Hi! I’am a student at Pioneer Ridge Freshman Center and i was wondering wether any of you knew where i could find these books about the mansion. This is a really interesting story!

well you can get it in duluth at any giftshop it is all over when i was there i saw it everywhere! it might also be at your local library.

My favorite book was “Glensheen’s Daughter: the Margorie Congdon Story” by Sharon Hendry. You can get it on amazon.com. It’s best book I’ve read & couldn’t put down. I don’t like to read books much, which is bad to say. So it says alot that I read this one cover to cover. Margorie is a complete nut case. It is a must-read, and then go to the mansion.

This past weekend my friends and I went to visit this house as we were looking for things to do. Now in the past I have felt eerie things happen when visiting the sights where friends I have known have passed away. Anyways, while we were there we noticed that in some of the rooms it was VERY cold, and there were no vents or fans on. Also, when we were in Elizabeth Congdon’s bedroom, I felt like someone was grasping my shoulders and heard a voice in my ear saying: “Please help me.” Now I’m not sure who it was, but I turned to see if it was one of my friends, and no one was behind me….talk about eerie.

I was just at the Glensheen this past Saturday and did not know anything of the murders. I had no strange feelings during the first few room tours. As we entered the “social” room (a piano was in there, as was the lamp with the Paris theme to it) I felt a weird sensation. I can’t really describe it… I get these sensations when I am in cemetaries as well… I really didn’t know why I was feeling like this… As soon as I left the room, I felt normal. I also did get a disgusted feeling when we walked through Clara and Chesters bathroom on the second foor. I really wished we could have done the 3rd floor and attic tour as well, but I will next time!
I am a full believer in para normal activities, spirits, and souls left behind. I will be reading all the books I can find on the history of the Congdons! =)

Okay… I don’t believe of paranormal activity whatsoever. I never have… and probably never will. I have had creepy experiences, but I also have a logical answer for all of them. An aunt of mine believes in that kind of stuff, and I think it is hilarious!! We went to the Palmer House hotel in Sauk Center, she knows the owner, and she’s standing there, thinking she’s contacting the spirits or something… I don’t know… but it was funny. My sister, mom, and other aunts and my grandma were trying to hold in our laughter, but my aunt was totally oblivious to that. She tried to make us believe her by “upsetting the sprits”… she moved two end tables around, and guess what… Nothing happened, can you believe it? I sure can!!

i am into that kind of stuff only for one reason though i can see the dead.

I have been there before there is not anything scary about that place you fakes

I too have been on tour different times at the mansion. Each time I was guided through by someone new. Each person had their own ideas of what they thought was important/interesting. I never got the feeling that someone was right there (not to say they weren’t) but I didn’t sense that. Usually I’m somewhat sensitive to that type of thing. What I did feel, was a feeling of sadness and emptiness. I could close my eyes and imagine the sounds of laughter, giggling, business ventures being discussed in the smoking room…but that is all it was. I could “imagine” that.

If you can go there to admire the beauty of the place and focus on that, you are in for a treat. Think of the technology they had for that era! I don’t think I would ever grow tired of looking around. Each time I was there, I seen things I had missed before. I couldn’t even imagine growing up living in such a beautiful home.

To Kaitlin (2/28/08)–thank you so much for your nice words! I really love giving tours there (I’ll be doing one tomorrow at 10:30).

To Brooke (2/27/08)–Elisabeth adopted Marjorie and then a few years later she adopted Jennifer. Jennifer married into the S.C. Johnson family (the Ziploc bag company). Jennifer and her husband had many children, so it’s very possible that some of her grandchildren’s last names would be Johnson.

My girlfriend and I took the extended tour, that went on all the floors, and I can say I wasn’t creeped out at all. It was more fascinating than creepy, the only ‘creepy’ thing was the dolls that were on the bed in the room that the old lady was killed in. (They were just sitting there looking off into space…it was weird lol) It was just interesting walking through a piece of Minnesota history. I didn’t feel any weird feelings or anything, but I did feel sad for the families of those killed. It was just depressing that they were so desperate for money that they would plot to kill a helpless old woman.

