Traumatic deaths, murders, suicides, lobotomies, hangings, shock treatment, witchcraft, hidden graves, agoraphobia, schizophrenia, dementia, anxiety disorders, stigmas, restraints, locks, kleptomania, pyromania, drug addiction, psychopaths, personality disorders, phobias, delusions, hallucinations, hysteria, pellagra, tuberculosis, hydrotherapy, insulin shock/coma therapy, tent colonies, epilepsy.
As many people know several things could cause a place to be haunted a traumatic death can sometimes trap the victim’s spirit energy in the place of death. Fear, guilt and anger can be consuming emotions that might keep a spirit from moving on. The weight of these emotions can burden a spirit into thinking he or she is still alive. There are also positive reasons that a spirit may stay around or visit, they may come to comfort a loved one, they may come to say goodbye or to let the living know they are well and happy in their new existence. Sometimes spirits remain because they need help with a problem or maybe to even settle a score.
Another reason that a haunting might occur is an extreme attachment to someone or something. The individual may have not been ready to go or the place is the only place they felt comfortable or at home.
Bartonville State Asylum (Peoria State Mental Hospital) – Peoria, IL
Peoria State Hospital Historic District, also known as Bartonville State Hospital or Illinois Asylum for the Incurable Insane, was a psychiatric hospital operated by the State of Illinois from 1902 to 1973. The hospital is located in Bartonville, Illinois, near the city of Peoria in Peoria County. The hospital grounds and its 47 buildings are listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.
(From the Haunted Asylum Website)
If spirits are actually the personalities of those who once lived and refused to cross over to the other side at the moment of death.... then wouldn’t these spirits reflect the turmoil of that former life? And if hauntings are the residual effects of trauma being imprinted on the atmosphere of a location, then wouldn’t places where terror and insanity were commonplace be especially prone to these hauntings?
If either of these questions can be answered in the affirmative, then this might explain the strange events that have plagued the old State Mental Hospital in Bartonville for many years. In its final years of operations, after the last of the patients had departed, staff members in the building started to report some odd occurrences. After they left, the building became the site of frequent excursions by vandals, trespassers and curiosity-seekers, many of whom have had their own encounters in the place.
But there is a long history behind this sad and forlorn place.... a history that is filled with social and medical reform, insanity and yes, even ghosts.
Construction on the first buildings here actually began in 1885 and were completed in 1887. The hospital, when completed, resembled a medieval castle with battlements and turrets. It was a foreboding structure and one not fit for the kind of progressive medicine that was planned for it. Despite the huge costs involved in building it, it was never used and was torn down in 1897. The reason for the demolition was given as structural and design flaws. According to early reports, the castle-like building had been constructed over an abandoned coal mine and wide cracks were beginning to appear in the walls. The decay was believed to be caused by the collapsing of the old mine shafts.
In 1902, the hospital would reopen with Dr. George A. Zeller, a pioneer in mental health, at the helm. The new hospital implemented the "cottage system" and 33 different buildings were used to house patients. There was also a nurse’s home, a store, a power house, and a domestic building with a laundry, bakery and kitchen. Zeller also implemented a system with no window bars or restraints, something that was unheard of in those days.
Dr. Zeller also realized that a system was needed for the burial of the dead at the hospital. He decided that the asylum would take care of the burials of the unclaimed, but that all other deceased persons would be shipped home to their relatives. The hospital’s burial ground eventually grew to include four cemeteries, which were located behind the main buildings. The older cemeteries are marked with stones that only bear numbers, as many of the patients came there without names. The newer cemeteries have stones bearing names, birth and death dates, and patient numbers upon them. The oldest cemetery here would mark the location of the very first ghost story to be associated with the hospital. But this is no mere folk legend or rumor, this was a documented account of a supernatural event.... and the teller of the tale was none other than Dr. George Zeller himself!
There are 4 cemeteries on hospital grounds. Many of the patients treated here were unnamed or unclaimed so burial ceremonies were performed onsite out of respect for the patient. Dr. Zeller had created a “Burial Corps” to bury the bodies of unclaimed patients. The corps consisted of hospital staff along with a few responsible patients.
Shortly after taking over the hospital, Dr. Zeller created a burial corps to deal with the disposal of those who passed away while in care of the hospital. The corps consisted of a staff member of the hospital and a half-dozen of the patients. While these men were still disturbed, all of them were competent enough to take part in the digging of the graves.
