From Aug. 28, 2008 issue Haunted Hannah mansion celebrating birthday By Kelly Smith, Spotlight staff The historic Hannah mansion is celebrating its 150th birthday this Saturday with historic tours during the Miracle Mile Parade celebration. The house, located at 3801 Madison Avenue was built in 1858 by Alexander Moore Hannah, a famous figure in hoosier history. The house was built to house Hannah and his staff but at age 51, he married Elizabeth Jackson and another wing was built on for the servants. Hannah was well-known in Indiana for his stand against slavery. It was a time of coming change in America where political opponents fiercely debated the question of slavery and President James Buchanan openly supported it. Hannah was a firm abolitionist, which led to his decision to be used as a station on the Underground Railroad. This contributed to the reputation of the house being haunted. Escaped slaves were brought into the house at night and given shelter until the following nightfall. Then, the Hannah's would load the slaves into a wagon and transport them to the next station. This was dangerous, especially to a person of Hannah's status. Assisting an injured runaway slave would have been punishable by law. Myth has it that one night a lantern was overturned in the basement and a number of slaves were trapped by the flames and burned to death. The fire did extensive damage to the basement and the lower floors of the house. While the fire was being put out, the source of the blaze had to be kept hidden and the fact that the house was an Underground Railroad station had to be covered up. Many believe that this is the reason that no one knew the source of the haunting for so long. Like many other myths, no one has been able to verify that this event actually happened. As with other alleged locations on the Underground Railroad, hard facts are difficult to find. Due to the secretive operation as a whole, no written records were kept, only verbal tales. If the fire never took place then the house has been haunted for decades for unknown reasons. Hannah himself had owned the home until 1899, when his heirs sold the place to the current owner's grandfather, Roman Oehler. Since that time, there have been reports of many strange things in the house &emdash; moving objects, ghost sounds and an unexplainable smell of death. For many years, investigators and past owners claimed that one of the upstairs rooms of the house would sometimes smell like gangrene and decay and this odor was attributed to the death of the slaves in the house. Many years ago, this earned the house the nickname of "the house that reeks of death" but according to current owners, that part of the haunting has faded away. However, continuing phenomena includes the sounds of moaning and whining and it has also been said that doors in the house suddenly open and close by themselves. Cold drafts are also sometimes felt when no windows are open to cause them. The Hannah House held a deep dark secret and one that would not be easily explained. The secrets that remain at Hannah House are certainly dark ones, whether it be the haunting a conscious or a lingering one, it still continues to plague the Elder family, who established the home in 1980. Tours of the historic house, which is recorded on the National Register of Historic Places, are available Saturday at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., Noon, 3 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children 6-12, and free under 6. For more information, call 787-8486 or go to www.hannahmansion.org.     The Spotlight 4217 S. Meridian, Indianapolis, IN 46217 Office: 317-444-4554 • Fax: 317-788-4570 E-mail: spotlightads@indyweb.net

From August 28, 2008 issue • Role-playing action game reveres Middle Ages By Fred D. Cavinder , Spotlight correspondent • Haunted Hannah mansion celebrating birthday By Kelly Smith, Spotlight staff • Miracle Mile parade Saturday By Denise Summers, Spotlight staff • No opposition to Perry's proposed 1.3% school budget increase By Keith A. Brown, Spotlight Correspondent • Brickers celebrate mission of changing lives Vineyard Community Church observes anniversary with a free "End of Summer Party" By Kelly Smith , Spotlight staff • SPOTLIGHT BRIEFS     • • Arts & Entertainment Page   • Looking Back By Robin Graves, Spotlight staff • Reality As I See It By Denise Summers, Spotlight staff • Sports Page