Table Six, Menominee MI

The following article is quoted from the Eagle Herald Extra, a newspaper serving the area surrounding Marinette and Menominee.  The original article can be found by following this link.

Quote :

We begin at the Table Six Italian restaurant. Owners Vince and Wendy Baron along with some of their employees have noticed unexplained phenomenon. Full-body apparitions, silverware that moves by itself, disembodied voices and more.

"I'm thinking we may have two ghosts," said Wendy. The first appeared Oct. 16, 2010, about a month after the restaurant opened. A waitress was bringing something to an upstairs office when she saw something that startled her.

"She opened the door and saw a little girl sitting in my chair at the computer desk," recalled Wendy. "She freaked out, flew out the door and ripped her sweater, went flying downstairs and said she was never going back up there by herself."

The employee described the girl as being 7 to 10 years old and having blonde hair. Exactly one year later a new employee started to go upstairs and came running back into the restaurant. She too claimed to have seen the little girl.

"She didn't know anything about what had happened a year ago," said Wendy. "We never really talked about it." Both descriptions matched exactly.

This past Christmas, Wendy received a call about 10:30 p.m. She picked up the phone and heard a young girl say, "hello." Then she heard one of her employees ask the girl if she could to speak to her mommy. The employee thought the child was Wendy's daughter. It wasn't. Wendy's daughter was sound asleep in another room. The little girl responded, "hold on." Neither Wendy nor the employee ever figured out who the voice belonged to but speculated it may have been the ghost child from the restaurant.

There have been other things in the restaurant too. A butter knife that was set to the right of a plate kept mysteriously moving into position above the plate. No one would claim responsibility for doing it so Wendy checked the video from the security camera.
"Towards the end (of the tape) it went to static or blacked out for a couple seconds at a time and then the knife had changed positions."

And there's more. Plenty more, including an incident that took place about two weeks ago. Wendy walked in on a Wednesday morning to find a mop bucket and several dirty dishes in the kitchen.

The cook came in the next day and apologized for leaving the mess but said he had a good reason - he saw a ghost. Wendy said he told her, 'I don't believe in ghosts, I don't buy into this. My mom watches all these shows, I think it's ridiculous.'"
Ridiculous or not, the cook described the woman as having auburn hair, wearing a gown of some sort. When the figure moved into the dining room, the cook dropped the mop bucket and ran out the door, stopping just long enough to lock it behind him.

After hearing the story, Vince started teasing the cook. From out of nowhere a Styrofoam container hit Vince in the head. There have also been reports of a baby crying and men having conversations but no babies or men were present.
One of the creepiest things to happen took place about three weeks ago. The desktop photo on Wendy's computer went from being a photo of her family to a plain blue background with the word "HELP" in soft, white letters. She swears no one has her password.

"I asked Vince, 'are you messing with me? Did you do something?'" Vince swears he never touched the computer.

Fellow investigation team PROWL, headed by Josh Olson, investigated neighboring business Intrigue Salon; that article can be found by clicking here.  We also have a link to PROWL on our site.

At this moment I cannot say if we are having an investigation here or not.  Some people who I work for are interested in me doing this, as they are familiar with Table Six's ghostly activity.  And, as a bonus, they also know the owner, and have stated that they will try to get NLPRS in there.

In anticipation, I have begun doing some research of the area, in the hopes of finding something that might be considered useful or pertinent to this investigation.

One of these days I'm going to have to hit the library.  There is a lot of information on the internet, but this area hasn't quite reached the digital age; they do not have an online archive to the newspapers.  Oh, I've found a link that gives me a list of the newspaper headlines (arranged by date), and I can probably narrow my search down to those issues that sound promising...  I just need access.  I can only hope that the library would have the information I'm looking for, as the site that has the headlines was compiled by an outside source.  The link to that site is is here.

While going through the paper headlines in the hopes of narrowing my search down, I came across this site, which lists all old and new street names / name changes.  This was actually pretty helpful, especially considering that the street I am interested in has had two name changes.  Doesn't really help trying to research something with the wrong information now, does it?

And lastly, to give myself a better understanding of the area, and to see what may have been around at that time, I've found a historical map (this map, and others, can be found at Historic Atlas).  I've posted it here, along with a new map (thanks to Google Maps).





Please note that the Table Six restaurant sits within the 12 block, facing what was Sheridan Road. Notable buildings within the immediate area appear to be an Opera House (located on the 12 block), the Lumberman's Bank and the Menominee Hotel. It seems there are a few residential structures as well, in addition to a couple other businesses (or offices), but it's difficult to read what the map says at this moment.

