A Pizzazz Magazine Exclusive

Publisher Don Lemmon

In the early part of the last century a prominent easterner named Cornelius DuBois purchased a fifty-acre tract of land in what is today, Newton Falls, Ohio. The purchase was made from the Connecticut Land Company which once held title to the entire Western Reserve territory.

Sometime in the 1830's Cornilias' son Dr. Henry DuBois came from his home in New York to see the property. He was immediately charmed by it and decided to build a country house and farm here, away from the troubles and the hectic life of the city.

Dr. DuBois, a French educated surgeon was not only an heir to money, he had also earned a considerable amount in his profession, and was in addition married to a woman who was wealthy by her own right.

When the doctor set about having a house built, built in a specific and very bizarre manner (for reasons unknown even to the contractor) the cost was of little concern. The conversation between parties went a little like this and was no less strange than the requests:

The Doctor: "Oh, no no no, you don't understand; the basement walls must be thicker."

The Builder: "Thicker? Why this is as thick as we ever make basement walls. You're building a home here doctor, not a prison."

The Doctor: "I repeat, m ake them twice as thick as you have them now."

The Builder: "That'll take time doctor. Lots of time."

The Doctor: "I don't care how much time it takes nor how much money; make it happen."

The entire project took four years to complete but the house ended up exactly as Dr. DuBois wanted it. And when it was finally finished, it was indeed the most pretentious residence in the entire Trumbull County and surrounding area. While certainly a showplace of which any community could be proud.

But the pride was tinged with uneasiness from the start because the contractor himself expressed concerns to the locals living closer to town. It seems each day he was enquired by the people of Newton Falls about the doctor's plans.

The Builder: "How do I know what he's gonna use everything for? All I know is that when Dr. DuBois says to build a pit in the basement, I build a pit in the basement."

The Man: "Well didn't he ever give you a hint, idea or say something about what he wanted such an unusual addition to his home for?"

The Builder: "Not a word. Another thing, he asked for a number of funny little windowless rooms in the attic. And he knew just how he wanted them. He's got something disturbing in mind."

The Man: "That sort of thing makes you wonder about who we let into this town."

But the activities of the doctor, at least those visible to the community, didn't seem to fit the dark character rumor was building around him. His home was the center of the community's social activities. The doctor and his wife had five children.

In addition to this good sized family, two other individuals made their home at the mansion. Mrs. DuBois' brother Peter J. a lawyer; and the doctor's brother, an Episcopalian minister named Washington DuBois.

The social affairs staged by the doctor were invariably successful. Occasionally one of the guests would let his curiosity get the better of him after hearing about the rumors. People were whispering mostly about what was possibly in the basement. At one point, there was enough talk about experiments on human bodies that attendance to parties greatly deminished.

The doctor always had his eye open and stood amongst the crowd watching for the curious to get too curious. One gentleman claims to have seen quite a lot just after getting caught snooping around where he shouldn't have been earlier. Here is his account.

The Doctor: Hello, Mr. Collins.

The Guest: Good Evening Doctor.

The Doctor: My heavens, you're jumpy tonight Mr. Collins. I didn't mean to startle you.

The Guest: Oh that's alright, I was just thinking about something else at the moment. I have a wandering mind, you know.

The Doctor: Oh, yes, don't we all? Here, come with me. I'll see that your glass is filled again.

The guest later said, "The doctor was an odd sort of fellow, bright eyes that looked right through you. I waited a few more minutes after he poured my drink for when I saw the doctor involved in a conversation with a couple of the talkative ladies to try exploring the castle again."

"I figured he had forgotten about me, so I headed to the door to the basement after the butler went to serve some more wine himself. I was certain I slipped through without anyone seeing me. Well, the first thing I did was almost fall down the stairs and made such a ruckus I frightened myself of the possibility I might be discovered. It was as dark as the inside of your hat down there. Fumbling, I found a candle and got it lit."

"Let me tell you, that was the most frightening basement I ever saw in my life, the most frightening place on earth for that matter. First, there was the wine cellar. We all knew the doctor was sort of a continental. But he had enough wine down there to take care of an army crossing the desert. And that was only the beginning."

"Down past the wine cellar was a big heavy door that I expected to find locked... It wasn't. It's hard to describe exactly what was in there because I had never personally seen such things before. For one thing, there was this immense copper cauldron. It was arranged so the fumes from anything that might be cooking in it would go up a big chimney."

