Today’s mailbag includes a request for assistance in Chicago. Phyllis writes:
“I have just bought a house that I heard, after buying, is haunted. There is a mean
entity in the basement. How do I find out about the history of the house? Who died in it, who the entity is? The house was built in 1889.”
Anyone in or near Chicago have any input for her?
You can find out who owned any property by going to city hall or the hall of records in your city. They have listings on all property. You can find out any incidents that may have occurred in your home by visiting the library and searching through their old newspapers or by using their fiche. I don’t have enough information to comment on your “entity” but I must say that in over 15 years of investigating many different homes, offices, buildings, properties, etc., I have never come across anything that could be considered evil or malevolent. We have been around ghosts who have “attitude” or that are playful but nothing bad has ever happened to me or anyone with me. I would attempt to make contact with your ghost by talking to him/her and letting them know that they are scaring you. Perhaps they just don’t know. You can also attempt to communicate by using a recorder and asking simple questions. This takes work and it could be a time before you get an answer. Be persistent.
I hope this helps.
you can go to propertyshark.com and type in the address. it will tell you who the previous owners were and once you have the names you can search death indexes and records online, but you’d be better off calling your local library and asking them where you can find archives for the information you’re looking for. it’s free info, you just have to do a little digging. the internet wants to charge you and half the time the results are wrong anyway! hope that helps!! have you tried asking your neighbors? ask some elderly neighbors. they’ll probably know.
thanks,
melina