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John McLure Jr. was a prominent riverboat captain, steamboat builder and delegate to the first Wheeling statehood convention in the 1800s - does his spirit still roam the halls of his Wheeling Island home?
What happens when Wheeling’s history doesn’t die? Listen to Wheeling Haunts each Monday in October to find out!
Hosted by Alex Panas and Cassie Minder, Wheeling Haunts will take listeners on a journey into homes in Wheeling that have a lot of history…and a few ghost stories too!
Each week, Alex and Cassie will talk with local historians who will provide information about each home and the people who once lived there. They will also chat with current residents who will share bone-chilling stories that can quite be explained.
For more podcasts by Wheeling Heritage Media: https://weelunk.com/multimedia/podcasts/
Welcome to the first episode of the Wheeling Haunts Podcast. I'm Alex.
And I'm Cassie. And in these episodes, we're going to be going through four houses in Wheeling all over the Wheeling area, talking to local historians learning the history behind them, but also finding out what makes them spooky.
Before we get into our first episode, today we thought it would be fun to just introduce you to who we are behind the mics and what you can expect a little bit over the next few weeks. My name is Alex. I'm the Program Manager here at Wheeling Heritage. And I am the managing editor of Weelunk. So if you follow any of our content, I get to work with that and local writers. And when it comes to spooky season, I like to consider myself an open-minded skeptic. I've never had any spooky experiences myself, but I love hearing other people's stories. And the more I listen, the more open I become. And maybe one day I'll see a ghost and we'll believe. So that's me. How about you, Cassie? Do you believe in ghosts?
Yes. So I definitely believe in ghosts. Hi, everyone. I'm Cassie. I am the Communications and Development Manager here at Wheeling Heritage. I grew up in a house that was haunted. So we had some encounters when I was younger and growing up in the house. My dad's lived there for many, many years before that, and he can tell you stories of living there. He knew the lady who we believe is the ghost: we call her Aunt Ella. She's great. Shout out to her. But yeah, we've had some spooky encounters there, and I think one thing to realize, especially when we're going through this, these stories is that even though a house could be haunted, as people would say, doesn't mean it's scary. A lot of encounters you have could be neutral or positive experiences for people. It doesn't always have to be those negative, scary experiences.
Yeah, it's not like a thriller, like horror film.
Yeah, like the movies you think of, so.
Yeah, I hope. I don't know about you, Cassie. But I hope our listeners just come into this with an open mind. And whether you're into the spooky stories, or whether you like old house history, I hope that there's a little something for everyone. What do you think?
Exactly. And I hope some people may realize that maybe they did have an encounter with something and they never put two and two together that it could have been something more supernatural and it opens their mind to this whole world out there that people believe in and maybe it'll get some believers too.
Yeah, well, tis the season. It's October. So well, let's get into our first episode. So today we're going to be looking at 203 South Front Street. That is a house located along the river on Wheeling Island, and we are talking with a lady by the name of Mary Ellen Bennett. She's owned this home for decades, had a really interesting pull to the house, and I can't wait for everyone to hear our talk with her. We also talked with Taylor Abbott, and he is, I call him the local boat boy because he loves Ohio River history, has a long family history on the Ohio River, and he was the best person to talk about history of this home. And it might not make sense right away, but once you hear the interviews, you'll definitely understand the connection.
Let's get started. We're excited for you to meet Mary Ellen.
So we're in the studio today with Mary Ellen Bennett. And she is going to tell us about her experience living in a possibly spooky house. So Mary Ellen, you have owned 203 South Front Street for how long?
21 years.
Well tell me what attracted you to the property, and what were some of your favorite features of it that drew you to it initially?
Well, I'll never forget the first time I saw it. I'd been looking around Wheeling for a location, thinking about doing fine dining. And I had a chef on board at that time. So I was driving all around Wheeling and all of a sudden I thought I have not been to Wheeling Island to look, and I came across the suspension bridge, made a left, came down South Front Street, and there on the corner of South Front and Ohio Street set this house covered in vines. The front porch was rotting off of the building. And I looked at it, and I fell in love, and I made the biggest mistake they say with real estate which is: don't let your heart make your decisions for you, use your head not your heart. Well, I didn't do that. But I've never regretted it.
