Morbid - Episode 412: The Tragic history and hauntings of Kenyon College

Episode Date: January 2, 2023

Kenyon college is haunted AS FUCK, my friends. Alaina brings us the tragic tale of a fraternity rush gone wrong. Stuart Lathrop Pierson was a Delta Kapa Epsilon pledge and was anxious for initiation night, but was happy that his father would be there so he could do him proud. Unfortunately a terrible accident would take place that night and rob Stuart of the rest of his life. That's not the only tragedy on campus, Alaina also shares the tales of fires, swimming pool accidents and other nefarious happenings that led to multiple hauntings. Shoutout to our listener Elizabeth for the suggestion :)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, Prime members, you can listen to morbid, early, and ad-free on Amazon music. Download the app today. You're listening to Immorbid Network Podcast. Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham, the host of Wondries Podcast American Scandal. Our newest series looks at the Kids for Cash Scandal, a story about two judges who stood accused of making millions of dollars in a brazen scheme that shattered the lives of countless children. Listen to American scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey weirdos, I'm Alina. I like that show too.

It is our show after all. What? And you know what? Today, we were going to do a different case. And we are still going to do that case. I'm not going to tell you a case. But secrets are no fun. At the last second, she said, I was like, reverse, reverse.

I'm feeling some type of way. And I just went in another direction and I'm so happy I did because. Wow. Yeah. She's really excited right now. And I'm excited too. Because, sorry, I was holding in a burp. If that's why my voice sounded weird. I'm drinking a Pepsi Cola. A Pepsi Cola. And a burps, man. But anyways, carbonation. Carbonation, station. Elena's excited about this case. I am and it was actually a listener

who suggested this. Your name is Elizabeth. I won't say your last name because I don't know if you want me to. You didn't specify, so I don't want to out you like that. Elizabeth. But Elizabeth is, you know, somewhat common name, so I feel okay with that.

And somewhat common, I would just say pretty common. Pretty common. And Elizabeth was like, guys, guys. Elizabeth said, I'm loving. She said, I'm loving the spooky series, Spooky Lighthouse, the spooky castle, spooky water, spooky everything. She's like, I'm into it, I'm here, I'm riding.

Are you in this way? Do you feel alone ever? And right now, can you gather friends? Oh, spooky water, spooky everything. She's like, I'm into it. I'm here. I'm riding. Are you in this way? Do you feel alone, ever? And right now, can you gather friends? So tell us that as well. But Elizabeth said, I feel like you're missing one, though. Oh. And she said, I think I'm going to open up

a whole new realm for you. And I said, OK, Elizabeth. And she said, spooky schools. Oh, drop the mic, Elizabeth. And I was like, Elizabeth, I didn't write this back. Oh, drop the mic, Elizabeth. And I was like, Elizabeth, I didn't write this back to her, but I think I will. Now that this is out, I am gonna write this back to you. Although I mean, this is kind of like,

this is kind of my, this is my love letter to you. Is this your old Elizabeth? Oh, Elizabeth. And then my head, I said, Elizabeth, that's brilliant. And Elizabeth said, she's an education major, so it made her think of it. And I said, wow, that's brilliant. And you were just having a back and forth combo

that was up in your head? Each paragraph I read, we talked. Okay, okay. But she listed a few. She was nice enough to say, here's a few to get you started that I think are pretty gnarly. Elizabeth, how you're doing the lords work?

She's doing all the work. And I said, wow, Elizabeth. And she said, this one in particular. And I said, yeah yeah that one in particular was my ear cooked bro. Can you guys tell it it's friday? It's friday. It's friday. It's friday. It's like isn't the holiday next. Oh god it's not even next week. I don't know when the holidays happen in terms of when this comes out. I wasn't even thinking about that. I was thinking about like my stress level. Yeah no it's not even next week. It hasn't even been Christmas yet right now. Just so you guys can tell where we are.

