Famous Haunted Places--Hauntings Of The Underground Railroad--Part One
UNDERGROUND RAILROAD HAUNTINGS – Part One
During the early and mid 1800s many northern families in the United States risked their lives and property by aiding run-away slaves from the south who were making their way to freedom in Canada. They created secret passageways and underground tunnels in a vast escape network that was referred to as the Underground Railroad. The slaves lived in constant fear of being caught, and the homeowners in the network were often killed when discovered. This created a highly-charged atmosphere that has never dissipated. There are many homes that were involved in just about every state in the union that are still haunted.
Prospect
Place/Trinway Mansion is located in Dresden, Ohio. It was built in 1856 by George Willison
Adams. The basement of this home was
used as a hideout for fleeing slaves, and this is the area of the home that is
most haunted; however, visitors have also seen spirits in other areas of the
home,
as well.
A
bounty hunter haunts the barn where farmhands hanged him. One winter a sick young girl fell to her death
from an upstairs bedroom window. The ground was frozen so they couldn’t bury
her until the spring. They kept her body
in the basement. It has been reported
that the child wanders through the house and she can be heard crying in the
basement. The child's mother sat in the basement by her body until she
developed pneumonia and died, as well. Her spirit had been seen in the little
girl's bedroom and in the basement. Anna
Adams-Cox, an abandoned wife, searches the property for her missing
husband. The missing husband, George,
has also been seen roaming the house. They both seem unable to find the
other. Also, a slave, who died in the
house, often stands watch over the little girl's body in the basement.
The Hannah House, Indianapolis, Indiana was built in 1790 and was the Governor’s Mansion at one point. The hauntings began after a run-away slave in the basement accidentally knocked over a lantern. Several slaves perished before the fire could be extinguished. Unidentified moans are heard throughout the mansion and doors and windows are opened and closed by unseen hands.
An elderly man dressed in colonial period style clothing and a powdered wig has been seen by visitors. An unidentified female child holding a candle has also been reported. There’s a story of the death of a slave who had been hiding in a hollow tree on the property. He perished after his head became stuck and rescuers could not free him from the tree. His spirit has been seen outside near the tree. Visitors to the home have experienced their clothes been tugged by unseen hands, shadows running and the sound of chains rattling in the basement.
