Inside the book “Eerie Eau Claire” author Chad Lewis puts together pages upon pages of strange stories from Wisconsin’s past (1880-1910). I chose to begin with this source because I am living in Eau Claire and thought it would be an interesting approach towards my research on paranormal and superstitious experiences people have had. Starting about a hundred years ago, where the book takes place and provides true stories from people living in Eau Claire during this time.
This book contains multiple stories that share either the sightings or beliefs people have of ghosts, UFO’s, strange animals and paranormal activities. Before Lewis’ readers read any of his stories he states in his introduction, “I have left the belief in these cases up to you.” He also claims “I have not corrected any spelling or grammatical errors, nor have I made any commentary on these cases (Lewis 1).” Here are two captivating stories from the book itself:
August 18, 1905, Police Seek for Ghosts
“The Kenosha police were called out at midnight this morning to hunt a ghost which was alleged to be moving about the Kenosha city cemetery. The army of bluecoats advanced against the supposed spirit, but it failed to put in an appearance. Several people testified to seeing the spirit in the cemetery at midnight. It was alleged that it was a flesh and blood “ghost” and that it had taken this practical joke on some women friends. Several of the women who saw the alleged spirit are suffering from hysteria.”
February 6, 1907, Sight Returns Just before Death
“Miss Mamie Kentbon died at the home of her niece, Mrs. Joseph Hintz, last week in the town of Sherman, with whom she had made her home for the last thirty years. Twenty years ago she went blind, but about two weeks before her death she again recovered her sight and once more beheld the surroundings amid which she lived for the last thirty years. She could easily distinguish the distant hills and the pictures, which were hung in her room. The cause of her returning eyesight is a mystery, which has been exciting much interest. Doctors are unable to explain it and many people regard it as a special act of providence.”
I do not doubt that these individuals’ stories really happened or not. Although I personally have not had experiences with ghosts or other strange events, I have been told convincing stories relating to these superstitious topics. For example, my parents, who both believe their deceased parents, came to them in a dream shortly after their deaths. I think it became so easy for me to believe them because they are my parents and they have been my teachers all throughout my life. It helps when you know you are learning from a valuable and trusted source like your parents because you know that they wouldn’t try to stretch the truth on such a touchy subject. Which is what Lewis does, his purpose is to make his readers think and eventually leaves it up to them. His readers are interested in these strange events and they will be able to decide where they stand after reading just a few stories. Lewis provides his readers with supportive stories to guide their way of thinking. Just like my parents belief guided my way of thinking to be more open to the ideas. Because of these trusted sources it is made easier to become more open to these new ideas/beliefs. As I mentioned earlier Lewis says he did not edit any of the stories, so he makes himself promising to his audience and it is made obvious he did lots of research in order to include actual stories/reports people wrote themselves without doing any editing.
For people who are opposed to these ideas/beliefs, my parents for example would probably be considered insane. Psychologists on the other hand may explain their dreams as a way of coping with the loss of their loved ones. Lastly, for the creator of the book “Eerie Eau Claire,” Lewis allows his readers to believe whatever they want to believe after they learn about the valid stories Lewis provides.
I feel that at least once in everyone’s life they will become superstitious for something. Whether they have claimed to see a ghost, or were a witness to a miracle that has no explanations. Whether they believe there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow or blowing out all your candles on your birthday cake the first try will assure your wish will come true. Either way, there is no scientific research that provides evidence for the strange sometimes-lucky events that happen throughout lifetimes.
I learned from the stories in the book that superstitions, paranormal activities and all that talk about a super natural world is a very biased topic. I learned that there are many people who have had experiences related to unexplained situations and without any evidence through scientific research. I really like how Lewis left it up to his readers to decide what they want to believe because in reality it’s such a biased topic and people would base their beliefs off of their own experiences and sources anyway. Overall, Lewis’ purposes of his book full of stories became very insightful and helpful to begin and understand my research more.
Lewis, Chad. Eerie Eau Claire: And Other Strange Stories from Wisconsin’s Past, 1880-1910. Eau Claire, Wis.?: C. Lewis?, 2002. Print
This second post is really interesting. You cover your source thoroughly and in-depth enough where I can get a true feeling of what you are researching. Reading this made me want to go and explore the topic and read more about it. Good work so far and I look forward to learning more about this interesting topic.
I like how you categorised this post into specific dates, this is helpful as a reader to understand what was going on at this specific time. I like how you added quotes from the book, it makes your post more believable. You can tell you understand this source, looks good!
I like how you included two different superstitious stories that happened in Eau Claire because it gave your readers an idea of what you are looking into. I’d say it also adds different emotions to the different people who are reading this because you get them to start thinking about superstitions which is a great way to get people into your writing.
Along with the stories I think you should find more information on what people are saying about these superstitions, what left them intrigued, and the questions they had because that focuses more on your research question then just the things that were happening.
Alyssa, this source seems super relivant to your topic and also to your personal connections with “spirits” and whatnot. I am really interested in this mysterious ghost or demon activity too because of some of my personal connections and stories as well. I think its cool that your paretns both had connections their parents in their dreams while death was close to actually happening because a good family friend was dreaming one night and in her dream her Grandma died. Well she woke up and then realized she was just dreaming and went back to sleep. Well… later that night she woke up to a phone call at 3 in the morning and she knew even before she picked up her phone that the call would be to inform her that her Grandma had just passed away. I find these type of stories super interesting especially when they connect to people who have strong relationships with God. I have heard some really creepy demon interaction stories from some friends who work at church camps and I just find it so interesting on the thought that maybe demons target out areas of strong faith? …just a thought but yeah…. Okay well anyways, this topic is super interesting especially since it is near Halloween! I think you should really look into other “haunted” places and forests or whatnot throughout Wisconsin. I slightly remember watching a ghost stories show on TLC about the top ten or twenty haunted places and I do remember Wisconsin having one on the list, so maybe look into that. Overall, I really liked how you added in specific quotes directly from the book because this provided a perfect example as to what the books content is at firsthand. Good work, and I am excited to see what other types of stories you find!