Shadow figures, phantom footsteps and items that move on their own. What secrets are hiding in this historic Kansas mansion? The Victoria mansion at 1301 Kansas Avenue, Atchison, KS was designed by a St. Joseph, MO architectural firm and clearly represented the wealth and community standing of its owner, John McInteer. Since its construction in 1889, the mansion has undergone only minor changes and is largely as it was when McInteer lived there. Born in Ireland in 1829, McInteer came to the United States in 1855 at the age of about 26, settling first in Philadelphia. Looking for greater opportunity, he headed west to Indiana where he learned the trade of harness maker. Moving further west to Doniphan County, KS, he established a small shop in Atchison where he manufactured harnesses, saddles and wagons. His products became noted for their workmanship. His venture was so successful that he had to enlarge his facility to manufacture his products on a large scale. It was the wealth accumulated from this business that enabled him to invest in real estate in Atchison and nearby St. Joseph, MO and, ultimately, build his impressive mansion. Many Deaths It is unclear who is haunting this home, although there are plenty of suspects. McInteer, his first wife Alice Conley, his second wife, Anna Donovan and her son Charles Donovan all died in the home. Later residents, including 4 day old Romona Wood, Isobel Altus and George and Thelma Gerardy would also die in the home. McInteer met his first wife, Alice Conley, in Cincinnati, Ohio and they married sometime around 1861 . They had no children, although several nieces and nephews lived them. Alice died in the mansion in December 1891 after suffering a year-long illness. In 1895, McInteer married Anna Conlon Donovan, a widow with three sons, Peter, Fred and Charles. McInteer was a devout Catholic and was a member of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Atchison. He was financially generous to the Church, was well liked by those who knew him and invested heavily in the Atchison community. He died in the mansion on July 17, 1902. Anna would continue to live in the mansion until her death, also in the home, in 1916. Following Anna’s death, a number of her relatives, including her sons, Charles and Fred Donovan and her brother Charles Conlon, along with their families, lived together in the home. Despondent from Influenza he contracted while in WWI and had never fully recovered from, her son Charles would commit suicide in his upstairs bedroom on October 10, 1922. Other deaths would occur in the mansion. From around 1925 until 1952 the mansion was used as a rooming house. It was during this period that Romona Jane/June Wood, the four day old daughter of William T and Naomi I Wood, would die in the home on September 20, 1929. I have not been able to find any additional information on the cause of death of Ramona. The Wood family eventually relocated to Eugene, Oregon. The Main Suspect In 1952 the mansion would be purchased by Isobel “Goldie’ Altis/Altus. It is her spirit many believe haunts the mansion. Many claim that Isobel, who never married and had no children, was a retired professional violinist. My research indicates that is not exactly accurate. In 1910, after her father abandoned the family, Isobel was a laundress and she and her mother were living in a rooming house in Denver, Colorado. By 1912, Isobel had secured a job as a stenographer for the US Bureau of Standards. As was typical for a woman of that time, she would continue to hold secretarial type positions, first in Denver and later once she relocated to Atchison. She did teach violin as an independent music teacher and later at the Colorado Women’s College for at least five years between 1922-1926. I believe it was this work that created the story of Isobel being a professional violinist. However, by 1930 she was back in the secretarial field working as a buyer for a hospital and then as a government transportation clerk. By 1952 she had relocated to Atchison and was working as a clerk for the City. She would continue working for the City of Atchison until her retirement. She purchased the mansion in 1952. Lacking the financial resources to restore and maintain the property, Isobel sold the mansion in 1969, shortly before her death, to George Gerardy. Gerardy allowed Isobel to continue living in the home until her death on December 21, 1969. Isobel did die in the home, having been deceased for at least 24 hours before being found by a neighbor and Gerardy. George Gerardy and his wife Thelma would also later die in the home, both from natural causes. The Claims It is claimed that the chair Isobel died in is still in the home and it rocks on its own. Other paranormal claims include seeing shadow figures, hearing doors slamming, footsteps and voices, items moving on their own, smelling the scent of perfume and cigarettes and seeing the tower lights come on when there is no electricity to the third floor attic area (we did find electricity and lighting on the third floor so I am not sure how old those claims are). Besides the numerous deaths that occurred in the home, it is also claimed that illegal abortions were conducted in the basement, however I have found no evidence to support that claim. The Investigation We investigated the McInteer Villa in March, 2022. Weather conditions were fair, with temperatures in the mid-30s to mid-40s throughout the investigation. There was no precipitation and winds were mostly out of the East at 7-13mph. The current owner of the home provided an extensive history of the mansion and its previous occupants as well as sharing her own stories of strange happenings at the mansion. The mansion has been beautifully restored and is like stepping back in time to the late 1800s. After hearing the claims of recent activity, we set up six static night vision cameras as well as trail cams throughout the mansion living areas and basement. As is our protocol, we began holding EVP sessions throughout the home. The investigation was very quiet. We did hear a lot of banging and knocking but suspect it was the radiator heat. We did hear voices coming from individuals who were across the street at the school as well as the surrounding neighbors. Perhaps this is what others are hearing and believe it is coming from inside the mansion. There was some rempod activity in the basement near a doll thought to be haunted. We were able to determine the activity coincided with the heat coming on as well as determining there is a high amount of EMF in the room where the activity is said to take place. Perhaps this can account for at least some of the paranormal claims in the basement. While we may have come up with some reasonable explanations for some of the paranormal claims, we did have several things occur that we cannot explain. During a walk-through with the SLS camera, we did capture a man’s voice saying ‘shut it down’ as well as capturing an unexplained voice in the parlor. We also had some weird stuff happen with both our static cameras and the mansion’s security camera. While we were not able to validate the majority of paranormal claims, we did capture just enough unexplained phenomena to warrant another investigation. References :
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/142017389/romona-june-wood US Federal Census 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 The Atchison Daily Globe 12.11.1891 The Atchison Daily Globe 12.22.1969 The Atchison Daily Globe 10.11.1922 The Brown County Republican 7.24.1902 The Atchison Champion 12.10.1916
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AuthorI have been looking for ghosts in haunted locations across the country since 1977. Previous Blogs
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