Yeah, so you've been there for over 20 years.
Right.
What were some of the features once you got inside the house, what really drew you to it and made you fall more in love with it?
It was amazing. I went up on the porch and tried to look in the windows, but this is how bad of shape the house was in: There were rotted places on the porch, you had to be careful because you would fall through. So I looked in the windows, and I thought this place is gorgeous, called the realtor, and when he took me inside, I was just amazed at the architecture. There's windows that are 10 feet tall, French doors that are 10 feet tall. I think six mantles, the original mantles in there, one of the mantles just as you go in the front door is really, really breathtaking. So that happen, and I kept telling myself, "You must be crazy to want this house." But I bought it, and it all fell together, and within a month, I was sitting on the steps of the house thinking, "What have I done?"
What was the process of restoring that house like since it needed quite a bit of work, I assume, over the 20-plus years you lived there?
I cannot really remember. I know, the first thing I had to do was working on the outside, repairing the porch. And at that point, I still didn't even know what I was going to do inside. But then I decided that I was going to do receptions and small parties, baby showers, weddings showers, that sort of thing. So I started working on the first floor and got that ready.
And tell me more about how you've used the space over the years. You said you had fine dining in mind. You use it for receptions. Tell me kind of the lifespan of how you've used the house over time.
Well, the fine dining did not happen. And so that's why I thought, "Well, I think people would use this place for family get-togethers." I think 40 people was my capacity at that time. So that went very well, but it was a lot of work, and a lot of hard work. And I still had a full-time job. So then I heard about people doing "paint and sip." And I've always had an interest in art and painted my whole life. And I was walking through the house thinking, "Boy, I can see this happening here because it's such a nice place to come." And so my daughter Jessie Wheaton is an artist, also. So that was 2011. We started Moon River Studio in the house. I also did tea parties for little girls, dress up tea parties at one time. And they were great. I had all the dresses, the jewelry, the shoes, everything. And a lot of the time, the people that I had done wedding showers for and then a few years later I did baby showers for them, then I had their little children coming back for tea parties. So that worked out really well.
Yeah, that sounds like it was a special place, not just for you, but the community got to enjoy it too.
Exactly.
And they kept coming back for more. Can you recall anything that former customers or visitors have said about the house? What drew them to it? Or did you think they just liked a cool space to hang out and have their parties?
I think I always heard comments, it would just be "We love to come here." And people would sometimes say "It's just such a great energy in this house." If you'd like history, you know, to look around, you can kind of imagine what it was like back in the 1860s in that house.
Yeah. So tell me how did you come to learn more about the history of the home?
Um, I think the first person that really told me about the house was Joe Figaretti, and I met him at their shop up in North Wheeling. And he used to actually dress up in a top hat with a cane and tails and take people on walking tours through North Wheeling, and come across the suspension bridge, and he added my house to his tour. So I got to know Joe that way, and he was a wealth of information. And then Jeanne Feinstein, of course, the friends of Wheeling, and Judy...
Judy Hendricks.
Did a lot of research on my house, and she's kind of took a special interest in it. And she shared her research with me.
What were some of the things that you learned about Captain McLure that really stood out to you?
I think I was impressed by Captain McLure because he was into so many different things. Actually, may I back up a little bit here and say the house was built by Daniel Zane, for his daughter, and she was married to Hans Phillips. Captain McLure became involved with Hans Phillips, and they built riverboats together, actually in front of my house on Wheeling Island, down on the shore there, they built river boats. And then Captain McLure was involved when the capital of West Virginia was moved from Wheeling to Charleston. Captain McLure transported all the paperwork and everything from Wheeling to Charleston on his riverboats.
Yeah, it seemed like he was very pro-Wheeling, so, we love that.
