Haunted Lansing

Jenn Carpenter

• Publisher: The History Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781467140478
• eBook ISBN: 9781439665176
• Topic: Geschichte
• Subtopic: Nordamerikanische Geschichte

A tour guide for Demented Mitten Tours shares chilling supernatural tales from the history of Michigan's capital.
 
Hastily dubbed the new capital in 1847, Lansing overcame derision and setbacks to become a booming metropolis. Yet its rich history hides chilling legends…
 
Bertie Clippinger plays tricks on the unwary at the Capitol Building, where the teen accidentally fell to his death when a game went horribly wrong. One of Lansing's founding families keeps a spectral vigil over its homestead, the Turner Dodge House. Malevolent spirits stalk the derelict Michigan School for the Blind. A witch's vengeful curse follows those who trespass on Seven Gables Road, one of the state's most haunted stretches. Founder of Demented Mitten Tours and local author Jenn Carpenter leads readers to the dark side of the Capital City.

LADY OF THE MANOR

It’s almost too easy to fall in love with the Turner-Dodge House and Heritage Center in Lansing’s Old Town. The grand staircase, the spacious ballroom, the intricate woodwork. Stepping through the front doors is like stepping back in time. And yet, for all its grandeur, it still has a very homey feel—until the lights go out, at least. Built prior to the state capitol, it is one of the oldest buildings in Lansing and was home to one of the city’s founding families for over one hundred years. There are reminders of the Turner and Dodge families throughout every room of the sprawling abode, but some say it’s more than that. There are those who believe that the Turners and Dodges themselves still take up residence in the historic halls of their former home. And why shouldn’t they? Many of them lived wonderful, full lives in that house. And sadly, many of them died there.

Marion Munroe was born in Amhurst, New York, in December 1818. The eldest of eleven children born to Jesse and Harriet Munroe, she and her family made the mass exodus from New York to Michigan in the mid-1830s. The Munroes were some of the first settlers in Eagle, Michigan, in 1836—before there were roads, schools or churches in the area. Marion Munroe was actually the first teacher in Eagle, her schoolhouse nothing more than a small log cabin near her family home.

In 1838, Marion and one of her sisters made the journey from Eagle to Mason to visit friends. The trip was not an easy one. They rode on horseback for hours through floodplains and backwoods. On their journey home, they traveled along the Grand River, which was home to dense forests, small tribes of Native Americans and not much else. Midday, they stopped along the river for lunch. As she admired the view of the roaring river and wide open space, Marion mused, “Someday, when I’m married, I think I’ll make my home here.” Thus, her love affair with the sprawling plot of land on the banks of the Grand River began. It continues to this day.

The Turner-Dodge House and Heritage Center. Courtesy of Erica Cooper, 2018.

On October 1, 1843, twenty-four-year-old Marion married a twentythree-year-old merchant and entrepreneur by the name of James Turner. Together, they lived in a small home in Mason, Michigan, until it was announced that a new capitol building would be built in the practically nonexistent city of Lansing (still regrettably called Michigan, Michigan, at the time.) Marion remembered the area fondly. James had fought tirelessly for this development and saw the potential for tremendous success, as an entire city would need to be built around this new capitol. So the young couple moved to Lansing in 1847. When the construction of their dream home was completed in 1858, Marion and James set about raising their family and helping build a city. And they did it all from the exact location Marion had picked out nearly twenty years prior.

James and Marion had ten children together. They were a true pioneer family and quite literally helped blaze the trails of Lansing, creating paths through rugged woods that are now some of the main roads in the city. They helped ford the rivers and were instrumental in bringing plank roads and railroads to the area. They founded churches and schools and were active in social circles and local politics. James served as the deputy treasurer, a state senator and president of the Lansing Board of Education. He helped found the Michigan Female College, and his son James Jr. even served as mayor of Lansing in the late 1800s. The Turners were considered incredibly progressive for their time. They were abolitionists and suffragists, made friends with the Native Americans living in the area and were committed to quality education for all. Their home was known as the House of Kind Hearts. James and Marion took in and adopted many of their nieces and nephews, and everyone from politicians and former slaves to the great Chief Okemos were said to have dined at their table. The Turners were absolutely vital to the building of Lansing’s infrastructure. They were well known and well loved by everyone in town. And then tragedy struck.

On October 1, 1869, his and Marion’s twenty-sixth wedding anniversary, forty-nine-year-old James Turner died of typhoid fever. Everything he accomplished in Lansing he did over the course of just about twenty years, which is pretty amazing. Though it is more likely than not, it’s unclear whether James passed away in the Turner house. His funeral, however, was held in the foyer of the home, his body laid out in wake for the entire community to mourn. And his wasn’t the only funeral to be held in the mansion.

