McPike

Barb Huyser first visited McPike Mansion in 2001 while one of Troy Taylor's tours of haunted places in Alton, Illinois. Sharyn and George Luedke, owners of the mansion, allow tours outside of the house and run fundraisers to help cover costs of restoring this marvelous historical building. Constructed in 1869, the house was built for Henry McPike and his family and was lived in by many different families after his death. By the 1970's it was falling into ruin. In the early 1990's, Sharyn made the impulse purchase of a lifetime when she bought the tumbledown building in an auction.

McPike Mansion is one of the most extensively investigated haunted sites in America, thanks to Sharyn. Her encounters with the ghosts include sounds of movement in the house, objects appearing and disappearing about the building, and even visual sightings of male ghosts. One of the most famous encounters was documented on video by Renee Cruse, a paranormal investigator from the east coast. Renee, a long time investigator of phenomenon at McPike Mansion, was with Sharyn and a group in the basement wine cellar. Renee was videotaping as she walked. The wine cellar is known to be one of the most paranormally active places in the house. Within minutes of entering the wine cellar, a lavender colored mist folded into the room, moving up and then back from the video camera. The mist was seen by everyone present, shows clearly on the video, and appeared to be interacting with those present. This video has been examined by professionals and determined to be legitimate.

During the last few years, Sharyn has restricted visitors to the exterior of the house while the restoration is going on. Barb Huyser was lucky enough to be in on some of the indoor investigations prior to that time. In October of 2002, Amy Myers (Lead Sensitive of the Small Town Ghosts Team) visited the house for the first time on a tour with Barb and Sharyn. During the visit, Amy described encounters with Henry and his brother, Henry's widow (who she referred to as the lavender lady), and a servant. One topic discussed extensively was Henry McPike's attitude towards women. Henry McPike was a highly respected local businessman. He was an entrepreneur, wine maker, and served a term as mayor of Alton. In the 1800's and well into the 1900's, it was acceptable in many circles for men to beat the women in their lives. There were laws which limited how big a stick could be used, but it was generally considered to be private business between a husband and his wife.

During the visit, Amy picked up clear impressions of women, including his wife and servants, who lived in fear of Henry's temper. Amy described one incident where she perceived Henry pursuing a servant around the corner of the house with a cane, intending to beat her. As strong-minded and independent women of the current century, this was completely offensive to Amy, Sharyn, and Barb. While down in the basement of the house, intending to go to the wine cellar, this was discussed. Barb began making disparaging remarks about what kind of men feel the need to make themselves feel more manly by beating up women. Barb's description of such men could be described as quite vulgar. As the three women continued to walk with flashlights through the unlit basement, Barb felt something swipe across the left side of her face, from cheekbone to jaw. Barb stopped immediately and began looking for whatever it was she had just walked into, thinking it might have been an extremely large and dangerous spider. Amy and Sharyn stopped to look and nothing was found. Suddenly, Amy and Barb realized that it couldn't have been a giant Amazonian cockroach. Amy was walking immediately ahead of Barb. If there had been a giant insect dangling from the ceiling, Amy would have walked into it first.

Examining a slight red mark on Barb's face, the group concluded that a very angry Henry McPike had just slapped Barb across the face. The slap didn't hurt, nor was anyone in the group frightened or intimidated by it. But it certainly has made for an interesting story.

Since 2002, Sharyn has had other psychics visit McPike Mansion. One, on a tour of the basement, came to the area where Barb was slapped and asked if someone had been scratched there recently. Other psychics have commented on the presence of a male ghost who is abusive towards women.

So, if you wonder what happens when the ghost gets mad, it pretty much depends on the ghost. If he was a jerk when he was alive, he'll be a jerk when he's dead. The jerk probably can't hurt you. But, he might try.

For more information on McPike Mansion, please visit the website below. If you are interested in seeing the video of the lavender mist and getting a full tour of the interior of McPike Mansion, the Small Town Ghosts team highly recommends getting the newly available DVD "Spirits, Secrets, & Mischief at the McPike Mansion".