The Marinette and Menominee area has a rich lumber history. There have also been instances of fire (most famous of which being the Peshtigo Fire of 1871), outbreaks of typhoid and small pox. Normal turn-of-the-century kind of things. Haven't gotten into the more "recent" stuff yet, as I'm just gathering as much information as I can.

Naturally, the best place to start an investigation would be the 12 block, as seen in the old map.  There are two different directions to go about doing this: from the present back, or from the past to now.  It would be a logical assumption that, if there is no paranormal history of the area, we could start at the present and work our way back.  However, I like history, so I'm going to start at the beginning (or at least try to).

For instance, if we go further back than the map, we'd find that the Opera House doesn't exist; it was built in 1902 (check out the renovation program), that a few of the persons named within the 12 block were county board members, and that there was a school behind the National Hotel.

This following quote, taken from A history of the northern peninsula of Michigan and its people, written by Alvah L Sawyer (1854 - 1925), details the previous paragraph.  I took some liberty to correct spelling mistakes and punctuation in an effort for easier reading (there are some words that I cannot place).  For an original viewing, you can go to page 617

Quote :

In writing of the first schools of Menominee no better history can be recorded than by quoting from an article recently written by Mrs. A. L. Sawyer, largely from her personal recollections, as follows: "Art and science follow close in the track of commerce, and the public school is the door by which these enter, so when men were sure of enough to eat and something to wear they must have schools for the higher needs of their children. The first school was opened in 1853 at the old water mill, in a building one end of which was used for a blacksmith shop. This was maintained by a subscription of three dollars for twelve weeks schooling. Oscar Bartho'omen of Elmira. New York, whom fate had stranded here, was the first teacher.

The first real schoolhouse was built by Charles McCloud Sr, on the bluff near the end of the first dam. This also was supported by subscription and Miss Sue Lyon was the teacher. The average attendance was sixteen, and represented five nationalities. In 1858 a log schoolhouse was built, where the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad crosses Ogden Avenue. Miss Lyon taught here also. She is better known to most of us as Mrs. Sue Douglass, magazine writer and correspondent for local papers for many years. At the mouth of the river the first school was held in a small building the bay shore back of the National Hotel. Miss Emily Burchard, who lived in Menekaunee, was the teacher. In summer she paddled herself over in a canoe; it is related that one morning she upset, but nothing daunted she swam to a boom, righted her boat, came on over, borrowed some clothes and taught school as usual. The writer remembers this school building in later years with George Jenkins as teacher. It had fascinating possibilities which are unknown in our well kept modern school houses. The building was of wood outside and in, filled with sawdust between the walls.  It was quite possible to open a crack and let the sawdust run.

The writer remembers another schoolhouse also, near the bayou over by "Bob's Mill" (L. W. & V. S. old mill.) Nature study began early in this room. The boys used to amuse themselves, when not carving the plank desks, by catching bed bugs and trying to train them, sometimes a snake in swift pursuit of a mouse would glide across the floor much to the teacher's consternation. The girls gathered the beautiful cardinal flowers that grew along the bayou, to decorate the teacher's desk,-such were the beginnings of the school system of which Menominee is so justly proud today. In the spring of 1864 the town of Menominee was organized and the first public money was drawn for school purposes. In 1880 the school district system was changed to the graded system under graded school law and six trustees were elected, viz: S. M. Stephenson, A. Spies,. T. Phillips, Wim. Somerville, Jos. Juttner and J. II. Walton. At this time the district owned the old Kirby street building on Holmes avenue and rented a store on Ogden avenue. In all five rooms, all seated with the old double seats.

While all this is interesting, it should be noted that (so far) the first reported ghost sighting occurred in October of 2010.  It could be said that there may have been earlier ghost sightings, but that they went unreported.

While checking on something else, I came across an account that may have a connection to Table Six... the 1881 lynching of the McDonald boys.  Here I quote directly from the book Haunted Heartland.

Scott and Norman wrote:

One of the most gruesome legends in all of American history was spawned in the Michigan lumber town of Menominee, on the shore of Green Bay a few miles north of the Wisconsin border.

On September 26, 1881, a pair of thugs known as the McDonald boys stabbed to death a young half-breed named Billy Kittson. The next day, a crazed mob broke into the jail holding the killers and subjected them to "timber justice" so grotesque that it almost strains credulity, were it not so well-documented.

The sadistic carnage also gave rise to a grimly accurate superstition that each member of the "necktie party" would die with his boots on.

