Ghostly Echoes : Paranormal Peoria

This week, we dive into the haunted history of Peoria, Illinois, exploring the eerie tales of the Peoria State Hospital and other ghostly hotspots. Hear about the tragic story of Rhoda Derry, the compassionate efforts of Dr. George Zeller, and the spectral presence of "Old Book". We also discuss the mysterious happenings at the Peoria Public Library, the haunted Peoria Players Theater, and other haunted locales that make Peoria a paranormal investigator's dream. Join us as we uncover the chilling encounters and the historical backdrop that fuels these supernatural legends.

Listen in as we recount personal anecdotes, historical accounts, and the haunting experiences reported by visitors and investigators. Whether you're a skeptic or a believer, this episode promises to send shivers down your spine and make you think twice about the unknown. Tune in and explore the ghostly echoes of Peoria!

Episode Transcript

(00:06):
Music.

(00:41):
Welcome to another episode of Fringe Beyond Limits.
That was really bad.
It happens to the best of us, or the worst of us. We started the episode and
was about 15 minutes in, and it was a great conversation.

(01:02):
Agreed. It was. And I never fucking hit record.
It wasn't meant to be. It happens. Maybe you have a little house elf in here.
I am so fucking upset with myself.
At least we figured out now, rather than going through the whole entire episode not realizing it.

(01:23):
Yeah, I know. But it started off. Anyway, so how was everyone's week? Let's start over.
Let's hit reset, huh? How was everyone's week? Bree, how was yours?
Fine and dandy. Yeah. Mine was okay. Yeah, mine, I'm just all...
Confuddled, bottled, baffled. You know, like we said before,

(01:46):
that nobody heard, we have to sound like we have miserable lives outside the podcast.
That's not true. I mean, it's not. It's just the work part and then little things like this.
Yeah, right. And it's one of those things, too. It's like something good happens next day.
It's just back to your normal life and you're like, forget about it.
So when people ask you, how was your week? You're like, eh.

(02:08):
Yeah. Nothing notable. It just, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That just sucks.
So, but we did have some clarification.
Yes. I did get a text from my friend, Emily. So in our previous episode with
Robert the Dow, we talked about things that keep us up at night.
And I asked about Yankee Doodle and about what he called macaroni.

(02:31):
And this is what she messaged me. The horse.
Macaroni means fashionable yankee doodle is calling his hat in fashion because
he put a feather in it and then she also had to mention too that the song is
a diss track against yankees and she goes lol.
Yeah do you think that when someone

(02:54):
puts lol afterwards they really are
laughing out loud and i don't i never
type lol i tap type haha you do
type haha do you actually inside my head
or i'll type he he if it's a little laugh or haha if it's
a big laugh can you imagine that every time we typed lol if we were really laughing

(03:16):
out loud how insane sane the entire world would fucking be or you're walking
across the office floor and you just hear right right like can you imagine what society would be like.
It'd be so distracting yeah every time you send a text
you know oh man

(03:37):
it's just one of those things that gets overused yeah oh yeah
like the word awesome like the actual definition of the
word awesome is something that's awe-inspiring takes
your breath away rare bowie is awesome for like
awesome i got an extra couple french fries in
my my bag of food yeah another one is genius
it's like like to be you know genius you have to like invent a new number or

(04:02):
you know or make up a word that fits and now it's like hey man i just brought
this cup in case we need to do that's genius yeah yeah i know i mean like like
Like we live in the world of hyperbole.
Yeah, 100%. And I am 100% guilty of, number one, 100%. Number two, the word awesome.

(04:24):
I do awesome all the time. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, because like there's no other
word that kind of like fits what I'm feeling in the moment when I do use it,
you know? So it just becomes so second nature to me.
Because, I mean, I really do truly mean like that's fucking awesome when I say
it. I just feel that way all the time.
Kind of like laughing out loud. Like, I'm always laughing out loud like a fucking

(04:44):
hyena. No, you're not. No?
You do at your own jokes. Oh, because they're funny.
But when someone else says something to you, just a little... You snap your face.
Yeah. Because you're not funny. You're a resting bitch face.
Yeah. Well, you know what? Snap me out of it. Say something funny.
You guys don't say anything funny. You're funny.
No. We's funny. No. Yeah.

(05:09):
No. Yeah. You are definitely not awesome. I am. No. 100%.
All right. So. Jeez. I know. You're such a genius.
These are the things I know. But you're not a macaroni. You're not a macaroni. I'm very fashionable.
No, you're not. Me in my tuxedo shirt. Yeah.

(05:34):
At my day i'm going to replay the whole thing as much
i'm going to piece together the 20 minutes yeah i'm
going to piece it all together and just put it on in my gala with a with
a pony no one else knows what
the fuck we're talking about right now pinstripes with your
height knee-high socks with the uh crocs and it
rocks don't forget the um the socks suspenders oh yeah yeah socks suspenders

(05:56):
but if you have knee-high socks would your socks suspenders be they'd be get
the thigh garters they would be you know what i will wear garters if you guys
promise to take them off with their teeth no hairy legs and garters aren't my thing i'll show you,
images in my head that i cannot get out of now you guys next week when you show

(06:16):
up i'm gonna be wearing literally just like speedos sick garter with knee-high
socks and i'll be like i'll put my,
legs up on the table and be like you guys take it off that's so gross yeah just
listen when you use your teeth just try not to pull out any leg hair oh that hurts only.

(06:39):
I have a friend no get out you have a friend like outside of us yeah oh i have
lots of friends do you yeah do you well when she was dating are you sure about that.
Her and her then boyfriend they're married now

(07:00):
at the time used to play this little game where like she
would grab his leg hairs and she'd pull and then she'd say how many and he would
guess like how many how many years she had in her are they are they listeners
of the podcast maybe i'm not naming names but they know who they are right i'm
just curious do they listen to the podcast?

(07:21):
They have. I don't know if they continue to think you stare them away.
Good, good, because I don't want those kind of people listening to the podcast. That's a lie.
I know, I do. I want them to be on the podcast. Not yet, but I swear to God,
if you are in Speedos next week, I am turning right back out the door. Same.
He's like, challenge accepted. I could see it in your face. Oh,

(07:41):
God. We'll start doing the podcast virtually instead. Yeah.
For chili? For chili. Virtually.
One more time? Virtually. week.
Is she saying virtually or for chili she's
saying virtually not virtually i can't
even say it right now anymore because i heard it heard it so many times i heard

(08:01):
it virtual it wasn't for chili though why am i saying it wrong virtually she
was saying for chili no i was not you were saying i can't wait to go i can't
wait to compound the entire dictionary of rihanna and play it i've already
gone back and started listening and and i and i have stamped two

(08:22):
episodes so far you have a breach and airy mm-hmm breaching
airy breed and that's a hard one to word math it is no that's not breaching
airy sounds weird yeah because everything you fucking say is weird uh touche yeah all right,

(08:43):
All right, so everyone's week was eh?
Eh. It got a little better because I stopped. I took an approach of stopping
caring. No. Yeah. You should have done that a long time ago. Yeah.
I'm just like, hmm. So that helped a little bit. Okay, well,
that's good. Yeah. Yeah, you seem more chipper today. I think it's the champagne.
It's 10 a.m. That's right. Okay. It's around the clock kind of beverage.

(09:07):
It's five o'clock somewhere.
Yeah. Yeah, but we're not there. Doesn't matter. it does nope
yes nope and it
helps that i'm a champagne purist are you yeah
or a mimosa purist i should say you're you're a
mimosa purist yeah what what does that mean i like my mimosa without oj hold
the oj hold the oj okay all right 86 the oj on the mimosa 86 the oj yep not

(09:37):
the simpson but the beverage.
The Simpsons? Oh, Jay Simpson. Oh. Well, he's dead.
Do we, I mean, so he's, where do you think he is right now?
Middle Earth. Middle Earth? I don't know. That's the first thing that popped in my head.
You're so stupid. Nice. All right, so he's in Middle Earth. Where do you think he is?

(10:02):
Anywhere where you can find a Ford Bronco. Okay. Yeah. All right. Yeah.
He's probably, you know, if I believed in only heaven and hell, he would be in hell.
Since I don't, I think he's somewhere in the afterworld being lectured as to
how he could have been a better human being.
That's fair. Yeah. Makes sense. It's referred to as the place of darkness. Place of darkness.

