Sheboygan County’s Haunted History

It’s All-Hallow’s Eve weekend…that’s Halloween to most of us, and today, we shine an eerie spotlight on a few spooky things right here in our neighborhood.

Ask any kid and they’ll probably tell you that Halloween is all about costumes, pumpkins and trick-or-treating. Most Americans alive today would share that same concept, but Halloween goes back a long way. It’s widely believed that many Halloween traditions originated in the ancient Gaelic festival of “Samhain”, which means end-of-summer. The term all-hallow’s-eve, from which we get the word Halloween, probably originated during the reign of Pope Gregory the Third in the 8th century when the Pope founded an oratory – or small chapel – in St. Peter’s for the relics, quote, “of the holy apostles and of all saints, martyrs and confessors. The feast of All Hallows was thus established, and by order of Pope Gregory the Fourth, moved to November 1st – the same day as the Celtic holiday Samhain. The night before, then, is the eve of all hallows – Halloween.

Many cultures have their particular celebrations in remembrance of the dead, and it seems as if Halloween became a catch-all for many of those. The themes of ghosts, spirits, and monstrous things that walk among us on this day are ubiquitous and along with the handing out of treats, many will think about these creepy things and wonder if there’s anything to the many tales of ghosts among us. What better time to think about this than today?

Whether you believe in ghosts or not might depend upon your own experience. Our part of Wisconsin actually has a well-documented history of hauntings. Some of them are pretty benign and curious, others downright evil in nature. Over the years I’ve had stories related by clergy who were called upon to do something – call it an exorcism if you will – for people who were vexed by unusual and unpleasant happenings. Confidentiality prevented me from being told details of the “who and where”, but in this same county there have been impressive events. One such confrontation culminated in a disembodied head rising from a lamp and disappearing. I wasn’t made aware of whether that was the end of the haunting or not, but that wasn’t the only one this pastor had been involved in, and others had told me independently that they also had to deal with such things – that they are, indeed, real.

A website called haunted places dot org has compiled accounts of haunted places far and wide, and it turns out that Sheboygan County and nearby locations have their share. Chances are pretty good that you’ve been to one of these and didn’t even know it was haunted.

Our first stop is the Sheboygan lakeshore at the Sheboygan Yacht Club. According to hauntedplaces, an eerie presence is felt there, accompanied by cold spots. Such cold spots are almost universally regarded as signs of a supernatural presence. Lights have been seen turning off and on by themselves, and workers have reported seeing the ghostly figure of a man in the basement of the building. Given the history of the location, it’s not hard to imagine that some tragedy in the early settlement of Sheboygan might have lingering effects!

Our next stop is the five-diamond American Club in Kohler. The current resort hotel is a building converted from its original use as housing for the early workers in the factory across the street. I was in the building just after many rooms were gutted in preparation for becoming the fine resort hotel that it is now, and at the time nothing seemed out-of-the-ordinary. The room we were in was used as a temporary, one-time-only recording studio and I was engineering. Everything turned out fine, there were no ghostly voices recorded as one often sees in the several popular t-v shows featuring ghost hunters. Perhaps we weren’t in what became room 209.

The east wing – the oldest portion of the American Club – is where hauntings are reported. As the story goes, a woman hanged herself in room 209 after her husband was killed in an industrial accident, and her ghost, wearing a blue hat, has been seen standing by the fireplace there. Someone named “Tabby” wrote to haunted places to share her experience there:

“I was working a short time at the American Club and was in room 209.  I was cleaning the bedroom and while the other maid was in the bathroom the other girl left to go back to our office downstairs for some supplies, and I had just finished the bed and went over to clean and dust the windows.  I had then gotten a weird feeling like I was being watched so I turned and saw that the bed I had just made was messed up again. I went to check if maybe the other girl was trying to scare me. I looked and she had not yet returned. Mind you I had the windows shut so I could dust all the wood trim. I turned back and all the windows were opened. I still stop and think about it.”

Another writer using the name “Toad” reports: “In room 177 I woke up when I was sleeping because of a pain in my shoulder. I rolled over and there was a woman with short hair and a night gown. She said “help me,” and came over and laid her head on my shoulder. I tried to sit up to talk with her and she was gone.”

Another American Club guest reported seeing a man in the hallway wearing a dirty and torn flannel shirt and pants. The guest attempted to speak to the man but got no response. The security camera got pictures of the guest speaking to someone who wasn’t there.

