Here’s the obituary for Josephus Wolf, who had the Wolf Mansion constructed:

SOURCE: The Chesterton Tribune – March 15, 1895; Volume 11, Number 49, Page 1, Column 5

The pioneer of Twenty Mile, has finished his earthly labors, and gone to join his fathers. Josephus Wolf breathed his last Thursday, March 8, at his home in Portage township, after a lingering illness. While it was expected that he could not get well, yet the hope was cherished by his thousands of friends that he would live years yet. A cancer had for years been doing its deadly work, and hope of a cure had long since abandoned.

Josephus Wolf was one of Porter county’s history makers. He was born in Athens County, Ohio, June 22, 1822, and was the youngest of seven children born to Jacob and Lydia (Dorr) Wolf. The family moved to Porter County in 1834, and settled on Twenty-Mile Prairie, in Portage township. They took up land in the then wilderness, and Josephus stuck to the farm until 1854, when he went to California to join the gold hunters. He remained there two years, and returned with $3000. This gave him the foundation for the vast fortune he left at his death, which included a 5000 acre farm, of the finest land in all this county. The Wolf home resembles a minature city, covered as it is with fine barns and a magnificent farm home. The estate has substantial houses for tenants, all of whom are prosperous and contented. One notable feature of the Wolf home, was that its table was always set, and no man or woman ever went away from there hungry, no matter who he was or what his condition was. True hospitality abided in that home.

On returning from California Mr. Wolf was united in marriage to Miss Susan M. Young, a sister to Martin Young. Eight children were the result of this union, only two of whom are now living — Elmer and Martin — both grown to manhood, and for several years past, have managed the estate. Mr. and Mrs. Wolf were extremely attached to each other, and upon the devoted wife falls heavily the separation. The funeral was held Sunday, and the remains were laid to rest in the McCool cemetery, followed to their last resting place by a very large concourse of mourning relatives and friends.

[Note: Twenty Mile Prairie got its name since it was located twenty miles from Michigan City/LaPorte. When the General Land Office in LaPorte was selling land in Porter County in the 1830s, it described the area as Twenty Mile Prairie.]

WOWE well i was just wondering if u had any pics???

is there any pictures? is there people still alive that had to handle with the investigation. if so then adress there location.

Wolf Mansion is in South Haven, IN. It’s not hard to find but I wouldn’t bother anyway. I lived down the street from it for years. There was rumors of it being haunted because no one was ever seen going in or out. But in 2000 the town doctor purchased and moved into it. No stories or reports have ever been made about the house since then.

this story sounds like somthen from a book or a movie! i do believe in certain kinds of ghosts, but this is just too weird. this story is full of C-R-A-P!!!!!!!!!!!

My friend has the newspaper with the article about this murderer, when you go there you can see the bullet holes in the barn, trust me its true, watch out for the shotgun lady who lives ontop of the hill who shoots her gun into the air to try and scare the visitors off, the house is now torn down but the barn still stands

Im still trying to find the story of why Dogwood Park is supposedly haunted. Can anyone help?

what is the address to this haunted place. i would like to know.. cause i used to live in valpo my self. if you have the address. here is my email lil_punkgirl85@yahoo.com. thanks.

My friend from school lives in valpo so one night she went in the barn where he hung himself….i guess it was the scariest thing she’s ever experienced.

I live in Valparaiso, not far from the Duey house. (By the way that’s the name) The house is no longer there, there is just a house that an older lady used to live in (filled with newspapers and junk). I’m not quite sure what ever happened to her, never could find the resources to figure that out. There is an older cemetery near the old property, however I personally have not had the chance to explore it as of yet. Here’s the story from another website I have found. Duey’s House – This is a real haunted house with many a legend behind it, it is off of 50 West, near an old graveyard. If you take 700 N going east, you turn right on 125 W and it’s at the end of the road just before the road curves. They story goes, Duey got fired from his job and had family problems. He was also an alcoholic. He killed his family and chopped their heads off and stuck them of the posts of the gates that are right next to the road. He hung himself in the second silo. In the house you can see blood stains and splatters on the wall. Also note that there are plenty of do not trespass signs, and also a lot of dogs guarding the gates of the drive. If you go there at night sometimes you can see red glowing eyes, and orbs in the back of the woods.

