Denver's Mysterious Alonzo Thompson Mansion

In my line of work I have discovered all sorts of interesting stories. From mysterious deaths, suicides and murders to over the top urban legends. But this story I will be sharing with you has proven to be one of the strangest of cases. It isn’t about a murderous villain or even a helpless victim. No. This story is about the history of one, Alonzo Thompson and the peculiar details of his life as well as the history of his home. A home that was purported to be a real “Haunted Mansion.”

One thing that I noticed during my research into this story, is that no one had ever written about Alonzo or his house before, at least nothing online anyway. I could find no trace of any books mentioning it either. So what I am sharing with you is straight from the sources and just as they appeared in the headlines back at the turn of the century (or before).

The house that is situated at 1070 Humboldt Street in Denver, looks like any other beautiful, stately mansion, but it’s not just the house itself that intrigued me, but instead what happened inside this home that has pulled me in so much that I was compelled to write about it.  Before getting to all the particulars of the home’s eccentric history, first let me start out with the history of its very first owner, Alonzo Thompson.

Who Was The Original Owner?

Alonzo Thompson was born on February 22, 1832, in the town of Centerville, Illinois to parents Amos and Irene Thompson. The 1850 Census for St. Clair County, Illinois lists Alonzo as a “student” living with his parents along with his brothers and sisters. His father, Amos was listed as a “Farmer” although he was much more than that as I will highlight later on. When Alonzo was just 20 years old his mother Irene passed away. Alonzo graduated from McKendree College in Lebanon, Illinois, and he was one of 16 founders of the Platonian Literary Society.

Alonzo began teaching at a private school in Belleville, Illinois after graduating college, and he traveled to Maryville, Missouri and Louisiana to teach there as well.  His obituary noted that from 1856 to 1861 he took charge of the local Union troops, and later was elected into local Missouri Legislature in 1862. By 1864, he had become the Missouri State Auditor.  He remained in that position for four years, but in that time frame he also found himself in a huge scandal that sullied his name.

In 1865, the newspapers published an anonymous letter claiming that Alonzo had orchestrated a scheme that allowed him to steal money from unsuspecting out-of-state landowners who were being sent notices that they would be heavily fined for not paying their taxes on time. The letter also alleged that Alonzo created a fictitious business that acted as a middle man for the landowners to the State, claiming that if they paid him directly, including his “fee” for acting as their agent, he would make sure it got taken care of on time. In reality he had no right nor authority to collect any sort of taxes, but he used his title as the State Auditor to advertise this service to unsuspecting property owners, and thus he swindled a lot of people out of their hard earned money. ---

By 1868-1867, Alonzo became a real estate entrepreneur in St. Louis, and eventually moved back to Maryville, Missouri. Soon he went on to promote a railroad that went from St. Louis to Omaha, and even later settled in an Indian Reservation, building a beautiful and large home in Fullerton, Nebraska. Census records list him as a Capitalist, or Land Agent (real estate). 

Alonzo was married three times during his life. His first marriage was on December 6, 1857, to Mary Visonhaler.  This union brought forth three children: Hattie, Fannie and Elmer. Fannie died at just four months old. Elmer died when he was 26 years old. His wife, Mary passed away on March 1, 1877.  His daughter, Hattie outlived both her mother and father.

His second marriage was on April 12, 1880, to Mary Adams. She died exactly one year and a day later on April 13, 1881. They had no children together. His third and final marriage, to which he would later regret was to one Annie Elizabeth (Heard) Jones, on October 30, 1881, only six months after his second wife had passed.  The couple had one son together, Alonzo Thompson, Jr.

Third Time Wasn’t A Charm

So, Alonzo’s story really doesn’t take a turn for the strange and mysterious until he married his third wife, Annie, which was a huge mistake on his part.  It was during a séance with a medium known as Mrs. Lively in 1881, Alonzo was told to marry Annie, the divorced wife of Knox Jones. In another séance he was warned not to marry her, and later he claimed that was the one and only time he “disobeyed” advice from the spirit world.  You see, Alonzo was a spiritualist and had been dabbling in that field ever since the death of his mother in 1852. In the book “What Converted Me To Spiritualism,” Alonzo was given an entire chapter that tells his account of his original skepticism of life after death and what convinced him to believe otherwise.

(You can read that account here: https://archive.org/stream/cihm_78875#page/n39/mode/2up/search/+Thompson)

When he met Annie, she too was also involved in spiritualism. As years went on though Alonzo realized that she had been playing games with him, and he believed she had deceived him completely from the very beginning, pretending to be truly interested in his other worldly interests in order to entice or trap him by “appealing to the spirits in which the widower believed thoroughly to be the first aid to cupid.” She also gave him hundreds of letters that were purported to have been scribed by the spirits of his dead loved ones. Later on he stated that he felt all those letters were completely fabricated to make him believe she somehow had a direct line to those he missed. He also admitted that Annie managed to use her “connection” with the dead to “induce him to part with large sums of money.” Basically she was a gold digger.

After building a beautiful home in Fullerton, Nebraska and living there for a good twenty years or so, they just up and left, moving this time to Denver, where he would construct his magnificent 9 bedroom, 6 bathroom home on Humboldt Street in 1905, after purchasing four adjoining lots from Mr. Moffat.  It appeared that by the turn of the century Alonzo and his family went from doing so-so to living a moderately wealthy lifestyle. The question was how? What changed?

