Deborah Carr Senger - Haunted Bloomington-Normal, Illinois

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

With sincere thanks and love to:

My husband, Tom,

My mentor and dear friend, Janice Oberding

And

To the Spirits of Bloomington Investigation Team (past and present):

Adam, Barb, CJ, Chris, Chuck, Connie, Diane, Heather, Holly, Jan, Janet, Laurie, Lillian, Linda, Lisa, Pamela, Phil, Phillip, Sean, Steffanie, Stephanie, Susan, Tanya, Tim, Tom, Veronica and Wally.

Special Guests: Chris Hotz, Janice Oberding and Paula Schermerhorn A special thank-you for your outstanding photography talent: Cari Towery.

A sincere thanks for all the insightful paranormal impressions so readily shared for this book and to local merchants, home owners and historians and to our participants on all of our tours and investigations that allow us to continue to bring history and haunts alive on Route 66 in Bloomington-Normal.

You know who you are.

A special gratitude to...

The past and present citizens of McLean County and beyond...

The true spirits of history and haunts on Route 66 in Bloomington-Normal.

Special thanks to the following:

Bloomington Public Library, 205 East Olive Street, Bloomington, IL 61702 Cruisin with Lincoln on 66 Visitors Center, 200 North Main Street, Bloomington, IL 61701

The Fort, Lexington Genealogical & Historical Society, Inc., 318 West Main Street, Lexington, IL 61753

Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway, Springfield, IL

The Lincoln Heritage Museums McKinstry Room., Lincoln Heritage Museum., 300 Keokuk Street, Lincoln, IL 62656

Lincoln Public Library, 725 Pekin Street, Lincoln, IL 62656

The Stevenson-Ives Library, McLean County Museum of History, 200 North Main Street, Bloomington, IL 61701

This book contains personal accounts of my own and shared paranormal and historical experiences. These observations are based solely on my own interpretation of the events unless otherwise noted.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deborah Carr-Senger is always ready for a new metaphysical, paranormal or historical adventure.

Intuitively gifted from birth, Deborah Carr Senger is a spiritual medium and mystic. Her psychic, spiritual and humanitarian work has taken her to all corners of the world. She has recently returned from India, Italy, Germany, South Korea and Hawaii.

Deborahs private metaphysical practice is in Normal, Illinois. Her innate knowledge and easy humor allow her to balance the serious and humorous side of her private metaphysical practice and public entertainment business. Her private practice offers private readings, healing sessions, classes and workshops, as well as Gypsy Girl Parties and sances.

She co-owns and operates Spirits of Bloomington, which offers step-on and walking tours, as well as presentations of historic and haunted Route 66 and Lincoln sites in the Bloomington-Normal area. Through channeling and extensive research, she is honored to portray many ladies in history, such as Mary Todd Lincoln and Helen Keller. She loves integrating history, haunts and personal experiences to bring spirits alive.

She lives with her husband, Tom, and their rescued animals, Maggie, Tabitha and Pete. They are members of Lions Clubs International and embrace its motto: We Serve.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Craig, Eloise B., Frances R. Johnson and Bertha R. Hudelson. Souvenirs of History: Normal. Normal, IL: Normalite, 1965.

Duis, Etzard. Good Old Times in McLean County. McKnight & McKnight Publishing Company Sesquicentennial Issue, 1968.

Fehrenbacher, Don E. Lincoln: Speeches, Letters, Miscellaneous Writings; The Lincoln-Douglas Debates. New York: Library of America, 1989.

Fraker, Guy C. Lincolns Ladder to the Presidency: The Eighth Judicial Circuit. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2012.

Henry, Chester D. Route 66: My Home Away from Home. Charleston, SC: CreateSpace, 2014.

Jones, Morris W. Stories of the Past & Poetry. N.p., n.d.

Kay, Betty Carlson. Illinois from A to Z. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2005.

