Is your house haunted? You can find out with a bit of research Instructions from the Fond du Lac Public Library Reference Dept.
Do you believe in ghosts? Do you think your house is haunted? The Fond du Lac Public Library can help you research the history of your home - and maybe discover past secrets. The Reference Desk staff frequently fields questions from people who think their house is haunted. They may have heard strange noises or had strange things happen, but often people believe that their house is haunted because they think that someone died in the house. You can find out who may have died in your home by researching the history of your house and who lived there. PAGE 2
STEP 1 Find the names of people who lived in your house You will need to check city directories starting from the present and working back in time to find names of people who lived at your address. Some of our old city directories are digitized and can be viewed online. Fond du Lac Public Library Reference Dept. has city directories from 1857-58, 1865-66, 1868, and 1872 to present. You can search by address after 1919. The numbering of Fond du Lac house addresses changed in 1904. The older city directories have listings by name only. The city directories are located in the Seefeld Collection on the raised level of the second floor of the library. You may need to go to the Fond du Lac County Register of Deeds, first floor at 160 S. Macy St., Fond du Lac, to find more information. The Register of Deeds Office provides copies of real estate documents and vital records. There are fees charged for copies. You can trace the history of who owned the land that your house is on. Note that this is a record of who owned the land, not necessarily who lived in the house, but this should give you some names to research. Before you go to the Register of Deeds, find the legal description and parcel number of the property. You can find it on your tax bill or assessment. You also can find it...... if the house is in the City of Fond du Lac, Go to www.fdlassessment.com Type in the address and click search Click on the parcel number to see the legal description... if the house is in Fond du Lac County (outside city limits), Go to www.fdlco.wi.gov Click on On-line maps on the left Click on GIS Online Mapping in the middle Type in the address, and you will see the parcel number and legal description. PAGE 3
STEP 2 Find death dates for the names you found You will need to find death dates and the circumstances surrounding the death for the names that you have found. You can try the Fond du Lac Vital Statistics Index on the Fond du Lac Public Library s website to search for an obituary published in the newspaper. Go to www.fdlpl.org and click Resources Scroll to Local History and Genealogy Scroll down to Fond du Lac Vital Statistics Index and click on it Fill in the name This is an incomplete index only. Not every death will be listed. You will need to look at the newspaper for the obituary. Please check the Local History and Genealogy section on www.fdlpl.org for more links. You may need to check the Fond du Lac County Register of Deeds for death dates or for death certificates to determine cause of death. Look for unusual circumstances related to a death. You can also try the websites Social Security Death Index or Ancestry for death dates. Ancestry is only available for use inside the library. Links to these can be found on the Local History and Genealogy section of the Resources page of the Library s website. PAGE 4
STEP 3 Find background information about the people who lived in your house Now that you have names and death dates, you can check the Fond du Lac newspapers. The library has newspapers on microfilm going back to 1846. The microfilm is located in the Seefeld Collection. Library staff will be happy to show you how to use the microfilm machines. There is a card index to the newspapers from 1846-1970 arranged by broad subject headings and then chronologically. Another newspaper index in binders covers 1996-2002, but it is incomplete. A selective index of the Fond du Lac newspaper with full text is available online at Fond du Lac Reporter via ProQuest, 2001 to date. The link to this can be found in Magazines and Newspapers on the Resources page of the library s website. (If you want to use this at home you will need to type in your library card number.) You may want to check names in the Census. The library has microfilm of the territorial, state and federal Censuses through 1930. Census information is also available on Ancestry, which is available only inside the library, and on Heritage Quest, which is available through the library s website at www.fdlpl.org/badgerlink. PAGE 5
STEP 4 Keep researching to find more information Books Discovering the History of Your House and Your Neighborhood By Betsy J. Green (907.2 G82) Ghost Stories of Wisconsin By A. S. Mott (133.1 M858) Ghosts Among Us By James Van Praagh (133.9 V348) History of Ghosts By Peter H. Aykroyd (133.1 Ay39) Unbelievable: Investigations into Ghosts, Poltergeists, Telepathy and Other Unseen Phenomena from the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory By Stacy Horn (133 H783) Wisconsin Road Guide to Haunted Locations By Chad Lewis (133.1 L585) Wisconsin s Ghosts By Sherry Strub (133.1 St89) IS YOUR HOUSE HAUNTED? PAGE 6
Websites American Ghost Society www.prairieghosts.com/ags.html Offers a Ghost Research Home Study course. There is a fee to join. They are very serious about research. Fond du Lac Historical Society www.fdlhistory.com/ History of Fond du Lac Ghost Research Society www.ghostresearch.org/ Based in Chicago but will travel to southern Wisconsin to investigate a site. Use the FAQ on the website How do I know if my house is haunted. Unexplained Research www.unexplainedresearch.com/ Chad Lewis and others on the website are authors of books and speakers on the subject of haunted sites. WIX Wisconsin Haunted Locations Database www.hauntedwi.com/wixhauntedlocations.htm Lists places by county. The Octagon House and Ramada Hotel are included. Additional resources at the library Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps 1884-1927 provide information about the size and shapes of buildings Intensive Survey Report: Architectural and Historical Survey Project Fond du Lac provide information about old houses in the central area of the city Cemetery inscriptions: A listing by cemetery that includes names and death dates PAGE 7
Fond du Lac Public Library Reference Desk 32 Sheboygan St. Fond du Lac, WI 54935 (920) 929-7080, ext. 132 (option 4) reference@fdlpl.org www.fdlpl.org