Boooo

Happy Halloween to you!

Yes, I believe in the paranormal...I have experienced it myself. I also believe that most unexplainable events are just that...things that the witness could not explain, but in reality were just natural causes.

Regardless of whether or not you are a skeptic there certainly are numerous cases out there that have just too many coincidences to just be explained away as "natural." For instance, how do you explain the innocent child who sees a "Friend" that no one else can see. The child has no concept of ghosts. She can just see it. When the child is shown a set of old-time photographs that she obviously has never seen before in her life, she instantly picks out one incdicates this is her friend. And then she tells us what the person's name and nickname were?

How do you explain that? Was the child coached? Well yes, anything is possible. But highly unlikely. Stories like this abound in all cultures and societies. There has to be something to it. Another world, place memories, spirits, etc etc...there are many names. One thing that the scientists can agree on is we know very little about the human brain. Why is it not a possibility that our highly complex and sensitive electrical system cannot 'feel' things that cannot see? (Account is that of the Wyrick Family, GA)

Well in any case, here's a local haunt that may interest you. The Houghton Mansion of North Adams, MA. Here in New England we have a ton of history going all the way back to the Native American countries. The mountains and woods have many a story to tell, I'm sure. Go walk around in the fall up by the Mohawk Trail and tell me you don't feel it:

The History of the Houghton Mansion
by
Paul W. Marino

Albert Charles Houghton, President of the Arnold Priont Works and first Mayor of the City of North Adams, built what is now the Masonic Temple in the 1890's, shortly after his term as Mayor Expired. It was his third home in North Adams, and the most extravagant, reflecting his wealth and status in the community. Built in the Neo-Classical Revival style, it has strong Greek features with many influences from diverse sources. Its roof was of Spanish tile, and the Clapboards were thinner near the bottom to make the house appear taller then it actually was. There was a formal garden in the rear, which was often used for parties to raise money for the North Adams Hospital. The Houghtons moved in circa 1900, the family then consisting of Mr. Houghton, his wife Cordelia, and their youngest survinving daughter Mary, then 23 years old. Another daughter, Cordelia died in infancy, while three others lived to grow up, marry, and produce children of their own. In 1905, when Mr. Houghton was 61, his health began to fail. At that point, Mary resolved that she would never wed, but devoted her life to taking care of her father. A manic workaholic with a passion for business, Mr. Houghton did not in fact retire, but only cut back, dividing his time between the APW sales officer in New York City and North Adams, leaving the major decisions to his son-in-law, William Arthur Gallup.

In the spring of 1914, the Houghtons invested in their first car, a seven passenger Pierce-Arrow touring car, and sent their long time chauffeur, John Widders, to learn to drive it. On August 1st of the year, Mr. Houghton and Mary decided to go to Bennington, VT for a pleasure drive. Mrs. Houghton chose to remain at home, and they were accompanied instead by Dr. and Mrs. Robert Hutton of New York. Sybil Hutton was a childhood friend of Mary's and a daughter of the North Adams shoe manufacturer WG Cady. With Widders at the wheel, the car left the Houghton mansion at 9:00am; at 9:30 it was in Pownal, VT heading up what is now Oak Hill Rd. The road was under repair, and a team of horses was parked on the right hand side. Widders went around them on the left, at about 12 mph. On the left shoulder, the car tilted and went down a teep embankment, rolling over three times before coming to rest in an upright position in a farmer's field. Everyone except Mary Houghton was thrown out of the car. The men all escaped with minor injuries: Cuts, scrapes, bruises, minor fractures. Mrs. Hutton, on the other hand, was killed almostinstantly when the car rolled over her. Mary Houghton was just as badly hurt and died of her injuries fave and a half hours later at the North Adams Hospital. Expecting to survive, Mr. Houghton was taken home. The investigator for the State of Vermont exonerated Widders of all wrongdoing, blaming the accident instead on the soft shoulder of the road. But Widders still blamed himself and, at 4:00am on the morning of August 2nd, he shot himself in the head in the cellar of the Houghton Barn. Mr. Houghton died on the 11th of the month.

Following the tragedy, one the the surviving Houghton daughters, Florence, moved into the house with her husband, William Arthur Gallup, and made their home there, looking after Mrs. Houghton until her death in 1916. They continued to reside in the house until Mr. Gallup retired in 1926, when they sold it to the Masons and moved to Boston to be nearer their son. The Masons did away with the formal Garden and erected their lodge building in it's place. In more recent years, for the sake of economy, the Spanish tile roof was removed and replaced with asphalt, and siding has been put on over the clapboards. Otherwise, the house continues to look as it did when it was built.