(10:25):
Yeah. It's a thing. Is it? Okay. We can maybe talk about it in another episode. That would be great.
I'm putting together notes on that topic as, as you prattle on.
Proddle proddle proddle not proddle no prattle prattle prattle okay prattle prattle.

(10:48):
Fortunately virtually you're not saying it right,
that's okay well that's gonna probably keep me up at night and i'm curious what
keeps you up at night yeah you both do both of you you're gonna say that like
every week i am I'm going to quit the podcast and then this life because of
you guys living in this world. You would miss us too much.

(11:11):
I would not. I would be non-existent. Well, fine. Then Bree and I would do a
seance and bring your happy little ass back.
Oh, please do. So we can murder him and repeat over and over.
Please do. I like that. Let's keep doing that.
That would give me the chance to possess one of you. Probably the only way I'd
ever get inside of you. Sick. Jesus.

(11:33):
You guys set me up for that one that was great and you can come close to that
yeah you might you might come close so one's close to coming,
it'd be great if like we were always on the verge of coming like you're just
no you would never get anything done this is true but like you would always
have that like that like the pre Free O-Face O-Face.

(11:59):
You wouldn't be able to drive because your eyeballs would be in the back of
your head kind of thing. Mine go off to the side like a walleye.
So I'm always checking my blind spot when I'm driving.
I'm just riding Dangerfield over here. Yeah. I'll keep riffing.
We can keep going. I don't mind this. This is all off the top of my head.

(12:21):
All right. So things that keep you up at night. new segment on this award winning podcast.
You guys got something for today yes sirree bub I'm assuming you want to go
first again yes sirree bub,
again not Bob she's saying bub that time that one's on purpose I doubt that but go ahead,

(12:50):
stretch it out keep going If there's an exception to every rule,
doesn't the exception to that rule mean there are no exceptions? Say that again.
So if there's an exception to every rule, does the exception to that rule mean

(13:12):
there are no rules or exceptions?
Yes, you did.
All right. So if there's an exception to every rule, then the exception to that
rule would mean that there are no exceptions.
It could be. Is that what you said? Yeah, as a question. Yeah. So I would say yes.

(13:35):
Agreed. It's still confusing.
It is. But that's the whole point behind it. There is an accession to everything.
Yeah. My brain's overworking. Yeah. No.
No. No. Stop being so rude.
I'm not. I'm just being honest that your brain is not overworked at all.

(13:56):
It's overworking right now. So can't you see the steam coming out? Yeah.
No. No. No, I can't because it's not.
Yes, it is. No, but it's one of those questions that turns your brain inside
and out like a scrunchie.
Yeah, that's like saying, if there is a God,
right, and he's all-powerful and all-knowing, could he create a rock that is

(14:24):
too heavy for him to lift?
I don't know. What if he's not a he?
It could be a she oh dang she got you there no she didn't what's an it it could
be an it I'm okay with all of this it could be a she it could be a she it it
could be a them they it doesn't matter to me a she it is a shit I know that's
like those are my pronouns,
shit a she it I identify as the,

(14:47):
she and it makes me the shit you,
embody that too I know and expel it yeah that's what I really meant to say I
know I know it's okay I'm happy that you guys are on the other side I don't
get like contaminated by the stupidity that is.
You too? You're an asshole. Yeah. Yeah.

(15:11):
Yeah. Just for the record. Okay. Yeah. All right. So did we answer her question?
Sure. Yeah. It's yes, but it still makes your head hurt. Yeah.
It does make head hurt. It does. It does. My brain hurting. Yeah.
Doesn't take much. It takes a lot.
Okay. So I guess I'll go next. Next, so for my things that keep you up at night.

(15:37):
That keeps us up at night? Your things that keep us up? Yeah.
Okay. Yeah, I mean, I think I keep you guys up at night. I mean,
you guys dread coming here, right? At least, most part.
Yeah. I plead the fifth. Okay. So I found quotes that keep me up at night.
So the first one was, is how strange that I can have all this inside me,

(16:03):
but to you, it's just words. Huh?
How strange that I can have all this inside of me, but to you, it's just words.
I don't get it. I was just going to say that's deep. Thank you.
Shut up. Do you want to explain that to her?

(16:24):
Sure. Well, no, it just reminded me. So when we drove up to Pararock last week
and we were kind of talking about a similar concept of this is that you can
have all this emotion and feeling inside of you and you try to communicate that
to someone else to convey all that you're feeling.
But that other person only hears the words they

(16:44):
don't actually feel what you feel and that's kind of
what we were talking about on the drive is like man wouldn't this world be a way different
place if i could feel your joy or your your
sorrow or your anger or whatever if we can all truly feel
more than just empathy like yeah tampon but yeah
and and also it's just a way of connecting like you
could feel as though like you really connect with someone

(17:05):
and to that point if i
just express what i'm feeling they'll be
able to feel it as well and maybe they
don't and to them it's just words that are coming out
of your mouth no because they're feeling their own feels right
they're not feeling your feels right but yeah
right but i do feel that there are people in

(17:27):
the world that you do connect with to where you can express those feelings and
on some sort of level they get it not 100% of course but but yeah so yeah that
just kind of keeps me up I just wonder the people that I hold near and dear do they really feel like.
What's inside of me or are they just words to them? And how sad is it when it

(17:51):
is just words to that person?
You know, it's not always reciprocated. Right.
So, yeah. So, that's one of them. Another one is you never know how damaged
a person is until you try to love them. Well, true that.
So, we all know how damaged I am.
And I just feel sorry for all you people that try to love me.

(18:13):
I judge you harshly because you
shouldn't but also you
know when you know i've tried to care and love damaged people you just kind
of like unravel like an onion one layer after another finding trauma that you
never knew existed yeah so some heavy shit yeah well i'm full of it,

(18:40):
and your porcelain uh toilet and and and i'm
fat so yeah heavy shit i mean it makes sense
heavy the shit the shit so
yeah so those are the two things that i kind of wanted to throw it at it throw
out at you guys things that you know keep me up at night so like the things

(19:01):
that keep me up at night there's so many but they don't happen all at once yeah
you know my brain just works in mysterious ways.
So, so yeah, so that's, that's me, Lynette. Yeah.
What about you? What do you got this week? Lately this week I've been thinking
about this movie called Lead the World Behind. Have you guys seen it?

(19:24):
Nope. All right. And I'm shocked. Yeah, you did a movie.
I did a movie. Like another one. Yeah. Like is this a recent movie you did?
Maybe five months ago. Yeah.
So recent. So it is recent for you. Yeah. Do you, when you do a movie, do you do a weed?
No. No. Do you do an alcohol? Once in a while. Do you do a cinema? No. Do you do a podcast?

(19:50):
Occasionally. Okay, good. So I think that's a fun way to talk from now on.
We all just talk like that.
So, all right. So you did a movie. Yeah. And what was it called?
Leave the World Behind. Okay. No, I did not do that movie yet.
So it's, well, it's a movie about.
About kind of an apocalyptic event but a
modern apocalyptic event it was produced by

(20:13):
like the obamas and julia roberts and and stuff like that have you heard of
it at least no i've heard of it i've heard of it but i didn't know that the
obamas produced that's kind of that's what like kind of sparks this whole why
like why would they be involved in a movie like this and so i watched the movie a first time.

(20:34):
And the whole time I just had this weird EBGB feeling. Like, just the whole...
Vibe of the movie the whole soundtrack the whole
like the words that they chose in certain scenes
were just odd so i went back and i like to take notes and i like to make spreadsheets
so i started really in case you didn't know so i started taking notes on this

(20:57):
nerd film and i only got about 30 minutes into the second watching of this film
and i'm already like five,
six full-length notebook back front page of my little notepads jibbling down
notes and like the research that I was doing on it. It's weird.
And so maybe we do an episode on it because I really want to like talk through this because it's wild.

(21:19):
Don't give me that fucking look. I just love the look he's giving me right now.
It's like completely blank.
It's just, that's okay. I'm listening. It's okay. Yeah. The reason that, okay.
The reason at least this week that I was kind of thinking on is,
So the movie, and I'm not going to give anything away, really.
So in the opening scene of the movie, during the opening credits,

(21:41):
there is a solar eclipse. Okay.
No big deal. You watch the rest of the movie. It has nothing to do with the
rest of the movie from anything that's mentioned any time on there. Okay.
Within the first 10 minutes, this family's vacationing on Long Island in New
York, and they see a steamship or a barge or whatever you want to call it. Off the coast.