The Turner-Dodge House, circa 1890. Courtesy of CADL/FPLA.

In 1884, James and Marion’s thirty-two-year-old daughter Addie passed away in her bedroom after a lifelong illness. At the time of her death, a local newspaper reported: “Addie is the seventh member of this family who, one by one, have taken up their abode in the silent halls of death, and left others to mourn their loss.” Those deaths included the Turners’ eldest child, Lucien; their first daughter, Harriet; daughters Jennie and Anna; and the youngest of the Turner children, Jesse, who was killed at the age of eleven in a tragic accident involving a horse and buggy. Marion Turner outlived all but three of her children—daughters Marion, Eva and Abigail. The Turner women were strong, many of them living well into old age. But the Turners’ sons all died young, just as their father did. Lucien is believed to have died as a young boy like his brother Jesse, and James Jr. died of heart failure at the age of forty-six. Despite her tremendous losses over the years, Marion Turner continued her philanthropic work and remained a pillar of the community.

In 1889, Marion sold the family home to her youngest daughter, Abigail, and Abigail’s husband, Frank Dodge. It is often said that women marry men who remind them of their fathers. This proved true in the case of Abigail Turner-Dodge. Her husband, Frank, was an entrepreneur, a lawyer and a staunch supporter of civil rights, just like James Turner had been. He was well known in legal and political circles and served multiple terms as city council president. When he and Abby purchased her family’s home, they had major renovations done, turning it into the masterpiece it is today. And on the second floor, right at the top of the stairs, they built a bedroom for Abby’s mother, Marion. In that room, Marion would sing to her grandchildren and tell them stories about the pioneer days and Chief Okemos and how she and her husband helped build the city of Lansing, both literally and figuratively. And in that room Marion would die, at the age of ninety-three. Her funeral was held in the foyer, just as her husband’s and children’s had been. For nearly seventy-five years, from the time she first set her eyes on that random plot of land on the Grand River until most of her children had grown and passed on and even some of her grandchildren had grown and passed on, the Turner-Dodge House was Marion Turner’s home. So why would she leave it, even in death? There is evidence to support that she never did. Many believe that she still resides there to this day.

The Turner-Dodge House in 1903, following renovations. Courtesy of CADL/FPLA.

So if you ever find yourself in Marion Turner’s bedroom, don’t be surprised if you hear the fireplace seem to roar to life, even though it hasn’t been used in decades. It’s happened on several occasions. One time, it shuddered with such force that the entire room shook, causing an unsuspecting employee and volunteer to jump out of their chairs and run from the room. You might find yourself overcome with the urge to sing a song or sit down and read a story, as those were some of Marion’s favorite things to do when her grandchildren were young. Many old books still line the walls of the room today. Once, an employee picked up a song book to move it and suddenly started to sing an old-fashioned song she’d never heard before. She sang the melody beautifully and word for word. She recalled later that it was almost as if someone was singing through her. It’s also said that Marion’s room has a calming effect on children. Once, a couple and their young son were touring the home as a possible venue for the couple’s wedding. The boy was visibly uncomfortable from the moment he stepped foot inside the house. As they went from room to room, he was fidgety and whiny, repeatedly complaining about how he didn’t like being there. Despite the boy’s misgivings, his parents decided to book the house as their wedding venue. They went into Marion’s room, which doubles as the office, to sign paperwork. The little boy sat down in a chair and instantly relaxed, saying, “I feel okay in here.” Was it Marion’s spirit that had a calming effect on the boy? Maybe. When Christine Peaphon, a renowned psychic and the founder of Mid-Michigan Paranormal Researchers, visited the house for the first time, she saw the spirit of an elderly woman at the top of the stairs, coming out of what was once Marion Turner’s bedroom.

Just a few years back, while employees and volunteers were preparing the house for a big event, a ringing bell seemed to follow them through the house. It sounded much like the dinner bell that Marion would ring to round up her children during mealtime back in the 1800s. It rang twice in the music room as they dusted and cleaned, then later in the guest room as they straightened up in there. Later, in what is known as the little boys’ bedroom, they were looking over old news clippings about the family when the bell rang above their heads so loudly that it seemed to cause a vibration in the air around them. The next day, just as the event began, the bell rang twice more and then was never heard again. Every effort was made to find out what caused the ringing, but no explanation was ever found.

