway and since bunads come in varying styles for different occasions, I will assume you will be making one with a patriotic flavor. I hope you will post a photograph of it when the day arrives.

Thank you, Anita, for this visit and this comment .... leve godt og leve klokt, norsk jente ....

Liplatus said...

I think I've seen this house in some other movie and TV series as well.
Fascinating are historical stories / films about human destinies.
Some people have a sensitivity to experiencing supernatural events.
The subject is very interesting but does not reveal more about my own beliefs.
Interesting post.
Greeting

Fram Actual said...

I wish I could say the house was the setting for an Alfred Hitchcock film, but, unfortunately, I am not aware of any movies or television broadcasts which have used that particular house, Liplatus. The design is relatively common for the era. The tradition of "ghosts" and "spirits" goes way/way/way back in the immediate area.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and ten men from their expedition walked from the Missouri River to "Spirit Mound" near the Vermillion River and made the ascent. The Sioux, Omaha and Otoe tribes told of spirits who inhabited the site and attacked anyone who approached the hill. On August 24, 1804, the day before the expedition reached the mouth of the Vermillion River, which they called the White Stone River, Clark wrote:

"Capt Lewis and my Self Concluded to visit a High Hill Situated in an emence Plain three Leagues N. 20° W. from the mouth of White Stone river, this hill appear to be of a Conic form and by all the different Nations in this quater is Supposed to be a place of Deavels or that they are in human form with remarkable large heads and about 18 inches high; that they are very watchfull and ar armed with Sharp arrows with which they can kill at a great distance; they are said to kill all persons who are so hardy as to attemp to approach the hill; they state the tradition informs them than many indians have suffered by these little people and among others that three Mahas Souix Ottoes and other neibghouring nations believe this fable that no consideration is suffiecient to induce them to approach this hill."

The only things the Lewis & Clark troupe encountered were vast numbers of bison and large flocks of birds.

I do agree that "Some people have a sensitivity to experiencing supernatural events," and I believe there are many things which might exist that we have no way of knowing or understanding at this point in "the march of humanity" toward who knows what.

Thank you, Liplatus, for coming and for writing a comment. I think you are a fascinating individual and I enjoy your presence ....

A Cuban In London said...

Mate, it does looks ominous and threatening. And beautiful. Thanks.

Greetings from London.

Fram Actual said...

Ominous / threatening / beautiful .... each word is appropriate and excellent in a descriptive manner, CiL.

One thing I cannot vouch for is occupied by a ghost or ghosts. I have spent nights in this house before / during / after renovation, and have seen neither hide nor hair of a spook or a spirit. That possibly is because I sleep soundly all through the night. But, the current owners never have witnessed anything out of the ordinary, either.

Thank you, CiL, for your visit and your comment ....

Something special ....