The McDonald boys were actually two cousins, although they were closer than most brothers. Their surnames were different, but everyone called them the McDonalds. The tall slim one, called Big Mac, was born a McDougall. His small cousin was known, naturally enough, as Little Mac.

They had reputations as mean, deadly knife fighters, especially when they had been drinking, which was most of the time. It was the wise citizen who gave them a wide berth.

By most accounts, the trouble began after the 1881 spring lumber drive. The McDonalds got into a fight in Pine River and stabbed Sheriff Ruprecht. The sheriff deputized the 200-pound George Kittson, Billy's half-brother, to track down and arrest the pair. He did, and the McDonalds spent the next several months in jail.

They were released on September 24 and drifted down to Menominee, swearing vengeance on George Kittson. They both found work at the Bay Shore Lumber Company.

The Kittson family was fairly prominent, if not highly respectable, in the pioneer lumber town. There were three boys, all sons of an Englishman who had fled the catastrophic Peshtigo fire in 1871. He moved to Menominee shortly thereafter to become its second permanent settler. George's brother Billy, the youngest boy, was a rough character known to like whiskey and women. The older brother was called Norman.

On the afternoon of September 26, the McDonalds left work at the Bay Shore Company and headed for the Montreal House, a seedy saloon in the west side neighborhood known as Frenchtown. Norm Kittson bartended there.

The more the McDonalds drank, the more belligerent they became. They warned Norm that his brother, George, was a dead man. To back up the threat, they drew knives. Eventually they staggered out of the bar and headed for the Frenchtown whorehouse ensconced behind the
jackpine near Bellevue Street.

Inside, Billy Kittson was drinking whiskey out of a jug with the girls of the house. When the McDonalds barged in, a fight ensued. Billy hit one of the McDonalds over the head with an empty bottle, then headed for the relative safety of the Montreal House. The McDonalds
caught up with him in the street outside. Norm Kittson saw the pair closing in on Billy and shouted a warning.

"I'm not afraid of those s.o.b's!" Billy yelled back.

Big Mac smashed Billy across the head with a heavy club, then plunged a knife deep into his rib cage as he lay sprawled on the ground. Norm ran to Billy's aid, but Little Mac knocked him away. Billy struggled to his feet, only to be stabbed again by Big Mac, this time in the
side of the head.

Nearly unconscious, Norm managed to draw a revolver from his coat pocket. He fired twice. Little Mac clutched his leg as he and his cousin fled.

By all rights, Billy Kittson should have fallen. But he had drunk so much whiskey that he was oblivious to his mortal wounds. He limped inside the Montreal House, ordered drinks for everyone ... and promptly keeled over dead.

Norm's wounds were not serious.

The McDonalds were captured a few hours later at the train depot and promptly locked up. Word spread like a fire through the pinery that young Billy Kittson had been killed by the notorious McDonald boys. At every tavern and hotel, on each street comer in Menominee, lumbermen talked of little else. Their voices were loud and angry, especially the next day, September 27, when it became clear that a hearing on the murder would be postponed. The prosecutor had trouble finding witnesses, for even though the McDonalds were in custody, the
thought of testifying against them didn't sit well with some men.

As the liquor flowed, the talk turned to inflicting rough justice on the pair. They had knifed a sheriff, killed the son of a well-known family and generally created a reign of terror in the city.

Six men were ringleaders, seeking immediate "necktie justice" for the McDonalds. Frank Saucier, a drayman, offered the use of a large timber to batter down the jailhouse door. Bob Stephenson, the superintendent of the Ludington, Wells and Van Schaick Lumber Company,
supplied the rope. Max Forvilly, owner of the Forvilly House on Ludington Street, the gathering place for the mob, constantly replenished the whiskey.

At the head of the mob were Stephenson; Louis Porter and Tom Parent, both timber bosses; and Robert Barclay, an ex-sheriff who ran a livery stable.

Late on the afternoon of September 27, the half-dozen men, followed by a group of hangers-on, grabbed a timber from Saucier's wagon and marched on the courthouse. Only two deputy sheriffs guarded the McDonalds. One of them, jack Fryer, challenged the mob, but Louis Porter immediately disarmed him and shoved him aside.

The mob ransacked the jail and found the two McDonalds cowering in a cell. Big Mac pleaded to be allowed to argue against his imminent fate. They ignored his whimpers and threw a rope around his neck.

Louis Porter grabbed Little Mac, but the outlaw pulled a small knife from his boot and stabbed him in the hand. Enraged, Porter grabbed an axe from a man named Laramie and whacked Little Mac over the head, killing him instantly.