(22:05):
And this ship eventually crashes into the shore.
So I was thinking, I was like, okay, well, we had a solar eclipse.
We also had barges crashing into bridges because they lost control of their steering.
And that's just kind of like that spiral that I went down of,

(22:28):
is this movie trying to tell us something? Yeah.
Is it? Well, I don't want to give away the rest of the movie,
but the fact that the Obamas are involved in it and they're also building a
bunker out in Hawaii makes me wonder. What do they know that we don't know? Okay.

(22:49):
I am at a loss. Yeah. You lost me at you have six pages of notes.
I thought you were going to say you lost me that I did a movie. That too.
That shocked me. but the whole
losing part was the amount of
copious notes you've taken 30 minutes in

(23:10):
yeah there are symbols right left and sideways
all all throughout that movie and i've never
seen a movie like that before okay so yeah i have a great idea for a movie actually
it's a great idea for a series like a limited series run which i am not going

(23:31):
to give out because it is that good but,
if we have any people that make movies or series you guys can reach out to me
we can you know talk about this i have a pretty good imagination okay sure that's
all i have to say about that,
so yeah all right all right well that was interesting i you're gonna make me want to

(23:53):
go watch that movie now so i'm gonna have to do a movie maybe maybe tonight
i want to see your notes oh no and you're done he's gonna have missy next to
him taking notes for him no i i don't do notes i i don't do i i went to school
i don't take notes i don't,
Yeah, I just copy and paste. Clearly.

(24:16):
All right, so this week, well, last week we had a fun interview with Sylvia Schultz. Yeah.
And also, last weekend we went to the inaugural, I can't say that word.
Inaugural. Inaugural. I can't, that's one of the words I just can't say.
Brie, you're missing your opportunity to pick on him.
Yeah, but I know I can't say it before I'm going to say it. I'm trying to figure

(24:38):
out if I can say it, because if I can't, it's kind of pointless for me to say
it. Yeah, well, I mean. Inaugural. Yeah, I can't see it.
She's saying virtually and is saying for chili. That's right. No, it's virtually.
Virtually. There's no F there. Virtually. I'm not saying an F.
You were. Virtually. I can't wait to go to the table.
So we went to the Pararock up in Madison, Wisconsin, which was fun.

(25:03):
And we got to meet Dave and Karen, who are our very first guests.
And we got to listen to Bellhead. Yep.
We got to meet some other folks. I don't remember. I'm so bad with names.
You guys are better at names. Who did we meet?
Richard. Richard? What was his last name?
Richard. I can't. It's a name that I'm unpayable for now, but his name is Richard.

(25:25):
Okay. Hi, Richard. Hi, Richard. Who else did we meet?
We're so bad. Oh, we got to meet Jussie. Yeah. We're going to have our own future
episode. Yeah. We got to meet Aaron.
Aaron. Oh, yeah. Your boy, Aaron. From 28 Days In. Or 28 Days.
Totally screw that one up he's been in for 28 days i have that i don't feel

(25:48):
wrong show 28 days i would like to know what show 28 days in is because then
i was getting like a billion different ones mixed up in my head okay 28 days
haunted yeah that was cool we got to do a little cemetery,
And get eaten by bugs. Oh, gosh, yeah. That was horrible. Bugs were brutal.

(26:09):
So, yeah. So, that was a fun time. And then we drank some alcohols.
Spotted cow, baby. Yeah, we did. We did. Spotted cow. We did alcohols.
And then we did a taco truck. Oh, yeah. That taco truck was good.
Yeah. That El Pastor taco. I still.
It was probably one of the best El Pastores I had. It rushes blood to my testicles.

(26:33):
Lovely. It was so good. I wish I remembered the name of the taco truck because
I'm going to be like, hey, I want to go there. I know, me too.
We should have gotten the name of it. We also came to the conclusion too that
a taco truck is like the adult version of a kid in a van. Free candy van, yeah.
Hey kids, free candy. Or hey adults, taco truck. Yeah.
You could totally kidnap me. You just drop everything, taco truck,

(26:55):
go. You could totally kidnap me with a taco truck. Yeah.
I would be that fat kid in the back just eating, get another taco please.
100 so but yeah so that
was fun i just wanted to give a little shout out to ally k promotions and
ally it was nice meeting her so yeah
so but then also we our episode last week was with sylvia schultz our interview

(27:19):
about all her books that she's written and peoria state hospital and everything
else that was a great interview i just want to thank Thank Sylvia again for
being on our silly little podcast.
And, you know, I think all of our tens of listeners.
Oh, we've moved up. We've moved up. We went from one to four to ten. Yes.

(27:41):
Oh, and then also, I'm not sure if you guys have paid attention to the downloads,
but we have had a consistent download from Germany.
And I think it's just one person, which is fine. but it's just kind of awesome
that one person in Germany is listening to us.
If you are that person, if you can please email. You're the only one.

(28:04):
Yeah, you're the only one. Tell your friends.
And I would just love to know who you are.
Give you a good shout out. Yeah. And then also the past couple weeks we've had
one from Russia as well and would love to know who that person is.
So, again, email frank at fringebeyondlimits.com. send me an email.
I would love to know who you are, correspond with you, you know,

(28:28):
because that's exciting for us.
That's great. You know, that I get excited when there's a new state that pops
up. I mean, and, you know, we have two countries that's just wild.
So, yeah, so thanks for listening. We do appreciate you listening and tell your
friends, you know, you can't be the only weird one out there, right?
There's going to be more. There's more of us out there.

(28:49):
So, anyway, now that we're totally off the rails,
Yeah, so we're going to follow up that interview with talking about Peoria and just haunted Peoria.
Yeah, and some personal history accounts that we kind of touched on last episode
and add a little more color to it.
Yeah, so it is a region that's rich in history and scarred with strife.

(29:13):
So I think that's what we found, right? There's a bunch of hot spots of supernatural activity.
Activity and for those of you who don't know pure is
in like central illinois ish right
yeah i would say so i would say central central ish
illinois central south central like a farming country
no no south no rockford not rockford but springfield i would say south central

(29:38):
yeah it's north of bloomington yeah yeah yeah so i would say north of springfield
yeah so i guess we'll start with With probably the most well-known place,
the Peoria State Hospital.
It's arguably the most well-known location there.
So the Peoria State Hospital is situated in Bartonville, Illinois,

(29:59):
originally known as the Illinois Asylum for the Incurable Insane,
which I think I've spent some time at.
Makes sense. Personally, right? But it wasn't just for the insane.
It housed people with disabilities and handicaps, too.
Again, I fit that bill rather nicely. Yeah.
The main building of the asylum, called the Bowen Building, was completed in

(30:21):
1902 and opened its doors the same year.
This facility continued operation for a little over seven decades until it finally
shuttered its doors in 1973.
I'm pretty sure that meant to be, is shuttered the right word?
Yeah. Yeah? Okay. I wrote it. Did you? So that's the right word. Oh.

(30:41):
Don't argue with her. Yeah. They closed their doors. They shuttered its doors.
I'm leaving the podcast.
The first superintendent, Dr. George
A. Zeller, went before the state legislature to demand a name change.
He felt strongly that no patient was incurable. In 1907, the name was changed
from Illinois Asylum for the Incurable Insane to Peoria State Hospital.