Of all of the gravediggers, the most unusual man, according to Dr. Zeller, was a fellow called A. Bookbinder. The man was completely mute so no one knew his real name. Apparently, the man had suffered a breakdown while working in a printing house, possibly in Chicago, and his mental illness had left him incapable of coherent speech. The officer who had taken him into custody merely wrote in his report that the man had been employed as "a bookbinder". A court clerk listed this as the man’s name and he was sent to the hospital as A. Bookbinder.
Dr. Zeller described the man as being strong and healthy, although completely uncommunicative. Soon, the attendants enlisted him to assist in the burial corps. Strangely, "Old Book" as he began to be called was especially suited to the work. Ordinarily, when the coffin was being lowered, the gravediggers would stand back out of the way and wait silently for the funeral to end. At that point, they would set to filling the grave. Nearly every single patient at the hospital was a stranger and unknown to the staff, so the funeral services were mainly done out of respect, rather than because of personal attachment to the deceased. Because of this, everyone was a little surprised when, at his first internment, Old Book proceeded to remove his cap, wipe his eyes and begin weeping loudly for the patient who had died. He would do the same thing at each service.... first his sleeve would be used to wipe away his tears and then he would walk over and lean against the old elm that stood in the center of the cemetery and begin sobbing loudly. This tree, where Book would give vent to his grief, was known as the "Graveyard Elm". It was a massive old tree which had been standing for many years.
Time passed and eventually Old Book too passed away. Word spread among the employees and as Book was well-liked, and noted for his peculiarities, everyone decided they would attend his funeral. Dr. Zeller wrote that more than 100 uniformed nurses attended, along with the male staff members and several hundred of the patients. Dr. Zeller officiated the service. Old Book’s casket was placed on two cross beams above his empty grave and four men stood by to lower it into the ground at the end of the service. Dr. Zeller wrote, "Just as the choir finished the last lines of ‘Rock of Ages’, the men grasped the ropes, stooped forward, and with a powerful, muscular effort, prepared to lift the coffin, in order to permit the removal of the crossbeams and allow it to gently descend into the grave. "At a given signal, they heaved away the ropes and the next instant, all four lay on their backs. For the coffin, instead of offering resistance, bounded into the air like an eggshell, as if it were empty!"
Needless to say, the spectators were a little shocked at this turn of events and the nurses were to said to have shrieked, half of them running away and the other half coming closer to the grave to see what was going on.
"In the midst of the commotion," Dr. Zeller continued, "a wailing voice was heard and every eye turned toward the Graveyard Elm whence it emanated. Every man and woman stood transfixed, for there, just as had always been the case, stood Old Book, weeping and moaning with an earnestness that outrivaled anything he had ever shown before.
After a few moments of this, Dr. Zeller summoned some men to remove the lid of the coffin, convinced that Old Book could not be inside of it. The lid was lifted and as soon as it was, the wailing sound completely stopped. Inside of the coffin lay the body of Old Book.... unquestionably dead. It was said that every eye looked upon the still corpse and then over to the Graveyard Elm. The apparition had vanished.
"It was awful, but it was real," Dr. Zeller wrote. "I saw it; 100 nurses saw it and 300 spectators saw it."
A few days later, the Graveyard Elm mysteriously began to wither and die. In spite of efforts to save it, the tree declined over the next year until it was completely dead. Later, after the dead limbs had dropped, workmen tried to remove the rest of the tree, but stopped working after the first cut of the ax caused the tree to emanate an "agonized, despairing cry of pain". After that, Dr. Zeller suggested the tree be burned, however as soon as the flames started around the tree’s base, the workers quickly put them out. They later told Zeller that they heard a sobbing and crying sound coming from it.
"Today, Old Book’s grave remains without headstone or monument," Dr. Zeller wrote about his shared experience. "But if anyone asks where he is, those of us in the know point with a shudder to the remains of the Graveyard Elm."
In addition to the amateur ghost enthusiasts, the Bartonville hospital is fascinating enough to draw the interest of professional ghost hunters too. Rob Conover is a Pekin ghost researcher who has long been interested in the strange goings-on at the old asylum. Rob is a former Marine and private investigator, who turned to ghost research a few years back to indulge his curiosity for the unknown. Besides appearing on Peoria area television programs, and in local newspapers, he has also appeared on a number of national programs about ghosts and the supernatural. His interest in the old hospital dates back several years to his first encounters there, when he ran into an unexplained force which, among other things, refused to allow him to open doors. Also during a visit, an apparition even appeared on video tape when he left a camera running in an abandoned corridor. "I have been out there dozens of times," Rob told me, "and I have never been disappointed yet. They never let me down."
