THE GOVERNOR’S HOUR

Cincinnati’s quaint suburb of Milford is home to a masterpiece of an Italianate-style home. The structure serves today as a museum dedicated to the Victorian lifestyle. Inside are examples of period art, furniture, china, clothing and photographs. The magnificent mansion was completed in 1867 by William McGrue. The home was referred to as “McGrue’s Folly” at the time, because locals couldn’t understand why he had built such a large home in the middle of nowhere. The building was a genius example of useful architecture. The home had a gas lighting system, a coal furnace that provided central heat and a gravity flow running water system. The home looks like a haunted mansion straight from Hollywood, and like a Hollywood movie, many sad and tragic events have taken place in the grand dwelling.

Promont was home to prominent Democratic politician John M. Pattison and his lovely wife Aletheia. They were the ones who would bestow the house with the Promont name. When he was only seventeen, Pattison enlisted for service in the Civil War at Camp Dennison. After the war ended, he attended Ohio Wesleyan University, graduating in 1869. His first public office was a seat in the Ohio House of Representatives. He later served in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. Pattison’s wife Aletheia died at Promont, leaving Pattison to raise their three children. He married Aletheia’s sister Anna Williams after her death, and Anna helped him raise the children.

The Promont House in Milford. Courtesy Ohio Division of Travel and Tourism.

In 1905, Democrats nominated Pattison as their candidate for governor. With his strong support for Prohibition, he gained many supporters during the campaign. Since the end of the Civil War, Republicans had held the office of governor for thirty-two out of forty years. Pattison ran an incredible campaign, gathering support from every corner of Ohio with his likeable personality. He created excitement for new policies such as an increased tax on saloons and railroad reform. He won the election and soon took his final office. During his inauguration as Ohio’s forty-third governor, Pattison looked frail and felt ill. After delivering his inaugural address, he went to the Executive Chamber of the statehouse. For an hour, he rested with an overcoat draped on top of him. This one hour of rest was the only time he would ever spend in the statehouse. He watched the inaugural parade from behind glass so he would not be exposed to inclement weather. Afterward he was treated at Cincinnati’s Christ Hospital, where he was found to be suffering from Bright’s disease, or nephritis as it is known today. The governor’s kidneys were failing, but he returned home to the warmth of Promont.

Pattison soon began experiencing dementia brought on by the disease. Waste products that are usually secreted into the urine were seeping out inside of him and poisoning his blood. He suffered through extreme bouts of back pain, vomiting and fever. At eight o’clock on the morning of June 18, 1906, two of Pattison’s nurses noticed that he was not waking. An effort was immediately made to contact several doctors to aid the governor, but none was able to be found until two o’clock in the afternoon. By the time a doctor arrived, Pattison was nearly dead. He was experiencing edema, or swelling of the body. He was presumably in a coma, and his face was nearly unrecognizable. At 4:20 p.m., Pattison drew his last breath. He was only fifty-nine years old, leaving behind his wife Anna and three children. Lieutenant Governor Andrew L. Harris was immediately sworn in as governor following Pattison’s death. The Republican Party had regained control of Ohio. Pattison’s vision of reorganizing the state’s institutions and various other projects would never be realized.

Almost immediately after he died, Pattison’s deathbed began acting strangely. The bed would make noises and creaking sounds as if he were still rolling around in pain. The sheets would be made perfectly on the bed only to be rustled and out of place minutes later. This happened again each time the bed was made as if someone was still using it. The bed was eventually moved to another home in Batavia, Ohio, where the strange behavior continued. The family eventually had the bed stored away because nobody could get a good night’s sleep on it. Pattison may still be suffering through his ailments, not knowing he has died. He may lie in this bed destined to continue his painful fight for all of eternity.

After the Pattison era, the home was the residence of millionaire tobacco farmer Henry Hodges. He grew enormous crops of tobacco and sold it at auctions. Tobacco auctions were a lively affair. Gentlemen showed up in suits and ties and wagered over the newly dried tobacco. According to legend, Hodges and his men had a tendency to leave tobacco stains in the house, which angered his wife. Both Hodges and his wife died inside Promont. If their ghosts are in the house, it may help explain a bizarre experience employees have reported. According to some claims, tobacco stains reappear on the floor immediately after being cleaned. The floors must be cleaned again of the tobacco-like residue. One theory is that the ghosts may be trying to use a spittoon that once sat where the stains occur. In any case, it is a rather gross form of haunting activity.

One night while working after hours, two employees inside the home heard footsteps coming up the steps. They yelled down that the museum was closed, but the footsteps persisted. When they approached the staircase to see who it was they found it empty. Having been quite frightened, the women ran out of the back door. Others report that footsteps from an unseen ghost can be heard upstairs when nobody is in that particular part of the house. The basement is especially active with strange sounds. People have reported hearing shuffling of feet and other sounds of movement in the basement. Some employees have refused to go into the basement at all. In the master bedroom, where Pattison died, people report cold spots that move around the room. Some have witnessed the bed move slightly, as if someone has just laid down on it. The museum has several different types of haunting activity occurring. With many period items, Promont may continue to be a familiar and welcoming home to the ghosts from its past.

HAUNTING ACTIVITY SCALE

Frequency**

Intensity**

Type: residual imprint, inanimate object