had even given the ghost a name. It, or she, was affectionately referred to as
Hazel.
Hazel supposedly wandered
through the dark old building, occasionally appearing to anyone who bravely
ventured there. As the stories became
more frequent, my interest piqued. Soon
I found myself going out of my way to drive by the facility, which was
positioned a quarter mile back off the main road.
On my first trip to the old
place, I noticed there was a newer two story structure attached to the front of
the old building. I would later learn
that this addition had been erected a few years earlier and was currently being
used by the Veterans’ Administration, which had a small office in the front.
Another occupant was the
Emergency Service and Disaster Agency, or ESDA, which is an emergency response
organization which goes into action if there’s a tornado or other state of
emergency. This newer addition adjoined
the older building by way of heavy weather doors. These doors were used to keep the heat in the
new building from escaping into the old building, as it no longer had heat or
electricity.
The original older building
was built in 1894 and built to last.
There were three stories of red brick on a solid foundation. It had began as a poor farm, home to the
indigent of the area. By the 1960's it
was a nursing home. By the 1970's it had
become home to the Tazewell County Health Department. By the time I showed up
to check things out, the Health Department had moved into a new facility that
had been built across the parking lot from the old place. The original three story structure stood
barren and empty, or so we thought.
In February of 1992, my
brother Jim and I had done some business in Bloomington and were on our way back when we passed the old Healthcare Center. Our
conversation turned to the rumors that abounded about Hazel. I told Jim I‘d really like to spend an entire
night in the facility and investigate these rumors. Jim said I had better hurry if I was going to
do it, he had heard there was talk of tearing down the older section of the
facility.
Besides being co-owner of the
detective agency with my brother Dennis, Jim had been a police officer and
detective in the area for a number of years.
Luckily he knew who I would have to contact in order to get permission
for my little excursion. I have to say I
didn’t expect it to be as much of a problem as it turned out to be.
The Hoops
Getting
somewhat of a run-around from various county officials, I was finally put in contact
with the county attorney. He, too,
had heard the rumors and agreed to help
me in my quest. The first step was to
draw up a release form, absolving the county of any liability should I, or
anyone with me, be injured while on the county property.
After
executing the release forms, the next step was to go before the county property
commission and ask for their consent. I
was somewhat reluctant to ask a group of county officials for permission to
investigate the existence of a ghost. My
reputation was on the line. I thought it
over, but it didn’t take me long to make a final decision. I realized this was something I needed to
do. My request was put on the docket for
the next meeting, which was just a day or two away.
I showed
up for the meeting nervous, but determined.
At the beginning of the meeting the chairman signaled for the lights to
be dimmed. Even though I don’t normally
attend county meetings, I felt safe in assuming this was not regular
procedure. My assumption proved correct
as the room soon filled with strains of eerie music. I recognized it as the theme song from the
old Vincent Price horror classic - House on Haunted Hill. There were grins around the table, but it was
all in good fun. Fortunately this would
be the only incident of ribbing I received from the group.
The
board members voted unanimously to allow my investigation. Because the rumors of impending demolition
had been true, expediency was a must.
Recognizing this fact, the board set the date for my excursion as the
following Friday, the 13th of
March. I certainly had not planned it
that way, and I had to wonder if this was an omen of things to come.
The Troops
I
realized if I went in alone on a Friday the thirteenth and came out the next
day saying I had seen a ghost, most people would not believe it. So I began a search for credible witnesses to
accompany me. Although my wife had been
very supportive in my unusual endeavors, she resisted my suggestion that she
accompany me. Her grandmother had died
in that old building when it was a nursing home so many years ago and although
she’d visited there many times as a child, its desolate walls didn’t hold
anything she had any great desire to see.
Besides, March 13 is her birthday and it was bad enough I’d be leaving
her home alone!
My
next choice was my best friend, Dana Herold. Dana has a sensible head on his shoulders and
has always been there for me. He and I
have been best friends for more years than we care to count. And as our wives will attest, we have been
known to do more than a few adventurous things together. So it was no surprise to anyone when I asked
him to come along on this venture into the unknown and he readily agreed.