Oh, God. In our lives, but it's coming. But either way, Elizabeth really just, she sent me, sorry about it. Ashes throwing things. And she's so excited. She's just throwing things. That's the thing. And Elizabeth just sent me down this rabbit hole and I love her for it. I appreciate her for it. Pressed full send. She did, and I love her for it. Thank you, Elizabeth. And we had another listener who I will read part of their listener tale at the end of

this, just to kind of wrap things up. Make it full circle and such. But they also sent in the suggestion that we should do spooky schools and suggested this particular school as well. You know what they say about great minds. We also sent in the suggestion that we should do spooky schools and suggested this particular school as well. You know what they say about great minds. They think alike and they're beautiful and squishy and they come up with great ideas. You really add it on to that, huh?

That's what we say. So here we go. This is happening. So again, like I said, Elizabeth sent a bunch of suggestions, but there was one in particular that I was like, wow, this cup overflows with gnarly shit and paranormal activity. And that cup is Kenyan College. Kenyan College. In Gambier, Ohio, I think it is me in my brain, I want to say Gambier, it's GAM B-I-E-R. But I feel like I've heard it Gambier.

Maybe I should look it up. Lopas. Please hold. Hey guys, we looked it up. And I was right, it's Gambier. Wait, were you right? I was right. So I was right.

And it's Canyon College in Gambier, Ohio, because I was right. So I was right. And it's Canyon College and Gambier, Ohio, because I was right. And it's real and it's terrifying. And there are newspapers to back these things up several. I saw you looking at those. Old, tiny newspapers with some scandalous accusations and shady cover-ups aplenty. At one point, Alina just grabbed her glasses

and shoved them onto her face, and she literally went, ooh! And then said nothing else. And I was like, I'm gonna keep typing. I pulled a full, I pulled a full Rupert Giles. And that moment, like, threw the glasses on. Yeah, and I was buffy and I just minded my own business.

I became British for a minute, it was awesome. But, and it's all thanks to Elizabeth, in case anybody was wondering. Elizabeth! I became British, I became Giles Four Minute because of Elizabeth. And you had a full-blown conversation that Elizabeth didn't even know about. I did, and now she does. I hope you know her best friends now, Elizabeth.

It kicks. It kicks. It kicks. It's always funny to me. Thanks. It's Friday, guys. This is a weird episode. So, the college itself was founded in 1824, which we all know the 1800s was just rife with hauntings

and straight up chaotic murder and weird deaths. The 1800s were just rife, period. They were rife, like that's it. They were rife and they were rife. Yeah, I was saying. That was, everybody was real rife in the 1800s. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. That's like the TikTok, you should be the other day.

Yes. I saw a quick little side note, saw a little tick-tock, and it was really funny. I don't know who the creator is, so I apologize. But they were just talking like just a thought popped in their head, and they were like, isn't it weird to think like in pioneer times that people would just like hook up, but it was like somebody who would only splash their nether regions with like one water, like dirty creek water once in the last six months. And you would just do it. And at the end she said, I would just die. And I left a lot for this buddy. So that was the 1800s. All right, I'll shut up now. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondries Podcast American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in U.S. history, presidential lies, environmental

disasters, corporate fraud. In our newest series, we look at the Kids for Cash Scandal, a story about corruption inside America's system of juvenile justice. In Northeastern Pennsylvania, residents had begun noticing an alarming trend. Children were being sent away to jail in high numbers, and often for committing only minor offenses. The FBI began looking at two local judges, and when the full picture emerged, it made national headlines.

The judges were earning a fortune, carrying out a brazen criminal scheme, one that would shatter the lives of countless children and force a heated debate about punishment and America's criminal justice system. Follow American scandal wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wonder App. Already, we're setting everyone up for a real wild time here, being started in the 1800s. We got fires, we got unexplained deaths, we have tragic accidental deaths, we have fraternity hazing rituals gone very wrong.

Oh no. It's tragic and it's a lot, but we're going to start in actually 1905. Okay. In 1905, 18-year-old student Stuart Lathrop Pearson was a very hopeful member of the Delta Kappa at Epsilon fraternity on campus. Ooh, I'm already nervous. You should be. You should be. You should be.