To Scott Weslin (3/2/08)–I loved reading your impressions of the tours. I’m not sure of the exact reasons why photography isn’t allowed inside the mansion, but I’ll try to find out. I don’t think it’s just for concerns about flash photos. The university owns the house and wants to keep control of all photography.

As for making it into a B & B–that couldn’t be done for several reasons. There isn’t water to the second floor, so the bathrooms wouldn’t work. In addition, the beds, rugs, furniture, etc., are all authentic and therefore very old. They’d have to replace the things before allowing people to use the mansion. And no one would want to sleep on those mattresses anyway! I would imagine that the main reason it can’t be converted is because Miss Elisabeth didn’t want it done when she willed it to the university.

You can rent the house for parties, weddings, etc. The water does work in the basement and first floor (kitchen), so the caterers can use the sink to clean up. For a reasonable fee, you get to host your party plus have your guests “roam” around three floors of the house, unescorted. People like me stay in the rooms and tell people about the house. It’s a wonderful place for a wedding. We’ve seen people get married on the shores of Lake Superior, then walk the few hundred yards right back to the mansion for the reception.

I hope I’m your tour guide if you take an expanded tour!

I went and took a tour of the mansion this past October with my family. The tour guides do not speak of the murders at all in respect of the family. If you go into the house mainly focused on the murders or the possibility of witnessing a haunting, you miss out on the beautiful architecture of the building. There are so many small tiny, but important details that, if you just focus on the thought of the murders, you miss. The mansion was purchased because of the history, architecture, and beauty of the place. Not beause of its potential to be occupied by ghosts.

I went to Glensheen Mansion for a class trip. I was very surprised at what I experienced in there. It was scary!

First, when I entered the house, there was a mirror to the left side of the entryway. I looked at it and saw a lady with a white dress standing next to our chaperone. I turned away from the mirror to see who it was but the lady wasn’t there. I looked back at the mirror again, but the lady had truly disappeared. I still continued with the tour and when we entered the living room, I saw a picture of the same lady with the same dress sitting on a chair on the table near the piano.

After that happened, I started to get a little scared. We went on upstairs and entered one of the daughter’s rooms. Her fainting couch at the end of the bed had blood on it. My friend was the first one to point that out.

We left the bedroom and went on through the hallway. On the hallway walls, the picture of the little girl and the cat’s eyes moved!!

We entered the guest room with the two beds that had pineapples on the posts and were near the bathroom. I felt really cold, and I started to hear strange noises. It sounded like someone was bumping into something really hard, and kept bumping into it. Then you would hear breathing and soft footsteps. I heard a scream and the whole group jumped. We asked the tour guide what it was, and he said it was nothing.

The bedroom where Clara was murdered was where we went next. There was a doll in the room that was sitting in a chair. It was really creepy looking. A guy in our group said the eyes moved, and I was too scared to look at it.

When we left the home after the tour, the chaperone that had the lady stand next to her came up to me. She said that there was a door that was closed was open. So she closed it and latched it again. She heard a creaking sound and turned to see the door unlatch and slowly open again. She and my two friends all saw this happen.

We don’t know if all of this was either a haunting or a prank. Our tour guide looked scared and nervous through the whole tour, I hope that there is nothing bad happening in Glensheen Mansion.

***There is no blood on the fainting couch. Honest. There may be dirt on some items, but there is no blood

***That painting was created so that the eyes will follow you. It is a specific type of painting method and is NOT haunted. Honest!

***I’m not sure which room you were in. If you were with a class, you weren’t on the third floor. At any rate, if the guide said it was nothing, it was nothing.

***Clara wasn’t murdered, it was Miss Elisabeth, her daughter (who was in her 80’s at the time of her murder). The doll’s eyes have never moved when she’s just sitting there, and I’ve seen her (Evangeline, the doll) probably 500 times. Maybe more.