So is the old hospital really haunted? Scores of people who have visited the place certainly think so, including experienced investigator Rob Conover. It certainly has more than enough opportunity to be haunted, even excluding the story of A. Bookbinder and the haunted tree. The atmosphere of the place alone is more than enough to justify the reports of the apparitions and strange energy encountered there. The residual impressions of the past would certainly be strong in a building where mentally ill people were housed and where "psychic" disturbances would be common. There is also the matter of conscious spirits. Hospitals have long been places where the spirits of the dead are said to linger. Besides that, according to Conover, the hospital was the only home that many of the patients knew and they are going to stay where they are the most comfortable.
"The place is full of spirits", Rob has told me on more than one occasion. And I would say that he’s right!
Rob Conover has known and worked with Troy Taylor, author and founder of AGS, for many years. Along with making Rob an "Official Cleanser" of AGS, Troy has also given him the nickname "R.D.", the Real Deal. Rob Conover Book Review http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/ghosts/Rob_Conover.php
Visitors to Peoria State Hospital over the years include President Theodor Roosevelt, Duncan Renoldo (The Cisco Kid), Fran Allison (of television’s Kukla, Fran and Ollie), Aurther Murray, Cardinal outfielder Curt Flood and Danny Thomas.
Paranormal experts and celebrities that have visited the hospital include Rob Conover, Chip Coffee, Troy Taylor, John Zaffis and Patti Starr.
A non-profit organization has been established to save the main building of the Peoria State Hospital (Formerly the Illinois Asylum for the Incurable Insane)
The non-profit organization is looking to partner with an investor to save this building.
We currently own an interesting business opportunity that will have several avenues of income potential. The possibilities are almost limitless. We have a property that people want to see and we have two completely separate avenues or target markets.
The first market is the Paranormal Community. This avenue will single handedly allow for the payback of any initial investment and we believe a fair return on any investment. (Ghost tours, private ghost hunts, haunted house, on-line ghost hunting)
The second market is the historical side of the property including historical tours and a museum.
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Volunteer
There are many things we need help with and there is plenty of room for everyone. See our 'things we need' page to find out what our needs are. Fill out the volunteer form if you want to help us save and restore the Peoria State Asylum's Bowen building.
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This property can be a tourist destination for years to come. During our short time opened we had people from as far away as India come and tour the facilities.
We must meet certain guidelines to reopen the facility and this must be completed prior to opening the property back up for the public. The interest is there we just need to get the doors back open.
We are trying to get an investment of $300,000 from either one or a group of people. For each $6,000 invested you will receive a 1% share of the entire venture. We are looking to partner with a 50% share but would consider any and all offers.
Please view our historic website at www.peoria-asylum.com
Please view this article for additional information on the growing haunted house industry in Money Magazine (November 2010)
http://www.pagesalon.com/mag.php?p=3458&s=v www.peoria-asylum.com
The partner will own half of the over 40,000 square foot limestone Insane Asylum. We also own 4 acres across the street for parking and or other business avenues if needed.
Volunteer
There are many things we need help with and there is plenty of room for everyone. See our 'things we need' page to find out what our needs are. Fill out the volunteer form if you want to help us save and restore the Peoria State Asylum's Bowen building.
Bowen Updates In our efforts to save this historic structure we've run into a few obstacles such as vandalism and theft, but none of which is as frustrating as the opposition we've received from the Village of Bartonvilles' previous administration regarding the environmental issues.
The Village of Bartonville has agreed to discuss a possible agreement for the use of TIF funds to abate the Bowen building. There are a few stumbling blocks associated with coming up with an agreement. They include guarantees to the Village regarding the mortgage and further development issues.
As a small non-profit we are unable to make enough guarantees until we find a developer or investors. What we would like to see done with the property includes a historical restoration of the exterior of the building and a complete mixed reuse of the interior to get the property back to a tax producing property. Our current plans include lofts, commercial space, museum and a bed and breakfast style hotel. These plans are not set in stone and can be changed as needed by investor.
Our main goal is to save the building by whatever means possible. Anyone with ideas and or interested developers may contact our organization: Richard Weiss plweiss@swbell.net Vandalsim and Tresspassing The Bowen is still suffering from vandalism and trespassing. On a weekly basis we are cleaning up another mess left by uncaring individuals who leave trash and destroy historical elements of the old Bowen Building.
Tickets have been issued to several people and the $150.00 cost of the trespass ticket is senseless due to the fact that the Bowen Staff is more than willing to let inquisitive people take pictures and ask questions during the day. Everyone should steer clear of the Bowen at night until we can open the doors for tours. For less than the price of a trespassing ticket you can spend the night with us, take a tour and even hunt for the ghost that roam our halls. We are working hard to get this interesting and majestic old building to reopen in the near future. The destructive activity just makes our job harder and slows down the progress. Please help us keep the Bowen from deteriorating any further by telling everyone to avoid coming onto the Bowen property at night, for our benefit and their wallets too.