Hope this helped some of you. && By the way it is a true story, Maybe not as grueome as the story says, but still true.

be careful going out there. me and some friends went out there a few years back and the neighbors keep a very close eye on the place. when we went out there one of the neighbors tried to block us in on the road and pulled a gun on us. so please be carefull!

first of all he did not shoot himself in the head he hung him self in the barn lern the facts before you actually post stuff,and he snapped because he caught his wife in bed bed with another man so he killed his children because he didnt belive they were his

(Oct. 11, 2007) Wow, being an old resident of Valpo this really brings back some great Halloween memories. But, just like chinese telephone everyone has a different story/account of the old Duey House and they are still fun to read/hear. I have never been there and I am not saying that I beleieve all of the hype, but I am a true believer in getting the **** scared outta ya and this story always gave me chills. So keep on going!

Gravity Hill is the only place I have ever personally visited and that was real (the going back up the hill part) as real can be and it was a real rush to feel the truck get pulled in the opposite direciton! We had put the truck in neutral and turned the engine off at the top of the hill and coasted down, and at the bottom of the hill we had come to a complete stop when the truck was jerked (I say jerked but I am sure that it really was my imagination on the exact thrust of it all!) in th oppostie directin as if we were being pulled back UP the hill.

PLEASE, always use caution when out at night no matter where you are and be curtious of other peoples property. Have fun!!

Where exactly is this “troll bridge”? Its not in south haven.
Google earth you can see the silo’s at the dewey farm and rubble where a house used to be. You can see several barns there still. type in highway 650 and highway 125 valparaiso,IN.

Lots of conflicting stories on this site. One thing that is consistent is few people are using correct grammar, punctuation or spelling here.

Well, I beg to differ. I did not grow up out here, but when I was 17, my friends took me to the Dewey House. I didn’t believe in it at all but I never went back there. It is off of 125 and 700 in the valpo/chesterton area. and when i was there we pulled up and got out. It was pitch black except for a light pole with a dim light. you look at the windows to the barn and we all saw heads. then we saw a shadow of a man with an axe. we took off and as we were jumping back over the fence out of nowhere was a ratty old nasty dog. just the name dewey house sends chills through my spine to this day.

oh and i myself have heard shots.

gravity hill is real too. was there the same night as the dewey house. scared the **** out of me.

i will never go back.

as for wolf mansion i live 5 minutes down the road from it and it spooks me even during the day. The story i heard was that the baby died,and the father hung himself from the tower and if all the lights are on u can look up and see him swinging. well, ive never seen any of this but i have seen pictures that were taken inside the mansion. A lady i work with daughter had her wedding pictures taken on the beautiful winding staircase. well half of the peoples faces are distorted and then the next pic is the same. well the pics that were taken outdoors from the same roll of film were just fine. so how can half a roll of film have only the peoples faces distorted and only when they are in the house?? many many people have moved in and moved out MONTHS later. everyone blames the amount of the electricity bill but i say otherwise.

hey all

i too can seem to find any info on the web about these murders too.

i have lived around here all my life. when i was in high school at portage around the late 80’s me and a group of friends went to this house…it was scary as hell, we didnt go around but i heard my friends we to it before…i heard all the rumors that are going about on here, just wish we could find something to back them up….also went to the gravity hill and that was pretty neat, trying to find it again as i would like to go back….very interesting site they have here…the dewey house, what legends are made of.

READ MY COMMENTS FROM 6/12/06 & 10/03/06. YOU’LL THEN BE INFORMED OF THE TRUE HISTORIES OF THESE TWO “HAUNTED” PLACES. SORRY TO POP EVERYBODY’S BUBBLE. THE OBITUARY OF JOSEPH WOLF PRETTY MUCH SUPPORTS MY INFO OF THE WOLF MANSION. AS FAR AS THE DEWEY HOUSE GOES, I’VE BEEN THERE SEVERAL TIMES AS A PATROLMAN. IT DOESN’T EXIST, BELIEVE ME.

You will find that a trip to this site requires going to this address:

2755 State Road 49
Valparaiso, IN 46383