(31:06):
As Peoria was the closest large town.
Prior to this time, mental health care barely existed. In those days,
anyone suffering from mental disorder was simply locked away from society in an asylum.
Many of these hospitals were filthy places of confinement where patients were
often left in straight jackets, locked in restraint chairs, or even placed in

(31:28):
crates or cages known as Utica cribs, if they were especially disturbed.
Many of them spent every day in shackles and chains, and even the so-called
treatments were barbaric.
Most mental patients spent their entire lives locked up inside of an asylum.
Soon, though, men like Dr. Zeller began promoting the fact that the mentally

(31:50):
ill could be helped, not just locked away and forgotten.
I can't even imagine...
Experiencing life even if it's for
a brief moment like that
but in these cases their
whole lives yeah it's insane i mean i mean they should have been the ones locked

(32:13):
up in there like it's right it's wild to think that there was such a dismissive
attitude towards especially Especially nowadays,
like mental health is on the news. It's in your face. It's everywhere.
But back then it was you don't talk about it and you just lock it away and it's subhuman.
Yeah, we were like so closed off back then that anything different from the

(32:35):
norm, we just ignored and we didn't want to believe that it was true.
So we just say those people are crazy.
Where now people are more open to different.
And that's only a recent development. I mean, this place closed in the 70s.
But still mental health is a hush-hush
thing it's it's still coming to

(32:56):
light but yeah it's yeah i which you
guys don't always talk about my mental health because i want to
take that stigma away from it
that it's more normal and more people suffer from it and sometimes don't even
know right that they do and what confuses me the most is that that when someone

(33:19):
smokes and they get lung cancer, everyone's like, oh, poor guy.
Yeah, I agree, poor guy. But I mean, he kind of did it to himself, right?
Usually mental health is either done to you for it to happen,
or it's genetic, or what have you.
And the one part of your body that, as science goes, we know the least about

(33:46):
that controls everything,
if that goes a little haywire, it's your fault as the person,
as the individual, you know, and they say, you know, just feel better, just cheer up.
Like people who have never experienced what it's like to have a depression and

(34:08):
anxiety, there's many, many, many, many different will blame the person.
And then, on top of it, nowadays, when people are trying to express who they
really feel they are with the, where am I trying to say?
You know, people who are transgender, then that's when they also,

(34:30):
well, that's just mental health. It's not.
You know, I mean, if you look up the definition, gender is a psychological term
and sex is a biological term and gender is always changing and fluid or it can be.
So it's not a mental health. It's just whoever, you know, and who cares at the same time.

(34:52):
So it's just going to take time. Not that long ago, homosexuality was a mental
health situation or thought of as that way.
Right, which is even more baffling because there's scientific proof that across
every single mammalian species, homosexuality exists.
Yep, in 10 to 15%. Right. So, I mean, it's the same as in humans.

(35:15):
I think it's the same percentage. Like, why would we be any different?
So anyway, off that soapbox. But yeah, so the Bowen building was used mainly
as administrative offices for the asylum after the cottage system,
where 33 different buildings were used to house patients, was put into place.
This was also a dorm for the nursing staff, a store, a powerhouse,

(35:39):
and a domestic building with laundry.
A bakery and kitchen totaling 63 buildings and all on the campus at its height.
At its peak, this hospital served a total of 2,650 people at one given time
and an estimated total of 13,510 patients had lived under its care and supervision.

(36:00):
That's a lot of fucking people. That's a lot of people. After the hospital's
closure in 1973, many buildings were destroyed or sold at auction.
Most of the buildings on the old hospital property have been torn down,
but those that remain are rumored to be haunted by spirits of the past.
Today, 13 of those 63 buildings are left, including the Bowen and the Pollock

(36:22):
Hospital, the Tuberculosis Ward.
There are also four cemeteries on these grounds containing the thousands who
died while in residence at the asylum.
All right, famous residents of the Peoria State Hospital.
One of the most notable and documented residents of Peoria State Hospital was
that of a small town girl known as Rhoda Derry.

(36:44):
The story of Rhoda Derry is one of the greatest tragedies of mental health care
in Illinois and one of the great triumphs of the Peoria State Hospital.
As stated in the opening lines of Sylvia Schultz's book, 44 Years in Darkness,
as we discussed on last week's episode.
Rhoda Derry was a patient who suffered greatly due to the primitive treatments of the time.

(37:05):
Born in Madison County, Indiana on October 10, 1834, the youngest of nine children,
and moved to Lima, Illinois, near Quincy in the western part of the state,
when Rhoda was just a young child.
She was 22 years of age when she was first committed to the Jacksonville Mental Hospital.
In 1856, as a result of a marriage that her lover, Charles Phoenix,

(37:31):
mother Nancy Phoenix, refused to give her blessing and the curse she had placed
on Rhoda to keep her away from her son,
Rhoda fell into a deep depression that caused her to fall into a dark,
despairing psychosis, and may have stayed in the Eighth Ward,
which was reserved for severely disturbed patients.
The 8th Ward was the only ward in which straitjackets were used.

(37:54):
It also contained the screen room, a cell-like bedroom that had locked screens
over the windows and doors.
In accordance to hospital policy, Rhoda was locked in her room every night and every morning.
She was found roaming the grounds of the hospital claiming Nancy Phoenix let her out.
Within two years, Rhoda was discharged as incurable and sent home sometime in

(38:18):
1858. Two years after her release, her mother, Rachel Brightdairy,
passed away in the harvesting months of 1860.
With her primary caregiver now deceased and Rhoda becoming an ever-increasing
burden on the family, they decided to have her recommitted a few months later,
on the 3rd of September, 1860, to a different facility.

(38:39):
Facility rhoda now 25 years old had
been committed for a second time and the
adams county alms house would become rhoda's home
for the next 42 years this story sucks already it only gets worse before it
gets better okay spoiler alert that's not that much of a spoiler but no it's

(39:04):
it's just crazy because during that time you could be committed for anything.
Yes. A man could commit his wife to...
Mental facility at any time without jury.
And it was, the law was written that way because they didn't want to cause a
problem with the children.
Like they didn't want to suffer any wrath of the children so that a husband

(39:28):
could quietly remove their caregiver.
Yeah. You know, in theory, that sounds phenomenal.
Of course you would think that. But in practice. Misogyny at its best.
Right. But in practice, I can see how it would be horrible. Yeah.
No, that's like one of my greatest fears. It's like one of my irrational greatest fears.

(39:51):
I don't know if it's irrational or not, but to be locked up in a mental facility.
Knowing that you're sane? Yeah. But what if you're not? What if you thinking
you're sane is actually what is making you insane?
That question is going to make me insane. It's going to be something that keeps her up at night.
So, one of my irrational fears, and this is true, is that I am actually a special

(40:17):
needs person, and I don't know that I'm special needs, and that's why everyone's nice to me.
Yeah. I mean... Makes sense. I mean, you're right. I mean, it goes along those same lines.
Yeah. That's why... It's not irrational. You're right. Yeah.
I mean... You are special. I am special needs? Oh.
We got that problem solved. All right. All right.
I don't know where to go from here, but I'll just continue with the story now.

(40:40):
Over the years, Rhoda's mental health continued to decline at Adams County Almshouse
as they were not equipped to care for the mentally ill.
Reports of poor conditions surfaced in the newspaper from time to time.
Rhoda was also known to eat anything she could get her hands on,
including buttons and sharp objects she would find. In 1845,

(41:01):
France, a new treatment for the insane was gaining popularity.
Thought of as a more compassionate alternative, the Utica crib was first introduced
at the Lunatic Asylum in Utica, New York, around 1846.
These cribs were used to restrain adult patients. These Utica cribs were long,

(41:22):
narrow, and from 15 to 30 inches high, with slats for the sides.
Beds the top and sometimes the bottom the
person restrained could neither sit up nor get out
basically a baby crib like bed with a lid and a lock on top when the mattress
is placed on the bottom of the lid and the lid was closed the patient would

(41:45):
not even have enough space to turn on their side that would drive me fucking
crazy in itself yeah yeah i don't know if i shared this
story but when i was in when i was in
undergrad we went to the elgin mental
hospital and we visited their
museum and they had this utica crib there it
was disturbing to see in person and they let you touch it so i did and i i got

(42:13):
just the most uncomfortable feeling of anxiety and stress and panic and you
can see on these woods like on the inside and around these,
these slats, there's scratch marks.
There's like worn out wood from where they would kick or they would rub their
head against the top of it if you were a tall individual because it was...
A standard size, whether you, you know, no matter your height,

(42:35):
weight, that shoulder width, you know, maybe a smaller person could roll over
in there, but someone with a thick mattress and broad shoulders,
you're just stuck on your back.
And sometimes they were even strapped down while they were in there on top of
it. It's really bizarre.
But this was the more compassionate alternative to a straight jacket or some of those other,

(42:57):
those leather cuff things yeah stuff yeah so sad so the pole vaulter.
From france okay that lost the gold because of his dong do you think that was
quite the curveball but i see your connection there do you think you would be
able to have an erection laying in that fine well it's a slatted he would just

(43:21):
have to oh it was over his hips poke through the hold through the opening.
Can I use any other euphemisms here? Him and the springboard diver.
Yeah. Yeah. That one I don't know. Yeah.
There's nothing left to the imagination on that one. Yeah. I mean,
God bless them all. Viva la France.