Courtesy of the Denver Public Library (Digital Collection)

Courtesy of the Denver Public Library (Digital Collection)

In 1901, Alonzo’s father passed away. Already being involved deeply in spiritualism for a good 49 years, he admitted that his real success finally came when he started communicating with the spirit of his dead father. Allegedly he started immediately holding séances where he would ask his father for advice on all matters of business. Once he built his mansion, he had a secret chamber or hidden room constructed, that was strictly for his communication with his father’s ghost. He claimed that every night like clockwork his father’s ghost would visit him at his home and join him in his secret room. It was reported that Alonzo would “never engage in any transactions or business dealings without consulting with him.”

The secret room that is hidden within the home was so secret even his own wife and son were never allowed to enter. To this day no one has ever written about the home besides what we find in archived newspaper clippings from 1912, so there is no way to know if the room was discovered by future owners down the line or if it remains still, a hidden room.

Courtesy of the Denver Public Library (Digital Collection)

Back to the Story

By 1912, Alonzo had just about enough of his marriage to Annie and filed for divorce, seeking not only to keep his newly made millions from her grasp but also to disinherit his son, too. But why?

Well, according to the newspapers of the time, Alonzo claimed that his wife and son were conspiring against him and that they intended to have him committed. According to Alonzo, they had been following him all over, even from state to state where he owned several properties, seeking to have the authorities arrest him and lock him up in an asylum. He was convinced that they wanted to take all control over his estate, and were going to use his “spiritualism” as an excuse to claim he was senile.

Alonzo stated that his father’s ghost had warned him that this was going to take place, and so he preemptively made the first move. Using his attorney, James A. Harris, Alonzo transferred or converted over $500,000 worth of property into cash that his wife and son could not get their hands on. He also changed his will, leaving his wife out and making conditions that his son could not inherit a dime of his estate unless he proved over a length of time that he could “be a man” and support himself. He felt his son was spoiled and needed to learn how to earn a living, instead of riding on the back of daddy’s coattails for the rest of his life. Once Alonzo filed his petition for divorce, Annie filed a counter claim, ultimately spilling the beans on her husband's licentious dalliances.

The Scandal Is Out

According to Annie Thompson, her husband had been unfaithful to her for many years, even going as far back to their time in Fullerton, Nebraska. It seems that their decision to just up and move to Denver was because of the fallout from an extra marital affair he had with another “medium” named Margaret Helsley, who also happened to be married.  Annie claimed that the affair caused such a “drain on them they had to move to another state.”

It didn’t stop there.  Annie went on to make the most surprising and humorous claim that Alonzo was also having dinner with the spirits of dead women. Of course you can imagine that the newspapers had a field day with this accusation, even going so far as to have the newspaper sketch artist draw up some sensationalized drawings of Mr. Thompson sitting in his “secret chamber” dining separately with the ghost of Cleopatra and Dido. Her list also included such names as: Sappho, Nell Gwynn and Juliette Recamier. But it wasn’t just his “dead affairs” Mrs. Thompson was worried about.

You see, moving to Denver didn’t seem to stop Alonzo’s wavering eye, and soon he caught sight of yet another woman. This time it was Mrs. Noyes, who lived on Lincoln Street.  Apparently, Annie started to notice that every time Mrs. Noyes would go on long trips out of town, so would her husband, so she decided to start following them and found that they were having an affair.  

“Cleopatra is not demanding a new motor boat, Queen Elizabeth is not pouting for a new castle, Marie Antoinette does not sign for a chateau to add to her collection….but the living “soul mate” or some other charmer still in the flesh, is alleged to be drawing extensively on the aged man’s plentiful finds.”

According to Annie, her husband became obsessed with Mrs. Noyes, who claimed to have some power to use her body to communicate with his dead father. It appeared that Annie was no longer manipulating her husband, and now he had a new love interest who was sinking her claws into Alonzo’s back, and his pocket book.

His Side of the Story

Alonzo’s quoted statements tell a different side of the story:

 “I want to see my wife humiliated so that she may realize what I have done for her, and I want to see my son, who has posed as the ‘best dressed man in Denver’ for years, at my expense earn his own living.”

“I don’t object to my wife and son living in my home, but I do mean to see Alonzo (Jr.) works for a living and supports his mother….I want to see my wife suffer for the suffering she has caused me. Perhaps she will then realize what I have done for her.”

“Mrs. Thompson says that my spiritualistic studies have unbalanced my mind. I wonder if she remembers that we were poor until I finally established communications with my father, whose advice has given me the fortune that my wife and son now seek to rob me of.”

Alonzo Thompson’s estate comprised of his stately mansion, and a combined worth of millions of dollars of property that spanned from Denver, Tennessee, Nebraska, Missouri and North Dakota.

In the end he did leave a share of his estate to his son, “provided that he makes a man of himself within a reasonable time.” The rest of his estate he bequeathed to charity and “benevolent institutions” to the promotion of spiritualism.

Salida Record (4/11/1913)

Alonzo’s Death

On April 10, 1913, Alonzo passed away at the age of 81 after battling a long illness. The newspapers claimed he had boasted that he had been told by the "other side" he would live to be 96, but obviously that was not to be.  Shortly after his death, his body was taken from Denver and buried at Green Mount Protestant Cemetery in Belleville, Illinois. 