And he was very, just a very colorful person. Of course, he was a union person, during the Civil War, but there were a couple of people in Wheeling, a few people here that were confederate. And he was known to really give them a hard time. As a matter of fact, one story I read, he took a cannon and put it under this man's window at his house, and would fire the cannon to drive the guy crazy, and the guy finally left. So Captain McLure was, you know, definitely a person to learn more about in Wheeling.
Yeah. I can't imagine like what the version of that is today, just like playing your music really loud, but with cannons.
Yeah, yeah, he was. I was trying to think of some of the other stories about him, but he had, I think, 11 children.
Wow.
With two different wives.
Was that scandalous for his time, I wonder? No wonder the house is so big, it had to fit all those people.
So do you feel a connection with Captain McLure when you're in the house?
I do. I feel a connection with Captain McLure, and other people have had the same experience. And they'll say, "Don't you feel like he's here? I feel like he's still here." And I've had some things happen. That I remember, I had mentioned this to you. But at one point, I was going to put the house up for sale, and I was standing in the kitchen talking to my friend, and I was holding a glass tray, and I said, "As soon as we finish up in here, I'm going to go out and put the 'for sale' sign in front of the house." And when I said that, the glass tray just exploded. It was a tray from the refrigerator. And I could just feel these shards of glass come up. I could not believe what had happened, and I looked at my friend, and I said, "Well, maybe I won't sell it." So you know, but but things like that. No, I never did see anything. I never saw any apparitions or anything like that. It was just a feeling that you would get sometimes.
It sounds like he was connected to you and respected how you treated his house.
There have been times, and I actually have started writing a book about it, because it's been such a profound experience. There have been times that I have felt that I was drawn to that house and that maybe, maybe, I lived there in another lifetime or had some connection to it in another lifetime.
Do you feel any coincidence happened? Because of that connection?
Well, the most amazing, if you want to call it a coincidence, but I don't think you can really call it a coincidence, is when someone hit my fence with their car and damaged my iron fence, and I was looking for someone to repair the fence. So I was given the name of a man here in Wheeling, and I kept putting off calling him, but one day I pulled in in front of the house and looked at the damage fence and I thought "That's it. Right now, I'm going to call him." And I sat in my car and made the phone call. Well, when I called this gentleman he was actually at Mount Wood Cemetery, inside the grave monument of Captain McLure. He heard his phone ringing. And when he came out, he called me back. We didn't put two and two together until later because he didn't know that Captain McLure owned my house. But he came down to see the house and the fence and as we were talking, I mentioned Captain McLure, and he said "You're kidding me. I was inside his grave monument, repairing it, when you called me." And one other interesting point to that is from Captain McLure's grave, when the leaves are off in the fall, you can look down from there and see the home on the Island.
Wow.
Yes, like what is it? Is it a coincidence? Is that a connection? What? How do you kind of make sense of that? Do you? Did you believe in ghosts before any of these experiences or like special connections to places? Or has this kind of shifted your perspective?
Oh, this definitely shifted my perspective. I would say I was open and interested, but I had never had anything like what's happened to me since I owned this home. It's really been wonderful. It's been a wonderful experience, the whole 20 years have been just, and so that's why I feel that I was drawn to the house. Did Captain McLure have anything to do with that? I do not really know, but also, the gentleman that I mentioned, who who did the repairs on on his monument, he feels a connection to Captain McLure. And he has actually written things, describing the river boats and what it was like. Captain McLure transported soldiers during the Civil War on his river boats. So this fellow seems to really have a connection with Captain McLure, too.
Assuming that your home stands for more than 150 more years. What are your hopes for the home?
Well, I hope someone can completely restore it to the way it was and maintain it so that the people in Wheeling can continue to enjoy it and come there and know about Captain McLure because he really is kind of unknown. But he was a very colorful character. And he deserves to have his story told. So I'm happy to have this opportunity to talk about him, and I think he's happy, too.
Yeah, well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and talking to us a little bit about your experience. And we hope that Captain McLure is with us too and that we did him justice.
It was great. Thank you for having me.
Is there anything else you want to add? Or any other stories you want to tell?
