Folklore Profile: The Ghost Elephant
Within the vast realms of the paranormal and supernatural, there are innumerable stories in which to choose from when hoping to capture someone’s attention and make them realize just how expansive this (at times) controversial field truly is. The storyteller, having spent quite awhile researching various topics, has at their fingertips a multitude of ghostly tales and legends in which to pick from. Stories of spectral women doomed to walk the earth after being scorned while alive could be a good starting point, but then again, so could tales of headless riders and screaming skulls. Perhaps the teller is wanting to venture down a more nautical path and will choose from the hundreds of stories involving ghost ships or haunted and cursed lighthouses. If the sea isn’t in the cards and this raconteur happens to be more of landlubber, they can always amaze with a good retelling of story about a phantom woodsmen, a mysterious specter within the trees, or a perplexing encounter between a lone driver and a disappearing hitchhiker.
While any of these choices could easily hook an individual who is currently on the fence regarding the Fortean world, there is always that off chance that while the story is fun to listen to at the time of its telling, there isn’t really anything memorable about it. It is one story similar in tone and telling to hundreds of others in the same category. The only thing different about it might be the location, the supposed name of the ghost, and how many years ago it apparently happened. It truly is a gamble on how a person is going to react after hearing a really good ghost story and credit must be given to the teller when they are able to pull off both a good story, and a notable reaction from the listener. But even though there are hundreds of different types of stories that could result in multiple different reactions, there is generally one type of ghost story that gets both praise and enjoyment from a vast majority of those who hear them. This particular type of story can be found all over the world, and while the overall theme is the same, the star of the story is usually always very different. We of course are talking about animal ghost stories, and the following tale proves just how enjoyable these stories truly are.
Now, as per the norm here, we are going to forgo jumping right into the main story and first focus on the history of the area that the story is reported to have taken place within. Because it is our personal belief that you can’t fully appreciate the legend without having some sort of understanding regrading the area in which it happened. So with that said, let’s pack up our bags and head an hour northwest from Madison, WI (or an hour thirty from Janesville) to the historic city of Baraboo.
First settled in 1838, the city which would eventually become known as the “Circus City” quickly underwent explosive growth (for the time) and within only 40+ years climbed the ranks from settlement, to village, to town, to city. Officially recognized as the latter in 1882, the city had already begun laying the foundation for its future nickname seven years prior because in 1875, a nine member family by the name of Ringling (originally Rungling) decided to leave their home in Prairie du Chien, WI, and make their permanent residence within the future city of Baraboo. And for those of you who are not up to date on your 19th and 20th century Midwest American history of notable individuals, but for some reason the name Ringling sounds oddly familiar to you, it’s more than likely because you already associate their family name with their much more famous slogan, ‘The Greatest Show on Earth.’ Dear reader, we of course are talking about the original Wisconsin circus kings themselves, the Ringling Brothers of the world famous, Ringling Bros. Circus.
Officially established in 1884, The Ringling Brothers Circus called Baraboo its headquarters from the start. Originally created in 1882 by five of the seven brothers as a small variety show which toured around Wisconsin and performed in various town halls and meeting spaces, the small show eventually brought in enough money which allowed the brothers to purchase a donkey, a trick pony, a bear and matching suits. This influx of cash allowed the brothers to officially grow into a modest one ring show and from then on out, what was once known as the Ringling Bros. Variety Performance Show, became widely known as the Ringling Brothers Circus. Word quickly spread about the entertainment the show provided and positive word of mouth brought even more fans into their ever-growing tent.
Eventually, the brothers had enough income which allowed them to purchase another competitors circus, the Yankee Robinson Circus, in 1884 and grow even larger. During this prosperous time, and with the addition of the final two brothers joining the business, it seemed that everything the brothers touched turned into gold, and this risky business venture ultimately ended up putting even more cash into their deep pockets. Four years later, in 1888, with seven well-stocked bank accounts and a newly purchased elephant, the brothers decided to take their show across the country and started traveling to other states via the railroad. This of course though brought about the attention of other big names within the highly popular circus world at the time and plans were quickly being formulated to establish circus boundary lines.