Interested persons may contact through e-mail or call Richard at 573-701-5465 or e-mail plweiss@swbell.net you may also review our website at www.peoria-asylum.com
About Richard Weiss
Richard Weiss is the Executive Director of the Save The Bowen group to help save a historical property that is part of the Peoria State Hospital Historic District.
When he first seen the Bowen building driving up Pfeiffer Road in Bartonville, Illinois he immediately knew he had to do something to prevent the further neglect and vandalism on this beautiful structure.
He immediately tried to help the previous owner of the building but due to both his schedule and the previous owner they never could get together and get anything done. Richard then decided to try to get developers involved to try to use tax credits and such to get something done with the building. That is when the real estate market went to crap so to speak. Still wanting to save the building he established a 501c3 non-profit for the sole purpose of saving the building from the wrecking ball.
In January of 2008 Save The Bowen received it’s designation from the IRS as is a full fledge 501c3. In July of 2008 the organization agreed to purchase the Bowen building and three other buildings that were also part of the hospital.
The group has run into every obstacle out there in their efforts to save this structure.
Save The Bowen is currently looking for an investor or investors to partner with to restore this building.
Richard can be contacted at plweiss@swbell.net.
Bartonville State Asylum (Peoria State Mental Hospital) – Peoria, IL
Notes
Peoria-Asylum.com Is the official site and exciting new informational checkpoint for Save The Bowen not-for-profit organization dedicated to saving the Bowen building, one of the last standing buildings on the grounds of the old Peoria State Hospital, located in Bartonville, Illinois.
Peoria Asylum is owned by Save The Bowen, a not-for-profit organization established exclusively to help save this historical building. The hospital's original title was The Illinois Asylum for The Incurable Insane, or IAII. That is a mouthful, and luckily, the state hospital has had more than just that one official name. Throughout the years, the site has been referred to--and understood by others--as several more common, though less descriptive, names. Peoria Asylum is one of the many nomenclatures used by people when referring to the old building and grounds it stands on.
Peoria State Hospital Historic District, also known as Bartonville State Hospital or Illinois Asylum for the Incurable Insane, was a psychiatric hospital operated by the State of Illinois from 1902 to 1973. The hospital is located in Bartonville, Illinois, near the city of Peoria in Peoria County. The hospital grounds and its 47 buildings are listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.
Old Book is the name given to a purported ghost or spirit which haunts a cemetery and tree on the grounds of the Peoria State Hospital in Bartonville, Illinois. While rumors of ghosts and ghost stories are highly speculative, the Old Book tale has been documented many times. Among those documenting the tale is the first director of the state insane asylum, George Zeller.
The name Old Book is the name given to a popular patient at the hospital. The well-liked Old Book worked as a gravedigger during his time at Peoria State Hospital. It is said that following burial services for deceased patients he would lean against an old elm tree and weep for the dead.
Various sources report that Old Book's real name was along the lines of A. Bookbinder.
The superstitious tale surrounding Old Book is somewhat unique among ghost stories in that it was reportedly witnessed by hundreds of people. The story goes that when Old Book died his funeral was attended by hundreds of patients and staff members who became witnesses to the ghostly phenomena that was about to transpire. As workers were attempting to lower what should have been a heavy casket they discovered that it instead felt empty. Suddenly, a crying sound echoed from the Graveyard Elm and everyone in attendance turned and looked, including Dr. Zeller. They all claimed to have seen Old Book standing by the tree. They so believed it to be true that Zeller had the casket opened to ensure that Old Book still lay inside. As the lid was opened the crying ceased and Old Book's corpse was found undisturbed in the coffin. Days passed and the tree began to die. While several crews have tried to remove the Graveyard Elm or the "crying tree," as it is also known, none have been successful citing the weeping emanating from the tree.
- HISTORY & HAUNTINGS OF ILLINOIS - THE BARTONVILLE INSANE ASYLUM NEAR PEORIA, ILLINOIS http://www.prairieghosts.com/barton.html COPYRIGHT 2000 BY TROY TAYLOR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
George A. Zeller, M. D. Capt. Asst. Surgeon U. S. Vol. 1899 Graduated Washington Univ. St. Louis, Mo. 1879 Donor of Jubilee College State Park He abolished mechanical restraints in the care of the mentally afflicted in a state service of 37 years.