The mob drew ropes tightly around the McDonalds' necks and dragged them from the jail. Big Mac was still conscious even as he was pulled over an iron fence. Witnesses say his neck stretched several inches when his head got caught on the fence rail.

Down Main Street the jubilant mob hauled the McDonalds, taking turns jumping on and riding the bodies, stomping out pieces of their flesh with their heavy boots. The macabre procession took on the appearance of a parade as men, women and even children joined in. Church bells peeled and whistles blew. Everyone cheered the spectacle of the McDonald boys getting "just what they deserved."

Near a railroad crossing, the mob strung up the McDonald boys on a tall pole. Big Mac twitched, moaned once or twice and then was silent.

The sight of the boys swaying in the breeze at such a prominent location wasn't appreciated by everyone. Some thought the bodies might scare the horses and frighten the women and children. After some arguing the mob came up with a solution. Why not take the boys back to where the trouble had begun-the Frenchtown whorehouse?

And that's just what they did. They lowered the corpses and dragged them up Bellevue Street. As they passed the church of Father Menard, he tried to stop them, but they brushed him aside. Father Menard glared after them and declared that each man there present would "die with his boots on."

Undeterred, the men dragged their prizes through the front door of the whorehouse and into one of the bedrooms, dumping the bloodied, mangled remains on a bed. They rounded up the girls and one by one, forced the dozen ladies to climb into bed with the corpses.

When the mob tired of their entertainment, they ran the girls out of the house and burned it to the ground. They left the McDonald boys tied to two small pine trees outside the burning building. Their mangled remains bore little resemblance to anything that had been human.

Had the leaders of that mob known what strange fates awaited them, they might have thought more seriously about their actions. Every man among them died a violent or unusual death. Some say it was Father Menard's curse coming true.

The curse first struck Bob Stephenson, who supplied the rope. A few months after the lynching, Stephenson's lumber yard caught fire. His men refused to run between two piles of lumber and tip them over to save them. Cursing them, Stephenson himself ran between the piles, trying to douse the flames with a water hose. The fire caught him, however, and when he cried out, his whiskey-sodden breath ignited. His body exploded in flames, from the inside out. He lingered in excruciating pain for three days before he died.

Frank Saucier, who had supplied the battering ram to break down the jail door, died without apparent cause on a train trip from Iron River to Menominee.

Louis Porter, who recovered from the knife wound Little Mac had inflicted on him, came to his end when he went with his men on a log drive. Porter sent them on ahead, saying he was tired and wanted to rest. When the crew returned at the end of the day, they found his body propped against a tree, his arms folded across his chest. No one knows why he died. Some say a poisonous snake bit him.

The list goes on: A man named Dunn was accidentally sliced in half by a head saw in a Green Bay sawmill . . . Albert Lemieux, a timber cruiser, slashed his own throat midway through a poker game in a lumber camp . .. Alfred Beach drowned when his boat capsized.

Some of the men learned of the bizarre deaths of their comrades and vowed they wouldn't die in a similar manner. But the curse was too strong. The ex-sheriff, Robert Barclay, on his way to a family reunion, pulled up at the gathering, jumped out of the wagon, waved and dropped dead.

Max Forvilly lost his hotel, his money and his family. He died on a small farm at Peshtigo Sugar Bush, crazy and penniless.

The grisly events of September, 1881 are still told in hushed tones among the old-timers around Menominee. They know that Father Menard's curse was strong, with the power of the supernatural. The hanging of the McDonald boys, an act of unspeakable depravity, was
avenged in a way that defied logic and reason.

I also have this link, which takes you to a book excerpt from Bloodstoppers & Bearwalkers, by Richard M Dorson.  It pretty much covers the same information, giving more detail here and there, while glancing over other bits.  

How does this tie in with Table Six?  The lynch mob met at the Forvilly House, which was located on Lundington.  From cross referencing past street names with current, it is shown that this is now 5th Avenue.  Likewise, Main Street eventually became 1st Street.  The only structures on Lundington was the Opera House (which wasn't built until after 1900) and the collection of buildings which encompasses Intrigue and Table Six, two establishments that have reported hauntings.  Intrigue's account can be found here, while Table Six's is here.

I have contacted the Menominee Historical Society to see if they can pinpoint for me the exact location of the Forvilly House.  With no other information to go on, it would seem to me that this would be the best possible cause for a haunting.  How so?  A group of cursed men, cursed by a holy man no less, their spirits trapped at the very place where they organized and plotted their sins?

It may be a stretch, it may very well be a point of coincidence.  But it does make for an interesting theory.