But this story is far from over. 

According to the November 26, 1913 issue of the San Francisco Call, it states that according to the keepers of the property, a “ghost” made an appearance every evening in the home. Now of course the newspaper assumed it was Alonzo, given the fact he had just passed away seven months prior, but if you recall, it was Alonzo who claimed that his father’s ghost would visit nightly like clockwork to visit with him in his hidden room. So who or what was creating such a stir in the home? Unfortunately, no more could be found about the home or its “haunted history” after that one article.

Recently, I reached out to the current owners of the home but I have yet to receive a response back from them. I was hoping I could speak to them firsthand to hear what they have to say about the mansion, whether or not they know about this secret room, and whether they feel it’s a “haunted mansion” or not. Unfortunately, I have yet to communicate with the owners of the home to see if they have something to add to this story so I cannot give you a definitive answer.

Still, Alonzo Thompson’s personal story alone is one built on a lot of secrets, scandals and ultimately superstition.  Was his home ever truly haunted, or was that a farce all along? Did he really communicate with the other side, or was he just a very clever con-man?

Who told the truth between his or his wife’s stories, or was the truth found somewhere in between?  And lastly, was Alonzo Thompson insane as his wife and son claimed, or were they just after his money the whole time?

So many questions that we may never find all the answers to.

HAPPY HISTORY HUNTING!

---Note: The Alonzo Thompson Mansion is a historical home, but it also is a private residence. I am asking everyone reading this blog PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB the current owners/residents of the home. I cannot stress this enough. History is wonderful, and it’s nice to drive by a home that has a fantastic story behind it, but it is still someone’s home, and we MUST show respect and not disturb them. Thank you! --

(Copyright 2018 – J’aime Rubio – www.jaimerubiowriter.com)

A special thanks to Coi Drummond-Gehrig at the Denver Public Library for photo permissions!

and a big thanks also to  John Marshall for added research!

Sources:

Denver Public Library (Digital Collection)

St. Louis Post Dispatch (7/28/1912)

Springfield Missouri Republican (7/21/1912)

Denver Post (7/21/1912)

San Francisco Call (4/21/1913)

Herald Democrat (4/10/1913)

Salida Record (4/11/1913)

San Francisco Call (11/26/1913)

The Engineers Record, Volume 51

The Day Book, Chicago, (7/22/1912)

St. Louis Daily Missouri (c/o Columbia Daily Tribune)

Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, Jan. 3, 1883

United States Census (1850, 1880, 1900, 1910)

“What Converted Me To Spiritualism- 100 Testimonies,” (pg 33-34) Circa 1901.

Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine – (Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1909).

The Mysterious Misinformation of Dyer Lane, Roseville, California -

One of the most popular spots in Placer County that is rumored to be haunted is Dyer Lane. Just on the outskirts of Roseville, this road tucked away in the middle of farm land isn’t much to look at, but seems to attract many in the paranormal field over the years. There has been all sorts of stories claimed to have originated from that area. From a barn where teenagers were said to have been butchered, to a secret meeting spot or hangman's tree for the KKK, a Satanic cult and witches coven or even various unexplained deaths. Some even claim to see a ghost cop driving up and down the road, only to disappear. 

I decided to reach out to the police department in Roseville, to see if they had any record of these events taking place. The person I corresponded with at the Roseville P.D. claimed they had no information at all, prompting me to contact the Sheriff's department instead. According to Dena Erwin at the Placer County Sheriff's office who I corresponded with back in 2014, there were no records of any officers dying on Dyer Lane, nor was she aware of any of those other events ever happening out there. 

After searching various archived newspapers and speaking to the Roseville Historical Society about this, it was interesting to note that 99% of the stories circulated are false. However, within recent years there have been several deaths tied to that particular area. The  most recent deaths have been related to drug or gang affiliated crimes.

The former curator of the Roseville Carnegie Museum, Phoebe Astill, had mentioned a murder of a family in that general area years ago. 

“I’m not sure what year it happened, but I remember the story,” she recalls. “It was a Russian family, the father killed the mother and one of the older children, but took the youngest child, a boy.” 

According to Astill, after the bodies of the wife and older child were discovered, the authorities later found the youngest son’s body in the field near one of the towers by Dyer Lane.

Records indicate that on August 20, 2001 Nikolay Soltys murdered six of his family members. One of the victims, his three year old son was brought to an empty field near Dyer Lane where he murdered him. The rest of the murders took place in North Highlands.

There is one other story regarding Dyer Lane that we do know for a fact occurred, the murder of William Mullen.

According to the Press Tribune archives, on March 23, 1985, there was a huge fight at Dyer Lane between the “Punkers” and the “Aggies” (Agricultural/Western) from Rio Linda High School. The newspaper reported that nearly 100 young people showed up to the melee. Out of all the people involved, two were stabbed, and William Mullen was one of them. Although his friends tried to save him, he died on his way to the hospital. He was later buried at the Sacramento Memorial Lawn Cemetery.

