Weird Tales Paranormal Investigation Organization

Blennerhassett Hotel -

 "Famous for its hauntings, the Blennerhassett Hotel located at 4th & Market Streets in Parkersburg has a number of ghosts as with many fine old hotels. The primary visitor seems to be that of the builder, Mr. William N. Chancellor, who appeared to an unsuspecting guest in the summer of 2003 when the hotel was undergoing renovations. Late one night, the guest climbed into bed when a few moments later, he felt the bed weight down as if someone had just sat down at the end. When the hotel guest opened his eyes, he made out the form of an older gentleman. The older man turned to the hotel guest and said, "I was here first!" and before his very eyes, the apparition of the gentleman vanished! At the time, the portrait of Mr. Chancellor (that typically hangs in the library) was taken down due to extensive renovations. Once the portrait was put in its original place, the ghost has quieted down considerably. Ghostly children are also heard playing in the guest rooms and unsual manifestations occur throughout the hotel such as man in a white tuxedo in the mirrors. A number of the staff have had uncanny experiences, while others who work there have not had anything unusual happen. The ghosts seem to pick out the people who least expect them. The hotel is a magnificent feature of downtown Parkersburg."

Quincy Hill -

"Now a residential area of downtown Parkersburg, with an excellent view of the city and the Ohio River, Quincy Hill played an important role during the Civil War. Not only was it a lookout point for Union troops, it also served as a tent-city Civil War hospital which housed anywhere from 500 to 1000 soldiers. Many of the soldiers not only were wounded from battle, they were also stricken with small pox, typhoid fever and dysentery. There are a number of interesting ghost stories involving Union soldiers and haunted houses on Quincy Hill. The most interesting one I've heard, is one of the most recent ghost-involved incidents which comes from my friend Ron Nelson, a reputable ghost hunter, Civil War historian and re-enactor. He decided to go up on Quincy Hill one evening, take a few pictures and sit a while. Ron also took along his tape recorder since he seems to have a special gift at capturing EVPs, or Electronic Voice Phenomena. It seemed like an uneventful ghost hunt until Ron listened to his tape after returning home. There was a whistle on the tape. Not only was there a whistle -- the person was whistling the Irish Spring soap commercial. Curiosity got the best of Ron, so he decided to research the song. Ron Nelson soon found that the tune was a popular folk song among the Irish in the mid-1800s. When he called a local Civil War expert to ask what he thought of the song, the expert was stunned over Ron's findings. Ron soon learned that the soldiers on Quincy Hill were ones kept separate from the others -- they were what was then call the colored troops and the immigrant Irish -- from exactly the time period as the Irish folk song! Whistling sounds are still reported on Quincy Hill even to do this day. Many ghosts inhabit Quincy Hill."

Captain's House On Juliana Street -

"Also once called the "Markey House," the Captain's House on Juliana Street was actually built by New England sea Captain George Deming, probably in the 1850s. (The plaque reads 1860 but the owner of another one the Captain's houses says Captain Deming built hers in the early 1850s and the Markey House is the older of the two.) The house is interesting from the standpoint that it is in the style of a New England street house and does not have much of a yard. One eerie happening in this house occurs in the attic which you can see on the right. Strange foot prints appear in the dust and they are small, the size of a childs'. Light flutters in the windows where light should not be. The glowing orange light of a pipe is witnessed in the casement window. The Captain's grave is only a few block up the street in Riverview Cemetery. He died in 1861. Beside his grave is the grave of his small child, who died in 1862, probably of Typhoid Fever. It is very likely the footprints that always reappear in the dust in the attic belong to the Captain's young son."

TransAllegheny Bookstore -

"What is amazing about the TransAllegheny Bookstore, it registers extremely high on equipment during ghost investigations but what is behind the hauntings remains a mystery since. A small girl has been reported on the wooden stairs that leads onto the second floor of the bookstore. Customers have actually tripped over her! (True, one man fell, knocked me over on the stairs then red-faced said, "I know I tripped over something right there! -- S.S.) Once the Carnegie Library in Parkersburg, the bookstore seems to have four to five primary spirits, three of them are women -- psychics say one ghost is a local newspaper reporter who was murdered in her home (which is close by) in the 1980s. The reporter had spent a great deal of time there when it was the Carnegie Library and it was a second home to her. There is no doubt, the TransAllegheny Bookstore is "alive" with spiritual presences -- many captured on video. They even have their resident black cat, along with two tabby cats. The TransAllegheny Bookstore has many great antique and used books, as well as new books of interest to the area. They are open daily except on Sundays. For out-of-towners TransAllegheny Books is open until 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays."

