The story was for West Michigan Ghost stories, we were part of the Ada witch story, and they showed a couple of photos from our October 30th 2002 investigation.
May 2, 2003
WEST MICHIGAN -- There are certain stories in West Michigan that never seem to go away. Some are legends passed from generation to generation. Others are simply dismissed as "old wives tales."
But some seem to grow stronger with age. They are West Michigan's ghost stories and some have people believing in things "that go bump in the night."
A deadly lover's triangle in the woods of Ada is one of West Michigan's ghost stories.
According to legend, three people were killed in a bloody confrontation near Findlay Cemetary in the late 1800's.
"Her husband caught her and the man that she was having the affair with," Allegan Township Clerk Deb Millhuff believes.
Paranormal enthusiasts are convinced that all three souls are not at rest and continue to roam the woods.
"Some of the people who have claimed to see this are very reasonable, very rational, professional people," Millhuff says.
The West Michigan Spirit Seekers say there are apparitions caught on film, mists, unexplained orbs of light, all proof of the Ada witch.
"We have experienced something here that is very, very real" Teresa Dykema, a member of the group, told FOX 17 News.
And many also believe the stately Felt Mansion in Laketown Township is haunted. The haunted Felt Mansion is another one of West Michigan's Ghost Stories.
Dorr Felt was a turn-of-the-century Chicago millionaire. He invented the comptometer, an early version of the calculator, that paid for the cost of his summer mansion. It was finished in 1928 just before his wife died.
"She died six weeks after moving in. Agnes passed away here in the house," said Pat Meyer, a member of the Felt Restoration Project.
And some wonder if she ever really left the house.
"We've heard the sound of a music box. So we think maybe she had a music box she really loved," Nicole Bray, a member of the West Michigan Ghost Hunters, told FOX 17 News.
The West Michigan Ghost Hunters give tours through the mansion. It seems to be the only place where true believers and skeptics can agree on the unexplained.
"I've had some things happen here that I can't explain and I'm an extremely skeptical person," Meyer said.
The Felt family sold the estate and through the years it's been used as a seminary, a home for nuns and even a minimum security prison. Enthusiasts say all this history adds to the folklore of a sprawling home that has no shortage of mystique.
The Ghost Hunters use infra-red cameras, magnetic field detectors and still photography to capture strange mists and light patterns.
Tours of the mansion benefit the cost of the restoration effort.
For more information, check out the link to the West Michigan Ghost Hunters website under News Links.
Copyright (c) 2003, WXMI-TV, Grand Rapids
This article originally appeared at:
http://fox17.trb.com/news/050203-wxmi-ghoststories,0,7865455.story
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