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Gettysburg and Other Ghosts
by Allan R. Mills

From the beginning of recorded time, humans have reported encounters with paranormal phenomena. From the legend of Bigfoot in the mountainous regions of British Columbia to the ghost ships of Newfoundland and in every province in between, tales of the paranormal can be heard. We've all been regaled with stories of the phantom train seen running along abandoned tracks. We've sat at campfires trying to scare each other with tales of the man with a hook for hand.

My point is that the paranormal has touched all of us in some way. While some of you may not believe in ghosts or Bigfoot, chances are, you do know a good ghost story. North America is rich in legends and stories involving the paranormal. It is my intent to share some of them here in this column. In each issue, the focus will be on paranormal events in this country and periodically across the rest of North America and even the rest of the world.

Just what is a "Paranormal event" you might ask. Well, to me, a paranormal event is anything that steps outside of the ordinary or what we perceive to be the normal way of things. There are however, events that have taken place throughout history that are not of a paranormal nature, but their very names conjure up in our minds images that would easily fit into the description of the paranormal. Places like Area 51 in the Nevada desert, the city of Roswell, New Mexico and Wright Patterson Air Force base in Ohio all have their respective mystery about them. I will endeavour to touch on these areas in future issues.

With the recent passing of Halloween I thought it fitting to spend our first visit down the paranormal path, exploring some of the better known ghost stories from across North America. Ghosts and haunting's are usually associated with one of three things.

• A person
• A place
• An event
  

Our first visit into the paranormal can be associated with two of the above descriptions.

In the summer of 1863, a fierce battle was fought over a period of three days in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. From July 1st to July 3rd, Union and Confederate troops, numbering some one hundred and sixtythousand strong fought for supremacy. By the end of the battle, over fifty thousand men from both sides lay strewn on the battlefields either dead or dying.It is not surprising therefore, thatGettysburg is reportedly one of the most haunted places in North America.With such a traumatic event-taking place, it is easy to understand why some spirits still walk the dark and lonely streets and battlefields of modern day Gettysburg.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Gettysburg with my wife. I had been in contact with Cindy Shultz, owner of The Farnsworth House Candlelight Ghost Tours located on Baltimore Street in Gettysburg. The Farnsworth house itself has a history of ghostly happenings. Originally built in 1810, the building was occupied by the Sweeny family during the battle. It is generally accepted as fact that it was in this house that Confederate sharpshooters firing from the attic, killed the only civilian to die in the battle, Jenny Wade. Bullet holes can still be seen along the wall surrounding the attic window.

In 1990, a well-known psychic investigated the house and reported that she had sensed the presence of three Confederate soldiers in the attic. One of the ghosts held a "Jews harp" in one hand and pointed at the red clay covering one of his shoes. At first the psychic wasn't sure what the soldier was trying to tell her. It was discovered, however, that the soldiers were from Georgia. Red clay is commonly found in Georgia. Perhaps the spirit was trying to tell the psychic where he was from.

Today, Farnsworth House is used as a Bed and Breakfast Inn. Frequently, guests of the Inn tell of hearing rustling sounds coming from the attic and of hearing the sound of a Jews harp wafting down the stairs. The Sara Black room, located on the second floor, is host to the spirit of a woman long dead. Her footsteps can be heard in the room and guests trying to capture the charm of the period furnishings in the room have inadvertently photographed her.

The second floor is also host to the ghost of a small child. He was killed by a wagon in front of the house. He can be heard playing with unseen toys. He is also heard laughing in the second floor hallway. Guests sometimes find toys outside of their doors when no children are staying at the Inn.

My wife and I took the Farnsworth House ghost tour with Pat Anschuetz acting as our guide. We wandered the streets of Gettysburg and listened as Pat shared her vast library of restless spirit tales with us. Although she has never actually seen a spirit, Pat has seen shadows appear where no one is standing. Since Pat was dressed in period costume it was easy to immerse oneself in the stories as she walked us through the oldest section of town.

One of the stories that Pat relayed is also one of the most enduring in Gettysburg. Many unrelated people from different parts of North America have reported coming into contact with a single Union soldier, on a dark lonely road near one of the battlefields called The Devils Den.

One of the charms of Gettysburg is that on any given day you can find folks dressed in period clothes strolling through the oldest section of town. Men, usually attired in Confederate butternut uniforms or Union blue, walk with ladies attired in flowing dresses complete with rustling crinolines. Re- enactment of the three-day battle often involves thousands of participants dressed in similar apparel. It was during one of these re- enactments that four men encountered the paranormal.