As I stated above, in recent years there have been a few gang affiliated deaths on or nearby Dyer Lane but there is no evidence to prove that any of the scarier urban legends that surround this road have any basis in fact. In reality, the urban legends are just that, legends, and local folklore. ----- 

(Copyright 2015 - J'aime Rubio www.jaimerubiowriter.com)

--Note: In recent years, as stated above in the original post, there have been other bodies found on the corner of and on Dyer lane, all of which were linked to drug or gang affiliated crimes. This blog was to cover the history of Dyer lane and any rumors, urban legends or stories about deaths associated with it in the past. --

Deaths At The Kennedy Mine

Kennedy Mine, Jackson, California

Last year, I wrote a brief history of both the Argonaut and Kennedy Mines located in the historic gold country town of Jackson, California. I have lived in Amador County at different times in my childhood and teenage years, and even during my adulthood.  I have always been passionate about local history and Amador County is has plenty of history just waiting to be told.

A lot has been written about the Argonaut Mine, especially due to the Argonaut Mine Disaster of 1922.

To learn about each of the miners who are buried at the Jackson City Cemetery please check out the video below: 

Back to the Kennedy Mine

Because the Kennedy Mine did not gain a lot of publicity for any large mining disaster like the Argonaut did, most of the history written about it is brief. No one had ever written about the various deaths that took place there, besides the newspapers mentioning these events at the time they occurred, until I wrote a blog about it last year.

Even though there have been many deaths at the Kennedy, the only mention of some of these fallen miners are scattered between the pages of archived newspapers just waiting to be retold. I wanted to share with you some of the details of the deaths that I have uncovered over time, like I mentioned in my last blog, but this time with copies of those newspaper clippings so you can read the headlines for yourself. As my research allows I will continually update this blog with more names, newspaper clippings and photos of grave sites for these forgotten souls. So far I have uncovered 43 deaths and counting.

 UPDATE: my latest book titled, "Down Below: A History of Deaths at the Kennedy Mine," is now available on Amazon.

(Note: click on each photo to enlarge)

David De Ricci 

On March 15, 1902, miner David De Ricci made a misstep, falling backward down into the east shaft 2,600 feet. “In his descent, his arms, legs, the back portion of his head and every vestige of clothes were torn from his body.”—

Los Angeles Herald, 3/16/1902

Francisco Giovannoni 

May 26, 1902 -- "A miner named Francisco Giovanoni [SIC] lost his life at the Kennedy Mine shortly after midnight on the night of May 26. The fatality was purely accidental. It occurred at the 2300 foot level of the north shaft. There were from fifteen to twenty men around there at the time. A plank 18 inches wide was in position for the men to walk to and from the shaft, and below this was a chasm thirty feet deep, made by the excavation of ore. Deceased was in the act of carrying the lunch bucket to the station when he was seen to make the fatal step off the planking, and fell to the bottom of the chute.”—Amador Ledger, May 30, 1902.

Amador Ledger, 5/30/1902

Walter Williams

June 12, 1902 - 30 year old Walter Williams was instantly killed when about 200 feet from the top of the shaft, his body came in contact with a shaft timber. He was caught on it and dragged out of the skip. His head and body were crushed between the skip and timbers. His companions C. Parker and B. Allison could not explain how the accident happened because the shaft was so dark. Williams had only worked at the mine three weeks and was new to the area. No one knew where he came from and he had no family to contact. All that was known was that he was a member of the Knights of the Pythias and was living with Henry Osborne at Kennedy Flat.

Amador Ledger, 6/13/1902

Edward Hallam

March 6, 1905 – Edward Hallam was killed at the Kennedy Mine today. He was descending a shaft from the 2400 foot level when a skip came down in another compartment. It is believed he got scared and let go his hold. He fell, breaking his neck.” – Los Angeles Herald, March 7, 1905

Los Angeles Herald, 3/7/1905

Luigi Reviera

December 7, 1909, Italian immigrant Luigi Reviera was crushed to death by several tons of rock falling on him while working at the 3,150 level of the mine with Fred Hicks. Engaged in placing a butt cap in the hanging wall above the tunnel timbers, the rocks gave way and a huge slab came down on him, killing him instantly.

Amador Ledger, 12/10/1909

James Baldwin

On February 27, 1911, James Baldwin was crushed to death while working at the 3400 level of the mine.  Baldwin and his co-workers were told to be careful working in the area that had been blasted earlier. While cleaning out the loose dirt a large mass of rock fell from above, crushing him.  Baldwin’s helper claimed he could hear Baldwin hollering that he was stuck, but given the massive amount of rock and dirt that covered him, the coroner felt death was almost instantaneous.

Amador Ledger, 3/3/1911

Janko Acimovich & Maksim Rupar

November 17, 1913 – Miners, Maksim Rupar and Janko Acimovich died from a premature explosion while in the mine shaft.  Janko Acimovich is buried at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cemetery in Jackson.  To read more about this story please click on the link to the story here:  Explosion at 3000 ft.- Accidental Deaths at the Kennedy Mine

Sacramento Union, 5/2/1914

Mike Vijovich

Mike Vijovich died in 1916, after falling 300 feet down a shaft. After straightening a mine can that had fallen on its side, he lost his footing and slipped. 

Sac Union, 6/14/1916

William Harvey & A. Targo

On December 20, 1915, the timber boss William Harvey and A Targo both met their death when they fell down the main shaft of the mine, a total of 3,900 feet.  According to the newspaper accounts, Harvey had been working in compartment 37 since 8 o’clock in the morning. As he was descending a ladder at the entrance of the shaft he became dizzy and slipped, falling. As his body was going down the shaft, just below was A. Targo, who was standing on the edge of the shaft. Harvey’s body smacked Targo’s knocking him off the edge and down the shaft with Harvey. Both died and their bodies were “badly mangled.”

