Friday, June 25, 2010

Local haunts - The Sherman House



This article comes from www.examinor.com

June 25, 10:20 AM Central Wisconsin Paranormal Examiner Kathie Kessler

Blog Owner's Note: The Sherman House is also called The Cottage.

The year was 1982 and Tim and Louise Mulderdink purchased a beautiful 2 story 125 year old clapboard house in Plover, WI with the intentions fulfilling their dream and turning it into a restaurant.

Remodeling and renovations began as would be expected. New wiring, plumbing, roof, and Tim who had an extensive background in food management and catering set to turning the old garage into a new kitchen area.

They named the restaurant “The Sherman House” partly to honor one of it's most historical previous residents, Eugene A. Sherman who owned the home in 1891 and operated the local sawmill and general store. Now over a century later, the restaurant was opening, in his name.

About a month after opening strange things started to happen. Wine glasses would explode for no reason. Sometimes it was one glass in the middle of a row of glasses, sometimes it would be just as the bartender sat the drink on the bar to serve a patron, other times it would happen in the kitchen while they were in the cleaning racks. It happened so often the Mulderdinks called the glass manufacturer who came to check the glasses for defects, and could find none.

The heavy front door seemed to have a mind of it's own and would open of it's own accord, even when locked. It got to the point where Tim would hear it and call out “Come on in Mr. Sherman I'll buy you a drink”. But no one was ever there.

The mantle clock behind the bar would strike 13 at midnight. The cleaning lady was so terrified of the place she carried a bible with her, claiming pots and pans rattled in the kitchen and she saw shadows. She eventually quit.

The Mulderdinks were still skeptical and assumed there was a reasonable explanation for the events, until one night when Louise was closing up. She took the days receipts and cash to her upstairs and began to finish her paperwork, leaving the office door open. It closed. She walked over to reopen it, and noticed the banquet room door which was always closed, was open. Then came the heavy footsteps down the hall.

Louise quickly finished up, locked the safe, turned out all the lights and closed the doors and made a hasty retreat from the building. She went around back to where her car was parked and heard a distinct tapping from the upstairs window, and the office light was back ON. Not wanting to return to the building she went home, the next morning, the light was off again.

This event sent them to do some research on the property, so they contacted the local historian and found the only death recorded in the house was a 2 day old infant. However, ALL the previous owners were strict Methodists teetotalers, and staunchly against the use of alcohol, especially the Pierce family who owned the house from 1903-1945. James Pierce was the local grocer who regularly had deacons meet at his home. No wonder Mr. Pierce was unhappy and breaking wine glasses, it seems the Mulderdinks had unwittingly turned his former bedroom into a bar!

The previous owners of the house admitted to experiencing strange phenomenon as well. The heavy footsteps and feelings of being watched, especially in the bedroom.

The Sherman house is closed now, in fact the building is for sale if you have a mind to open a restaurant and don't mind a few of the past owners hanging around!

You can view the listing HERE

Related Posts: Sherman House Post 2

More related posts coming soon.

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