Ah, boy...
If not, it's okay.
No, I think this has been great. And if you ever do it again, I hope I get to come back.
Thanks.
Yeah. Awesome. Thank you so much.
You're welcome.
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So, we just heard from Mary Ellen Bennett on the McLure House on Wheeling Island, and now we're here with Taylor Abbott. He is our local historian going over Captain McLure and the McLure house. So Taylor, tell us a little bit about your interest in boating and the Ohio River history.
So my family has had about 200 years of river history. They first came down the Allegheny in the early 1800s, and eventually settled in the 1820s in Clarington. They came down using flat boats, like many settlers did, so that history then became, you know, once you lived along the river as boats and development happened, so too, they got involved with the river. So my family quickly became boat builders, farmers, everything was tied to the river, and eventually as the steam era came to be, they became engineers, river captains, crew members, etc. So, Captain Reuben Thomas was my third great grandfather. He actually lived here in Wheeling just a few blocks away from Captain McLure on 110 South Broadway, which was on Wheeling Island as well. So I'm sure looking back at the period and the people that they associated with, there's no doubt that my great great grandfather and Captain McLure ran around in the same circles together. So Clarington and Wheeling history all ties together because they were they were both building towns and they had a lot of prominent river people.
"River Runs Through It" as you're Weelunk series suggests.
Absolutely.
So tell me what initially got you interested in this specific part of our area's history. You obviously have the family connection, but when did you particularly say like "Alright, this is my hobby. This is my interest, and I want to pursue it"?
Just growing up, my family is a river family. So, my grandmother's uncle was a, he designed model boats that were built off of blueprints that his father used to build actual steamboats. So, you know, growing up, tied into the river Museum at Marietta, and my own family's history, and being along the river, it was just something that I was always immersed in. And I look at, you know, Wheeling's sort of the capital of the Ohio Valley, it's where a lot of things began in this region. So Fort Henry, and that early beginning here in Wheeling, it's such a fascinating history and, you know, Wheeling shares that I think in a very great way. You know, I look back and I look at, you know, 1794, that's when US Mail started arriving in Wheeling. And that was by small boat, of course, and then, as things transitioned and more people came into the region, boatyards started springing up. So Pittsburgh had one, Brownsville had one, and then Wheeling. And there was such an abundant supply of hardwood forests that were perfect for producing keel boats, flat boats, barges and other small vessels. So that was sort of an early economic driving force around here. I like one of the stories. One of the most famous expeditions in the country was Lewis and Clark's, and Wheeling played sort of a part in that because he had requested that a boat be built, which is called a pirogue, he asked for one in July of 1803, and took possession of it here in Wheeling in September of that same year. And then when he saw it, he actually purchased a second one that was here, so Wheeling played a part in Lewis and Clark's expedition. And then when you look at National Road, and it terminating, actually at the Waterfront in 1818, so you had all these people and the influx of people coming and immigrants moving through the region, boat builders here kept keel boats for sale along, near what would have been Ninth Street. Those were sold to these people that were wanting to journey westward. So, you know, Wheeling has that long connection with the river, and it being sort of its centerfold between it and the Island and everything day-to-day activities. That River was sort of the the heartbeat of it.
Hard to imagine now, just like how integral the river was to what Wheeling was at the time, because now we use it mostly for recreation and a little bit of industry. But that's cool to think back about what it once was.
Right. And you know, with boat building, 1815 Wheeling really solidified its place and that history. When Henry M Shrieve, he constructed the first steamboat here, which was called the Washington, that was only the eighth steamboat ever created at that point in time in the US. So it was constructed on the north bank of Wheeling Creek, sort of in the vicinity of where WesBanco Arena is. And early accounts try to claim that the timbers used for this vessel were actually from Fort Henry, which I disagree with that because I think Fort Randolph was a much more likelier scenario because it was actually positioned right at the mouth of Wheeling Creek. And if you look at a lot of the historical accounts, Fort Henry was probably already torn down and raised by this point. So Fort Randolph seems to be a much more logical conclusion that those were the timbers that were used for it. But more importantly, that type of a steamboat, that was the prototype for every future steamboat made in the US with a stern wheel and the steam engines that were used. So literally Wheeling was the birthplace of the American style of steamboats that we've come to recognize today.