Press Democrat, 12/21/1915

Peter Garcia, Liberto Mendez and Sam Martinez

On February 13, 1932, after setting up over 46 holes with dynamite (with too short of fuse) and not allowing themselves ample time to light the fuses and leave the area to safety, four men went on to spit the fuse, and by the time they lit the last fuse, the first one went off setting into motion an horrific explosion and ultimately killing three of them. Two were buried by the explosion, Garcia and Martinez dying immediately. Mendes was rescued along with the fourth miner, Felix Achavan, who were both taken to the hospital at the Preston School of Industry, but Mendez later died of his injuries. Achavan was the lone survivor of that terrible accident. 

Colusa Herald,  2/13/1932

(Copyright 2017 & 2018- J'aime Rubio, www.jaimerubiowriter.com  )

Sources: 
Los Angeles Herald, March 16, 1902

Amador Ledger, May 30, 1902

Amador Ledger, June 13, 1902

Los Angeles Herald, March 7, 1905

Amador Ledger, December 10, 1909

Amador Ledger, March 3, 1911

Sacramento Union, May 2, 1914

Press Democrat, December 21, 1915

Sacramento Union, June 14, 1916

The Urban Legends of Niles Canyon, California

Photo originally published in

Township Register Newspaper between 1947-1950

For those who grew up in the bay area of Northern California, specifically around Hayward or Fremont, tales and urban legends surrounding the area known as Niles Canyon are widely circulated. Many often wonder where or how these urban legends started, and if they were actually based on real events?  Believe it or not, just like the road through Niles Canyon, the urban legends surrounding it has some pretty exciting twists and turns.

The Vanishing Hitchhiker

“Many years ago, on the twenty-sixth of February, a young girl was killed in the canyon. Every year, on that day, she appears on the roadside, begging to be taken to her home in San Francisco. Invariably, when her kind deliverers reach the Dumbarton Bridge toll gate, she is gone. Drivers who go on to her San Francisco address are told that the same thing happens each year. Credence ranges from those who openly scoff to those who fear to drive through the canyon on February twenty-sixth.”— History of Washington Township, 1950

The urban legend of the local vanishing hitchhiker  has been going around for nearly 75 years or longer, so the stories say. According to information published by American Folklorists Richard Beardsley and Rosalie Hankey in the 1940s, they had come across 79 different, yet similar accounts of this vanishing hitchhiker all across the United States.   In 1941, the Orson Welles show aired a debut broadcast of Lucille Fletcher’s The Hitch-Hiker. In that story, both the driver and the hitchhiker were ghosts. In the 1960s, The Twilight Zone used a similar adaptation of that story for one of their episodes.

The earliest documentation I could find regarding the story in Niles Canyon, besides the mention in the History of Washington Township, was the articles in various newspapers of the time.  Bay area radio personality, Mel Vetner had also aired a program on KQW radio in 1947, mentioning the story in detail which spread the legend even further.

By February 24, 1950, the story popped up in the Township Register in Niles, although other newspapers mention the Register having ran the story every year since 1947.  The Healdsburg Tribune, dated May 5, 1950, also mentions this, and adds that on February 27, 1950, a local boy decided to head out to the canyon to play a prank on unsuspecting drivers which faired badly for him when the police showed up. After hearing of the story, 19-year-old Clarence Chivers decided to dress in his best white sheet and roam the trestle near the road in Niles Canyon pretending to be the ghost. After several cars passed by witnessing this faux entity,  many nervous and frightened people telephoned the police, who were then called to investigate the scene.

Upon arriving, the officers were met by several carloads of people stopped near the railroad trestle looking up.  One of the officers fired a warning shot, scaring Chivers enough to drop the sheet and come down off the trestle.  Although it was meant to be a harmless prank, this sparked more interest in the story than ever before, and within the next few years students from the Fremont area, especially those from Washington High School, would flock to the canyon every February 26th, trying to catch a glimpse of the alleged apparition.

I have been researching the tales of Niles Canyon for a few years now, after first hearing about it from Roland Boulware.  Roland grew up in Hayward, and being a local to the area, he was very much aware of the urban legends and folklore surrounding Niles Canyon.

“I grew up with these stories, “ Roland recalls. “I heard many stories about those of the older generation who claimed to have had their very own experiences out there back in the 1930s and 1940s.”

According to Roland, a family friend, Evangeline, told him many times that her brother claimed to have given a girl a ride in Niles Canyon back in the late 1930's.  When he noticed a young woman wandering on the road, he pulled his truck over to the side and asked her if she needed a ride. She politely accepted and hopped  into the cab of his truck. He claimed that during the middle of a friendly conversation while driving, she just vanished.   Evangeline stated that her brother talked about his experience for years, as he could not wrap his head around the fact that a young woman he believed was flesh and blood, could simply vanish into thin air.

The Woman in White 

Then there is an even older tale of the woman in white, said to have fallen off of her carriage and was run over by buggies or an early version of automobile on her way to or from a wedding. This version claims she wanders the road at night.  Both stories have all the ingredients of the standard urban legends that have been popular in western folklore for over a century. Some of the earliest stories involving such types of tales in the United States started after the Civil War, and continued on with each generation, adapting and adding things according to the time period. Of course, these sorts of stories often mirror earlier myths and legends famous in European countries for centuries, such as "Las Dames Blanches."

