Comments on: An 1870 Ghost Story (Utah history)

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:34:07 +0000

Puh-leeze, Mr. Marley, let my poor ghost wander through a library or Victorian mansion — don’t condemn me to eternity in a suburban shopping mall!

By: Jacob Marley

Jacob Marley — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:07:20 +0000

When Ardis’ ghost comes back, she will haunt the corridors of Southtowne Center, looking for a table for her laptop.

By: Tatiana

Tatiana — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:19:58 +0000

What a great story! This sounds like an episode of The Great Brain.

By: Velikiye Kniaz

Velikiye Kniaz — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:06:16 +0000

Ah, Maurine, you have the advantage of me!
I have never met Sister Ardis face to face and you are undoubtably correct about the computer. I am certain that Ardis is as much a virtuoso on it as Schreiner or Longhurst were on the Tabernacle organ. I have dated myself once again with the ball point pen comment. There once was a time when such accoutrements were de rigeur for historians, scholars and academicians. Ardis is aware, I feel sure, that in amongst the history of the Saints in our dear Deseret, there are numerous stories of visits from departed personages. Some family, a few not, and some even Nephites. If the New Archives are truly thrown open, the day shall yet come when an inveterate folklorist researcher may gather these for publication as an intriguing facet of the folkways of our desert Zion. Who is to say whether or not these are all myth and imagination? Sometime, somewhere we will know the truth about all of these mortal ‘unknowns’.

By: Maurine

Maurine — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 02:34:11 +0000

with a ballpoint in her teeth endlessly looking around for a place to lay her burden down

Surely this wouldn’t be Ardis. I have never seen her with a ballpoint in her teeth. However, I do believe that her computer is an extension of her arms.

By: Velikiye Kniaz

Velikiye Kniaz — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 02:18:04 +0000

It is an annoyance to rent to the dearly departed. They keep such odd hours, they have an aversion to peace and quiet, and worst of all their checks never clear! Now Ardis, wouldn’t it be fascinating if some 50 years from now the successor owners of your domicile complain that they see at odd hours of the night a woman with her arms filled with books and papers with a ballpoint in her teeth endlessly looking around for a place to lay her burden down. Upon inquiry they find out, yes, indeed, this house was once owned by a Mormon historian whose greatest love was to delve deeply into the myriad stories found in the records of the Church Archives!

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:32:36 +0000

slamming doors, lights being turned on, and other minor annoyances that go bump in the night.

This easily describes my place. I’ve always just assumed it was my upstairs neighbor Jennifer, and her yappy little dog. Maybe I’m missing an opportunity, though. I’ll start watching for energy orbs. Maybe my place will be on the tour by the time Michelle is back to take it.

By: Velikiye Kniaz

Velikiye Kniaz — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:08:50 +0000

I once took a tour of the Salt Lake Masonic Temple with a husband and wife couple who were searching for departed spirits in the form of ‘energy orbs’. They both had digital cameras and took a number of photos while in various rooms of the temple and captured the likeness of one or more of these orbs which appeared in the photos as gray translucent globes of various sizes. I have seen the same results with traditional cameras using film but don’t have an explanation for them. I believe that on occasion the caretaker will give you a tour for a nominal fee and he is in residence in the caretaker’s apartment on the south side of the Masonic Temple. The only other ‘haunted’ site that I am aware of in Salt Lake City is the McCune Mansion on Main Street just north of the Conference Center. Allegedly, the night watchman has reported slamming doors, lights being turned on, and other minor annoyances that go bump in the night.

By: Michelle Glauser

Michelle Glauser — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:11:45 +0000

I heard there’s a cool Ghost Tour in Salt Lake around Halloween. I always wanted to go but never made it while I was living there.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:59:20 +0000

Jim, you and the Herald are in agreement — a glass plate, insufficiently cleaned before reuse, is the obvious answer, and I have no doubt that Carter knew it. What fun to pull the collective leg of the public, though!