|
(Back to Wisconsin Haunted Index)
Cristy Mansion –
HauntedHouses.com
LOCATION:
The Cristy Mansion can be found on Lake
Street, in Waupaca, Wisconsin. It is privately owned, so please
respect their privacy.
DESCRIPTION:
Described as an 1893, Queen Anne-style
mansion that is beautiful, roomy and elegant, it is known locally
as the Cristy Mansion, namedter a family that had lived in the
mansion, from 1907 to 1967, and continued to own it until 1981.
However, it was originally built by Calib Shearer, a Waupaca
attorney and lumberman with an eye for beauty and high artistic
standards.On the outside of this 2 story mansion, (plus basement
and attic), one can see two round turrets, and fish scale and
shingle ornamentation. The outside front yard and backyard are
large and an old carriage house is still there in the back. Inside
this work of art, one sees "stained and beveled glass, burled wood
in several rooms and intricately carved stairways and mantels, at
the mansion's 3 fireplaces". A wide, central staircase connects the
first and second floors. The attic was originally designed by
Shearer to be a ballroom, but it was never finished, and has always
been used for storage.
HISTORY:
In 1907, Joseph T. Cristy and his large
family moved into the mansion. For many years, the Cristy's made
the mansion a fun, lively place to be living or visiting at, filled
with children and with many happy occurrences, experiences and
occasions. From 1967 - 1981, (14 years), no one lived in the
mansion, though both the mansion and it's property were well
maintained and looked after.
MANIFESTATIONS:
In June of 1981, Gloria and her 3 children,
(11, 12 & 15), moved into this lovely mansion, unknowingly
joining unseen entities already residing there.
1) During the first night in their new
home, Gloria was awakened by the sounds of horses' whinnying and
gently neighing, which were coming from the vast backyard. Puzzled,
she checked out the backyard and found no living, 4 footed horses
anywhere. She was filled with uneasy feelings.( She found out later
that ponies had been kept in the old carriage house.)
2) The next morning, Gloria dove into the
monumental job of unpacking the moving boxes and finding the right
spot for each piece of furniture. While working in one room, she
tried to pull up an old roller shade to let in the bright sun. When
the whole shade came loose and fell down on top of her, Gloria
heard an unseen, male presence's distinct, sharp laughter ring out
from somewhere behind her.
3) At noon, that same day as the laughter,
Gloria's 11 year old daughter and 12 year old son went down to the
basement to take their showers. While her daughter waited patiently
in the adjacent laundry room for her turn, she was badly scared
when something invisible hit her glasses off her face, shattering
one of her lenses. Her brother looked out of the shower in time to
see the flying glasses shatter. Both kids flew out of the basement,
in a terrified state.
4) Soon after, at night, the family started
to hear an invisible walker who would start at the grand entrance
hall, travel up the central staircase to the second floor.Then the
footsteps would walk the entire length of the second floor hallway,
and then go back down the central staircase. During the first time
of this occurrence, Gloria thought that one of her kids was up and
she went to see of anything was amiss, but all were asleep. As she
passed the top of the central staircase on the way back to her own
room, she was suddenly enveloped with a freezing cold air draft,
which caused her to scream, as she felt an unseen presence, close
to her. She told her then awakened children that she had just
tripped on the rug, not wanting to scare them any more than they
already were.
5) Late one night, Gloria was awakened by
noises in the attic, right above her bed. She heard the sounds of
someone pacing back and forth, a heavy box with chains being pushed
back and forth, and indistinct human voices. All these various
noises slowly faded away during the next couple of hours.
6) The kitchen door would open all by
itself as well as the swinging door out of the kitchen, that led to
the front hall way.
7) After the kids would go to school,
Gloria would often hear the footstep routine during the day as
well.
After awhile, Gloria and her family stopped
being afraid as they began to sense a feeling of acceptance coming
from their unseen house mates, and they in turn accepted the fact
that they were sharing their house with unseen presences, and
learned to ignore the entities' eccentric habits and all the
continued oddities, that one doesn't normally encounter in a
spirit-free house.
Unofficial Psychic Research:
The 15 year old son decided to let a tape
recorder run one night, to see if any of the noises they had been
hearing would be recorded. The recorder was set up in the
downstairs living room.
The noises recorded were:
A) Unidentifiable loud, rhythmic
noises.
B) Squeaky, rocking noises coming from
Gloria's rocking chair, like someone was sitting in it and using
it.
C) Occasional rappings, as if someone was
"holding a pipe and tapping it on the table".
The only normal, expected sounds recorded
were the grandfather clock chiming every 15 minutes, and an
occasional truck going by.
Still Haunted?
Probably yes.
|