The question that persists is, “what if some of the origins of the stories came from real events?”

In the older version of the story, in which the woman is run over by cars, many times the last name Lowery is thrown into the mix.  This addition of the name seems to have been started by an old caretaker at the cemetery in Pleasanton. Many times he had told the story to visitors at the cemetery, as well as being quoted in a local paper that the woman’s name was Lucinda Lowery, and that she had died many years ago after being run over by cars.  The Pleasanton Memorial Gardens Cemetery index cites a "Lucinda Lowery" who purchased deed # 61, in Lot: 178, at the cemetery on September 24, 1895. It also showed that either the date of death or date of burial was September 24, 1895, the same day she purchased the plot. Something else stood out in the index, the wording, "killed by cars."

  

After further research I found that the asterisk near her name on the list meant that cemetery employees added her name to the "deceased" years later. This meant her first name was not in the original book, it only showed Lucinda as the purchaser of the plot, not necessarily the one buried there, meaning that the person buried there might not be Lucinda after all. Still, I wanted to know for sure.

For the record, besides the cemetery plot/deed index mentioning Lucinda Lowery's name and a cause of death notation under it, I had not found any records that show a lady with the last name Lowery (Lowerey, Lowrie, Lowry, etc.) having died in the area.  Let me add though that just because I haven't found it, doesn't mean it didn't happen, but the likelihood of two people with the same last name having a similar tragedy in the same local area sounds a bit far fetched.

So who was Ms. or Mrs. Lowery? Well, I kept trying to search for her in Alameda County records, to no avail.  Then I found a Mr. John Lowrie who had a large ranch near Niles in the mid 1850s.  He was a prominent man who had a lot of farm land in Niles, Centerville and Newark.  Interestingly, he and a business partner Samuel Marston, took their ship "Lady Anne" up to Alaska in 1882, where they struck gold while mining. Unfortunately on their way home their ship sank, taking not only their newfound treasure, but also their lives. According to historical write-ups, they were never heard from again.

John Lowrie Home, 1878 Atlas of Alameda County

When I saw the drawing of Mr. Lowrie's home, I was instantly pulled into the picture. I imagined perhaps this girl in the urban legends, "Ms. Lowery", could have lived there. Maybe she was his daughter? Maybe she was the girl standing on the porch in this picture? Unfortunately, that was not the case.  According to records, John didn't have a daughter named Lucinda. 

After searching the index of deaths in Alameda, I came across another person with the same last name who died in 1895. Could this be a coincidence? A man named Samuel Lowry was killed on September 4, 1895,  by the 91 train near Pleasanton when he was run over by the rail cars. His wife’s name was Lucinda. According to the September 7, 1895, issue of the San Francisco Call, it stated that he was working as a farm hand for John D. Smith. The next issue of the San Francisco Call answered some more questions.

"The Coroner's jury in the case of Samuel Lowery [Sic], the man killed by a train near Pleasanton, were unable to determine whether it was a case of suicide or not. Coroner Baldwin has received a dispatch from the wife of the deceased, who is at Ballard, Washington., stating that she has no money and asking that the remains be buried here."--- 9/8/1895- S.F. Call

What I think happened was either (a) someone in town paid for Samuel to be buried at Pleasanton Memorial Gardens and put Lucinda's name as the deed holder, or (b) she had to pay directly or even perhaps travel down to California and purchase the plot herself, thus the gap in time between Samuel's death and his burial. In reality, Lucinda didn't meet her demise in Niles Canyon, Pleasanton, Sunol or anywhere else in Alameda.

When Samuel died, Lucinda was pregnant with her first and only child. I believe that Samuel had come to California to work, perhaps in order to save for his pending family. Unfortunately, he was never able to see his son born or be reunited with his wife. Lucinda was now a 28-year-old, penniless widow with a baby on the way. I can only imagine the fear, grief and shock she must have felt to be put in that position at such a time in her life, and during that era. As the years went by, city directories show her living at a boarding house on 3rd Avenue in Ballard, Washington.

The 1910 Census shows her working as a cook, raising her son Alfred, who by that time is now a young man. By 1920, she is still a cook and Alfred is now working as a logger, helping to contribute to the household. On July 11, 1924, at the age of 57 years, Lucinda Lowry, left this world and passed on. She was buried in Section 6; Lot 38; Grave 7-A, at Bayview Cemetery in Bellingham, Washington.

So if Lucinda Lowry did not die in the canyon, then who? Over the decades, there have been numerous deaths in the Niles Canyon & Sunol area.  I have yet to find documentation of an event that quite matches either of the urban legends, but I found more deaths that are worth mentioning.

Creek in Niles Canyon (Copyright, Roland Boulware Photography)

More Deaths in Niles Canyon (or surrounding areas)

The Sacramento Daily Union dated On May 30, 1877, shows that James Sheehan, the son of P.R. Sheehan of Oakland, was killed after being run over by train cars in Niles Canyon.  Sheehan had been traveling on the late train to Stockton to attend a fireman’s picnic, when the accident occurred. He and his comrades were riding on the top of the train and while hopping from one car to the next, he slipped and fell in between the cars, immediately causing death.