Wow, that's cool that there's that connection of where the ships, like the wood actually came from. So that's really neat.
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, there again, you're utilizing anything you could at that point to produce what you were looking to produce. And if the if the wood wasn't available, then, you know, well, here's this fort. We don't really need it anymore, we're no longer in fear of an attack. So let's, you know, let's recycle it and that had happened in a lot of cases.
Did you know much about Captain McLure before being invited on the podcast? I know you said you have that connection.
Yeah, when you look at Wheeling, prominent river families, you know, you look at the McLure's, you look at the Shreves, all these families, the Booths, the Anschutz, all these families that had really not just river ties, but business ties and John McLure, you know, he cemented his name in the city's history. And that's someone that, you know, that I look to and really like to research because he's such an interesting, fascinating character.
So what were some of the interesting tidbits of information that you' were able to dig up on old Captain McLure during your research for coming on?
So one of the things I like, he literally was born in the era of steamboats. He was born the following year that the Washington was built, and I think he was four months old when he was brought to Wheeling by his father and his mother. His, you know, he's John McLure Jr., but you assume that his father's name is John McLure Sr. but it's not, his father was actually Andrew, his namesake is John McLure Sr. who was his uncle and was actually the builder of the McLure Hotel here in Wheeling in the 1850s. So, when Captain McLure started out, he was 16, he became an apprentice learning to build steam engines. And typically that was normal. When you started out in a trade like that you would work your way up into other positions. So it was not unusual for young men to start out, being an apprentice in this line of work, and then working their way into being a deckhand, pilot, engineer, captain. So he was like many young men that started out, the river called to him, and a lot of river people like me, once the river is in your blood, it never leaves it. So you're, you're constantly, you know, associating yourself with it. And that was not unlike, Captain McLure. So, around the 1840s, he took command of his first steamer, which was the apple of the Amazon, excuse me. And he also partly owned that vessel. Around the same period, he married Elizabeth Campbell, and he had eight children with her and I think the marriage was in 1841. And he stayed with her until her death in 1881. So, you know, he had a really common start for young men at that point, but he had a vision. And he, I think, financially was very savvy about how he wanted to, you know, do business and conduct business. So, in 1845, he actually partnered with William Dunlevy, and he and Dunlevy opened the Dunlevy-McLure Boat Yard, which would be right, located in present-day Wheeling at like Sixth Street, between Sixth and Fifth Street. Back then I think they were called Franklin and North Street. Some of the streets were named after presidents or founding fathers. So they've now kind of went away and now they become Sixth Street, Fifth Street. They're numbered. In the other well-known yards that were around those boat yards here on the North Shore, North Wheeling, Sweeney and Sons, Pemberton Steamboats Elijah Murray's Yard, these boat yards were turning out several boats a season. They used the hardwoods off the hills, it was just a convenient place and they could launch them into the river. But for all his work and partnering with Dunlevy to produce boats, he ultimately decided to much rather be a river captain. But I think part of it was that he also, it was a matter of economics, he saw the writing on the wall. By 1850, these hills around Wheeling were almost barren. The hardwoods had been stripped down because the city was expanding, and they're using boats. So boat builders, actually, at that point, had to have the halls built elsewhere and then towed back to Wheeling where finishing carpenters could come install the engines, do the finishing carpentry work, put the furnishings in. So I would say it came down to dollars and cents, and in the logistics of building a steamboat. So he quickly got out of the boat building and went on to have his own vessels built and became captain of his own vessels. And he used that over the course of his career. It's estimated between 18 and 20 vessels give or take a few, and many of these vessels, you know, they're hard to find even photographs because they were so early in boat building history and steamboat history. So when you're when you're researching, it's really hard to get a feel for what these boats look like. In my mind, I can see because they would have been a typical style of steamboat but having/finding pictures of them is not an easy task, either.
