A Family Troubled By A Ghost
The reporter of the Chicago Times commences by describing the scene of the late disturbances as being on the farm of a wealthy gentleman, one Mr Peter Cure. His house and land, consisting of a farm of 300 acres, is situated at about eighteen miles from Chicago, and four from Worth, the nearest railway station.
“The family are Catholics, and until recently have strongly repudiated belief in spirits. The first open appearance of the ghost, for Mr Cure holds to the belief that there is only one – occurred Sept. 14. Mrs Cure was preparing supper for the family. Having set the table, Mrs Cure went into the kitchen. While there, she paused to look after some of the cookery, but was away not more than five minutes. When she returned, the table had been lifted from its place in the middle of the room and carried into a corner. The cloth lay just as it had been placed by Mrs Cure, but every dish and plate had been changed. She was terrified by the mysterious transformation, and rushed to the barn where her husband was unharnessing a horse, and besought him to come into the house – that there was a ghost in the dining-room.
“Mr Cure laughed, but his wife was evidently in earnest, so that Mr Cure walked boldly into the dining-room, his wife following him with faltering steps. Mr Cure could not see anything strange in the appearance of the room. His good wife peered anxiously over his shoulder, and became a shade paler. Was it possible that she was deceived? The table was standing just where she had left it when she made the journey to the kitchen.
“While Mr Cure was laughing merrily at his wife, they both heard a noise, and looking around, saw the door of the kitchen oven fly open and a pan of roast pork shoot out and drop half way across the room. Instinctively, Mr Cure looked over his shoulder again, as if to catch the unseen power, and behold! the dinner-table was over in the corner again, and again the dishes had changed. That converted Mr Cure completely, and the laugh died on his lips.
“He summoned his son and the hired man, and a conference was held in the dining-room. While they were talking, three or four cucumbers were hurled through the window. The men, and young Cure, the son – who is a lad of 18 – got up and rushed into the yard, the boy going through the window and the men taking the two doors. They moved so quickly that it would have been impossible for any human intruder to have escaped; but a search in every corner of the yard and the neighbouring field revealed no one. Thoroughly scared, they went back to the House and sat in the now darkened dining-room.
“There were no manifestations until Mr Cure lighted a lamp. The flame seemed to arouse the familiar. The door slammed open, the lower sash of the window flew up, and a gust of wind blew out the light. They were too badly frightened to re-light the lamp, and they went to bed in the dark. When morning came, with no repetition of the uncanny performances, they began to think the spook had fled.
“The next day Mr Cure went to the barn and harnessed his horses to the market waggon, intending to drive to Worth. After completing the job he returned to the house to get his coat and hat. When he got back to the barn the horses were unhitched, the waggon-pole down, the harness hanging from its peg. Mr Cure knew by this that the spirit still haunted him, but he re-harnessed the team, and drove away to Worth, where he told his story to everybody, and caused a panic among the simple German folk of the town. Three of these, well-known and reputable citizens and substantial farmers, who will testify on oath to the extraordinary occurrences, promised to call on Mr Cure that afternoon and attest to the truthfulness of his story.
“During the good man’s absence in town, all sorts of pranks were played by the invisibles, to the horror and consternation of the family.
“In the afternoon came Mr Dilly, Mr Sattem, and Mr Reid, and they had a cordial reception, for just as they reached the threshold, the door slammed in their faces and a flower-pot, with a big geranium in it, dropped at their feet. This scared Reid and Sattem, but Mr Dilly said we will go into this thing further; and the three entered the house. As they entered, a china tea-pot fell from the kitchen shelf. The stove-pipe fell, and the doors banged with dreadful violence. In the dining-room, where the family sat, the pictures were all turned faces to the wall.
“Mr Dilly carefully locked both doors of the dining-room, and pulled the catches down on the windows. Through the glass, apparently, but without shattering it, came a shower of gravel and sand, mingled with bits of vegetables and miscellaneous articles. The locked doors were unlatched and thrown rudely open; then as rudely shut and latched again. Dilly went out to look for the trickster, but his search was useless. He locked the door from the outside, he and Mr Cure standing without. The key was removed from the door and hurled into the room in which sat the rest of the stupefied party.