Perhaps the best account was related to hauntedplaces by a writer going by the name “l. Markus” who wrote: ” I used to work at the American Club hotel and in the restaurants as a busboy and room service waiter in the 1990s. I worked both night shift and early morning shifts on weekends for room service deliveries to the main hotel building as well as the carriage house to the northeast.

What I distinctly remember was encountering extremely cold pockets of air in the vast hallways near certain rooms while making deliveries. So cold in fact that they could not be explained by A/C vents, window leaks or poor insulation. I am talking cold enough to see my own breath.

I also frequently heard whispering voices in corners of hallways, like someone was holding a private conversation but no one was visible. It would then subside and return.

The main voice-related incident I remember was a voice saying “Ruhe! Zu laut!”, German for “Shhh, Quiet! Too loud!”

Carrying trays around I had to navigate around hallways and corners with limited view behind me and to my side. I also frequently heard noises and footsteps behind me and ahead of me around corners while delivering orders, like little kids hiding from me or secretly tagging along my journey to a room.

I did remember two occasions where different guests questioned me directly about whether the place was haunted or not.

I recall this because of the isolated shifts I frequently worked. Everyone was asleep and there were no cleaning staff or other workers working those hours except at the front desk and the kitchens.

There are several other haunted rooms and halls there, but yes, the cleaning staff told me all about room 209 back then.”

Hotels, inns, and bed & breakfasts seem popular with both the living – and the not-so-alive. Yankee Hill Inn Bed and Breakfast in Plymouth is said to have two haunted buildings…the Gilbert Huson House and the Henry Huson House. Staff have reported hearing footsteps and the sound of objects dropping. Some reports claim that the staff is afraid to work alone in these buildings because of eerie feelings and cold spots.

One of the oldest hospitality locations is the Old Wade House State Historical Park in Greenbush, and the former stagecoach inn is said to be “gently haunted”. The museum tour guides have described a presence there for many years, and some guides have felt a gentle push, or heard rustling sounds in the bedrooms.

Cemeteries are naturally creepy, but perhaps the Glenbeulah Cemetery, also known as the Walnut Grove Cemetery, might be creepier than many. It has graves dating as far back as the early 1800’s, one of which is said to glow, and another sometimes, according to legend, sports a ghostly pair of shoes. Rumor has it that a man hanged himself there, and his apparition has been seen late at night.

Such unnatural appearances are readily called “ghosts” by many. I prefer to use the term “apparition”, as I don’t know whether these are the result of a ghost or some other yet-to-be-explained phenomenon that makes people see and sense things. I’ve had my own experience and I call it an apparition. Call it a haunting if you like.

My own haunting happened over 50 years ago. I was in my first rock band named “Music Foundation”, and we were holding a practice where most bands did – in a garage of a home – this one just west of Mapledale and south of Superior Avenue, near what is now the I-43 interchange. We’d practiced for over an hour and decided to take a break. It was a warm night and cloudy, so it was dark – much darker than these days since there weren’t as many lights. Back then this was a mix of homes and open fields. I decided to rest my ears in the back yard. I was watching as lightning occasionally flashed in the distance, and my attention wandered about the yard. In the dim light I could make out a doghouse, two t-shaped frames that apparently supported clotheslines, and a brick barbecue grill near the home. As I sat observing these things the brick barbecue seemed to dissolve into a mist or cloud that floated over to the clotheslines. It stayed there a short while, seeming to wave in a breeze that wasn’t there, and then left the clothesline to start drifting over the field that bordered the back yard. Being entirely puzzled by what I was seeing, it didn’t occur to me to be afraid – I just wanted to know what I was experiencing – so I got up from where I was sitting and tried to catch up to these sheets blowing over the field. Before I could get close, they simply dissolved from sight. All this happened in complete silence. I immediately went into the garage where the rest of the band was taking their break and related what I’d seen to the one who lived there. His immediate response was: “Oh, you’ve seen the 40th Street Yeti!” Apparently others in that neighborhood had seen unexplainable things before, and they’d given this one title to the many different ways that this apparition was experienced. It was something I’ll never forget.  By the way, I was told that there never was a brick barbecue there.

For most people, the only time a ghost, ghoul or goblin will appear is on this hallow’s eve, likely small of stature, brightly costumed and in a small voice calling out “trick or treat” at your front door. Watch for them carefully, especially between 4 and 7 pm as you navigate your way through the streets on All Hallow’s Eve.  And if you’re lucky – or maybe unlucky – you could see something entirely different, because in these parts – it has happened before…and it could happen again!