Читать книгу More Haunted Hoosier Trails - Wanda Lou Willis - Страница 18

Sara and Randy Ballinger, owners of Marion’s Walnut Creek Club Run golf courses, thought they’d heard all the golf stories possible until players at Walnut Creek began telling them of some strange happenings involving a house on their course.

The house, located on the Club Run course at 7453 East 400 South, has been in the Ballinger family since it was first purchased in 1882 from the widow of the original builder, Israel Jenkins. Recently, the Indiana Department of Historic Preservation and Archeology bestowed upon the house a preservation award that gave it a place on the Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures. Sara and Randy Ballinger have owned the house since 1988. In 2000 they began the restoration to transform the home into an integral part of their golf course.

The original owners, Israel and his wife, Lydia, came to Grant County in 1839. The Jenkinses were one of several Quaker families who were arriving from Clinton County, Ohio. Israel named his two-story brick home “The Elms” for the stately elm trees that lined the drive.

Many Quakers, including two of Jenkins’ brothers-in-law, were abolitionists and actively involved in the Underground Railroad. Often homes that were a part of the Underground Railroad system would be given names referring to the type of trees surrounding them to aid slaves in the identification of the houses that offered sanctuary and assistance on the journey to Canada and freedom. It is not known for certain that the Israel Jenkins home was one of these, but it is very possible.

During the 2000 restoration to incorporate the historic home into the Walnut Creek course, workers reported unusual experiences. Some heard footsteps on the stairs, but when they’d go to investigate, there would be no one there. They also experienced some of the other “normal” happenings that occur in most houses that have this type of phenomenon, such as water turning on or off and things being moved. But perhaps one of the strangest occurrences happened to the painter one evening when he was alone in the house.

He often worked alone in the house after dark, but during those nights he began feeling like someone was watching him. On more than one occasion he heard the front door open and close and footsteps on the stairs going to the attic—yet, he was alone! He even reported seeing shadows in the hallway. After these experiences, he would not work in the house alone at night.

It was about three days later when Sara Ballinger described experiencing a similar occurrence. Sara thought she heard the front door open and close and believed it was her husband. Then she heard someone walk up the stairs, down the hall, and up the three steps to the attic door. At that point, it was as if the “person” tried to open the attic door. The latch that kept the door from opening more than about two inches began to rattle.

She didn’t realize the painter had also experienced unexplained happenings in the house until later. In both instances, the painter and Sara knew it could not have been a person, because after they heard the sounds, they went to look and no one was there!

Could this ghost be the spirit of the former house owner, Israel Jenkins? Or perhaps of his wife?

Today “The Elms” is a golf club house that serves light refreshments on the first floor. The second floor is used as a museum of historical artifacts of the families and the area.

And still the stories continue. During the summer of 2003, three female members of the golf club described seeing someone looking out the attic window as they finished the eighteenth hole. The women described what appeared to be a young male watching them. Randy assured them that no one was in the attic, but they insisted that they had seen someone watching them from the window.

Randy and the three golfers went upstairs to the attic, where they found the door locked. He unlocked the door, and they entered an empty room. The women showed him where the person had been standing, but there was no indication that any person had been in the room or by the window. It would’ve been impossible for someone to have unlocked the door and entered the attic room. Randy Ballinger was the only one who had a key, and he had just arrived!

After leaving the attic Randy once again locked the door, and they all went downstairs. He hoped the golfers were somewhat assured no one could’ve been watching them—at least no one from this world.

Israel Jenkins House on a foggy day. PHOTO: Jonathan Tétreault