Rudolph Plegge was born in Lengerich, Westphalia, Prussia. At some point he emigrated to the US. His parents, Heinrich and Catharina (Hasseman) Plegge lived and died in Prussia, but Rudolph married Dorothy Kampe in Missouri, fathered several children, and served in the Civil War. He died around 1890 and is buried in St. Peters Evangelical Cemetery, Oakwville, IL.
Rudolph was a harness maker and saddler in Oakwville. He needed water for his business, so he dug a well. He didn't notice anything strange about the water at first, but eventually it seemed to have eaten a hole in his tin kettle. He complained of the defective vessel to the kettle maker, and a replacement was provided, this time made of copper, but it was also soon damaged as well. A local chemist who analyzed the water pronounced it to have a high mineral content. The local physician heard this news, and tested the water's potential curative power on one of his chronic rheumatic patients, who was almost immediately cured. Soon, plans were formulated to build a small bath house on the property, and this bath house was the forerunner of
The Original Springs Hotel.
According to "Haunted Illinois: Ghosts and Strange Phenomenon of the Prairie State" by
Troy Taylor, the actual hotel was founded by the wife of Rev. Schierbaum who was miraculously cured after bathing in the mineral water. She persuaded her husband and a group of his colleagues to purchase the Plegge property and build the hotel. The hotel's present building dates from 1893. The original constuction began in 1884 but was burned to the ground in 1891.
Mr Taylor states that the hotel has a
paranormal reputation, reported by patrons and staff alike. A stay at the hotel might reward a ghost hunter with full bodied apparitions, a woman in white, noises, footsteps, and doors that open and close on their own. The hotel certainly has a rich past, with a history that includes prosperity,
healing powers, recession, wars, suicides, disrepair, rennovation and revitalization.
Haunted Illinois: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Prairie State (Haunted Series)
Copyright 2012 Barbara Pahlow all rights reserved
Comments
Post a Comment