Kleen, Michael. Ghostlore of Illinois Colleges and Universities. Hertford, NC: Crossroad Press, 2015.

Light, Ivan. This Bloomington Town: A Sketch of Bloomington, Illinois. Shirley, IL: Range Line Farm, 1956.

Munson, Don. Don Munsons WJBC Sesquicentennial Stories: Glimpses of McLean Countys 150 Years. Bloomington, IL, 1980.

. More of Don Munsons WJBC Sesquicentennial Stores: Glimpses of McLean Countys 150 Years. Bloomington, IL, 1980.

. The Illustrated History of McLean County. Edited by Greg Koos and Martin Wyckoff. Bloomington, IL: Transactions of the McLean County Historical Society, VIII, 1982.

Munson, Don, and Greg Koos. WJBCs History You Can See: Fifty Historic Journeys into McLean Countys Past. Bloomington, IL: McLean County Historical Society, 1991.

Neece, Orville. Historic McLean. Bloomington, IL: Transactions of the McLean County Historical Society, VVI, 1944.

Reinking, Donna. Lincoln in Bloomington-Normal. Bloomington, IL: McLean County Historical Society, 1998.

USEFUL WEBSITES

www.becksfamilyflorist.com

www.bloomingtonlibrary.org

www.daviddavismansion.org

www.epiphanyfarms.com

www.evergreen-cemetery.com

www.ewingmanor.illinoisstate.edu

www.facebook.com/EatonStudioGallery

www.funksgrove.org

www.funksmaplesirup.com

www.historic66.com

www.il66assoc.org

www.illinoisbyways.org

www.illinoisroute66.org

www.illinoisstate.edu

www.iwu.edu

www.kellysbakery.com

www.library.illinoisstate.edu

www.lincolncollege.edu

www.luccagrill.com

www.mchistory.org

www.monicals.com

www.mosesmontefioretemple.org

www.mpzs.org

www.normaltheater.com

www.rosies-pub.com

www.ryburnplace.com

www.savethemill.org

www.specsaroundtown.com

www.spiritsofbloomington.com

www.steaknshake.com

www.sugargrovenaturecenter.org

www.trotterfountain.wix.com

www.visitbn.org

www.vroomanmansion.comv

FUNKS GROVE

LINCOLN AND ROUTE 66

Iconic Route 66 stretches a little over 300 miles in the state of Illinois, the Prairie State, from Chicago to East St. Louis, on Missouris border. McLean Countys Route 66 was built parallel to the old Chicago & Alton Railroad and winds its way south from Funks Grove and as far north as Chenoa, with Bloomington and Normal being the primary cities in the county. Funks Grove is the midpoint of Route 66 in Illinois. Abraham Lincoln practiced law in McLean County, and friends such as pioneer Isaac Funk played a key role in his election and presidency. Funks Grove is the perfect gateway into haunted Bloomington-Normal.

FUNKS GROVE

About twelve miles southwest of Bloomington-Normal is Funks Grovea historic ghost town filled with legends, haunts and the supernatural. Majestic timbers carefully preserved from McLean Countys virgin hardwood groves of long ago stand roadside, like sentinels preserving memories of the past. First settled by the Funk brothers and others in the 1820s, the town was home to cattle ranching that fed Chicagos beef industry. Abraham Lincoln was the attorney for the Funk family, and together they helped bring the railroad to this part of Illinois. Some Funk family members are even rumored to have hosted slaves escaping the South during the Civil War.

Many attractions and historic sites remain among the timbers to entice a stop, including the syrupy taste of Funks Grove Pure Maple Sirup. Locally manufactured and sold by the Funks since 1924, the product is made by boiling sap and not adding sugars. It makes for an incredible, natural sweet treat. The sirups discovery, however, is a mystery. History suggests that the syrupy benefits of the maple trees were likely produced and enjoyed by the local Native Americans to season and sweeten food such as corn and meat.