One such such name that was well aware of the Ringling Brothers success was that of James Anthony Bailey, business partner of P.T. Barnum and co-owner of the well-known Barnum and Bailey’s Circus. While the history between the Ringling’s and Bailey and Barnum is deep, we will only briefly touch on it here. During a meeting between the various circus kings, an agreement was made between the two parties on which areas and venues within the country each respected circus was allowed to set up shop in. Barnum and Bailey held the rights to play in some of the larger venues (such as Madison Square Garden) and for their agreement to the terms, the Ringling’s were allowed to purchase a share of the Adam Forepaugh-Sells Brothers Circus, which was originally owned by Bailey. Later on, in 1906, James Anthony Bailey died and the Ringling’s were able to purchase the entirety of the Forepaugh-Sells Brothers Circus. A year later, in 1907, the remaining stockholders of the Barnum and Bailey’s Circus officially allowed the Ringling Brothers to purchase the circus in its entirety, and once the sale was complete, the brothers were able to set up their big top tents wherever they wished.
Now, the history of the Ringling Brothers and their super deep circus roots is quite fascinating, and if you are a fan of history such as this, it would be worth your while to check out further. But while we could continue going on and on about what was later referred to as, “The Greatest Show on Earth,” we are here to talk about a ghost animal, specifically a ghost elephant, and even more specific than that, a ghost circus elephant. So, without further ado, let’s start making our way into that story.
While the Ringling’s were eventually able to set up shop anywhere they wished across America, Wisconsin was always their home. Baraboo served as their unofficial circus headquarters and as a result of their success, other smaller circuses began to pop up in the area as well. In 1891 the Gollmar Brothers Circus got its start in Baraboo, and just seven years later in 1898, the John Robinson Circus decided to try and make its mark on the scene as well. These are just two of the lesser known big top acts which all originated in Baraboo and were eventually bought by the Ringling’s. Regardless though of how they started and who owned them at the time, the circuses in the area brought with them an abundance of energy and chaos. Performers of all shapes and sizes started planting roots in the area, various buildings, each with a different purpose, were constantly under construction and hundreds of different moving parts were being used nonstop to deeply change the surrounding landscape all for the sole benefit of the circus. Typically, this energy would move with the circus as it traveled from train station to station; never having a permanent home, never stopping. But sometimes, as the following story will recount, that energy decides to stick around and make its presence known in the most chaotic ways possible.
The story begins on January 1, 1930, in a house located on 8th Street (WI State HWY 33) in Baraboo. It was on this day that the widowed Mrs. Rose Holiday, her daughter Alice Green, and Alice’s husband, Patrick, all moved into their newly rented home which had long been a dream of Rose since before her husband had died many years prior.
The old home was of modest size and possessed five rooms in total; two bedrooms were located upstairs, while a kitchen, dining room, and living room were located downstairs. Situated off the back of the house was on old barn that hadn’t been formally used since the days of the circus. While a tad run down, Patrick and Alice had plans to eventually turn it into a tire repair shop and make enough money to purchase the home outright. The old woman felt like she had won the lottery when she and her daughter and son-in-law were able to move in.
Full of energy, the three family members quickly moved their belongings into the old structure and were able to complete their task before nightfall. When all the moving was said and done, Mrs. Holiday decided she was going to retire to bed early and would finish organizing her room the following day. So with cot set up for the night in the living room, unfortunately located directly beneath Alice and Patrick’s room, the old woman drifted off into what she hoped would be a restful sleep. But unlucky for her, she would quickly find out that her dream home was actually a nightmare, and the chaos would begin on the very first night.
As Mrs. Holiday walked through dreamland, safe and happy inside her new abode, she was suddenly awoken by the faint sound of moving. Audible enough to be recognized as something moving around, but not clear enough to either recognize the source or pinpoint the location. It was as if the sound was both distant and all around her all at once. As the old woman listened in the darkness, she began to tell herself the cause of the strange sounds simply had to be mice. The house was old, so it was well within reason to assume that some sort of small creature had found its way inside to escape the cold winter conditions outside. Satisfied with her assumption, the widow Holiday attempted to fall back to sleep. But then the sounds got louder.
