Haunting Alton: One mansion’s history, treasures and tales of the supernatural
by Marian Rein

Believing in ghosts and haunted houses is perhaps a stretch for some people, but how about an entire haunted town? If you’re a skeptic, perhaps you can suspend your disbelief as you read this story of the supernatural.

Sitting above the Mississippi River is Alton, Il., a town of 30,000 that dates back to 1817, rich in both Civil War history and stories of the supernatural. We’ll start with civil war history.

During the Civil War, Alton was home to the state’s Confederate prison, where prisoners were subjected to not only cruelty but an epidemic of smallpox as well, killing both Confederate and Union soldiers. It was a time of extreme brutality that divided not only the state but families as Confederate and Union soldiers infiltrated the town’s borders. It is believed that these soldiers and residents, who were subjected to cruelty and disease, haunt all of Alton, from its homes to shopping malls and more. Many residents and shop owners say that the ghosts of Alton can be seen and heard at all times of the day and in all parts of the town.

It was a warm, sunny afternoon this past September when I drove to Alton with hopes of learning more about its history and reported hauntings. With camera and notebook in hand, I wandered  through a part of the town known to be an extremely haunted. As good fortune would have it, I spotted two gentleman sitting on the porch of an old mansion. As I approached, I sensed a welcoming “spirit.” Dale Lockard, owner of Mitchell Mansion, and Bill Kinsey, a tenant, spent time with me, patiently explaining the mansion’s history as I took notes.

Built in 1850 by two Scottish brothers from Maine, it is thought that the mansion was financed from the wealth they acquired during the Gold Rush of 1849. William H. and John J. Mitchell, upon arriving in Alton, deposited millions of dollars in the Alton Bank. In addition to building the mansion, they owned the large flour mill located at the riverfront, as well as the Alton-St. Louis railroad.

After the mansion was built, John occupied the left side and William the right.

Lockard explained that both William and John were close personal friends and confidants of Abraham Lincoln. Story has it that Lincoln told William that he would make a great president. William reportedly replied, “I’m a banker, not a president.”

According to Lockard, a woman from Carrolton, Il., former president of the Greene County Historical Society and now deceased, told him that she believed Lincoln slipped into town and spent an evening in the Mitchell Mansion. Supporting this notion is a wood carving of Lincoln that Lockard showed me that he found hidden in the floorboards of the Mitchell Mansion.

The Mitchell brothers lived in the home until the mid 1870s. William moved to Chicago and John moved to St. Louis.

The mansion was sold to Captain Garstang and his family. They stayed in the home until around 1900, which was related to Lockard by Garstang’s great great great great granddaughter.

After our conversation on the porch, Lockard invited me into his home where he resides on the left side with his mother, Josie. It was a delightful hour of stories about the mansion, including history and treasures that were found hidden there. Not only did I have the good fortune of listening to a great story teller, I made new friends as well.

Later that afternoon, I visited with Kinsey who has resided at Mitchell since 1995. His many experiences with its ghosts are extraordinary and enthralling, and I couldn’t write fast enough to capture everything I was being told.

Kinsey’s first encounter with the supernatural there occurred just two weeks after moving in. He was in bed one night when he woke to a woman hovering in front of his face. “She spoke to me. She said, ‘Good morning,’ very pleasantly,” Kinsey said. “When I got my composure back, I said, ‘Nice place you got here.’ I never saw her, but I felt her and I heard her, right at my face.”

The matter-of-fact, easy manner in which Kinsey spoke put me at ease as I listened to that first story that would have otherwise sent me fearfully off and away from the porch — and the mansion. His next story, however, did cause me discomfort. “After several months [of living in the mansion], I had just gotten into bed when a hand or arm slid under my pillow and it lifted my head up off the bed,” said Kinsey. “It felt just like an arm.” Kinsey said he was terrified. “Then it just let my head slowly back down to the bed.”

After living at Mitchell Mansion for 14 years, Kinsey is not short on stories. “The one [story] that really startled me is one afternoon, I went to take a nap. I heard two knocks on the arm of a chair that was across the room. I looked up and a little boy was standing there, plain as day, seven or eight years old. I wondered where he came from. Somehow I knew he wasn’t real. He gave me a half smile, like the Mona Lisa smile, then he was gone. He just disappeared.”

On the property of Mitchell Mansion are three other buildings: the schoolhouse, the carriage house and the slave quarters. Living on the first floor of the school house in the gardener’s quarters is Jeffrey Buford, who moved in just three and a half months ago. Buford is a student at Lewis and Clark Community College and works as a library assistant at Hayner Public Library. He is also a board member of the Alton Historical Society. “When I first moved in, I was moving my piano in a room when I heard a group of children laughing and talking, yet no one was there,” said Buford. “I couldn’t pick up on what they were saying. It happened at nine-thirty at night and there are no children living in this area.”

Buford went on to say, “One night when my roommate was out, someone hit the piano keys twice, like ‘ding, ding.’”

All of the tenants that I spoke with at Mitchell Mansion have had experiences with its ghosts. Buford explained that one of the other tenants had, earlier that afternoon, been talking about lots of chatter of ghosts going on in the room next to his apartment.

Now, if skepticism is your forte, let me assure you that the people with whom I spoke all had two things in common — they had no desire to convince me of their brushes with the supernatural, and they were absolutely convinced that what they have experienced are the ghosts of Mitchell Mansion.


While I do not doubt their stories, I am from the show-me state. In order to glean first-hand experience with the ghosts, I will be spending the night in a vacant apartment within the mansion. Ghost hunter I’m not, but I welcome the opportunity to witness just one of the countless ghosts that have been talked about in Alton, Il., for so many years.

I will be writing about my experience in Mitchell Mansion in the November issue of St. Louis Java Journal.