Word of my upcoming adventure
traveled fast through the county grapevine and soon I was contacted by a
reporter for a local newspaper. She
asked to come along and bring a photographer.
Tamara Aldus of the Pekin Daily Times was well
known for her objectivity. Having her
and the photographer along would definitely be beneficial should we see
anything out of the ordinary. So I
heartily agreed to Tamara’s request. Now
I had my troops
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Harriet
I
turned a corner in the snow blanketed town, following directions given me by a
desperate voice on the end of a phone line.
I knew it was the house as soon as I saw it. Nestled among majestic trees in yard that
brought to mind the term “grounds”, the two story red brick home was an
impressive sight. A stone at the edge of
the property was engraved with the year “1862". A hitching post brought to mind the days when
horse and buggy were the mode of transportation, and my trip from 60
miles away would’ve meant more than jumping on the nearby highway and tooling
down the road while listening to my favorite golden oldies radio station. Like many of the homes I’d visited, this home
didn’t have the presumed appearance of a haunted house. But then I had learn almost none of them
did. The old adage of the dark
dilapidated house with banging shutters and rattling chains was simply a
product of old ghost stories and Hollywood
depictions. In truth, most haunted homes
looked just like the house next door to your own.
Kathy met me at the door.
Even through her gracious welcome, I could sense the distraction and
distress she was experiencing. Kathy’s
phone call had described the events leading to my visit and it had been a long
haul. She and her husband Gus* had
purchased the home with intention of restoring as much of its original grace as
possible. But as the renovations had
started, so had the strange events.
Thinking back, the first real ghostly events they’d experienced had been
the disappearance of tools and such.
Blaming each other and their own exhaustion from their renovation
efforts, they hadn’t been thinking “ghost” when the tool they’d been using
suddenly was missing - only to be found in some strange place later. They continued their work, and while as
anyone who owns a home knows that renovations never really end, they progressed
to the point of feeling at home among the antiques with which they’d filled
their home.
Kathy introduced me to Gus and showed me through their
home. They’d obviously put a lot of hard
work into it’s restoration. The ceilings
were all high and the windows were narrow and tall.
I was most impressed with the library. The room was lined with bookcases reaching to
the high ceilings. A ladder provided
access to the top shelves. A large
winged back chair invited you to grab a book and curl up. The walls held pictures of ancestors unknown
to Kathy & Gus, but were perfectly suited to a room where you could lose
yourself in another world.
The kitchen had all the modern conveniences that would have
seen out of place in the original home.
With antiques alongside the appliances, the room was warm and cozy. The center of the room held a butcher block -
rescued by Gus & Kathy.....
A latched door in the kitchen led to a dark cellar commonly
found in older homes such as this.
(Laundry area??). Another door
led to the pantry, where the house bunny
spent much of it’s time.
Yet another door led to an inviting porch sat off the
kitchen, fully enclosed with a fan to circulate the warm summer air. Kathy told me she and Gus liked to spend
summer evenings on the porch.
The formal living room had beautiful wood trim that had been
painstakingly refinished. Kathy told me
she had spent many a night on the couch in this room. She suffered from fibromyalgia
and in an attempt to get comfortable and not wake Gus, Kathy would often find
herself in this room.
The Ghostly
Events
Kathy’s phone call had told me what I need to know about
their level of distress. While willing
to overlook the disappearing and reappearing tools early on, the events that
unfolded since that time had left them little doubt that they were sharing
their home with someone - or something - not of this world.
Gus and Kathy both testified to hearing footsteps on the
second floor when no one was up there.
More disconcerting were the footsteps heard while they were in bed. Several times the footsteps had stopped just
in front of their door. Thinking it was
Mark, they waiting for him to knock or open the door. Then the footsteps would move away. Getting up to see what was wrong, they’d find
the hallway empty and Mark sound asleep.
Another incident had found a lamp off the dresser in their
unoccupied daughter’s room. Yet another
was the phone, heard crashing to the floor from their daughter’s
nightstand. Yet another time, Kathy had
answered to Gus calling her name, only to find he wasn’t even home.
While each of these events were unsettling, they joked with
each other about the “ghost” in their home.
Little did they know how much truth there was to that!
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