Sophie Kline (wife of George A. Zeller, M. D.) St. Mary's School Knoxville, Illinois 1878 Donor of Jubilee College Chapel
Backward Glance:George Zeller
(written by Janine Crandell & published in the Jubilee Advocate in 2005)
Many articles continue to be written about the state hospital in Bartonville, but what do we know about Dr. George Zeller (1858-1938), the man behind the scene?
After researching his life as chronicled in the newspapers and reading his autobiography, I was struck by how much Dr. Zeller believed in his vision, a vision that was ridiculed by many people of his day. To put it simply, Dr. Zeller believed in treating people with mental illness in a kind and caring manner. That may not seem so revolutionary now, but in those days, patients were locked up in small, dark rooms with bars on the windows, shackled with chains or handcuffs and often subjected to severe floggings.
The first state hospital built near Peoria looked similar to a castle, massive and imposing. Unfortunately, it was built right over an abandoned coal shaft and had to be razed because it was structurally unsound. Also the design of the building didn’t lend itself to the new methods of treatment which were beginning to be accepted. Dr. Zeller had been appointed, without pay, as the superintendent of this first doomed hospital, and upon realizing how long it would take to build another hospital, he volunteered in the U. S. Army and was ordered to the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. He was promoted to Captain and Assistant Surgeon where the doctor battled the cholera epidemic and after an extension of his service, he eventually stamped it out. Upon arriving back in Peoria, the doctor assumed his role of superintendent of the Peoria state hospital in Bartonville once again (with pay this time) on November 1, 1902.
One of Dr. Zeller’s first acts was to order all bars on the windows and doors to be removed. The bars were instead used to form an enclosure in a nearby ravine where deer, bears and coyotes were kept. This “animal park” was enjoyed by both patients and visitors alike. The doctor also insisted that all doors should be kept open; no solitary confinement for his patients. The hospital was built using the “cottage plan” design whereby the patients would feel as if they were in home-like surroundings. He often said people suffering from insanity were sick and should be treated in the same manner as other sick people. They were not criminals and should not be kept behind bars.
Dr. Zeller also shocked the mental health authorities by removing all mechanical restraints and banning the use of narcotics to subdue patients. This was the first institution in Illinois to require only eight hours of work a day for all of its employees and it was the first to place women workers in the male wards.
As a gentle reminder of the progress that had been made, Dr. Zeller commissioned a sundial to be made. On this ornament, the sculptor carved these words on the four respective faces of its stone base: “Eight Hours Labor”, “Non-Imprisonment”, “Non-Restraint” and “Non-Resistance”.
There were many other innovations, large and small, which had a tremendous impact on the patients' lives. The doctor segregated the tuberculosis patients, “colonized” its epileptics, researched the cause of the skin disease, pellagra, started a hair salon for women and a barber shop for men. Dancing and music were introduced. These simple joys that we take for granted were given back to these "incurables".
Even though his innovations were scoffed at in the beginning, the derision disappeared once his patients were being cured. As time went by, Dr. Zeller became nationally and internationally known, with scientists travelling from great distances to visit the state hospital and see how the "Zeller treatment" was being used. The doctor was always looking for better ways to treat his patients, even travelling to Copenhagen, Denmark, to learn about color therapy.
Dr. Zeller wasn’t always working at the state mental hospital in Bartonville, though. Because his employment was dependent upon the current governor at the time, his position became precarious in 1912 when a Democrat was elected to this office and he was an outspoken Republican. The doctor applied for the job of state alienist (doctor who treated mental patients) and fulfilled the obligations of this position from the years 1913 to 1917. Then during the years 1917-1921, Dr. Zeller organized and supervised the new state hospital at Alton. Afterwards, he was transferred back to the state hospital near Peoria and continued to work there until his retirement. The doctor and his wife, Sophie Kline Zeller (they had no children), lived on the grounds while the doctor was superintendent and they continued to live there after he retired.
Dr. Zeller had quite a few varied interests, including writing historical articles and short stories. It was because of his interest in history which prompted him to purchase Jubilee College which he eventually turned over to the state of Illinois.
As it stands, this article doesn't do justice to Dr. Zeller and his outstanding accomplishments. If nothing else, long after we forget the facts of Dr. Zeller's life, let us remember this...he was a kind and compassionate man.
Troy Taylor
Patti Starr
Certified Ghost Hunter
Also read: Is It Really Paranormal? Questioning The Unknown Side Of Ghosts And Demonic Possession - With tales of being raped or beaten by ghosts, to stories of even a ghost giving a person a loan of some cash. I ask myself do these things really happen? -- Ginalanier.com
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