What was once thought to be the noises of a scurrying mouse, soon began to manifest themselves in other parts of the house. The ceiling beams began to creak and the wooden floors began to squeak. Soon the volume of the noises taking place inside the home were too much to bear and the old woman was nearing her breaking point when suddenly, a series of loud thumps echoed throughout the home and proceeded to shake it to its foundation. Immediately after that, the noises stopped and the house fell silent. All that could be heard was the winter wind howling outside. Rattled, but still exhausted, Mrs. Holiday convinced herself there had to be some logical explanation and vowed to solve it the next day. It wasn’t long after that she drifted back off to sleep.
The next morning, Mrs. Holiday was sure she had discovered the cause of the late night noises. She believed the ruckus was caused by her daughter and son-in-law while having some sort of argument during the night. The noises were obviously the result of them stomping back and forth upstairs and pacing through the home in the darkness. For Mrs. Holiday, this was a logical answer to the mystery. But when she approached the couple and asked them about it, they adamantly denied the allegation and even turned the questioning back around on the old woman. The young man and woman had also heard the noises during the night and assumed that the cause of the strange sounds were the result of Mrs. Holiday moving furniture around in the middle of the night. When Rose understandably denied the allegation made against her, the three individuals were left without and answer and all agreed that they just had an odd night in a new house and it was as simple as that. But a few days later, when the neighbors showed up, things got even stranger.
On January 3, the neighbors from each side, a Mrs. Bemis and a Mrs. Bartz, arrived at the old home for tea and conversation. While the topics remained mostly in the camp of the mundane, eventually the two neighboring women shifted the course of talk towards the odd. As if to just get the subject off her chest and get into it, Mrs. Bemis abruptly asked Mrs. Holiday if the family was keeping a horse in the former barn turned garage. Confused by the question, the old widow politely informed her neighbor that the family had no such horse as they were trying to save for a new automobile and could not afford the purchase or upkeep of an animal as large as a horse. When Mrs. Holiday asked Mrs. Bemis why she would assume the family had a horse, Mrs. Bemis told her that the previous night, long after the sun had gone down, she was looking out her kitchen window to check if it was snowing. During her peek through the glass, she caught sight of what appeared to be a giant dark shape in the distance near the old home. Assuming that the new neighbors were going to be keeping horses, she found it odd that they would have allowed one to be wandering around outside the barn, especially one so large as what she had seen.
After a few moments of watching, Mrs. Bemis said the shape turned and moved through the snow back towards the old barn. The night was very dark, but she could clearly see the even darker shape moving across the open land and entering back into the barn. Not sure of how to convince the two women that they did not in fact have a horse out back, Mrs. Holiday told the women to follow her out back. When they arrived outside, the old woman pointed out that snow filling the space between the house and the barn was undisturbed, and that no large animal could have walked through it without leaving some sort of tracks. Satisfied with the lack of any evidence leaning in favor of a large animal having been present in the yard, the three women dropped the subject and returned back inside to finish their tea.
The next night, on January 4, the strange sounds once again filled the old home on 8th St. Unlike their presence the first night in the home, the noises increased to a volume that did not allow for any sleep to be even attempted that night. The three family members remained wide awake listening to what sounded like a sledgehammer slamming against the outside of the home. The noise was said to be so loud that even other residents within the neighborhood were able to hear them as well. It was assumed at one point by the family that the source of the sounds outside the home must be caused by some of their neighbors who wished for them to leave the area for a very particular reason. It was learned by the family that a few members of the community originally thought them to be bootleggers when they moved into the old home back on the 1st. The reason for this being that prohibition was currently going on throughout the country and the strange sounds the residents had be hearing emanating from the Holiday home were assumed to be the result of them building a still in the old barn. This was later cleared up by the family but some residents were not so inclined to believe them.
