Looking for a good ghost story? Emporia is home to many allegedly haunted places, including the William Allen White House, Bird Bridge, the Emporia Country Club, the Memorial Union and Albert Taylor Hall.
According to “Historic Haunted America” by Michael Norman and Beth Scott, one story about Albert Taylor Hall says that Albert Taylor took a lead role in a production about 100 years ago. Afraid that he would be late for one of the performances, Taylor got into a car accident en route to the university. When the curtain opened, Taylor’s ghost stood on the stage in a blood-soaked costume.
“Historic Haunted America” debunks the legend that Albert Taylor haunts the hall, stating that research done in 1983 by Deborah Anne Heffley showed that Albert Taylor resigned from ESU in 1901 and became president at James Milliken University in Illinois, which is where “he presumably died.”
Heffley found several other stories of ghosts in Albert Taylor Hall, though none of the ghosts were Albert Taylor. One story, confirmed by Indy Dambro, public service executive for university facilities, was about an experience a foreman had in 1966: “After turning off the basement lights, he pulled a cigarette from his pocket. He heard a match strike and a voice said, ‘Do you need a light?’ The foreman dropped his cigarette and ran.”
The production that was taking place was “Dracula.”
Dambro said that no one has ever died in Albert Taylor Hall, despite the stories.
Roger Heineken, administrative officer for the Memorial Union, says that the ghost that roams Albert Taylor Hall could be Franklin Gilson, who created The Gilson Players, a theater troupe. According to ESU news archives, the ghost of Frank Gilson occasionally appears on the catwalk or in the catacombs of Albert Taylor Hall late at night.
One ghost who might also haunt the ESU campus is Martha.
“We don’t know if the spirit is male or female, but we call it Martha,” Heineken said.
From 1925 to about 1950, single female faculty members lived on the third floor of the Memorial Union, now The Bulletin and Sunflower offices. Stories say that Martha haunts that area as well as the Memorial Union Bookstore. There have been reports of doors slamming, lights going on and off and objects being moved.
“The adding machine that sits on my desk is the third adding machine I’ve had since I’ve been here,” said Mike McRell, manager of the Memorial Union Bookstore.
McRell said that he would put a new role of tape in the adding machine on his desk and the next morning, the tape would be all over the floor.
“One night, I was just sitting there and my adding machine just started going in front of me and I was like ‘okay,’” McRell said. “I just started freaking out and it wasn’t just zeros, it was actually adding things… I was like, ‘okay, Martha, knock it off’ and it just stopped.”
McRell said that he purchased a new adding machine after the incident and the same thing occurred again.
“I’ve just kind of learned to live with Martha,” McRell said. “Martha is Martha. I just go with it and survive.”
He said that he believes Martha likes to move his water mug on occasion.
“There are times where I know I’ve set it down somewhere – just come back with it and it’s gone,” McRell said
However, McRell said that he believes Martha’s actions are playful and not sinister.
One off-campus site that may be haunted is the Emporia Country Club.
“The club house has seen extensive renovations and additions over the years but at the heart of the building is the 1913 structure,” Heineken said. “The club was literally in the country when it was built outside the city limits.”
Heineken said that the club allegedly became haunted after people died there during the flu pandemic in the early twentieth century.
“When the Flu pandemic hit Emporia, the club house was re-purposed as an infirmary, remote from the city center,” Heineken said. “Emporia had inadequate hospital facilities in those days for the need created by the flu epidemic. It is probable (that) dozens died while cared for in this facility.”
Heineken said that he spoke with the catering supervisor at the Country Club about the ghosts and she thinks there are four that haunt the building. Most of the occurrences include objects being moved around and lights flickering on and off.
The Rocky Ford Bridge, also known as Bird Bridge, is located about five miles southeast of Emporia. The rust-colored, graffiti covered bridge became known as a haunted location after the death of Sandy Bird in July 1983.
According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, Bird’s husband, Rev. Tom Bird, was found guilty of first degree murder in her death. Sandy Bird’s body was found under the bridge near her station wagon. According to Heineken, she had been a graduate assistant in the math department at ESU.
The area around the bridge is still used for parties. Heineken said that the bridge likely became a party scene after a movie about the Bird murder was filmed on location. The movie, “Murder Ordained,” came out in 1987 and starred Keith Carradine, Kathy Bates, John Goodman and M. Emmet Walsh.
On both sides of the bridge, there are brown shards from glass bottles and other trash. There is also evidence of a recent campfire even though “No Trespassing” signs are on display. The only sounds are of birds calling and of water tripping over rocks below.
Red Rocks, the nickname of the William Allen White House, located at 927 Exchange, is said to be haunted. Among those who supposedly haunt the house are Teddy the Terrier, the White family dog, and Mrs. Gillette, the original owner’s wife who reportedly committed suicide on the second floor of house. Some also believe that White’s daughter, Mary White, also haunts the house.
According to Nick Gronseth, Kansas Historical Society site administrator for the William Allen White House, Mary White was in a horse riding accident near the corner of Merchant and Twelfth. She was waving to someone she knew when she hit her head on a tree branch and was fatally injured. She died a few houses down the street from her home. William Allen White wrote the famous eulogy “Mary White” in August of 1921.
Gronseth said that the White family dog, a terrier named Teddy, has also been seen by some in a window on the first floor of the house.
In the article “William Allen White: Haunting Memories,” by Kelley Weiss, members of the White-Walker family have reported hearing the dog in the house.
“In the middle of the night distinct footsteps coming up the stairs echoed through the house and started down the hallway towards their bedroom,” the article says. “The dog came into the bedroom and lay down next to the bed. David Walker clearly remembers that night in Emporia when he stayed in William Allen White’s house for a night with his wife Barbara White Walker, William Allen White’s granddaughter. The only problem is that when the dog came into the room Walker couldn’t see it and neither could his wife. Walker insists the dog was a ghost.”
Heineken said that there have been reports of neighbors who have seen Teddy the Terrier in a window. Heineken said that during a tour of the house, a little girl asked if a dog lived there. The docent of the house at the time said no and asked the girl to describe the dog. She described a dog similar to Teddy and said that she had seen it when she had ridden her bike past the house one day.
Although he said he has never seen any apparitions in the house, Gronseth said, he heard strange noises and talking last year around Halloween, only to find that no one was in the house with him.
“There are some creakings and bumps and stuff,” Gronseth said. “I guess it’s the heater. I like to think that it might be the ghosts.”
Kelsey Ryan/Bulletin
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