And Stuart is such a cute name. Yeah, and he is affectionately known as Stewie now. But we'll get to that. Stewie. His father knew Boldbold's Pearson, bold, very bold and very new. He had been a member of the fraternity in his heyday. So the pressure was on. Yeah, it's a family business. You know, these frats and these sororities that's like usually on, if your mom or your dad is in one of them, you're probably expected to be in one.

Yeah. Or at least it was at one point, especially back then. Yeah. So Newbold, his father, was a wealthy business owner. He also had Esquire attached to his name, which makes me assume he is a lawyer as well. But he was only Esquire in some sources I found. So, like, take that with a grain of salt. Okay. Either way, he was very wealthy, a business owner, a man about town, a former fraternity member, an alumnus. Alumni? Alumni. What's the plural? Is it alumni? Is the plural and an alumnus? Is it one? I've never heard of alumnus, but I'm also a drop out of college. So, alumna, I'm the wrong person to have this banter with. You know what he was? He was an alum. He went to school. He went there. He sure did.

And actually, he had come that night for the initiation of his son into this fraternity. Oh, yeah. So Stuart had actually waited nearly all night long the evening before for his dad's train to come in because his train was super late. So when he went into this initiation, which also was probably going to be late because that's what they do. They haze you with sleep deprivation,

which is like a very common bonding thing, right? No, it's not. Yeah, totally. That's how I met all my best friends. Yeah, we just sleep deprived each other. It was great. But yeah, like they do that. So he went into this initiation already exhausted,

kind of out of it. Right. Now on the night of October 28th, 1905, Stewart was, like I said, very exhausted, but also very anxious about initiation. This is a big deal. And you don't know what to expect because hazing. So this was the big evening. This was the big deal and you don't know what to expect because hazing so

This was the big evening. This was the big hazing ritual that was about to begin it likely I don't know I wasn't there, but if you look at past ones it probably had some kind of like chanting You know like that we are men Yeah, I assume they woke up in coffins at one point, all of the skulls. Did anybody watch the skulls? In the middle of this, Alina was like, oh my god, this is reminding me so much of the skulls.

And then we just watched the trailer. I've never seen it, but Paul Walker's in it, Joshua Jackson is in it. Lots of other people are in it. It's like, people you will know. Yeah. It takes, it's like a skull and bone society kind of thing. Guys, if you didn't watch that in like the 90s, watch it.

What is a skull and bone society? It's like a secret society. Oh, okay. You know, it's like the life and death brigade and Gilmore girls. The Illuminati. I don't know if it's the same. I don't know what the Illuminati is.

You said I will not speak on that. The Illuminati, I was kidding. Well, I honestly don't understand what the Illuminati is. I don't want to say that the same. So, but maybe I don't know life and death for Gade. That's it. No more girls. No, I can picture is is worry and my man's there and Logan jumping off and the deal. In Omnia paratus. Let's go. So that's what I'm picturing. I was initially picturing something like that. There was definitely some blindfolds because he had a blindfold on when he was brought. I'm sure there were robes. I think they had...

Don't they have like paddles? That's a huge thing. They get weird with it and like have paddles. Yeah. I don't know how any of this works. I did not pledge a sorority. So... You didn't...

I didn't. I know. It's shocking to everybody. And everybody's like, what? I totally pegged you for one. We did pledge a sorority together. What? Omega beta Zeta. Oh, fuck yeah.

It was a C.C. This is C.C. Omega beta Zeta. So every pledge, I think it's called a pledge. You rush your a pledge, yes. Yeah, yeah. They were either brought or sent to different locations on campus as part of this hazing ritual.

Stuart was brought or they would later claim he was sent and was not brought there, but he was definitely brought there. Yeah. To a truss bridge, which was a railroad bridge by the Cooke a Singh River. This is where things get hairy. He was left there. He may or may not have been tied to those tracks. It appears he was tied to those tracks, but we will get into those like railroad tracks. Yep. And don't worry, we'll get into the whole like nitty-gritty. I'm just stressed. So an unscheduled train was heading that way for maintenance. And sometime in the 940 to 941 area that night, it struck Stewart on the tracks. 941 was the time that Stewart's watch stopped. He did die. He was literally like in pieces.