Two days later, on January 6th, the family awoke from a surprisingly quiet night. No strange noises had permeated the darkness of the old home, no loud bangs had struck the outside of the structure, and no booms had rattled the four walls that the three family members had dwelled within. It was as if whatever was plaguing the family had decided to finally leave them in peace. With a newfound energy and a feeling a refreshment, Mrs. Holiday arose from her bed and walked to the window to take in the sights of the morning. But when she arrived there, she discovered that the night had not been as uneventful as originally thought. For there in the backyard, now just a pile or rubble and flattened boards, was the old barn which stood so steadfast only a few hours before. This sight being the final straw, the old widow ran downstairs and called the Chief of police himself, August Marlowe.
After listening to Mrs. Holiday demand that some sort of action be taken to solve the mystery of whatever was going on, Chief Marlowe made an agreement with the woman that himself and three deputies would stay at the house that night and keep watch over the property. If some local vandals were behind the late night noise making and recent destruction of the barn, he assured her that they would catch them. So when 8pm rolled around later that evening, Marlowe and his three men arrived just as they said they would and set up camp in the dining room. Mrs. Holiday served the men coffee and brought them up to speed on everything that had been going on up to that point. When she had finished her retelling, she made the decision to retire to bed. Only she would not be sleeping in her room as per the usual, instead she would be sleeping on a cot in the living room close to the action so when the officers discovered who (or what) was causing the ruckus, she would be right there to give them a piece of her mind as well.
The night started off quiet with nothing more to report than the sound of the wind whipping across the frozen landscape outside. The temperature had dropped since the four men arrived and it was currently registering below zero, so if anyone was outside getting into mischief, they were an obvious fool. With not much to do but wait, the Chief and his deputies walked leisurely through the home peering out the windows and enjoying the pot of coffee Mrs. Holiday had made them prior to her turning in for the night. As the men kept watch, the old widow slept soundly on the cot in the living room. The Green’s made not a sound from their room upstairs.
The first hour passed by with nothing out of the ordinary, then the second came and went just as uneventfully. The deputies were beginning to fall asleep at their posts and Chief Marlowe started to think that whatever was bothering the three members of the old home had decided to leave them be. Content that the matter was now resolved, Chief Marlowe decided to follow in his men’s steps and get a little bit of shut eye. But no sooner did he shut his eyes and tilt his head back when a bang loud enough and hard enough to shake the whole house slammed into the walls from the outside. The four officers quickly jumped to their feet and ran to the windows on each of their respected sides of the house and peered out into the darkness. One man, obviously braver than the rest, grabbed his shotgun and ran outside yelling for whoever was there to show themselves, but nobody came forward.
When the deputy returned back inside he alerted the Chief that there were no signs that anyone had been out there. The fresh fallen snow was unbroken and there were no tracks indicating that neither automobile nor horse had visited the area since their arrival. Convinced there was a logical explanation for the noise and movement of the house, the Chief ordered all members of the home to gather in the living room and for the dwelling to be searched from top to bottom. As the deputies made their way through the home, Mrs. Holiday informed the Chief that they would not find anyone, because nobody was ever found during a search, and sure enough, the house was empty besides all those already counted for. But still, strange noises started to fill the home as they had done for so many nights prior.
With the belief still that the noises had a known source, Chief Marlowe stood in the center of the living room and began to proclaim to his seven member audience what he thought was the cause of the late night mischief. But not long after he started his speech, the intensity of the activity picked up. Without warning, a window that had been previously secured and checked by the deputies was smashed open without so much as an inkling to the cause. The sound of the breaking glass caused Mrs. Holiday to cry out for someone within range to save the goldfish which lived in the bowl in front of the window, but she was seconds too late. The force of the window breaking caused the bowl to fall from its pedestal and smash on the ground below.
As the widow and Chief Marlowe moved towards the area in which the goldfish had landed, they both took notice of something odd. The fishbowl was seen by everyone hitting the floor, but what wasn’t found in the aftermath of the crash was any water or the fish that called the bowl home. Understandably confused by the lack of any present H20, and with everyone gathered silently around the glass strewn flood, each scanning the area for the missing fish, Patrick Green broke the quietude by the asking of one simple question, “Do you suppose it’s ghosts after all?” Almost immediately after the uttering of those words, a series of booms as loud as thunder emanated from the floor above and shook the house below.