(43:43):
Minus your Utica crib. Minus your Utica crib. That's awesome.
It is worth noting that the Utica crib has been considered the cause of several
patients' deaths over its years of use.
Deaths reported after being locked in a Utica crib include anxiety or panic attack,
or those patients experiencing acute medical conditions such as a heart attack

(44:05):
or stroke and faulty diagnosed with mental episode, which resulted in them being
locked in a crib without proper medical care.
Can you imagine? I cannot. You're having a heart attack and they think you're
having a psychotic break and they lock you in a box. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah, no, I cannot. One of my greatest fears is having a heart attack,
which I'm probably going to have the next couple of years. So...

(44:29):
Will you stop manifesting bad shit in your life? Yeah. No, it's just reality. It's all depressing.
It's just reality. So, since Rhoda was clearly becoming a hazard to herself,
it was decided to place Rhoda in one of these contraptions.
While in this crib, Rhoda would often soil herself and the doctors and nurses
eventually removed her clothes and mattress altogether.
Together so jesus they

(44:51):
replaced the mattress with straw for her to
lay on with a pan under need the bed underneath the bed to collect the waste
mice and other vermin made their nests at her side it was under these conditions
that her long fingernails grew and she scratched out her eyes within the first
10 years under the supervision of the adams county alm house,

(45:13):
With her fists, she beat her face until she lost all her front teeth and eventually
lost her ability to speak.
Prior to her rescue by Dr.
George Zeller, Rhoda spent decades in the Utica crib.
When Dr. Zeller inquired with the attending physician, Jacob B.
Wolfe, as to how long Rhoda had been in this box, Dr. Wolfe admitted he had no idea.

(45:37):
Keep in mind that this crib was only intended for overnight use, not weeks or months.
Rhoda had evidently been confined to this crib long enough for her hips,
knees, and legs to atrophy.
It's terrible. People, you know... Like, why would you think this is okay?
I am not a... I am not big on the death penalty, but I do believe that there

(46:01):
are people that should not be on this earth, and some of them are these doctors.
Like, this is ridiculous. yeah
all right so dr zeller was
appalled at this and wrote a trend and wrote
and had a rhoda transferred along with 60 other patients from

(46:22):
the adams county all house to his facility the
illinois asylum for the incurable insane eventually renamed
the pure estate hospital in 1902 but even this transfer was not of traditional
manner due to the years of abuse Rhoda had also lost her ability to walk and
wounds that crawl around on the floor on her gnarled hands and emaciated knees.

(46:47):
So after all the other patients had disembarked from the train,
a couple of the attendings picked up a wicker laundry basket.
Thinking it was filled with patients' linens, they discovered Rhoda has curled
up under some sheets at the bottom. That is so sad. Yeah.
I didn't give her a wheelchair or anything. things. That you put in a fucking

(47:08):
basket. Yeah. Cause that's how, so, so.
The Adams County Hospital shipped
them off, and the Dr. Zeller's hospital picked them up. Right, right.
So, also part of what was happening there is most of them were under those leather
shackle type of restraints while they were on this train.
And part of those attendings collected all of those shackles,

(47:32):
so when they arrived, they wouldn't see that they were all...
Shackled. Yeah. That's crazy.
So, they just shoved her in a basket. it however rhoda's
arrival from the moment she landed in dr zella's care she
was treated with honor and dignity with clean food bedding
and clothing every time dr zeller came to
visit rhoda with would lighten up she would

(47:54):
turn her head towards his voice and smile there are
only two known photographs taken of rhoda one
as a gorgeous young lady and one of an emaciated skeletal mummy me like figure
with no eyes and teeth sitting childlike on the floor just before her death
rhoda died at the age of 77 and you can visit her grave in cemetery one site number 217.

(48:19):
Not in the pauper field but rather she was given a proper christian burial many
claim her spirit lingered with reports of seeing her apparition and hearing
her cries for help one can't help Papa wonder if the deep depression psychosis
was a result of her broken heart, a witch's curse,
or due to the inhumane treatment she experienced during the formative years of her young adult life.

(48:43):
I'm going to have to say it was the inhumane treatment.
That's definitely going to put you over the edge. I mean, I could understand
being in throes of depression and they can lead to a slight psychosis from a broken heart.
I can definitely see that, but that doesn't last usually long with proper care, which she never got.

(49:08):
Right, right. So, I just wish you could just go back in time and just beat the
shit out of people. Just box people's ears, yeah.
All right, well, another well-known patient after that fucking great story was
that- It ended well. She died happy. Happy.
Okay i'm just saying yeah no i mean a hundred percent

(49:29):
but it's just you keep thinking about stuff leading up to that
yeah her life was wasted yeah yeah who knows
what she could have done right you know who knows she
could have found somebody else and had children who
would have done something great we could
have had a cure from for cancer right we could have
been the one we could have had flying cars by now from her lineage no

(49:50):
one knows yeah you know instead oh she's fucking
nuts let's put her in his crib just a burden and lock her away
jesus i i yeah so all right
so another well-known patient was that of manual a bookbinder
although numerous stories have been told about the hospital and grounds another
well-known patient was a man known as manual bookbinder or a bookbinder who

(50:14):
went by another nickname old book for short old book while living was supposedly
mute, so no one knew his real name.
He worked in a printing house before being brought to the hospital.
Old Book was a patient who worked as a grave digger and assisted in over 1,500,
wow, 1,500 burials at the hospital cemetery.
He was appointed to this position by Dr. Zeller and it's documented in hospital

(50:37):
records that he performed his job well.
He even passionately mourned the passing of each and every person he helped intern in the cemetery.
Old book was among the most popular patients
and the staff loved him when old book died
of tuberculosis in 1910 hundreds of people turned out
for his funeral on the hospital grounds yeah

(50:58):
i couldn't find more details on his life but his
and we'll get to it a little bit later but the haunt
that he seems to do you
do haunting do you do hunting um was
really quite interesting i wish there was a little bit more story on how
he ended up in the facility though well i mean him

(51:20):
being a mute i'm sure it was at its own burden outcasts exactly was purpose
probably it right then and there yeah so again stupid and silly but it sounded
like he enjoyed or had a good time i mean lack of a you know,
better term being you know as far as being as the story but before that with Rhoda I mean you know so,

(51:46):
he just sounds you know like he made the best of the situation he was in so,
which isn't right but you know we can't,
We can only learn from the past. Right. You know. Yeah. We have a problem of doing that.
We do. We don't really like to learn from our mistakes. No.
No. We were taught history all this time, so we learn from those,
but yet we have not learned.

(52:07):
And also something that I don't like doing is I don't like looking at the past
and judging them by our current standards.
Yeah. You know, I mean, I don't like it. I don't think it's fair to do that.
But in terms of just treating someone like a human, that's where I get upset with.
That seems like foundational. Makes sense. Yeah, right, right.

(52:27):
You know, like, you know, we can't be like, oh, you know, I don't know, like the plague, right?
Like, it was, you know, we didn't, they didn't know it was rats that were doing
it, you know, you know, so I get that.
But like, when it comes to, you know, like you said, something that should be
foundational, like treating a human with dignity and respect just because they're another human.

(52:51):
Yeah, that's just, we still have issues with that today. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
All right. So areas with reports of activity.
The old main building hauntings. The old main building, a central structure
of the hospital, is one of the most reportedly haunted spots.
Visitors and ghost hunters have reported hearing disembodied voices,

(53:14):
footsteps, and the sounds of doors slamming.
Apparitions of former patients and staff members are also said to appear in the hallways and rooms.
The Graveyard Shift Ghosts The cemetery in the hospital grounds,
known as the Peoria State Cemetery, is another hotbed of paranormal activity.
Many believe that the spirits of former patients roamed the area.

