Thomas - Haunted Lawrence

Published by Haunted America

A Division of The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2017 by Paul A. Thomas

All rights reserved

First published 2017

e-book edition 2017

ISBN 978.1.43966.294.6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017945018

print edition ISBN 978.1.62585.920.4

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

To Trina, my boo.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

Ghosts are everywhere in Lawrence. I knowIve seen the pictures taken on my tours as a guide with Ghost Tours of Kansas. I started my very fun part-time job about eight years ago after a very disappointing, yet highly touted, ghost tour with my sister in a city north of Kansas City. It was the only tour I had ever heard of in supposedly the most haunted town in America. I walked away extremely disappointeda tape-recorded tour with only other guests to interact with is not exactly my idea of fun.

I then happened to stumble upon Ghost Tours of Kansas and connected with the group, completely unaware of where that initial contact would lead me. But now, each year as the weather cools, I look forward to telling the stories I have collected over the years. I guess thats one of the things that makes our tours different: our tour guides (including my husband, James, and myself) love to interact with our guests, hear their stories and look at the pictures that they take during our evening of historical hauntings.

When I make a commitment to do something, I dive deep and take that commitment seriously. Ive spent countless hours researching the bloody history of Lawrence during Quantrills Raid in August 1863. There is no doubt that event has left an indelible imprint on the very ground that Lawrence was rebuilt on.

Im a firm believer that without history, there would be no hauntings. Something has happened on every square inch of Lawrence. People lived, loved and died. Not every death leaves an imprint, but I believe that when someone dies violently or unexpectedly, it is likely that some of their spirit remains. Perhaps that is what we see as ghosts today.

One of the wonderful things that make Ghost Tours of Kansas so unique is that we personally collect stories instead of just collecting them from the Internet. We are constantly learning new stories, especially about Lawrence. In fact, we have had people stop us as we walk down the street to tell us their own personal experiences. We never get tired of hearing new tales that we can add to our tour to keep them fresh. Because of this, no two tours are ever exactly the same.

People who go on our ghost tours generally fall into one of the following categories: those who enjoy watching television shows about ghosts and ghost hunting, those who have had some sort of paranormal experience in the past, those who appreciate history, those who are looking for something ghost-related to do around Halloween, those who hope to learn more about ghost hunting so they can do it themselves or those whose significant others have dragged them along. Whatever the reason, weve never had someone walk away from one of our tours being disappointed.

Giving tours is something I really enjoy doing, but being a ghost tour guide is not for everyone. The owner of Ghost Tours of Kansas, Cathy Ramirez, offers more than a dozen different tours around the state. While James and I give tours in three of those cities (Lawrence, Shawnee and Kansas City, Kansas), she is often looking for reliable guides for outlying cities such as Manhattan and Wichita. She always gets plenty of initial interestpeople who see the job as their dream job but for whatever reason they simply cannot follow through. Weekends during the fall are often taken up with giving tours, and private tours are also often requested throughout the year.

There is a lot to know, scripts to memorize, tour routes (and sometimes, detours) to plan and history to research. You also have to deal with the occasional unruly passenger, lost tickets, overcrowded buses andperhaps, most importantlyinquisitive tour guests. If you are not a quick thinker, then being a tour guide is not a good job fit for you. Skeptics and history majors love to try to trip me up.

After you read Pauls historical account of some of Lawrences hauntings, I hope you will take the opportunity to visit some of the public locations in person. Open yourself up so you can potentially feel some of the emotions of yesteryear that still exist in Lawrence today. As I have found over the years, sometimes there is more than meets the eye when it comes to what we see in todays world. There is often a haunted history hiding under the surface just waiting to be discovered. Weve found that time after time and it is up to us to tell those stories.

BETH KORNEGAY, tour guide, Ghost Tours of Kansas

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my thanks to the many people who aided me in writing this book:

To my familymy wife, Trina; my mother, Julia; my father, Mark; and my sister, Hannahwithout your support and encouragement, this book may have never been written.

To the members of the Stephenson Hall Paranormal Investigation TeamEric Becker, Niko Colom, Justin Coogle, Andre Elliot, John Fredrickson, Dan Jensen, Will Kerschen, Cooper Sims-West, Jared Stickler and Wilbur Netherthank you for motivating me to start writing about ghosts in the first place.

To all the individuals who answered my questions, either in person or via e-mailAxel Bordelon, Janet Campbell, Grace Chin, Sherrie Curry, Sara DeCaro, Mary Doveton, Tom Heiman, Cindy Higgins, Frances Ingemann, Tim and Judy Keller, David Longhurst, Tony Peterson, Kelly Rettig, John Richards, Erin Spiridigliozzi, Julia Thomas, Tyler Waugh, Beth Whittaker and Liz Woodywithout you, a good number of the stories contained in this book would have never been told. Special thanks also goes to Monica Davis, a researcher at the Watkins Museum, who answered many of my queries and provided me with invaluable research support.

To those who looked over drafts of this work and made suggestionsI truly believe that your help has made this book stronger.

And finally, to Cathy Ramirez and Beth Kornegaythank you for answering many questions I had about the haunted history of Lawrence. (Cathy runs the wonderful Ghost Tours of Kansas program, and Beth, along with her husband, James, is one of the tours many knowledgeable guides. If any readers of this book want to know more about the ghosts of this state, I urge you to book a spot on one of these tours.)

INTRODUCTION

Located just forty miles west of Kansas City along the banks of the Kaw River is the city of Lawrence. Today a moderately sized college town, Lawrence has a rich history that stretches all the way back to 1854, when it was but a small outpost established by abolitionists from Massachusetts. Founded on the eve of the Bleeding Kansas period (stretching roughly from 1855 until 1861), the city played an integral part in the Free State movement and has held a major place in Kansas history ever since. But while the citys past is well known and often recounted by the locals, what many people do not realize is that there is also a paranormal side to Lawrence.