Chief Marlowe ordered his men upstairs to investigate the jarring sounds, but the three men stood firm in place. With sounds continuing to fill the space around them, the deputies looked at one another with apprehensive eyes until man stepped up for them all and said, "I guess we’ll go home now, because there’s something about this house that isn’t right. Nothing human came in here and shook the place and took the water and those goldfish. It’s not anything for us to handle, Chief.”
As Chief Marlowe listened to the words spoken by the deputy, he took notice of the faces of the three family members. He couldn’t just abandon them in their time of need, but he also realized that the situation was beginning to grow out of his control and his men were right, this wasn’t something for them to handle. But made a vow to serve and protect the residents of Baraboo, and these people needed whatever help they could get. So with all the inner strength he could muster, the Chief pushed aside his fear, puffed out his chest and turned to Mrs. Holiday and the Greens and said, “I’m not afraid of any ghost that ever walked, and I’ll stay here until..” CRASH! The house suddenly shook to a point where nearly everyone inside fell to the floor. Chairs and other pieces of furniture were grabbed at to help them rise back to their feet, but before anyone could plant them firmly on the ground once again, CRASH! Another jolt to the dwelling sent them all back down to the ground.
After the second crash the house went silent once more. The activity it seemed had gone and the only sound which could be heard was that of the wind outside. The resulting mess caused by the internal thunder was promptly cleaned; broken glass cups and dishes were placed into a bin and a second broken window was covered for the remainder of the night. Once again Chief Marlowe ordered a complete search of the house both inside and out, but just as before, nothing was found and the snow outside was undisturbed. Interestingly though, during the second sweep of the home, an odor reminiscent of a large grouping of farm animals began to fill air. With a failed attempt at humor, and as a means to figure out the source of the animal smell, Chief Marlowe asked Patrick how long they had been keeping chickens in the basement for. Slightly perturbed by the question, the young man told the Chief of police that regardless to what everyone in the area believed, the family owned no animals; no chickens, no large horses, no farmyard animals of any kind. The smell was a new mystery in an already long line that have been plaguing the family since moving in.
As the clock neared midnight, Chief Marlowe made the final decision to withdraw from the home and admit defeat. He told Mrs. Holiday, “If this keeps up, you’ll have to move.” In response, the old widow told the Chief that they would begin packing as soon as the sun came up. With final goodbyes and good lucks, the four men put on their thick wool overcoats and headed outside into the bitter cold Wisconsin night. But their sense of relief at the thought of leaving was short lived, for when they got outside they noticed that the Chief’s Buick sedan, their only source of transportation was gone. Even though Chief Marlowe had the keys to the car in his pocket, it had still somehow managed to disappear from the front of the old house sometime between the deputies performing their last search and the four men venturing outside to leave. Marlowe, it was safe to say, had officially had it with ghosts.
The four public servants ran outside through the freshly fallen snow in search of the vehicle but could find no sign of it. Convinced that it was not hidden somewhere around the house, they decided to run down to the street and scan the area along the road. When they arrived, they began their search. But it wouldn’t take long to find the missing motor vehicle, for there at the top of the hill, sitting in a snowbank nearly a block away, was the Chief’s Buick. The vehicles tire marks in the snow had indicated that it had been dragged uphill with its wheels locked in place, but what had managed to pull it up there remained a mystery for no additional tracks were found. Not wanting to spend another minute outside and wanting to get away from the area as quickly as possible, the Chief unlocked the vehicle and the four men filtered inside. With the key in the ignition the vehicle started up just fine. No damage had come from its unexpected adventure and it left the area quickly, disappearing into the darkness and gently falling snow.