"Then there was a furnace, I guess you'd call it a furnace. I felt compelled to climb inside because I could see it was as large as someone's bedroom. I noticed chains and shackles from where I stood then stooped down to get a better look inside of it. That is when I heard someone coming from behind me."

The Doctor: Is that you Mr. Collins?

The Guest: Yes, it is doctor.

The Doctor: How can you see anything with that pitiful little candle you are carrying? Hold on, I'll bring my lamp over.

The Guest: That is fine sir, I wasn't so curious that I, well, I was looking for....

The Doctor: I'm flattered Mr. Collins that you bothered. Not many people bother to take such an interest in my work. Most people just talk without knowing what they are saying.

The Guest: Doctor, what I was doing was...

The Doctor: No matter Mr. Collins, it is excellent workmanship, don't you think? Look here. Notice the size of the furnace. Why, it is large enough for a family to fit in there, with room to spare I might add. And isn't this interesting? Did you notice the pit in this direction? Even more beautiful stone work all the way up to the one sole opening there at the top.

The Guest: What's, what's all this for? Does that lever there open the hole?

The Doctor: My work, Mr. Collins, are experiments. Now, as you may know, I have a lively interest in chemistry and scientific subjects. This is all merely part of an excellent laboratory.

The Guest: But, what are your experiments?

The Doctor: It's rather involved Mr. Collins, I'm afraid the details would bore you. Everything is based upon the work of someone who came before me, so very long ago named Johann Conrad Dippel. Let's say the experiments involve surgeries and a specific type of animal.

The guest added later in recall, "I was never so glad to get out of any place in my life. I had to wait until he explained everything else to me and once he did, it all seemed very rational. I left quite unexcited about it. In fact, I felt sort of ashamed about snooping around like that. I began thinking about how I'd better set people straight about Dr. DuBois' experiments."

"I thought about that nonstop until I left the house that night. On the front porch as I was saying good night, my wife dropped one of her gloves. I stooped down to pick it up. While kneeling, I took my time in picking up that glove. I saw clearly from that positin that I was standing on a trap door. Yes, a trap door built right into the porch floor."

"And do you know what it led to? having been down below and seen the construction first hand, I could figure it out in an instant. It was the basement. It led directly to that pit. The pit with the thick stone walls and only one other opening. I remember seeing that little door at the top through which you could look in and see down below from above."

"I ain't saying I know everything but just stop and figure it out for yourself. Say you was standing on that trap door on a cold dark night and somebody pulled the lever. You'd find yourself dropped into a pit. Now, let's just suppose the doctor, was carrying on some kind of experiment that required the use of human bodies as the specific animal he preferred."

"And then let's suppose when he's through he's got to dispose of these bodies. What would be a better way then boiling the flesh off the bones in that there copper cauldron and burning the bones in that big furnace. This is all my own supposing mind you. But wouldn't that explain it? Would the chains and shackles explain that some of the people are burned alive?"

Many people who knew the DuBois family laughed at the rumors. They pointed out the kindness of the doctor in responding to emergencies when medical help was needed even though he was not in practice in the community. And there was the fact that he never charged for his services. They reminded the tale bearers of the doctor's many good works for the church and schools.

How he built a paper mill, a saw and grist mills. He paid for two large warehouses along the canal. He fitted up town hall for his brother to preach in on holidays. But that wasn't enough. In the 1800's people's imaginations ran away from them. Eventually the doctor and his family left Newton Falls, but not before making a few rennovations to the home like boarding the floors of the basement to conceal the pit, dungeon and other strange rooms.

The house had many other occupants over the years. The stories continued, and later on when the house was abandoned by everything but owls, bats and the wind whistling through it's empty windows to bang it's remaining shutters, it was not to difficult to imagine ghosts, ghouls, goblins and spirits residing in the famous old residence. It truly became to many people, a haunted house. But was it? Possibly.

When the Baltimore and Ohio railroad was built through Newton Falls the old DuBois's house was used to shelter the workers who were putting in the tracks. Empty for years prior, local residents managed to convince many of the rail workers that the house was filled with demons and lost souls. More than once an unusual noise in the middle of the night would send dozens of the frightened men scurrying out the doors, but they had no where else to go.

On the night of May 8, 1904 the house caught fire. No one knows how. There was a tremendous scene of confusion as the track workers evacuated. Out the windows came flames and out the doors came workers and their belongings. All of them escaped but the house burned to the ground, laying bare the mysterious cellar of Dr. DuBois. For generations to come, the spooky stories of what really went on in the mansion at Newton Falls will be hotly debated.

For more on Johann Corad Dippel: CLICK HERE