Phantasmal Crime

Glensheen Mansion is reportedly the most visited historic home in the state of Minnesota. The stately home originally sat on 22 acres of lakefront property in Duluth and was built by the Congdon Family. The brick facade and rising chimneys communicate a welcoming spirit, but the truth is that this mansion was the setting of a heinous double murder leaving the Congdon's daughter Elizabeth dead, as well as her nurse. The story is a narrative of insanity, greed and murder. And now that story continues with legends of hauntings on the property. Spirits are at unrest. Chester A. Congdon was born on June 12, 1853, in Rochester, New York. He attended Syracuse University and achieved his Bachelor of Arts before studying law and being admitted to the bar. While at Syracuse, he met Clara Bannister. He could not find work in New York, so he left Clara for Wisconsin where he had accepted a teaching position. He was there for a year before moving to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1879 an...

President Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary were not the only people sitting in their box at the Ford's Theater to watch the production of "Our American Cousin" on the evening that the President was assassinated. Major Henry Rathbone and his fiance, Clara Harris, were also sitting in the box and played witness to the whole horrible scene. Clara's satin dress was splattered with blood. The Major never  recovered from the horrific event and it may have led him to do a horrible thing later. That event and the assassination have all left behind an energy, part of which has spawned tales of ghosts and a haunted satin dress. Henry Reed Rathbone was born in Albany, New York on July 1, 1837 to Jared and Pauline Rathbone. Jared was a wealthy merchant and Albany's mayor. He died shortly after Henry was born. Pauline now had four children to raise on her own, but Jared had left her and the children with a sizable sum of money. She later met Ira Harris, who was a United State...

One of the reasons cited for a soul to be at unrest is a lack of justice. And sometimes that justice hasn't come because a body hasn't been discovered. Some of the most interesting ghost stories feature a spirit of a murder victim that leads people to the spot of their hidden burial. Two of these stories date back to the late 1800s. One story features the typical haunted house and the other features a ghost wagon.  Bruce Marshall had inherited the Eanes-Marshall Ranch House. This property had been in his family for over 130 years in 1991. That was the year the body was discovered. Alexander Eanes had been born in 1806 and he moved from Mississippi to Texas in 1845 and bought ranch land in 1857 near Austin in Westlake Hills. Alexander sold the land to his brother Robert in 1873 and this eventually was sold to Robert's son-in-law Hudson Boatner Marshall. Hence the name Eanes-Marshall Ranch. Hudson didn't like where the ranch house was located, so he dismantled it and move...

Thornhaven Manor is located at 2172 S. Spiceland Road in New Castle, Indiana near the Big Blue River Valley. The dilapidated home sits on seven acres of former farmland that is encircled by marshland and woods. The manor was built in 1845 and originally sat on a property that stretched to 1,000 acres. Many people died in the house from illness, but in the early 1900s, this home would be the scene of a murder by poison. Today, there are reputedly many spirits at this location with the most prominent ones belonging to people connected to that murder. Simon T. Powell was one of the richest men in Indiana. Powell was born in 1821 in Cambridge City, Indiana, but his parents eventually moved to Illinois. When he was fourteen, he was struck with what was deemed Palsy and his excessive swimming was blamed for causing that. The affliction would cripple him for the rest of his life. He attended Vincennes College and completed his education under Prof. Samuel H.Hoshour at the seminary in E...

German Church Road in Chicago is haunted. At least, that's what urban legends claim. The possibility of apparitions being seen along this road is supported by the fact that a murder is connected to this road. Not just one murder, but two. And the victims were sisters. The Grimes sisters. Two all American teenagers were out for a little fun and their lives ended abruptly, shattering not only their innocence, but the innocence of the people that knew them or lived near them. The lack of justice has perhaps left their spirits at unrest. German Church Road is like any other road out there, nondescript. This paved avenue runs between County Line Road and Willow Springs Road with a couple of creeks, Devil's and Flag, running nearby. The Healing Waters Park is not too far away. The road was named for the Trinity Lutheran Church that had been built in 1865 by the German immigrants in the area. The Grimes sisters were the typical all American teenagers. Barbara was fifteen and Patri...

Los Feliz is a hybrid of nature and urban sprawl with a long history of Native American habitation, ranching, high-end living, curses, suicide, murder and hauntings. The enclave really has it all with Los Feliz Village offering boutiques and fine dining, Griffith Park featuring great hikes and views and the neighborhood hosting homes with architectural distinction, including the Sowden House, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, Jr. Los Feliz is a charming neighborhood, but it is also a rich place to die! For thousands of years, the Chumash and Tongva Native American tribes lived in the area that would eventually become Rancho Los Feliz. The Santa Monica Mountains parallel the Pacific Ocean along the coast of southern California. The mountain range stretches from Point Mugu in Ventura County to the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles. Spanish settlers arrived later and set themselves up near the banks of the Los Angeles River. One of the first land grants in California went to Corp...