When the sun began to rise that morning, Mrs. Holiday stayed true to her word. The three member family started packing up their belongings and proceeded to move out of the old house on 8th Street. The day was long and the boxes were plenty, but through sheer determination to not spend another night in the strange home, the trio somehow managed to completely move out and find accommodations in a boarding house on the other side of the Baraboo River all before nightfall. Not long after, their previous residence was officially listed as vacant and the strange noises inside were not heard by anyone in the area again. When they left, it went quiet, and the residents located around the property were content once again.
While the strange case involving Mrs. Holiday and the Green’s was technically “closed” (the family no longer reported any strange happenings since moving out), Chief Marlowe couldn’t get the mysterious events out of his mind. There had to be some explanation, no matter how bizarre, to explain what he and everyone else inside had witnessed. So with a resolution to officially solve the case, the Chief of police set about looking into the history of the property and metaphorically digging up every stone he could find that might be able to help put the case to bed. But he wasn’t able to look long, because it appeared a new mystery had taken up residence on 8th Street, only this time it wasn’t affecting one family, but rather the kids who lived in close proximity to the now vacant home.
In the week following the relocation of the old widow and her daughter and son-in-law, Chief Marlowe began to receive reports from the parents of children in the area who claimed to have not only seen, but also to have been pursued by solid black, mountainous shadows in the dark. Some children claimed it had the overall shape of a giant black dog, others said it lumbered along and they could feel the ground tremble when it was near. One young boy, Richard Curran, who lived at 222 6th Avenue, claimed that he saw the strange thing and that it was as big as a house. The stories spread so quickly and frightened the children in the area so badly, that it wasn’t long before the mother’s in the area collectively decided to no longer let their children play in that part of town during the daytime, and no longer let them outside after dark for fear of what they were seeing might actually be real.
Chief Marlowe, now presented with two strange cases that no lawman ever expects, was beginning to think that the odd occurrences may somehow be one in the same. So with the information he gathered from Mrs. Holiday, and the descriptions of the things the children in the area had reported seeing, he went to work doing what he did best, investigating. And for the next few days he did just that. The officer of the law spoke with residents who had called Baraboo home their entire life and knew the history of the area better than any book could provide. He looked into the history of the homes location, looked through old records of past events where people claimed to see strange things in the area, and even looked into the histories of the circuses that once called this place home. When he felt that he had gotten nearly everything he needed to officially solve the case, he made one more phone call, and that was to Mrs. Holiday herself.
When Rose Holiday answered the phone. Chief Marlowe immediately asked her who her husband was and what he did for a living when he was alive. Slightly caught off guard by the question, Mrs. Holiday informed the Chief that her husband, Michael Holiday, had been dead for three years by that point, but when he was alive, he was employed by the circus as the head elephant wrangler and trainer. He was responsible for breaking them and teaching them how to do the tricks everyone paid to see. After receiving the answer, Chief Marlowe officially had everything he needed to solve the case. He thanked the old woman and wished her the best, but not before making sure that she and her family were still no longer being harassed by the strange noises and unexplainable crashes. She confirmed everything was good and bid the Chief of Police a pleasant farewell also.
So how exactly did Chief Marlowe solve this strange case? What sort of answer did he discover that allowed him to list it as closed? Well, in the days leading up to the final call with Mrs. Holiday, Chief Marlowe reached out to Eric Miller, head of the Dwight-Miller contracting firm. You see, the Dwight-Miller firm was responsible for the construction of a majority of the houses in and around the location of 8th Street. Because of this, Chief Marlowe wanted to know if Mr. Miller could provide any information regarding the type of materials used in the building of the old home in which Mrs. Holiday and the Green’s briefly resided. The letter Marlowe received back from Miller provided everything he was looking for, and then some.
In the letter, Mr. Miller stated the house on 8th Street was built using reclaimed lumber from an old circus barn which was originally located on Water Street, just one mile south from 8th Street along the river. This specific circus barn, he stated, was originally used as the training barn for the 24 elephants owned by the circus before they packed up and moved out of the area. This same barn, it was learned by Marlowe, was the same barn were Mr. Holiday broke elephants day in and day out. What a coincidence that the same lumber in which one man worked, would be eventually be used to build a house that his widow and daughter would one day move into. Everyone always says that this is a small world, and this event only solidified that fact for Chief Marlowe.