***This was most likely in the kitchen. That door has a habit of opening when it’s supposed to be closed. It’s a faulty locking mechanism. It does scare people, but it’s not haunted.

***There isn’t anything bad happening there. I gave a very safe, wonderful, non-scary tour there today.

My last post didn’t include YOUR comments, so I’ll try again.

(We went on upstairs and entered one of the daughter’s rooms. Her fainting couch at the end of the bed had blood on it. My friend was the first one to point that out.)

***There is no blood on the fainting couch. Honest. There may be dirt on some items, but there is no blood on a fainting couch.

——————

(We left the bedroom and went on through the hallway. On the hallway walls, the picture of the little girl and the cat’s eyes moved!!)

***That painting was created so that the eyes will follow you. It is a specific type of painting method and is NOT haunted. Honest!

—————–

(We entered the guest room with the two beds that had pineapples on the posts and were near the bathroom. I felt really cold, and I started to hear strange noises. It sounded like someone was bumping into something really hard, and kept bumping into it. Then you would hear breathing and soft footsteps. I heard a scream and the whole group jumped. We asked the tour guide what it was, and he said it was nothing.)

***I’m not sure which room you were in. If you were with a class, you weren’t on the third floor. At any rate, if the guide said it was nothing, it was nothing.

——————-

(The bedroom where Clara was murdered was where we went next. There was a doll in the room that was sitting in a chair. It was really creepy looking. A guy in our group said the eyes moved, and I was too scared to look at it.)

***Clara wasn’t murdered, it was Miss Elisabeth, her daughter (who was in her 80’s at the time of her murder). The doll’s eyes have never moved when she’s just sitting there, and I’ve seen her (Evangeline, the doll) probably 500 times. Maybe more.

—————–

(When we left the home after the tour, the chaperone that had the lady stand next to her came up to me. She said that there was a door that was closed was open. So she closed it and latched it again. She heard a creaking sound and turned to see the door unlatch and slowly open again. She and my two friends all saw this happen.)

***This was most likely in the kitchen. That door has a habit of opening when it’s supposed to be closed. It’s a faulty locking mechanism. It does scare people, but it’s not haunted.

———————-

(We don’t know if all of this was either a haunting or a prank. Our tour guide looked scared and nervous through the whole tour, I hope that there is nothing bad happening in Glensheen Mansion.)

***There isn’t anything bad happening there. I gave a very safe, wonderful, non-scary tour there today.

My husband and I toured the house yesterday and we didn’t get the feeling that it was haunted at all. The house is beautiful and you can see that a lot of work went into the smallest details such as the pineapples on the chandelier. The house was very progressive for it’s time – it has a central vacuum system,lights that change color,recessed lighting and intercoms.

Our guide did not talk about the murders until someone had asked a general question that made him refer to the murders. I think it’s great that the guides do not talk about the murders because then you don’t get to concentrate on other things such as the architecture.

I personally do not believe that the house is haunted. It’s a big old house so drafts and flickering lights would not be uncommon.

I have been to Gleensheen many times and never noticed anything strange. The first time I was there my kids were really young and I thought what a nice place the screened in area attached to the house would of been for them to play in. I was amazed by all the things in the house and just thought how much fun it must of been to live there.

I’m sorry but I have to agree with the stories and the people saying “Those stories are not true” because, yes you may have expirienced something or you may be making it up but hey some people may belive you, some may not, if you are telling the truth then you know its haunted, if your not telling the truth then try to go to the mansion a few times to see if you can see or feel anyparanormal activity and if you can’t then thats fine, if you can then, thats great. Thanks for reading this, I plan to go there too some day

Okay I live in MN and today came across this place what is it really? just a walk through or ??? I was thinking about taking a road trip up there sometime this summer and was wondering can you stay in this place? because I dont want to know about the place just want to see and experience for myself the real deal. Since Im reading in some of your comments they dont talk about the murders and what happend well I want to know more about it not the boring tour.