(53:35):
Ghostly figures, strange lights, and eerie sounds have been reported by visitors
and paranormal investigators alike. So what's an eerie sound?
I didn't know you were going to give an example i did not either brie you're
welcome for the win i think she farted i think that's what that eerie sound
was your farts sound cute thanks,

(53:57):
yeah no they they smell wd-40 on that gate.
Christ well yeah like an eerie sound would be something that's out of place
for your location so my only issue with that eerie sound in a graveyard is that
you're outside and it's an uncontrolled environment you know so it could be

(54:20):
anything when it comes to sounds right you know,
i get it but i would just say an eerie sound you ask what an eerie sound is
not if it's a valid eerie sound okay so we're all so what if you're in a cemetery
and you hear a jack-in-the-box music,
like well i hear you sound i would expect out of place
there's some sort of children of the corn in the near woods i would have ran

(54:43):
away possibly right but apparently investigators have not stuck around to figure
out well you know what they need to we need to start doing brian's shit scale
here that'd be a shit scale of three and a half all right three and a half it is,
the bowen building specters the bowen building originally used for administrative

(55:05):
purposes has its share of ghostly tales.
People have reported seeing shadow figures, experiencing cold spots,
and hearing inexplicable noises.
Some visitors claim to have seen the ghostly figure of a nurse who supposedly
roams the halls checking on patients.
Would you think that's an intelligent haunting story?

(55:26):
Or residual. She got it. I did it.
I don't think she did. It wasn't residual. It wasn't. It wasn't residual. It was. Say it again.
Residual. I can't say. I'm overthinking it.
Residual. That's pretty good. It's close enough. It's close. It's better.

(55:48):
Residual. There you go. All right. It still sounds weird in my head.
Maybe just go back to the squeaky part noise. Yeah. Yeah. Wow.
You just blew out some people's ears.
The haunting of Dr. Zeller's office. Dr.
George Zeller, the compassionate superintendent of the hospital,

(56:08):
said to still watch over his former workplace.
Reports of seeing a ghostly figure matching his description,
especially in the areas where his office once stood, have been frequent.
People have also claimed to feel a comforting presence when in distress within
the building, which they attribute to Dr. Zeller's spirit.
Dr. Zeller himself wrote about hauntings around the hospital in his diary,

(56:30):
and it seems only fitting that both he and the other spirits continue to roam
these halls for the decades to follow.
So I thought that was cool. Yeah, I was just about to say that is pretty cool
that he actually wrote about hauntings in, I'm assuming, the 10s, 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s.
Yeah. You know, so there is a story. So people think ghost hunting is a new thing.

(56:57):
There is a story. And Brie and our significant others went to go see Josh Gates live in Joliet.
Was it in October?
Yeah. So he told, he was talking about ghost hunting.
And he was telling about a story back in ancient Rome where someone was writing.

(57:21):
And they heard a noise and they saw a ghost and got scared.
They ended up selling their property and the person buying it was like a nobleman.
And he heard the story and he goes, hmm.
And he goes, all right, well, let's figure this out. So he came across this
apparition, you know, so he heard the noise, followed where the noise was, saw an apparition.

(57:45):
And then the apparition kind of beckoned him to follow him.
So, yeah. Yeah. So the guy followed this apparition and he stopped over this
garden area and pointed to the ground.
So this nobleman thinking things through goes, all right, maybe something's
in the ground. So he started digging.

(58:06):
And as he dug, he found the skeleton.
And right. And they're and they're able to, you know, put two together this ghost.
That was his body and they dug up the
body and gave it a proper burial for the time and no
one ever experienced any other hauntings after that
so for people i mean that is in a

(58:27):
paranormal investigation yeah you know so it was kind of neat thinking wow two
thousand plus years ago yeah they did paranormal investigating yeah you know
everyone wants to know where you go and right your body stops being animated
here yeah yeah so that was good so that kind of just brought Brought back that
memory of that story. That's a cool one.
Yeah. So anyway, we'll keep going here. The ghost of old book slash book binder.

(58:53):
When old book died and his casket was being lowered into the ground,
it was reported by the pallbearers. The casket suddenly became lighter.
The crowd heard the familiar sound of old book weeping against the old elm tree.
They turned to find old book leaning against the tree crying.
They claimed to have actually seen him as a full body apparition.
He disappeared and his casket was immediately opened.

(59:17):
Old Book's body was inside, undisturbed, rusting peacefully.
Within days of his burial, the old elm tree began to die.
Several crews tried to remove the dead tree but couldn't go through with it
because of the sound of weeping from it whenever they tried.
Eventually, one man took an axe to the tree and was met with an ear-piercing

(59:39):
wail, as if he had just struck someone with an axe.
Disturbed, the man stopped and left the tree alone. Some years later,
lightning struck the old elm tree during a storm, and crews were finally able to remove it.
As the crying had ceased, the spirit is reportedly seen in the cemetery,
often appearing sad or contemplative, still seemingly mourning the deceased.

(01:00:04):
You can visit bookbinders in the hospital cemetery buried in grave marked 713.
The Forgotten Patients Many former patients who died in the hospital and were
buried in unmarked graves are believed to haunt the area.
Visitors have reported seeing apparitions in outdated hospital attire,

(01:00:24):
hearing whispers and feeling a strong sense of sadness and unrest,
likely reflecting the spirits of those who passed away without family or proper recognition.
Isn't that sad? Just forgotten people. people yeah but we've talked about that
uh this is one of the things that keep me up at night yeah,
so does that mean everybody eventually comes back as it goes because eventually we're all forgotten,

(01:00:49):
once enough generations go by i mean possibly i guess maybe your homies are
all back with you hopefully well what if it's like movie beetlejuice you have
to serve this pendant so once everyone you know dies you do come back for a
haunting but who's gonna say your name,
jinx that's like the second jinx of the night yay i quit no you don't yeah i

(01:01:13):
mean yeah who does say your name say my name say my name three times say my name say my name,
oh that was a good one was it a good one dave matthews please reach out we'll do what,
the asylum tunnels the hospital was known to have a network of tunnels connecting
various buildings These tunnels are often cited in ghost stories,

(01:01:36):
with reports of footsteps echoing through the empty passages,
ghostly figures darting around corners, and an overwhelming feeling of being watched or followed.
These stories contribute to the chilling reputation of the East Peoria State
Hospital as one of the most haunted places in Illinois.
Paranormal investigators and curious visitors continue to explore the site,

(01:01:57):
seeking to experience and document the ghostly phenomenon firsthand.
So, go ahead. I was just going to ask. So, knowing that Dr.
Zeller was a compassionate individual, like, how many people do you think try
to do ghost hunts here not knowing the history and just riling up shit thinking this was...

(01:02:18):
A torture place, essentially. I think a lot. Yeah. I think, you know,
I think the, how do I want to phrase this?
I would think the ones that don't do their homework.
Which I think are a lot. Are a lot. Yeah. I don't think it's the majority,
but I do think it is a lot, tend to do that.

(01:02:40):
I think the ones that are more professional, for lack of a better term,
who maybe, I don't want to say take it serious,
because ghost hunting doesn't have to be, because I don't take it serious at times.
It doesn't make me any, but we do do our homework and our due diligence to when

(01:03:00):
we go to a facility to kind of get an idea on what it's going to be like,
so we're as prepared as we can be.
But ghost hunting can be fun. There can be laughing and jokes and silliness.
Yeah, so, yeah, I do wonder that, too. I think the majority are more like us,
where we kind of go and do our research and learn about it before moving forward. So, yeah.

(01:03:30):
All right, the Peoria Public Library. So, another spot.
Another spot. on. The Peoria Public Library has multiple branches,
but the area of focus here is their main campus.
The building was built in 1894, but before this library was built,
the land was occupied by a woman named Mary Stevenson Gray, wife of Andrew Gray.

(01:03:53):
The two of them lived in a two-story home in Peoria around 1830.
Some would say a very nice little mansion. Life was seemingly well for this
wealthy couple until Mary's brother died and her nephew came to live with them.
Mary became the caretaker of her nephew after the death of her brother.
But things began to go south for Mrs. Gray. Her nephew was always getting into

(01:04:16):
trouble with the law, known as a town drunkard and associate with criminals.
He spent a good deal of time in jail and accrued a lot of fines and fees for lawyers.
Some accounts say that she hired a lawyer, David Davis, to make sure he couldn't
get hands on her inheritance.
The story that seems most fitting would suggest that she hired this lawyer to

(01:04:40):
help continually bail her nephew out of jail and other gossip-worthy situations
that he kept getting himself into.
The costly lawyer, he was very good at his job, but was financially draining,
and he bled Mrs. Gray dry.
Eventually, the Grays were unable to pay the debts for their nephew and had
used their mortgage as a means to pay their lawyer.