When all was said and done, Chief August Marlowe theorized that the Mrs. Holiday and her daughter and son-in-law were being tormented by the spirit of an angry circus elephant which had somehow come back to enact its revenge on the widow of the man who tortured it. He believed that the paranormal pachyderm’s spirit was somehow tied to the lumber in which it spent so many days of its life, and when that lumber interacted with the energy given off by the family of the man which this long dead ghost elephant despised, it acted like a sort of gateway for the animal to pass through and go all poltergeist on everyone and everything around it. When the family left the old home, the ghost elephant retained enough energy to not only remain in this world, but to also manifest itself in a sort of shadow-like way and walk throughout the same area it remembered from when it was alive.
While this overall conclusion did come across as way out there to Chief Marlowe and his deputies, it did conveniently check all the boxes for explaining what had occurred. He believed that only a phantom elephant would be strong enough to shake the house to its foundation, smash a window and drink the goldfish water, flatten an old barn to rubble, and pull a full-sized sedan uphill, all without leaving any sort of evidence behind to prove its existence during any of these specific occurrences. Baraboo it seemed, would forever have a ghost elephant roaming its streets and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Case closed, pack away the file, move on to the next case.
Not long after the spooky events occurred, hordes of investigators were said to have descended upon Baraboo in hopes of getting a glimpse of the ghost elephant for themselves. Psychics, occult enthusiasts, paranormal practitioners, and general looky-loos were said to arrive in Circus City by the carful, but nobody ever saw anything (as per the norm in these situations) and eventually they all packed back up and left the city for good. A few years later, after it sat vacant without so much as an inquiry into its availability, the old house on 8th Street was torn down and a new house was built in its place. The residents of the new dwelling never reported any ghostly activity moving forward and the story quietly took its place amongst Wisconsin’s best documented ghost stories thus far. But just because it was well documented, does that mean it actually happened? Is there a chance that this story might not be true at all? Unfortunately, yeah.
The story of Baraboo’s ghost elephant became public knowledge in December, 1953, when it appeared in that months issue of Fate Magazine. The story was shared by Stuart Palmer, a Baraboo native who was born in 1905, but relocated later in life to Los Angeles, California. During his short time on this earth (he died at the young age of 68), Stuart held many titles. Growing up he was a laborer, later he became a seaman and taxi-driver, and later on in adulthood he became a news reporter. But the one thing Stuart Palmer is best known for is being an author of fiction, primarily those in the mystery category. So, with that said, let’s take a look at how “Baraboo’s 10 Ton Ghosts',” may just be one of two of Stuart Palmer’s best fiction stories.
The story, as it appears in the issue of Fate, begins strong, with references to a newspaper article which supposedly appeared in the January 22, 1930 newspaper, The Chicago Tribune Press Service. The headline read, “Ghost Story Stirs Baraboo To A Frenzy!” and the article went on to talk about the aforementioned story above. The issue with this though is that multiple attempts to track down this specific newspaper with this incredibly specific story within have consistently resulted in failure. All attempts to locate a genuine copy have resulted in the dreaded, “No Results Found.” So with strike one already against it, we move on to the second set of issues circling this tale.
Throughout the story, specific details are made to both locations and individuals within the city of Baraboo. While these locations can be verified - 8th Street, 6th Avenue, Water Street - what cannot be verified with undoubted fact are the characters who play major roles within this story, particularly that of the Chief of Police, August Marlowe. Multiple attempts were made to verify the identity of Chief Marlowe, and just like the newspaper above, they all resulted in failure. We at the PBI even went so far as to contact the Baraboo Police Department for verification on who was the Chief of Police back in 1930. The answer we received was not August Marlowe, but rather Otto F. Harmel, who served as chief from 1921 to 1941. If you would like to verify this fact for yourself, his picture currently hangs on the wall at the police station.
