The eastern half of Lake County is often under appreciated when it comes to reporting historical stories or other local lore. Today's entry looks into the back stories of two Madison sites and their professed wayward spirits.
The first site is the Ohio Cottage in Madison Twp. Located off of State Rt. 84 near Perry and Geneva, it began as a small frame house in 1847. In 1859 a brick facade structure was added to the east side. Its current appearance is circa 1891. At first the residence served as a boarding school and was known as the Madison Home. After the Civil War the home became the site of the Ohio Women's Relief Corps. Their organization was an offshoot of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and served as a refuge for war widows, women abandoned or stranded and women of other needs. The building remained dedicated to this cause thru 1904 when it was donated to a similar group. From 1904 until 1962 the site remained a residence for women in need.
1962 saw a new chapter in the building's history unfold. It became a residence for the mentally disabled and developmentally delayed. This portion of its history was reportedly 'dismal' times. The Lake County Board of Commissioners took over the property in 1975 and used it for county offices for many years. In 1998 it was sold to John Cassell. It remains unoccupied today and has been the alleged site of many ghostly sensory reports. Spirits have been seen by locals and sounds eminate from the building lending credence to the theory that the melancholy women inhabitants left there from the past remain to this day.
Madison City Hall is the second so-called site of haunted residents. The building served as a one time Civil War hospital and in later years an insane asylum. It has been reported that the ghostly inhabitants rearrange furniture and disrupt camera equipment at the current City Hall site. Some have even reported seeing the walkers or hearing them throughout the hallways as evening hours approach.
These poltergeist stories may or may not be true. What is known is that both buildings have a past history that can be documented and events happen there that can not be explained.
source- gleaned from an article in cleveland.about.com titled Haunted Ohio Sites
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