(01:05:02):
This financial hardship ultimately led to a foreclosure.
Mary kicks her nephew out, and when his body is found later floating in the
Illinois River, she curses the land with thorns and thistles.
Ill luck, sickness, and death to every owner and occupant.
The land gained a quick reputation of being haunted.

(01:05:24):
Stories began that Mary's nephew could be heard crying and begging at the front door.
Caretakers for the property refused to work there because the public opinion
was so against David Davis, he never actually lived there and the home abandoned. Dependent.
Depending on the accounts you read, she seems like she could have been just
a victim of scoundrels or a pretty nasty woman.

(01:05:46):
Did she have anything to do with the death of her nephew or was it related to
her nephew's questionable behavior?
Yeah. That is crazy. Do you think that she had anything to do with her nephew's death?
I don't know. The timing seems interesting, to say the least.
It does. I mean, I could see it either way.

(01:06:09):
But i mean that's pretty harsh you know for
anyone but if someone was always getting into trouble
she was wealthy or well connected it doesn't seem like i mean it's a stretch
i don't know the situation but it doesn't seem like it could be too out of the
question to make an accident happen sure sure i agree i just think that all

(01:06:31):
the shit he got himself into especially Especially back then.
I mean, people, I don't think, would think twice to kill someone back then.
I feel like that was a little more... Accepted, right? Accepted.
Yeah. Like, don't fuck up or somebody's going to off you. Right, right.
So, the property then becomes the home of Governor Thomas Ford,

(01:06:52):
who was thought to already have been cursed prior to moving in.
Oh, man. Okay. That's great.
Yeah. Within quick succession, he lost his wife to stomach cancer. Mrs.
Ford died of cancer of the stomach October 12th, 1850 at the age of 38.
Eek, that's young. Yeah, very.
Governor Ford already in his late stages of consumption. What is consumption? Does anybody know?

(01:07:17):
Let's just confirm because I've heard it. Is it like pneumonia?
Was that another word, pneumonia? Some type of sickness?
Obviously. Pulmonary tuberculosis. Tuberculosis. Okay.
Because it's all consuming. I remember like looking at it a while ago.
All right. So thanks Brie for the, some sort of sickness part that was obvious.

(01:07:39):
Captain. I was just thinking like as a category, I didn't think it was actually to a specific sickness.
Well, I always thought consumption was like alcoholism. Oh, no.
I thought it was like pneumonia, but it was tuberculosis. Yeah.
All right. So he was in the late stages of consumption, then died a few weeks
after and died on Sunday, November 3rd, 1850.

(01:08:03):
According to Tomes of Terror, a haunted bookstores and libraries by Mark Leslie,
the property is then given to an ex-slave, Tom Lindsay.
Lindsay had recently been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation,
and the son of his ex-master purchased a portion of the property and allowed him to live there.

(01:08:23):
The book makes claims that Tom had a lot of issues living there.
He had to rebuild the home and employing superstitious methods to live on the land peacefully.
The book also claims that many more property owners and their children died,
but without any names. I again couldn't look it up, so I'll just add it here
because it makes for a spooky story.

(01:08:44):
Some believe her curse came true after all the owners of the property.
The library was built in 1894, very close to where Mrs.
Gray's house stood, and the first three library directors died under mysterious circumstances.
In 1966, the library was demolished and a new one was built in its place,

(01:09:06):
But many of the ghosts are set to still reside here as a result of Mrs. Gray's curse.
Reports say staff members have heard their names being called when they were
alone in the stacks or they feel cold draft.
Apparitions of former library director have also been in the basement doorway.
So I do not want to go because if I walk into a library, I burst into flames.

(01:09:32):
I thought you were going to say your turn on as a ghostly librarian.
And that's where I thought you were going to go with this. Well,
yes. Didn't you have a nice story about a library?
What? Like seeing a kid ghost? No. You said it was like a library or something. You saw a kid...
I swear there's like a story of you seeing like a kid or something.

(01:09:52):
All right. Did you do a weed before you came on the podcast?
I did not do a weed. Did you do a cocaine?
You know what story I'm talking about. Did you do a mushroom?
Because you said that you looked and then like it turned away and it like disappeared or something.
Nope. That never happened. So he was lying to you when he told you this story?
I was just trying to get in your pants.
No. No, I was actually trying to get out of your pants. Pretty sure he told me a story about that.

(01:10:16):
All right. All right, so next is Dirty Dealings. Dun, dun, dun.
Getting out of Brianna's pants.
Out of her pants on to Dirty Dealings. On the banks of the Illinois River was
an area inhabited by Native Americans for close to 12,000 years.
Settled by French missionaries nearly four centuries ago and developed into

(01:10:36):
a bustling town, downtown by citizens who lived and died on its streets.
One of the several alleged paranormal hotspots covered on the tour,
the Associated Bank branch at 240 Southwest Jefferson, was the site of a notorious
murder during its time as the former State Trust and Savings Bank.
On December 23, 1917, Bank President Edgar Strauss shot and killed cashier Bernie

(01:11:00):
Meade in what he claimed to be self-defense.
However, as the men had been involved in an ongoing feud, many believed the
death was premeditated.
The case initially resulted in a murder conviction, but after an An appeal was
filed. Subsequent trials produced two hung juries.
In the end, Strauss walked away a free man.

(01:11:21):
Wow, that's interesting. Two hung juries? That doesn't happen often.
Some local residents, like Janet Ozuna and her stepdaughter Teresa Ozuna,
believe the injustice done to Meade has trapped the spirit and perhaps the state of Strauss.
And perhaps that of Strauss, sorry. In this building on the corner of Jefferson

(01:11:45):
and Liberty, both longtime employees of Mid-State College, Janet and Teresa,
claim to have had several bizarre experiences while the school operated out of the location.
As Teresa often worked alone in the evenings with only the night shift guard
in the building, she claims to have regularly heard footsteps behind her when
no one was there, doors slamming by themselves,

(01:12:06):
receiving phone calls from the basement after it had been locked for the night,
and once being touched by something she couldn't see.
Do you think that could have been like her husband's dick? Could have.
I mean. You never know. Never know. She couldn't see it. Right.
Now we know how Brie feels at night.

(01:12:28):
Teresa stated, I felt as clear as day a hand touch my arm. Kind of like someone about to say, excuse me.
That's what I thought it was. I was even saying, oh, I'm sorry.
And I turned and looked and there was absolutely no one there.
Janet, whose office was the sole access point to a trap door leading down to

(01:12:50):
the original bank vault, says one incident in particular converted her into a believer.
I went in on a Sunday morning and of course no one else was in there, she remembers.
I know there's noises when buildings settle and that type of thing.
We were used to that. But literally, I could have sworn I heard somebody coming

(01:13:10):
up those stairs under the trap door, just a thump, thump, thump,
like heavy shoes coming up those stairs.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I got goosebumps all over me.
I literally grabbed my purse and ran, she describes.
I know what fright is now. I don't think a lot of people know what a really
frightening experience is until you're there. I had a whole different sense

(01:13:33):
of being alone in that building after that.
That's weird. Can you imagine just a trap door and just hear...
I don't like trap doors in general. They give me the jeepies. Why?
Well, like when we were a gammon house and that trap door and...
I don't know. Just... What if somebody's under there? And not even the spirits.

(01:13:54):
I'm afraid of like creepy real people hiding under the floor. Creepy real people?
I don't know. It's just weird. Okay. Like, do you think that they're going to,
like, just jump out and grab you and drag you down?
Or just maybe they're spying on you kind of part? Okay. I don't know.
Like, upskirt crotch shots?
Maybe. Is that why you don't wear skirts? Yeah. That's why I do wear skirts. I don't want... Ew. Ew.

(01:14:22):
A spectral sentencer and his restless residents. That is a...
Tongue twister. I did that on purpose for you. Thanks. A few miles from the
bank, a similar eerie vibe emanates from two historic Peoria homes.
Among the many distinguished residences, sitting atop the city's east bluff is the Judge John C.

(01:14:46):
Flanagan House, the oldest standing house in Peoria at 942 Northeast Glen Oak Avenue.
Maintained with the Peoria Historical Society, the American Federalist-style
home has been converted into a museum and houses a collection of local antiques,
as well as the reputed ghosts of its former tenants.