Now, to go one step further, we played devils advocate as well and thought that possibly August Marlowe was a real public official, but instead of Chief of Police of Baraboo, perhaps he was the Sheriff of Sauk County, the county in which Baraboo resides. This idea was also presented by the contact at the Baraboo Police Department. So to verify this information, we contacted the Sauk County Historical Society for a list of names of those who have held the title of Sauk County Sheriff, and amazingly, they were able to provide. Unfortunately though, guess who was not on the list? That’s right, August Marlowe. But you know who was on the list? The name of the man who held the title of Sheriff of Sauk County from 1928 until 1932, Sheriff E.C. Miller. After this we attempted to find any historical data we could regarding Mr. Marlowe and his place in Wisconsin history, but it appeared that August Marlowe never existed. Strike two.
Finally, the most damning fact in the possibility that the ghost elephant of Baraboo may be nothing more than a well written story passed off as fact, we want to bring your attention to a statement we made just a little bit ago, that this story is one of two of Stuart Palmer’s most well known tales, the second being a mysterious tale known as “The Mystery of David Lang.” Now, while the name of this story may not be familiar to you, I assure you that if you have any interest in the world of the paranormal or supernatural, you have heard this story. It revolves around a man named David Lang who was a farmer in Tennessee in 1880. One day, while in full view of his wife, children, and two men passing by in a buggy, David took a few steps through his field and simply disappeared into thin air. Eventually the grass within the area that David vanished from grew brown, died, and refused to ever grow again. Months later, his children claim to have heard their fathers disembodied voice crying out for help from somewhere, but they were never able to find him. It soon began to fade and eventually it was never heard again.
Spooky, right? Yeah, but also 100% fictional. This story, written by Palmer, first appeared in the July, 1953, issue of, you guessed it, Fate Magazine. It was titled, “How Lost Was My Father?,” and it was published a mere five months before his elephant ghost story would appear in the very same magazine. Now, while the David Lang story did come across as believable at first, it began to fall apart pretty quickly. It was noted that the story seemed extremely similar to the short story, “The Difficulty in Crossing a Field,” which involved the same premise and was written by Ambrose Bierce in 1893. When asked about these similarities, Palmer claimed that while the Bierce story was fictional, it was based off the mysterious true life event involving David Lang and his unexplained disappearance. Palmer went so far as to even provide signed affidavits from both Lang’s daughter and the justice of the peace in the area Lang disappeared from, to prove the veracity of his claims. At the time, these were assumed to be real and that Ambrose Bierce truly was influenced by a real event, but after Palmers death in 1968, it was discovered that these affidavits were both written in Stuart Palmer’s handwriting, and signed by his hand as well. So it wasn’t Bierce who was influenced by Lang, it was Palmer who was influenced by Bierce.
Now, even though the stories of Stuart Palmer turned out to be fiction expertly crafted to appear as truth, that doesn’t mean one should write them off entirely. For the past 69 years, these stories have caused the readers of them to open their minds and truly think about the phenomena in which the stories touch upon. These stories have long been part of the public consciousness and more than likely have influenced a ton of legit researchers in this field to further pursue the strange and unusual, and in doing so, create high respected pieces of work themselves. We at the PBI remember hearing about the David Lang story in our youth and how it made such a lasting impression on our minds moving forward, that we still consider it one of the best short stories involving unexplained phenomena thus far. The elephant ghost of Baraboo is no less influential; ask any Badger State native if they have heard about it, and more than half the time you will give a definite yes. Baraboo has ghostly circus animals, and they have been around since the turn of the 20th century.
In conclusion, even though this Wisconsin legend may not be real, does it really matter? No, of course not. This story has become part of our unique Midwest history and it isn’t going to go away just because it started off as fiction. At the end of the day, all that matters is that these stories are tons of fun to read about and equally fun to share with others. And yes, that pun was fully intended.
-The Pine Barrens Institute
Image Credit: Smithsonian Magazine/Ranjan Ramchandani
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“…many people were in their homes enjoying what they thought was just a normal evening. But when they ran outside to see what was the matter, and heard the ever-growing roar steadily moving closer towards them, they also caught sight of a strange object both rotating and moving through the sky above the trees.”