“Mr Dilly was now firmly convinced that there really was a ghost around, and having heard of the habit the spiritualists have of communicating by slate writing, he got a slate out, and Mr Reid wrote this question: “For God’s sake, what do you want?” The answer was down in an instant; “To see Pete.” Again Mr Reid wrote: “Who are you, and what do you want?” In an instant there appeared on the slate, as Mr Dilly held it, the words “Fred Cure, Pete’s brother”. Then came another shower of gravel, but the ghost refused to answer, and was not heard of again that evening.
“On the next day, and on every succeeding day until Sunday, some freak revealed his presence to the terrified family. Friday he locked all the doors in the house and took away the keys. When Mr Cure wrote, “For heaven’s sake, give us back those keys,” the keys were returned to the doors.
“Mr Cure finally gave way to the neighbours, who had all along entreated him to invoke heavenly aid, and sent to Blue Island for the priest. Sunday afternoon the good father came out to the farm, and, in the garb of his holy office, and with candles and holy water, prepared to exorcise the fiend. While he was reciting the prayers a blast of sand came with a wild flurry of wind, and the lights of the candles were extinguished. The priest scattered holy water about the room, and for a time all was quiet.
“The next day and for many succeeding days the disturbances recommenced with ever-increasing violence. Everything in the house was changed with marvellous rapidity. An immense quantity of crockery was broken, but not a single creature had been struck or hurt. One day quantities of scraps of writing were found, all signed as if by Fred Cure (a brother of Mr Peter Cure’s), who has been dead some three years. He asked, in half legible writing, to see his son Freddie, with whom he desired to communicate. This son lives at some distance off, and does not appear to have obeyed the summons.
“On several occasions during October, the Chicago Times‘ reporters and hundreds of people from far and near have visited the possessed dwelling. Mr Cure is a wealthy man, and owns a large amount of property in Chicago as well as in his own immediate vicinity, and he has offered a reward of one thousand dollars to any one that can trace out a human cause for these disturbances, but up to the present time they continue at intervals, and have defied all the vigilance of the police of Worth as well as some sent from Chicago to detect the source of the mischief. Several of the neighbours of Mr Cure have had disturbances of a similar nature though not nearly so violent as those in the Cure family.”
Here follows a long account, published in the Chicago Times, of the disturbances, as narrated by Mrs Cure, and testified by over fifty of her neighbours, “the ghost” appearing to have no more objection to perform for the benefit of strangers than for that of the family. The following is the last extract that our space will allow of making from the Chicago Times. It is dated Oct. 20th:-
“The family have learned that the invisible, claiming to be Fred Cure would answer questions by throwing or dropping something from above. One morning when the family were beginning to think they were free from their unwelcome guest, one of the children remarked, ‘I wonder if Uncle Fred is here yet?’ The invisible had been so long about the premises that the children felt on very good terms with him, and were not afraid of him by any means. A stray turnip might be wandering about the room and strike them, but they had never been hurt. One of them asked “Are you here, uncle? If you are, throw!”
“Crack! A stone as large as a walnut dropped into the fried eggs. Numerous questions were asked and answered in this way. Finally the question was asked, ‘Can you write?’ A big rock was the answer, and the paper being provided, the ghost was kept busy writing, and the writings are all preserved. The Times reporter was shown one of the messages in which ‘Uncle Fred’ said he wanted to see his son Frederic, who he thought was afraid to come to the house. Peter Cure says the handwriting is that of his dead brother. No one saw the writing being done. ‘Uncle Fred’ would write only in seclusion, and when the family was in some other part of the house.
“Peter Cure started for his nephew on Tuesday evening, and brought him to the house. There the ghost held some communion with his offspring. It would seem that this interview was the special object of the ghost’s pertinacity, for a piece of writing fell down before the young man in which the ghostly father said “good bye,” and since then, a period of three days after the interview above named, Mrs Cure informed the reporter that no sounds or motions of any kind had transpired. That some family secret was involved in this curious case of haunting, which the interview between the mortal son and spirit father alone could settle, there can be no question of it; but the Times‘ reporter concludes by the assurance that at least three hundred persons have visited the place, over fifty of whom are ready to testify on oath that the most astonishing feats of supermundane power have been performed in their presence, for which no earthly cause could be assigned.”
Cornubian and Redruth Times, 21st December 1888.