(01:15:06):
Among the odd events reported in the 176-year-old structure are an apparition
of a woman reading in the library and that of a man, presumably Judge Flanagan,
walking the grounds wearing his signature overcoat and silk hat.
According to Karen Karras, former Flanagan House chair volunteer,
often find objects have been moved around when no one has been in the building.

(01:15:29):
Once she even found one of the museum's prized artifacts, a more than a century
old shirt collar, carelessly strewn on the master bedroom floor.
It really spooked me and it actually gives me goosebumps right now, she says.
There were only a few people that had the keys to that house.
None of them would have ever taken and then out and throw it in the middle of the floor.

(01:15:50):
Does it bother you when your husbands just leave clothes laying on the floor?
It's the opposite. I'm the one that leaves clothes on the floor.
Yeah, JT doesn't. You do?
I leave clothes on the ottoman in the closet, but I don't throw them on the
floor. Okay. I'm just curious.
Do you get in trouble for leaving clothes on the floor? Oh, yeah.

(01:16:13):
100%. I'm a slob. and you know but it's only on my side of the bed,
So it's like shoulders deep on your side of the bed. Yes. Yes.
And then also the hampers are on my side as well. So like all her clothes are
over there in the hamper and my clothes are on the outside. So there's like

(01:16:35):
an obstacle course leading to your side of the bed. Yeah. And that's fine.
You know, I don't disturb her side. If you think about it, someone who's trying
to get you while you're sleeping, they have to really get there or miss you.
Just go straight to miss you. I know what I'm doing. it all right
so you're gonna wake me up before you get to me i don't know
aren't you like a deep sleeper no not that used to be

(01:16:56):
yeah not anymore i don't sleep very well anymore i would probably say for a
good 10 years i have not slept well like i don't remember what it's like to
wake up refreshed that's how long it's been and i've had sleep studies done
i do not have sleep apnea Yeah, so, it's a mystery.
Two, one of the. A dildo in my butt, yes.

(01:17:17):
That's gonna keep you from sleeping. I was gonna say, that could be the problem.
Actually, that relaxes me. You can't roll over, it's like a kickstand. That relaxes me.
Like a kickstand, what are you doing? Like, it's not sticking out,
I mean, it's. The whole thing's in there? Is there any other way?
Do you have like a wire to like fish it back out? Yeah. How do you get it back
out if it's all in there? Yeah.

(01:17:37):
Is it like a tampon where there's like a rope in there and you just pull it
out? Or it's just permanently in there and that's why you can't sleep. It's soap and a rope.
I can't do the noise. There we go. That's what I'm trying to do.
All right. So located at 1212 West Moss Avenue, Imperia's High Wine District,

(01:17:58):
the Pettengrill Marren House is yet another converted home museum.
It was allegedly haunted by its former owners.
Built in 1868, the house is also maintained by the Peoria Historical Society.
It remains almost exactly as its last owner, Jeff Marne, left it before her
death in, I'm sorry, Jean Marne, left it before her death in 1966.

(01:18:21):
Volunteers say Ms. Marne's odds and ends are frequently discovered out of their normal places.
Tour guides have gone upstairs to find a water faucet running on its own and
report seeing the reflection of a shadowy figure in the mirror.
Neighbors claim to have seen figures walking around the attic while no one was
inside, as well as being awoken by the sounds of a cocktail party next door,

(01:18:44):
only to find no such swawe.
If a spirit is responsible for these odd occurrences, the Pettengill Marne House
Chair, Kathy Dollinger feels confident it means no harm.
Any ghosts we have are friendly ghosts, she asserts.
We feel we have a good rapport with them and they're helping us tell the story.

(01:19:05):
We're on good terms with our ghosts because we're taking care of the home.
All right. I just want to point out that you laughed at cocktail.
I know. Like a child. A hundred percent.
Because I love the word cocktail.
Tail because my joke is i feel like a cocktail hold the tail uh it's like me

(01:19:28):
and my mimosas story exactly it's only funny to the storyteller yeah i would
like a cocktail minus the tail please,
A ghostly encounter. Encore.
I'm sorry. I can't read. A ghostly encore. Buffet.
Buffet. Get me my silk robe and cigar brandy.

(01:19:55):
No. Right away, sir. Okay.
The Peoria Players Theater is said to be haunted by the ghost of Norman and Dean.
A former actor and director at the theater who died at the young age of 34.
The stories say he lingers backstage in the women's dressing room,
often flushing toilets.

(01:20:16):
Is this you, Nut? This is you. This has to be you. This is future past you.
And that's why I wanted to make sure we put this in here.
I am the reincarnated spirit of Norman and Dean. Yes, you are. That is awesome.
Looking for your moaning Myrtle. Myrtle. Myrrh.
John B. Kachuba's book, Ghost Hunting, Illinois, tells the tale of a haunted

(01:20:40):
Meyer Jacobs Theater at Bradley University.
Students and faculty alike say that the Lady in Brown has been seen in numerous
occasions throughout the years, especially in the dark tunnel under the stage
that runs to the orchestra pit.
The Lady in Brown is said to be a student who drowned in the pool decades ago

(01:21:00):
when the building was a gymnasium called Hewitt Hall.
His second presence is also rumored to be present in the Meyer Jacobs Theater,
something or someone that messes with the electricity causing stage lights and
sound equipment to go haywire.
Jim Langley, a former associate professor in the theater department,

(01:21:21):
has said footprints appeared in the middle of a freshly painted set one night
when he was alone in the building.
From the shape of the prints, as well as the location, Langley said he didn't
see how they could have been from anyone other than a ghost.
I would like to go back to Norman and Dean here.

(01:21:44):
No i could understand him being
in the women's dressing room get it why flushing
toilets because he had to take a shit that's why what would you do if you were
a ghost you don't think you would go around flushing toilets just for the shits
and giggles no pun intended i would be feeling those girls up yeah and then

(01:22:04):
when they were at school and away from the they have to keep Keep yourself busy.
Washing toilets. Do you think that's how ectoplasm is made? Just like ghost shits?
Quite possibly. Like he had Mexican the night before and it just looked like
a slimy ectoplasmic shit?
Yeah. All right. Possibly. T-shirt, ectoplasmic shits. What if he used the toilets?

(01:22:29):
Because what if it is connected to the lady in, right?
She was the one with the drowned in a swimming pool? so what if that's how you
transport through the sewer system or or what if.
He was taking shit flushing and the flushing i know where you're going with

(01:22:51):
this ended on the lady in brown and that's why she's called lady in brown very
much a la dave matthews bands tour bus 20 years ago,
dumping shit in the river and actually hitting people on the passing boat.
Are they called the Lady and Brown? Which the anniversary of that just happened last week. Aww.

(01:23:13):
Just synchronicity happening.
Synchronicity. Synchronicity. Synchronicity. Dave.
Please contact me. I'd love to do that duet with you. Oh, Lordy.
Baby, come back. I don't think you're ever going to
get hear from him no no no but
i'm gonna keep trying i'm gonna try so well that

(01:23:36):
was our episode that was an interesting ride that was from mental health to
murder to drowning to shit drowning and shit drowning and shit yeah well we
should all we we should we should get back into contact with sylvia and try
to make some time maybe next month to kind of meet up with her and,

(01:23:56):
have her tell us all the stories. I mean, she is a plethora of knowledge when
it comes to that. And yeah, that's awesome.
Superlative. Superlatives. Hyperboles.
You guys got anything else to close out this episode? No. Any last words?
Let's go to Peoria. Virtual.

(01:24:18):
I can't do it. She still can't do it. I'm trying. It's not coming out.
You know what? You know what?
You know what? But when we use our spirit boxes and we're like, what did that ghost say?
I don't understand what they say. Like, maybe that's future Brie, like, saying words.
It could be. But they're just coming through as, what was the furry one that
you said? Fertilly? Fertilly.

(01:24:40):
Virtually. Did that ghost say Fertilly? Did I say it right there?
You're pretty close. Oh, damn it. But maybe. You were close.
I was so nonchalant. Stop. I was so nonchalant. I'm trying. All right.
We'll work on our pronunciation.
For next week okay well guys

(01:25:00):
we love you german guy russian guy
or gal please like how do you know yeah well i mean person german what if it's
an ai or anyone else that listens to us internationally yeah go ahead yeah hold
us anyway that's all we got we love you we thank you,

(01:25:20):
and catch you on the flippity flop again this was fringe beyond limits.
Music.