http://gazettextra.com/news/2008/sep/15/haunted-history/

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Photo by Al Hoch

A different perspective is shown when the Milton House replica is lighted up during a twilight tour.

 

Photo

Photo by Al Hoch

Cassie Thill lights a lantern in the Milton House during a preview twilight tour last week. The tour, which the museum offers each year, is a completely different experience from the daytime, Thill says.

 

Photo

Photo by Al Hoch

Antique products sit on the shelves at the Milton House.

 

Photo

Photo by Al Hoch

The Milton House twilight tour includes the war room.

 

MILTON — From the moment I approached the Milton House Museum, I knew this wouldn't be an ordinary tour.

A young woman greeted me at the door looking as if she'd stepped out of the 1860s in a pink cotton dress with her brown hair demurely tied back in a bun.

Cassie Thill, a staff member and volunteer at the museum, was about to lead me on a dusky trip around Milton's most famous landmark as a preview of the museum's annual twilight tour.

And if your only knowledge of the Milton House comes from school field trips, get ready for a treat.

"It is so different" at night, Thill said.

Actually, this was Thill's first nighttime tour as well, despite her year of experience as a guide. Normally, tour guides don't dress in costume, but Thill put on the patterned day dress and white crocheted shawl to set the mood.

"I just think it adds a little something," she said.

At first, the dim light of lanterns and smell of burning oil offered an odd contrast with the hum of traffic along Highway 26. But soon I lost myself in the world of the home, hotel and shopping center created by Joseph Goodrich in 1844. The lamps threw yellow light amid the shadows as we gazed at a general store and a dining room table set for dinner.

As daylight disappeared from the windows, I had to ask: Are there ghosts in this house?

Thill thinks so.

"I don't do anything (to the ghosts) unless they do it to me," she said, a mischievous glint in her eye. "They don't do things unless they like you."

Once, Thill was leading a tour when a music box started playing in another room.

"Yes, there were two boys here with me that day, and yes, boys are known to be tricksters, but I don't think it was them," she said. "My dad, he's a skeptic, and he just laughed when I told him."

I'm a skeptic, too, but the shadows were starting to get to me. Was that a black cat sitting on a dining room chair? No, just a man's hat.

No matter, because the earthly aspects of the tour were plenty interesting enough. Thill threw out funny historical tidbits, such as the habit of 19th-century storeowners to charge fractions of cents to help children and adults with their addition.

We saw all kinds of artifacts, such as a rope bed, a warming stone and a "mustache cup" with a hole in the lip so men could keep their facial hair from getting wet.

Thill saved the best for last, leading me down the steps to the cellar and tunnel that were part of the famous Underground Railroad. The tunnel felt close and spooky despite the light bulbs leading the way.

"Imagine trying to crawl through there with no light, or maybe a small candle," Thill said.

No thanks.

As we reached the cabin at the end of the tunnel, I thought about all the people who had spent their evenings in these buildings—travelers, former slaves and members of the Goodrich family.

I still don't know if ghosts haunt the Milton House, but I do know one thing: This place is haunted by history.

IF YOU GO

What: Milton House Museum Twilight Tours

When: 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20.

Where: Milton House Museum, 18 S. Janesville St., Milton.

Cost: $6 adults, $5 seniors, $3 children ages 5-17, free for children under 5 and members of the Milton Historical Society. Tickets will be available at the door.

For more information: Call (608) 868-7772.