Local Ghosts

Here it is! Another installment of Random Things I Find Interesting.

It turns out that Seattle is a heavily haunted place (if you like that kind of thing) and one of the most colorful areas is Georgetown. It sits southward of the city and possesses the Museum of Flight (which is pretty cool) and a bunch of Boeing employees shuttling in and out.

But, back in the day, stuff definitely happened in Georgetown. It's where a lot of the first settlers ended up, before people began making their way northward. Around the turn of the century the neighborhood started to go downhill. It became the red-light district, with ample brothels and bars. When prohibition hit, people started going down to Georgetown for a good time. It was far enough away from the main city that the laws weren't as heavily enforced. The area was known as the "cesspool of Seattle".

One of the most famous sites for the spook-loving set is the Georgetown castle.

The castle was built in the late 1800s. Sarah is its most famous ghost and, according to residents, she can still be seen today. Sarah was sister-in-law to the first owner of the house and became pregnant with his child. When the child was born, the owner (such a nice guy) murdered it and buried it beneath the porch. That porch is still famous amongst locals. It's supposed to be one of the spookiest parts of the house. What happened to Sarah? Well, she went crazy and was locked up in the tower room until she died and went on to haunt the place. Cheerful little story.

But, there are other ghosts, too. Peter Gessner, the first owner, ended up committing suicide in the house. He drank acid to kill himself. His ghost still wanders the halls. Sometimes children's voices can also be heard coming from the top floor. The upper floors of the house once contained a brothel, so the voices could belong to the children of the prostitutes. A later occupant ended up jumping off the Aurora Bridge. Why? Because he was haunted by Sarah's voice echoing through his house. Eventually the landlord made potential tenants sign a release stating that they knew what they were getting into.

Today the house is well-cared for by the current owners and has been brought back from a state of neglect.

That's only one haunted location out of many in Georgetown. There's also the Georgetown morgue, which can lay claim to one suicide, one accidental death, one body snatching, and nine employees who were forced into the crematorium and burnt alive. The morgue has a colorful and detailed history, which, according to local historians, is probably fictional. One of the local radio stations holds their haunted house in the building every Halloween. Ooooh, could they have made up all the terrifying tales? Nah, they wouldn't do that. The haunted house is reportedly a gruesome affair and I, for one, will not be attending. Much as I like researching some of these things, I'm a total weeny when it comes to having bloodstained actors leap out at me from dark corners.

Another building in Georgetown, whose history is better verified, is the poor farm, which was attached to the local hospital. It began operations in 1877 and continued on until 1931, when it became a hospital. Then, in 1956, it was sold and demolished.

The poor farm was sadly inadequate, with tuberculosis patients sleeping in tents on the grounds. Inside the building, cots were lined up in the hallways. Some say the bodies of those who died were moved to an alternate graveyard. Others say they were dumped in the Duwamish River. So, yeah. More ghosts. Ghosts that are probably annoyed.

Honestly, I'm not one who believes in ghosts, but I do find ghost stories fascinating, especially when they're wound into the history of my city. For being a relatively new city, Seattle has a gritty and interesting past, resulting in tons of ghost stories. I've got many more I could (and might eventually) share, but a few Georgetown ghosts should do it for today.

'Tis the season!

What about you? Any local ghost stories you'd like to share?

More info:

Midbeaconhill.blogspot

Serial Murderesses

I'm trying out a new series called Random Stuff I Find Interesting, or RSIFI. Mostly it'll contain research unrelated to any of my current projects in the hope that you'll find it interesting, too.

This one is Random Stuff I Find Interesting: Serial Murderesses Edition (Amelia Dyer)

One thing I've always found interesting is female serial killers. You don't get many of them and usually their reasons for murder are much more practical than those of male serial killers. Men often kill out of compulsion or obsession. Women tend to murder for money. There are other differences, such as women's tendency to use nonviolent methods. If a woman murders you, she's probably going to poison you, not stick a gun in your face. So, if you're having marital problems, you might want to take charge of the cooking.

One exception is Elizabeth Bathory, the Blood Countess in Hungary who may have tortured and killed as many as 600 girls. She pretty much did it because she wanted to. There's motivation for you. The story is so sensational (in the bad way) that it's become infamous. (The part I find most interesting is that Bathory was never formally sentenced of any crime, but the four servants who assisted her were all found guilty, two of them suffering gruesome executions. It's good to be a noble!) (Unless it's the French Revolution.) If you want to know more, here's the wiki entry.

But the woman I've been reading about has less notoriety:

That's her. Creepy, isn't she? Looking at that face, would you believe that roughly 400 women handed their children over to her? Baby farming was a big thing in Victorian England, due to the stigma attached to bearing a child out of wedlock. Amelia Dyer preyed on single mothers by offering to adopt and care for their unwanted children. Of course, they'd have to pay for her services. Once Amelia had the money and the kid, she'd keep what she really wanted (the money) and get rid of what she didn't (the kid). She started by killing them through neglect - letting children starve to death was a common baby farming practice. But, eventually she found it more effective to just murder the kids she received.

When things got heated, she checked herself into mental institutions to escape scrutiny. Victorian mental institutions. Not the friendliest places ever. I think checking yourself into a Victorian mental institution must be one of the signs of insanity. However, most experts affirm that Amelia Dyer was not mentally ill, just shrewd and heartless.

She was finally caught when a bargeman found the body of a baby girl floating in the Thames. The baby was identified as being under Amelia's care and led to her arrest. Six more bodies were found in the Thames, as well as ample evidence at Amelia's residence of her activities. The jury found her guilty within 4 1/2 minutes and she was hanged for her crimes.

Wiki

True Crime Library

Timeline

Do you have a favorite serial murderess, from film, fiction, or life?

The Joy of Used Things

I love wandering through thrift stores and garage sales. Looking through old photographs and postcards. Thumbing through racks of previously owned clothing and looking at the strange toys which once decorated a child's room. Stories cling to these items.

Best of all are used bookstores. I love the well-read books. The ones with surprise notes in the margins, dedications, or interesting bookmarks. So many things are jammed between the pages of these books. I've also found a lot of signed copies of books that I love. I've got books signed by Laurie R. King, Connie Willis, Douglas Adams, and others. (All from used bookstores). In a large book I bought with stories and photos of Baryshnikov there was an article clipped out of a newspaper wedged between the pages. It described one of his early performances. Yeah, used bookstores are awesome.

What about you? Do you frequent used bookstores? What sort of treasures have you stumbled upon?

Speaking of stumbling upon things, the below picture is pretty hilarious, yes? I think I need a yokel's wig. Mostly I'm just left wondering what use a gentleman would have for any of these wigs. Especially a female wig. He should wear it with the villainous mustache. Yes. That would be awesome.

Reader's log:

22. City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare

23. City of Glass - Cassandra Clare