Once, a caretaker was changing a light bulb in the butler’s pantry when a voice whispered, “Turn your head.” No sooner did the caretaker turn her head than the lightbulb exploded, sending tiny shards of glass in all directions. Had she not turned her head as instructed, the glass would have gone right into her eyes. Quite a motherly thing for a spirit to do, no? If Marion Turner is still haunting her mansion, she’s not alone.

Abigail Turner-Dodge, James and Marion’s youngest daughter, was born in the house, married in the house and died in the house. As a young girl, she went to art school in Berlin. She was a well-known musician in the Lansing area along with her sister Eva, who was a singer. Abby’s piano and pump organ remain in the house today, longing to be played. Or is it Abby who longs to play them? Don’t get too close to her pump organ in the ballroom, or you might find your hands overtaken for a spell. It happened to one guest of the home who had never played the piano in her life. She sat down at Abby’s organ and found herself playing the most beautiful song she’d never heard. She played the phantom song once, flawlessly, and then was never able to play it again or even recall the exact melody.

It’s been said that sometimes, if you’re very quiet, you’ll hear the sound of little girls laughing and playing on the second floor. Could it be the childhood spirits of sisters Abby and Addie, who both died in the home? Or perhaps their siblings Jennie and Anna, who both passed away when they were very young?

Marion Turner in the late 1800s. Courtesy of Erica Cooper, 2018.

Abigail Turner’s piano in the grand ballroom. Courtesy of Erica Cooper, 2018.

On her first visit to the home, Motor City Medium Rebecca Smuk was admiring the boys’ bedroom when a little boy peeked out from behind the doorway and whispered, “These aren’t my things,” talking about the antique toys and clothes that decorate the room. Was it Jesse, perhaps, the baby of the family who died when he was just a boy?

If you’re ever on the stairs and hear rustling, don’t worry. It’s just the petticoat of a teenage servant girl running past you. She once surprised Mid-Michigan Paranormal Researchers’ Christine Peaphon, who caught a glimpse of the girl out of the corner of her eye just before she disappeared. On another occasion, Terri Steele-Briones, co-founder of Marter Paranormal Research Team, had just made note of a heavy feeling at the top of the stairs when she caught the image of a shadow person on a piece of surveillance equipment.

The guest bedroom at the Turner-Dodge House. Courtesy of Erica Cooper, 2018.

Inside the Turner-Dodge House. Courtesy of Erica Cooper, 2018.

At the Turner-Dodge Mansion, it’s not unusual to have an empty room fill with the scent of cigar smoke, even though there is no smoking allowed in the house. And guests often report hearing footsteps and the sound of children playing coming from the third-floor ballroom, even when there’s nobody up there.

The guest room at the bottom of the third-floor stairs is said to be the room in the house that makes visitors the most uncomfortable. With a porcelain pitcher and bowl set that has moved on its own, that’s not much of a surprise.

Frank and Abigail Dodge raised five children in the Turner-Dodge Mansion. In 1927, their daughter Sophie, a young wife and mother to two children, died at St. Lawrence Hospital in Lansing during a routine tonsillectomy. Something went wrong during the surgery, and she bled to death on the operating table. She was the first member of the Dodge family to die. Just two years later, family patriarch Frank passed away at the age of seventy-six, also at St. Lawrence Hospital. Three years after that, the Dodges’ son Wyllis died at the age of thirty-nine. The funerals for all three members of the Dodge family were held in the mansion. Like her mother before her, Abigail Turner-Dodge outlived many members of her own family before she died in the house in 1947, at the age of eighty-six.

When Abigail passed away, the house went to her daughter Josephine McLean and her husband, Andrus. Together, the couple had three sons. The McLeans were the last members of the Turner-Dodge family to live in the home before it was sold to the Great Lakes Bible College in 1958, then the City of Lansing in 1974. The city maintains the house to this day, using it as a community events center.

But before the home became one of the most sought after wedding venues in Mid-Michigan, three generations of a prominent local family spent one hundred years in the Turner-Dodge Mansion, many of them living and dying there. Almost all of them had their funerals in the home. That’s a lot of history and a lot of tragedy. While there seem to be many spirits still attached to this haunted abode, there is probably no attachment stronger than that of M...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Lady of the Manor
• The Curse of the Fallen
• See No Evil
• Deadman’s Hill
• The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
• Wrong Side of the Tracks
• Bad Medicine
• Fire and Ice
• From the Depths
• A Lesson in Evil
• City of Fire
• The Legend of Seven Gables
• An Ancient Evil
• The Haunting of Minnie Haha
• Criminal Intent
• Mad Martha
• The Blood Curse
• House of a Thousand Corpses
• Little Girl Lost
• What Lies Beneath
• Blessed Be
• The Monster under the Bed
• Conclusion
• Resources
• About the Author