The Ghosts of Stuyvesant Hall and Beyond

The Chi Phi Fraternity is located at 216 North Franklin Street in Delaware, Ohio. The fraternity is a social organization founded on the values of truth and personal integrity. These values guide the membership throughout their lives. Every year, in the month of October, the fraternity raises money for the Big Brothers/Sisters of America organization. The fraternity's fund raising program is quite unique. To raise money for Big Brothers/Sisters, they build a haunted house "within a real haunted house." The fraternity moved into their home in September 1912. The family who built and lived in it were the Sanborn's from Wheeling, West Virginia. The brethren of the fraternity soon found out that the matriarch of the family still resides in the home. It is strongly believed that the spirit of Martha Sanborn watches over the residence and its inhabitants every hour of the day and night. In 1907, at the age of 92, Martha attempted to descend the flight of stairs from the third floor when she lost her balance and plummeted to the marble floor of the foyer on the first floor. As a result of the fall, Martha died instantly. In the area where she met her death, several fraternity members have experienced unusual events; they have sensed a strong and overbearing presence at the foot of the spiraling staircase and some have encountered a feeling of dread and misfortune. In 2002, a young couple entered the foyer from the outside to find a woman wearing clothing indicative of the Victorian era standing on the first few steps of the staircase and smiling at them. Events of the mysterious are not centered only in the area of the foyer by the staircase. The bedroom of Martha Sanborn once consumed most of the second floor of the house. Ever since the fraternity took over the residence, moderate changes were made to the interior of the home. The bedroom was transformed into three separate rooms to accommodate living space for the brethen. At night, members who reside on the floor hear footsteps in the hallway outside their rooms with an occasional knock at their doors. When they go outside their rooms, they see no one. They contribute this to Martha. Sometimes when they are studying, they not only hear footsteps, but they get a glimpse of a woman in a flowing dress walking past their doors. When they proceed out into the hallway, the woman vanishes. On rare occasions, the members of the fraternity would hear footsteps followed by a faint scream and a sickening thud at the bottom of the staircase. It had been reported that a procession of footsteps could be heard leading from the living room and into the foyer. Two of the brethren went to investigate these sounds between 3:30 and 3:45 a.m. As soon as they walked to the foyer, they witnessed several men wearing suits carrying a coffin out of the house. It should be noted that at one time funeral services and wakes were held in homes since funeral parlors had not yet been established. According to John Schaefer, former chapter president, Andrew Hatten, one of the fraternity's housefathers in the 1990's, owned a dog which refused to venture close to the staircase. The dog would proceed from the dining room, into the living room, through the chapter president's study and out to the entrance doors avoiding the staircase at all costs. Sometimes the dog would brace itself by the double wooden doors and bark constantly as it centered its sights on the staircase. John Schaefer remarked that his labrador retriever did the very same thing on several occasions, but there was one slight difference.......John's dog is totally blind.