Rain had pounded down on the re- enactment camp for three days. The men had been sitting it out in their tents waiting for respite. In the evening, they decided to take a drive around the battlefield and dry off for awhile. When they crested the hill leading into Devils Den they saw in the distance, another union re- enactor standing on the rain covered road. The driver slowed to speak with the man and when he did not move from the road, the driver, wet and cranky from three days of continual rain decided he wasn't moving either. When the stranger was only a few feet away, the men in the car realised that the man on the road was transparent. The car passed directly through him and immediately, the temperature in the car dropped drastically. When the driver pulled the car over and got out, the man on the road was gone.

The spirits of men from both sides of the struggle are often seen in different areas of the town. The Wheat field, Devils Den, Big and Little Round Top are all areas that frequently have sightings of misty figures walking the battlefield. If you get the opportunity to visit Gettysburg, you will not be disappointed. But you don't have to leave the country to find a ghost story. Canada is rich in ghost tales.

One such tale occurred in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. The story begins with a boy 13 years old. His mom and dad used to send him to visit with family in Sault Ste Marie, during the summer. He always looked forward to seeing his aunt and uncle and loved the time he spent there.

One year his parents sent him up early to help them move into a old farmhouse they had bought outside of town near the airport. The area was still pretty rural at that time and the nearest neighbour was a mile or so away. They had spent the day moving
furniture and boxes and finished up just as it was getting dark. His aunt and uncle left to return the moving van and get some groceries. The young boy decided to stay behind and rest a little until they returned. He was sitting in the living room watching television when he heard a crash in the kitchen. Thinking that a box had fallen from the counter top, he went to investigate.

When you entered the kitchen you looked to your left to find the fridge and the stove. The sink and cupboards were directly in front of you and there was an old mudroom off to the right at the back of the kitchen. The mudroom hadn't been used and was nailed shut from the inside. He looked around the room, but all the boxes appeared to be where they had been placed. The boy heard another scraping sound coming from the mudroom and thought that there might be a squirrel or racoon in there.

He walked over and flipped the light switch beside the door and nearly fell over with fright. An old lady with white hair that stuck up in all directions was staring at him. He thought he was seeing things and closed his eyes. She was still there when he opened them again. He couldn't see a neck, body or anything else, just her head and face. What really scared him was the fact that he could see the wall behind her, through her. He ran back into the living room and didn't move until his aunt and uncle returned an hour later. During that time he could still hear the scratching sounds, so he had turned up the volume on the television just to drown it out.

When they returned he debated about telling them about what he had seen. Eventually he decided to say nothing, thinking that maybe he was just over tired from the day of moving. His uncle had to go to work on the night shift, which left the boy and his aunt alone for the night. After they went to bed, a loud crashing from downstairs awakened the young man. When he got out of bed and walked into the hall, he met his aunt at the top of the stairs. "Did you hear that crash too?" She had asked him. He answered that he had and they headed down the stairs to investigate.

At the bottom of the stairs to the right was the front door and living room. A left turn took you through the dining room into the kitchen. Remembering his earlier encounter, he did not want to go into the kitchen again.

His aunt went in and a few minutes later she screamed and came running back into the living room. She told him that the entire cupboard doors and drawers were open and their contents scattered across the floor. While cleaning it up, she had heard a scratching sound from the mudroom. She had walked over and flipped on the light switch and came face to face with an old lady looking right at her. Needless to say they both spent the rest of the night in the living room with the television on.

The young man didn't stay for his usual vacation with them that year. His uncle thought they were both over-reacting because nothing ever happened when he was around. His aunt told him that things continued to happen for months. Furniture was moved overnight, lights would turn on by themselves and periodically the old lady would be seen through the mud room window. Eventually his aunt couldn't stand it anymore
and convinced his uncle to move back into town. The house sat empty for nearly a year and was eventually torn down to make room for a strip mall as the new subdivisions started going up.
The only history to the house had been that the original owners had died within months of each other. The wife had a heart attack and died in the mud room and the husband had a stroke and died only 6 weeks later.

And so ends our first trip together. If you have a good true ghost story or anything you think is interesting and falls under our paranormal description, then we here at Haunted Hamilton, would like you to share it with us. Send a brief description along with a phone number or e- mail address to me at the following address
allanmills2001@hotmail.com.

Until next time stay safe and be happy.

~ Allan R. Mills

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