On January 4, 1879, Patrick Fitzgerald, who had been missing since New Year’s Eve, was found dead in Niles Canyon. The Coroner’s inquest found that he had fallen off of a cliff 160 feet high.  Another story  thirteen years later was about Ephraim Tyson who was thrown from his wagon and run over. He died in the town of Niles back on June 9, 1892.

The San Francisco Call mentions another tragic death that occurred on July 3, 1898. Alfred Sartorius, 18, drowned while on a camping trip with friends. He was a resident of 1346 Howard Street in San Francisco. By the turn of the century there were even more stories. One mentions an unidentified Indian (Native-American) woman who was run over by the Sacramento local train, just two miles between Pleasanton and Sunol on May 10, 1900.

 “Her injuries were such that she died before she reached here, where she was brought for medical assistance. The fireman saw the woman on the track, but not in time to prevent the accident.”— Los Angeles Herald, May 11, 1900.

The stories do not stop there.  Next was a tragic story involving another sudden death of a woman in Niles Canyon.  On July 2, 1905,  a young lady by the name of Julia McQuaid lost her life while camping in Niles Canyon. The circumstances of her death were so sudden and so tragic, that it made a larger than usual headline in the newspapers.

                 

"DEATH CLOSES WOMAN’S SONG”

July 3. - Death suddenly sealed the lips of Miss Julia McQuaid last evening while she was blithely singing in a company of friends who were in camp at Niles Canyon. The distressing occurrence was the more shocking because of the attending circumstances. Miss McQuaid had been lolling in a hammock trolling a merry ditty to the enjoyment of the gay party of which she was a member. In the midst of her song, without an instant’s warning, the young woman’s voice broke with a gasp, her notes ceased and she fell from the hammock, dead into the arms of Mrs. L. G. Malloy, one of the camping company.

For a little while the stricken campers were in confusion from the shock. Efforts were made to revive their friend, but the labor was fruitless. Members of the party hastened to Niles for physicians, but they could be of no service. Nothing was left to be done except to notify the Coroner. Deputy Francis of Centerville took charge of the remains. Heart disease is supposed to have been the cause of death.  Miss McQuaid, who was 26 years old, was one of a number of young people from San Francisco who had established a summer camp at Niles Canyon, naming it “Camp Frisco.” The party has abandoned its outing on account of the sad occurrence.”— San Francisco Call, July 4, 1905

 

San Francisco Call, July 4, 1905

Julia McQuaid was the daughter of Julia and John McQuaid of Virginia City.  Julia was born on October 1, 1876, in Virginia City, Nevada.  Her last place of residence was at 60 Harriett Street in San Francisco.  According to funeral records, her funeral took place at St. Roses Church and interment at the Holy Cross Cemetery.  The cause of death noted on the record states “Valvular Heart Disease.”  She was 28 years, 8 months and 4 days old. 

I have often wondered if somehow the story of Julia McQuaid’s sudden and shocking death in Niles Canyon could have initially inspired the tragic story of the ‘lady in white’ over the years? Even despite the fact she did not die from being run over from cars as the legend puts it,  Julia’s death was still a terrible tragedy, and one I am certain was spoken about for a long time in the local area.

On May 23, 1906, Stockton resident, William Harris died from his injuries after falling off a trestle in Niles Canyon late that previous evening after inspecting his daily work with his lantern before planning to retire for the night. All the other members of the surveying party had gone to bed, so no one knew he had gone missing until they found him the next morning. He had fallen 30 feet and lay there until he was found and later died.  He was an employee of Western Pacific Railroad.

Just a year later, two men were killed when the five mile tunnel of the Western Pacific near Niles Canyon had a cave-in. Pete Colozzi, 50, and Nick Neanravioch, 40, suffocated from noxious gases underground when the tunnel caved in around them on October 26, 1907.  

By February of 1910, another shocking death occurred when a Western Union lineman, Michael Farrelly was electrocuted while strapped at the top of a pole in Niles Canyon.  After making physical contact with what was usually a harmless wire, but when the current hit it, it ran through him causing death. 

The newspaper described his last seconds, “for a few moments Farrelly’s body writhed and swayed in the air, then fell limply alongside the pole.”  His body was taken to the parlors of J.C. O’Connor & Co, at 770 Turk Street. A “requiem mass” was held at  Mission Delores Church, and then his body was taken to the Holy Cross Cemetery for interment.  Michael Andrew Farrelly was 36 years old, and a native of Athlone, County Westmeath, Ireland. Then there was the sudden death of Alfred Fletcher, who was only 14 years old at the time. During a family camping trip, Alfred tumbled off of a rock in the canyon and sustained internal injuries. He lingered for two hours before finally taking his last breath on the evening of August 17, 1922.

With all the deaths I found in Niles and the surrounding areas, I also found several non-fatal accidents that took place.  First to note, a lady by the name of Annie Londonderry who was injured on April 11, 1895, during a bicycling accident in Niles Canyon after being hit by a horse drawn carriage.  Although she was hurt, she did not die from her injuries.

Years later in 1927, the newspapers reported a couple who crashed their vehicle at the “four corners.” Mr. and Mrs. Peter Mallegol of Livermore, were on their way to vacation in Santa Cruz when their vehicle  overturned while rounding the turn near Sunol. Mr. Mallegol was trapped under the car, suffering from a broken collar bone when he felt burning liquid hitting his face. It was battery acid that was pouring from the car and into his eyes.  Thankfully the couple was saved by passing motorists who stopped to offer assistance. Both were taken to Judson Hospital. The newspapers stated that they were expected to make a full recovery. The physician treating Mr. Mallegol, Dr. W.E. Judson, claimed that he was not expected to be permanently blinded from the accident.

