Dr. Eliakim Phelps was a reverend who lived in a grand Stratford mansion with his wife and children. He pursued an unusual hobby for a man of the cloth, a fixation with reaching the dead. The old saying that if at first you don’t succeed, try again, could have echoed in his mind as he pressed on. He finally achieved a response, and the family would pay the price for that victory.
PHANTOM FUNERAL
It was a cold day in early March of 1850 when the Phelps family returned from church to find every door in the house standing wide open. The doors were usually locked, and a black cloth hung over the front door, a sign in some cultures of death and funeral. The family hesitated, then entered and found a shrouded corpse resting on the living room table. After a few minutes, the body vanished into thin air. This chilling moment marked the start of months of poltergeist activity that unsettled the home.
THE DOLLS
Dolls began to appear in strange numbers. Family members woke to find their clothing laid out on beds with arms folded across the chest, as if in a coffin. Witnesses reported dozens of life-sized dolls fashioned from stuffed clothing, often bowed as if in prayer. Rooms were locked and reopened, only to reveal twenty or more dolls standing in place. The sight was unnerving, but no one had been harmed—yet.
CHILD’S PLAY
Dr. Phelps had four children, among them twelve-year-old Harry and four-year-old Anna, who became targets of the unseen visitor. The children flinched, jerked, and twitched as the poltergeist struck with slaps and pinches, leaving red marks on their skin. On one occasion, Harry was lifted off the floor and held suspended near the ceiling for several minutes.
CONTACT
Objects moved on their own, windows shattered, and strange noises echoed through every corner of the house. The spirit sought more intimate contact. Pages would drift to the floor from nowhere, filled with scribbles and fresh ink. Dr. Phelps, realizing the presence might have been invited into the home, decided to press forward with another séance to learn who and what it wanted.
THE CULPRIT
Many people assumed Goody Bassett, a woman who was executed as a witch not far from the mansion two centuries earlier. But during the last séance, a series of knocks and scribbles revealed a different truth. The poltergeist identified itself as a male in life and said the antics were done for fun.
NO MORE
The Phelps family moved to Philadelphia, and the mansion was turned into a nursing home in 1947. It housed residents for twenty years, during which staff and occupants spoke of knocks on walls, disembodied screams and gurgling sounds. The building fell into decay and was finally torn down. The fate of the spirit that thought tormenting the Phelps family was entertaining remains unknown.