The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Ali Postle, The Quill
Some people do not believe in ghosts, but if they experienced the weekend my friends and I had, then I am certain they would be a believer.
My best friends, Gretchen Higgins and Ashley Gittings and myself took a trip to St. Louis, MO.
Gretchen's cousin, Jacob Zimmer, also joined us on our trip. We made reservations at the famous Haunted Lemp Mansion a bed breakfast where you're left entirely on your own for the night.
If you do not know anything about the Lemp family history then I strongly encourage you to look it up. At one point they were the richest family in St. Louis.
After the death of the son Frederick Lemp, whose William J. Lemp Brewing Co. dominated the St. Louis beer market before Prohibition, the Lemp Mansion was site to three family suicides.
The house is said to be haunted by members of the Lemp Family.
When we arrived at the mansion the nerves started to sink in. Gretchen, who loves to be scared, just told me everything would be fine and it was going to be fun!
The thought of staying in a haunted mansion did not sound all that "fun" to me.
We arrived in time for dinner, which was absolutely delicious.
Then we went upstairs to see our room. All the time we were there we would just get the feeling that someone was constantly watching us.
Our room was absolutely beautiful as we assigned to the beautiful "Lavender Suite".
It was the room of William Lemp Jr's first wife Lillian.
She was nicknamed the "Lavender Lady" for her room, her gowns, and even her horses bridles were lavender.
The room was amazing but we wanted to explore!
We found out that there was a TV show production crew there for the Biography Channel at the Mansion. Crew members were shooting footage for their show "My Ghost Story" that night.
Now, if there is a ghost show at this place then you can not tell me that paranormal activity does not occur.
We sat down and Gretchen kept saying that it felt like something was grabbing her ankle. At first, I thought she was just kidding, but the look in her enlarged eyes showed me that she was not messing around.
Soon, I felt this tense pressure on my arm, like someone was grabbing me, but nobody was standing by me.
It kept growing tighter, and suddenly, it just stopped.
(I am not making this up!)
Gretchen and I both looked at where we had felt the touch and we both had red marks that looked like hand prints. Thats when we realized this was no joke.
As the night grew on weirder things happened. Ashley and I were sitting in the hallway and the sounds of footsteps were heard, but there was no one there!
Gretchen took a picture in which you can see something like a face in the corner of the room.
Also, a girl (with a group staying at the Mansion) from across the hall took a picture and the flash revealed a picture of a tall dark figure sitting on the couch in our room. It was a figure that we could not see!
Gretchen, who was brave enough to explore the basement saw a door open behind her, but nobody was there.
Finally, at around 3 a.m we decided it was time to go to bed, because we had to wake up early for our adventures at Six Flags the next morning.
We were so worn out from our ghost hunting that the thought of ghosts had left our minds.
The experience was one that I am sure none of us can ever forget.
Every year at Halloween time they turn The Lemp Brewery into a haunted house.
Gretchen and I have been to many haunted houses and that one is one of scariest ever.
I encourage all of you to visit the Lemp Mansion, if you are brave enough. Do your research-the story and history are quite interesting.