[End Part 1]
[Start Part 2]
So, let's turn to Captain McLure's house on the island. Can you tell us a little bit about what you were able to find out about that specific house and maybe how it's changed a bit over the years?
Yeah, so the house was, I think, originally constructed--It's one of the earliest homes built on Wheeling Island--I think it was in the eight- like 1853 in that period when it first was constructed, I believe by the Zane family. It was typical federal style. It wasn't the fancy ornate structure that we see today. It was only after Captain McLure took possession of the home that he really transitioned it into the more grand structure that it is today. You know, and from that, you know, when the home was built, just prior to it being built, the Wheeling suspension bridge opened up in 1849. And that really opened the floodgates (No pun intended, being Wheeling Island) but it did open the floodgates to becoming a more fluent place to live in Wheeling. You were getting out of the hustle and bustle of Downtown, and you could really get into this more quiet area which had plenty of land, vacant land. And that really opened it up to where these beautiful homes started to be constructed. So I think it's certainly fair to say that the influence of Lou's living there was evident through not only the size, but the architectural details that they incorporate into these new homes. One of my favorite, I think, additions that Captain McLure did was add the third floor dormer and like many river captains that lived along the river, they always had a high vantage point. And I can't prove it, but I could certainly probably easily conclude that he built that for not just viewing but he wanted to see what was going on with the wharf. He wanted to see if his boats were passing by. He could then look up river and actually see the boat yard. So most river captains like him, one, Henry Knox and Marietta at the it's an older home called the Anchorage. It has a large Belvedere, which was his look out. He would go up there with his telescope and look down and see the boats being built at Harmer Village. So I can only assume that Captain McLure spent a lot of time peering out that window looking out to see what was going on with the wharf and seeing how many boats were there and seeing the activity. So, and that was very, very common for a river captain to have that vantage point if he lived along the river, which almost all of them did.
So the age old question here, do you believe in spirits?
I do. Yeah,there's many old homes that I've been in, in old buildings, you you always feel presence and, you know, I can only imagine stepping foot into that stately of a home and the history that it has. I can only imagine you would definitely feel some sort of presence that either Captain McLure or one of the previous owners. Without a doubt, I'm sure that they're still there. And as Mary Ellen alluded to, in her conversations, you know, she's had experiences there, and I truly believe it. There probably is some sort of an energy or spirit that lives within a lot of these old homes. Because, you know, who knows, we all spend a lot of time in our own homes. And if we, you know, when we die, do does that energy transfer or does something happen? You know, we'll never know until it happens. But I truly think that there, there is truth in spirits keeping watch over older homes, and you hear different stories of someone being woken up in the night that there was a fire in their house and that they they heard someone say something, it's odd coincidental occurrences that really can't be explained. So, I would say that that house definitely has some sort of presence within.
Well, thank you so much for providing that much needed historical context to this amazing story. And thanks for coming on the podcast.
Thank you. I appreciate it.
Yeah. So Taylor, you're obviously a big boat boy, and are involved in some Ohio River history on the Ohio side of things. Do you want our listeners to know anything, any information on where they can learn more about boating history in this area?
Yeah, the Ohio River Museum in Marietta is a really great resource. That Museum has been there since 1941. I'm a board member and part of the sons and daughters of Pioneer Rivermen, which they have a great wealth of knowledge and access to resources. And then I'm also president of the Ohio Valley River Museum, which we are currently planning to build a new facility at Hannibal Oxen dam in the next couple of years. And we're deeply tied into the design phase, and we're working with an architect right now to finalize blueprints and detail. So we'll have that history of Wheeling and the ties that it has to Clarington and Monroe County, definitely featured within this new facility when we have constructed. So all of this history is going to be tied together real soon.
That's exciting. Well, we're excited to follow that. We'll put links to all of that in our show notes. And then if anyone else is interested in learning a little bit more about Ohio River history, Taylor has also written several amazing articles on Weelunk and will be sure to link those in the show notes too, if you want to read a little bit more from Taylor. All right, Cassie, what do you think? What do we think about Mary Ellen's house?