Of course there were plenty more accidents involving deaths and non-fatal injuries but I simply could not list all of them.  The last one I will mention though, happened on November 30, 1931, in Niles Canyon.  The headline read, “Man Escapes From Freak Automobile Accident,” and the story itself was something that you would expect from a highly suspenseful movie.  According to the Livermore Journal dated December 3, 1931, a  man named Charles Ellington narrowly escaped death after his car skidded over the wet pavement along the road in Niles Canyon. Ellington, a cook in a local Niles restaurant, was traveling through the canyon when he lost control of his vehicle and slid off the road and down the 25 foot embankment, rolling his vehicle not once, but three times.

 

Murphy’s Law was certainly going to have its way with Mr. Ellington that night because his vehicle landed on the worst possible spot,  the north end of the Western Pacific tunnel No.1,  right on top of the railroad tracks. By nothing short of a miracle, the newspaper reported that Ellington managed to exit the vehicle uninjured and leapt out of the car “just a minute or so before an on-coming freight crashed into the car.” The vehicle was pushed through the tunnel with the train completely demolishing it. The car was then thrown to the side upon the train’s exit out of the tunnel.  When it was all said and done, Ellington claimed that he knew it was a miracle that he survived at all that day.

                 

Going back to the legend, The Argus, a newspaper in Fremont, published an article back on February 26, 1976, mentioning several accounts and reiterating the old local folklore.  One such account that stood out in my mind was that of a man from Centerville named Fred Rogers.  His experience was not on the road, but near the creek in Niles Canyon. He claimed that on a “cold February morning” he “saw a girl in a white gown, combing her long, black  hair.” He mentioned that she was sitting on a rock near the creek and that when he decided to walk in her direction to get a closer look, she just disappeared. He was very adamant about his experience, and also stated that he could “pick her out of a crowd” if he ever saw her again.

The same article mentions Robert Townsley, Ph.D., who was said to be from the California Society for Physical Study, and who conducted a research about this story back in 1968. Dr. Townsley claimed the entire thing was just a “publicity stunt.”  He believed that the story centered in Niles Canyon was actually much older than most expected, and that it may have actually originated on a road from Oakland to San Jose, and not in Niles Canyon at all.  As he claimed, the story was either “adapted” or was simply made up to coincide with the present area. 

There have been reports of sightings of a ‘lady in white’ along Redwood Road in Castro Valley, which runs  North to the Oakland area. Could that be the road in which all the legends originated?

I do believe that these urban legends had some type of origin. Whoever started the Niles Canyon story must have been influenced by a legend he or she had heard, perhaps from there or even another town or area, with similar details. Most stories come from some fact based account, and over the years it develops into larger than life tales. Whether it be heard around a bonfire while camping or told as a bedtime story while you are tucked away in a warm bed on a dark stormy night, these stories intrigue and instill fear.

Unfortunately, the direct origins of the vanishing hitchhiker or the lady in white stories attached to Niles Canyon continue to remain just out of our grasp, for now.  With that being said,  I hope that by highlighting the real stories that took place there, and by shedding light on those people who tragically lost their lives in Niles Canyon and the surrounding areas, that those individuals will never be forgotten again.  --- Chapter 18, of "Stories of the Forgotten: Infamous, Famous & Unremembered," by J'aime Rubio (Copyright 2016)

To read more stories like this one, please check out my book "Stories of the Forgotten," available on Amazon. 

Path in Niles Canyon - (Copyright, Roland Boulware Photography)

Sources:

U.S. Census Records, 1910, 1920; Seattle Directory, 1897, 1899; “History of Washington Township,” authored by the Country Club of Washington Township, Second Edition, 1950; “California Folklore Quarterly,” (Vol. I, No.4, Vol. II, No. 1, Vol. II, No. 4), Richard Beardsley and Rosalie, Hankley;  Pleasanton Memorial Gardens, Deeds and Burial Records, page 39; 1878 Atlas of Alameda County; Township Register (1947-1950); Healdsburg Tribune, May 5, 1950, August 18, 1922; “Haunted San Francisco: Ghost Stories From The City’s Past,”- Rand Richards; “Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and their Meanings,”- Jan Harold Brunvand; “Around Sunol,”- Victoria Christian, February 26, 2007; “Niles Canyon Ghost Revealed,”- David Mostardi, February 26, 2012; Find-a-grave; The Fremont Argus, February 26, 1976;  San Francisco Call, (6/1/1877, 9/7/1895, 9/8/1895, 4/12/1898, 7/4/1898, 7/4/1905, 7/5/1905, 5//24/1906, 10/26/1907, 5/15/1909, 2/6/1910, 2/7/1910); Sac Daily Union, January 6, 1879, August 7, 1879; Sacramento Union, May 27, 1906, October 27, 1907, February 6, 1910; Daily Alta California, June 1, 1877; Marin County Tocsin, June 18, 1892; Los Angeles Herald, May 11, 1900; Livermore Journal, June 15, 1927, December 3, 1931; Interview with Roland Boulware.