Riverview Cemetery -

"Despite its reputation for hauntings, Riverview Cemetery on upper Juliana Street in Parkersburg, is an extremely important cemetery in terms of West Virginia history, and in some respects, in American history. It houses the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers, as well as important abolitionists, early governors of West Virginia, Marie Lavassor, the French wife of Joseph H. Diss Debar who designed the state seal, riverboat and sea captains, unmarked graves of slaves, cousins to the confederate General Stonewall Jackson, and a number of interesting statues and graves, including the famous Weeping Woman statue who grants wishes to the pure in heart and the good. Riverview is also an active graveyard in terms of hauntings, but truthfully, all places are haunted when a mediumistic or psychically receptive person is present. Spirits gravitate to those who are most open to them. They learn not to waste their time on mortals who cannot hear or see them."

Blennerhassett Island -

"By far the most famous haunt on Blennerhassett Island is that of Margaret Blennerhassett herself. Her ghost typically appears as a young woman in a white empire-style dress whose vision is often accompanied by the sweet scent of floral perfume and sometimes even the smell of horses. (Margaret was an equestrian.) Witnesses describe her apparition as in early adulthood, perhaps thirty years of age. When approached, Margaret typically fades away into nothingness before the eyes of surprised onlookers.
Live horses (there are weekend carriage rides on the island) tend to get spooked easily for no apparent reason while on Blennerhassett Island. Horses are just not at ease while visiting there. It is recorded that Micah "Cajoe" Phillips, a slave to the Blennerhassetts, was responsible for bringing the horses over the river to the island. Riding in the boat made Mrs. Blennerhassett’s horses extremely nervous. Horses who visit the island to this very day seem to suffer from mysterious anxieties and unexplained nervousness.
Visitors to the island also report seeing a willowy woman along the shoreline dressed entirely in white. With hand shading her brow, she gazes as if waiting for someone to return. Like many haunts, she at first materializes as if in the flesh, then fades.
A woman riding on the Mississippi Queen down river spied two women dressed in white walking on the shoreline of island. Later, she asked one of the docents on the island "If there was a convent or nunnery in Parkersburg?"
Thinking the visitor meant the DeSales Heights Convent and Academy that was closed down in 1994, the docent answered that there used to be a convent in Parkersburg but it had shut down. The woman then told the docent of seeing two women cloaked entirely in white walking up and down as the boat approached. She thought, perhaps, they were Catholic sisters visiting the island that day. But no one else mentioned ever having seen the two women on that day.
Margaret waited for her husband hours on end at the edge of the island. She often wore a white gown on her walks. Was this the apparition of Margaret? If so, who was the second woman? Perhaps she was a servant or friend who dressed similarly to Margaret. After all, the Blennerhassetts were very kind to their servants. Most of them were of African descent or mixed-race slaves. Some were very light-skinned. Such a woman may have walked with Margaret.
As pointed out previously, Margaret gave birth to a daughter while on the island, also named Margaret, who died at two years of age from a sudden illness. Some believe the small girl was buried behind the mansion — no one is really sure where it is.
After the Blennerhassetts fled the island over the Aaron Burr debacle, the baby’s gravesite became neglected. One legend claims two farmers plowed a field on the island near where the mansion once was and unearthed a tiny skeleton. They immediately reburied it in a small, unmarked grave. To this day the gravesite has yet to be found.
Locals visiting the island claim to see Margaret’s ghost search the area where the small bones some believed are buried. Startled by the sudden presence of an incandescent woman, two farmers claimed the same apparition walked through their crops. One man recognized Margaret Blennerhassett because of her silky, chestnut hair and old-fashioned clothing. The other recognized her by her richly-tucked and pleated dress.
Now Margaret’s remains and her son’s bones have been returned to the island. But like their daughter, what is left of Harman has not been located. His body was interred on Guernsey Island off England’s coast. Strangely, Mr. Blennerhassett requested to be buried at night. He did not want visitors at his gravesite. Harmon did a good job of hiding himself because no one knows exactly where his final resting spot is. Spirits can sometimes wander unhappily if they do not know where the remains of their loved ones are."

Bessie Bartlett - 

"Dr. Bartlett had a daughter named Bessie whom he dearly loved. Unfortunately, Bessie contracted what we now believe to be Typhoid Fever in 1879 and died at eleven years-old in the basement. Stories tell this is where Bessie's sick bed was placed because of the heat of late summer and that is why she was in the lower room."

"Special Thanks to Susan Sheppard

for the information."