Early Marietta: The ghosts of Marietta College
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On Halloween in 1992, the Marietta College newspaper MARCOLIAN reported on a strange campus phenomenon: ghosts and paranormal activity. Ghosts abounded; many had names.
One night a resident assistant at Dorothy Webster Hall heard “a little kid crying, then laughing and talking.” Someone's TV? No. It was a weekend; rooms around her were empty. Other residents heard footsteps on seldom used stairs and laughter when no one was there. “All kinds of stuff goes on here,” she explained, “we call (the ghost) “Dorothy.” The hall's namesake, Dorothy Webster Mills, moved to Marietta in 1835 to teach at the Marietta Female Seminary. She later married John Mills, local businessman and college benefactor. Her sons, John and William Mills, both MC graduates, donated the home to the college as a memorial to her. It opened as a dormitory in 1930.
Ghosts are part of Halloween, a centuries-old blend of religious and harvest observances. The religious origin is in the name: Halloween or "All Hallows Eve" is the day before All Saints' Day on November 1. It honors Christian saints and martyrs. November 1 was also the date of Samhain, a Celtic harvest festival. It featured feasts, bonfires, and costumes or masks as disguises from unfriendly spirits. They believed spirits of the dead could cross over and visit the living at that time of year. Ghosts, goblins, costumes, and jack-o-lanterns of Halloween today come from that tradition.
Students reported that Marietta Hall had a “spirit” which “opens doors and moves things off of shelves.” Those paranormal events were frequent in 1989-91. Many heard unexplained voices. Two women were “freaked out” upon returning to their room. As they approached the door, they were stunned to see the doorknob turn on its own. The door opened by itself. Some attributed the paranormal activity to the ghost of a women who died in the hall, though there is no record of such an event.
Ohio Governor George White died in 1953, but his spirit may live on at his former home, the Alpha Xi Delta Sorority house on Fifth Street. The sorority acquired the house in 1954. Some residents claimed they had seen George White walking in the back of the house. Other strange occurrences: water turned on and off; the dining room door opened or closed by itself. If there are unusual events, “we blame it on George.” The Tri-Sigma sorority house said it housed the ghost of a little boy named Presley who reportedly died there. “Weird things happening” are blamed on his ghost. An alternative explanation, one resident laughed, is that “all of our sisters are just crazy.”
The MARCOLIAN article included "folklore cures for getting rid of ghosts on campuses" for ghost-intolerant students: Hang socks with holes outside your window (warning - this may keep away your friends, too), ring bells, sprinkle salt at door entrances, build a bonfire (not on college property, please), and wear scary masks.
At Nebraska Wesleyan University, the ghost of music teacher Clara Mills played the piano and sang. Years later, the building her spirit inhabited was razed. A group of Clara fans gathered, held hands, sang, and asked her ghost to move to their fine arts building. She did. Since Dorothy Webster Hall may be torn down, a similar action may be needed for “Dorothy.” The Hermann Fine Arts building is close by.