LOCATION:
Built in 1895, this house was built
on a quiet street in a small, western Wisconsin City, about 1 hour's drive
from Bloomington, Minnesota.
DESCRIPTION:
Described as being an 1845 style,
white frame home, with a very large yard, this house has had three additions
and a number of remodelings done over the course of it's long history.
In 1985, the time period of this story, the house was 140 years old, and
"featured a front porch, a large entryway that was used as a playroom,
a living room, kitchen, four bedrooms, and a bath", which all fit
into the standard, two story, basement and attic house.
MANIFESTATIONS:
Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien and their children
moved into this historical home on Nov. 1, 1985. The couple had an 8 year
old girl, a 1 year old boy, and were then pregnant, with a baby on the
way. The O'Briens started to experience ghostly occurrences in August
1986, when their new baby was 4 months old.
1) A Night in August 1986. An exhausted
Mr. O'Brien went to bed early in the upstairs master bedroom, with his
infant son also asleep in the adjoining room of the master bedroom.
Mrs. O'Brien and the other 2 children were in the downstairs area of
the house. As it sometimes happens, just as Mr. O'Brien was almost asleep,
the baby woke up, crying loudly. As a groggy Mr. O'Brien was trying
to wake up and get out of bed to tend to the baby, he saw a woman apparition
in a long, light-colored dress glide toward the infant's room, and gently
quieted the baby in an experienced manner, putting the baby back to
sleep.This kind helper then vanished when her work was done. Not quite
believing what he saw, he ran downstairs to see if it was his wife who
had just been upstairs. His wife had been involved in activities with
the other two, and hadn't been near the upstairs.
2) Mr. O'Brien's second experience
with another unknown house mate happened while he was sitting alone
in the living room, watching T.V. Something made him look up at the
doorway of the downstairs bedroom, and he saw a "little, blond-headed
boy", standing there and just watching him. This apparition was
dressed "in clean, neat knickers, and a blue shirt". When
Mr. O'Brien kindly asked him who he was, and what he wanted, the boy
quickly evaporated into the air, without saying a word.(This bedroom
seemed to be one of the centers of ghostly activity).
3) A little, 4 inch red ball one
day went flying out of this bedroom, over Mr. O'Brien's head while he
sat in the living room, and disappeared. After a thorough search, no
visible mischief ball thrower or the ball itself could be found.
4) Mr. O'Brien was taking a nap
on a bed in this bedroom off the living room. As he began to doze off,
the helpful lady apparition who had put the baby to sleep, suddenly
appeared to him, right next to the bed, and was wearing Mrs. O'Brien's
red jacket, which had been left in this bedroom. He couldn't see her
face or arms, but recognized her dress. He calmly covered his head with
the covers, until she faded away.
5) In the Fall of '86, Mrs. O'Brien
was talking with her sister in the kitchen, when the smoke detector
suddenly went off. Some unseen hand had set the detector to test. None
living could've done it.
6) Besides the kindly lady, and
the mischievous boy, another presence who was mean & disagreeable
also was sharing the home with the O'Brien Family. Mrs. O'Brien perhaps
felt his presence, as she started to fell real uneasy at night, and
kept all the lights on until Mr.O'Brien came home from working the late
shift. Their daughter had a direct experience with this entity. One
afternoon, when the 8 year old girl was playing in her room with her
friend, their door suddenly closed, and the handle moved all by itself.
When they opened the door, no one visible was there, but the daughter's
friend sensed an unfriendly presence in the doorway, and they both flew
down the stairs. The children then started to have scary dreams that
they couldn't remember. The O'Briens switched rooms with their eight
year old.
PSYCHIC RESEARCH:
May, 1988: The O'Briens decided it
was time to get some help, and find out what was going on, so they called
a Psychic, Jackie, to come and investigate. The children went to a neighbor's
house to play. After her investigation, the psychic reported to them that
they had 3 spirits, from 3 different time periods.
1) The helpful lady apparition,
was a gentle, benevolent nanny, who claimed that she would never let
go, as long as there were children in the house. Her appearance could've
been triggered when the O'Briens brought their new baby home from the
hospital.
2) The little blond-haired boy had
been a victim of child abuse and had died of starvation.
3) The mean, unseen presence, was
an old man who had a severe drinking problem. He was a very big man,
who was very angry at the world. He had died in the eight year old's
room. It was the old man, who had been the one who had shut the door
and turned the handle of the door. He had given the kids bad dreams
to punish them for making noise, and being in his room.
Still Haunted?
Probably not, but don't know for sure.
Jackie communicated with all three
spirits that they had passed onto the other world, and didn't have to
hang around anymore. She also put a protective circle around each of the
O'Briens, to protect them. After Jackie's visit, the nightmares, ghostly
manifestations have all stopped, much to the relief of the O'Briens. |