I would definitely say there's a little bit of spooky things going on. I love the connection that she has to the house and how she felt a pool when she just went ahead and looked at it. And then to find out the history behind it, and kind of think maybe there is someone there that attracted her, that gave her that feeling of "this is the house I want to buy" and make into what it is today.
Yeah, whenever she was talking about how she was calling to get the iron gate repaired. And the fact that he was in the mausoleum while he was on the phone with her is insane. Like there's definitely some sort of connection like Captain McLure is definitely wanting to make his presence known, if you asked me.
Oh, yeah. And that's the thing about like, anything supernatural is there are these unexplained things that happen, and how do you make sense of it? And that's, I think, where people can sometimes freak out or they go into really believing, and if you freak out, you don't want to believe it, you don't want to address it and just move on. But I think the people with the open mind, like Mary Ellen, going in there, and when she mentioned the glass tray breaking that she was holding when she was talking about selling the house, I think her being there so long and taking care of the house, Captain McLure has built this connection with her to show her that he appreciates everything she's doing to take care of his house.
Yeah. And you know, what listeners didn't get to hear is, you know, we've gotten to know Mary Ellen quite a bit in the production of this podcast. And if you become a VIP listener, and get to see some behind the scenes shots from her house, you can definitely see that there's a lot of love in there. And she has really taken the time over the past couple of decades to keep this house in as good of shape as any one person could, because she was doing it primarily on her own. So I think that's fantastic.
Definitely.
And it was just so cool to talk to Taylor too. I think his insight really put everything into context to just show, you know, we knew that there was probably the presence of Captain McLure there, but just knowing how dedicated Captain McLure was to Wheeling and to the river and everything else that was happening at the time, like it makes sense why he would stick around in the afterlife.
It definitely seemed like, from Mary Ellen and Taylor's interviews, that Captain McLure loved Wheeling. And that's what you were saying. He wanted to stick around. There's a reason he wanted to stick around, and I think it's just so cool.
And it was also just interesting learning about like the industry at the time. I, you know, I'm not the biggest history buff, but I love learning about it. So it was really cool to hear about what Wheeling was like at that time, and how vibrant of a hub that it was in the shipping industry and boating--I guess what would that be called? boating? shipping?
It's an active River.
Yeah. Big boat boy. Yeah. Big boat place. Yeah, so I just loved hearing from them both, and, I don't know, this episode is going to be hard to top. I think that it's a good one.
Yeah.
So now is the question of the day: Is it haunted? (How haunted is it?)
I'm definitely saying yes. As soon as we got there. As a slight boat girl myself, I definitely was like, had some feelings, like just getting out of the car and seeing the house and knowing the history behind it. I definitely think there's something there. And maybe it was just the air was a little thicker. I don't know. I definitely think something's there though.
How would you rate it on it on a scale of 1 to 10. 10 being the most haunted, 1 being the least haunted?
Oh, man. I would give it like, a 7. Just because, I guess, I haven't been able to experience anything physically happening in the house or see anything, but just that feeling and that presence. And I think I would rate it probably a 7. It's pretty high up there.
Yeah, I'm gonna rate it an 8.
Yeah?
Because I think that there's clearly something there. I think he's a friendly ghost, thankfully, but I think that just with all of the occurrences that have happened with Mary Ellen, like, Captain McLure is there and he wants his presence to be known. He's subtle about it in some situations, but he's there, so I'm gonna say 8. And if I would ever give anything a 10, it's like, creepy scary.
Yeah.
In my opinion. I give it an 8 because it's the most haunted, but also like the most friendly ghost.
Yes.
Listeners, what do you think? Give us your ratings. You can visit the link in our show notes to leave us a voicemail. If you have any comments or feedback on this episode, or if you have your own haunted story, you can leave us a message and you might be featured on an upcoming episode of the podcast.
And that concludes our show. Catch us next Monday for another Wheeling Haunt.
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Until next time, stay spooky!