104 S. Bench Street
(#16 Bench Street Tour)
Courtesy of the Galena-Jo Daviess County Historical Society; Ghosts of Galena book available at the Museum gift shop.
"The Pale Horse"
(From the March 16, 1874 Daily Gazette)
"Galena has got the ghosts, in the most malignant form. The first well-developed case made its appearance at the residence of a gentleman on Bench Street, whose wife is temporarily elsewhere on a visit to her relatives. On Saturday last, our friend invited a courageous young man to share his bed during the night, as sleeping with his wife's nightdress had ceased to be a novelty. The "son of David" consented, and after a perusal of the horrible experiences of a traveling agent, as recounted in Saturday's Gazette, followed by a lengthy conversation on ghosts in general, the two retired to their sleeping room in the third story of the house, having satisfactorily settled the question in their own minds, at least, that the ghost business was a fraud of the very worst type.
In the course of time, the two had ensconced themselves upon the bed rail, and without speaking a word to each other, were gradually falling into the arms of Morpheus, when they were aroused by a terrible clatter issuing, apparently, from the basement. The hair of these hitherto incredulous and courageous men began to elevate, until it stood on ends like quills upon a fretful porcupine. With trembling limbs and dismayed countenances, they emerged from under the bed clothes, and lighting a lamp, cautiously made their way down stairs, armed to the teeth with all the munitions of war the house afforded.
Arriving at the basement, they discovered nothing, and were laughing over their momentary fright, when a like noise, though more terrific in its nature, was heard in the upper part of the house. If any of the readers of the Gazette have ever been in a like situation, they can sympathize with these two affrighted gentlemen, who were undecided as to whether it was best to call in the neighbors, bolt for the street, or lay right down and die in their tracks. A brief council of war was held, however, and our friends concluded to fight it out on that line, if it took until morning. Our informant tells us that the balance of the night was spent by these two affrighted males in oscillating between the upper and lower part of the house, in search of the origin of the supernatural demonstrations, and that the mystery is yet unsolved."