Like very bad. The train was Cleveland, Akron, and Columbus Railroad locomotive number 26, and it was being engineered by Jeff Vanada, who never saw Stuart or anyone else for that matter on the tracks. In fact, they didn't realize what had happened until the entire crew had reached their next stop for that maintenance pause. The crew found fabric and blood on the front of the train.

Oh my God. Which obviously indicated something very sinister. Now, it's important to note, he did not see Stuart on the tracks. He didn't see someone standing on the tracks. Stuart was laying on the tracks. That's important to note. Now three fraternity brothers apparently

were supposed to go back and get Stuart and bring him back to, I believe it was called like the bullseye building or West Bullseye building. Okay. Get into that building as well later. That's where the initiation was going to be held. So they went back there to get him.

And this is when they discovered that he was not in the location they had abandoned him at. There are reports that the members said they heard the clock tower strike 10 p.m. So they, they were going there at a specific time. But who knows? I don't trust these fools. Nah, honestly for good reason, you're gonna find out. So the three-frapped bros coming to get him

informed the president of the college, 37-year-old William Pierce, that they had found Stuart Pearson and he was dead. Oh. So he was his body without a head was brought to William Pierce's home, the president of the college, and the authorities weren't contacted. Nope. What they did next was you would think they would call the corner, William Scarborough, right?

That's what you do when you find that somebody has been killed violently. Typically. No. He just called the local doctor, Dr. Irvin S. Workman, who was not equipped for violent death investigation at all. He was just a doctor. Yeah. Called him in.

Let's take a look. Okay. And he came in and was like, yeah, he's dead. He's a head of sing ahead. Yeah. So like, you know what, I think I can call it. Like, I don't, we don't need the coroner apparently. Right.

So now before the morning sun, this is the middle of the night. Obviously that this is all happening around 4 a.m. Newbold's Pearson Stewart's father arranged to have his sons battered body taken home on a train. What? Cincinnati. What? Conveniently, that is outside of Knox County,

and outside of the jurisdiction of the coroner. What the fuck is happening here? And this is all documented truth. This is facts. Do you think that this is like some kind of sacrifice? No, I think this is a fuck up, and I'll tell you why in a second, okay. So, and it was only after the train was on the way safely with Stuart's body on the way to Cincinnati

that pierced the college president called the police to report anything. So when he knew he was on that train already on the way, that's when he called police in the corner. Another jurisdiction. And he didn't even call the corner, that's when he called police in the corner. Another jurisdiction. Yeah. And he didn't even call the corner. He called the police.

How is this even questioned to this day as not being a cover-up is like wild to me, that it's not even like, what? This is pretty obvious to be a cover-up here. Everyone there knows what these frapp, but like everyone who was there, they know that this was all damage control. Like every bit of this was damage control and we'll get into it. But it's like the wildest thing to me when things like this happen because it's a fraternity. That's the thing.

It's made up. That doesn't mean anything. Wait until you get to the point where I tell you the oath that these men or young men had taken, like someone made that up, guys. Yeah. So Pearson, like I said, had been decapitated by the train. And the rest of his body had suffered a lot of injuries. There was an arm almost torn off and a lot of other very serious broken bones. Dr. Workman, the physician, was the one who actually called. He went to the scene, not the corner. He was like, I don't know, I guess I should investigate this.

That's not legally what is supposed to happen here. Legally we are already out of left field. Yeah, I would say so. But it happened. Apparently Stuart also was found with a note pinned to his chest. The fraternity brothers admitted that they did that as part of a ritual, like a hazing ritual. In this note said, this will do for this time, but if we come again, it will be worse. What? Frapp boys, am I right? Yeah. And if you're part of a fraternity or you were, I don't know what

they're like now, so I'm not going to sit here and speak about it but back then they were fucked to the up. Yeah. Which way, every way? I never dated a frappoy that really held my heart for a while. Yeah. I haven't had any kind of great experience with a frappoy but again, I don't know how they are now. I don't know if the like, and this is like not to generalize all of them, you know, I mean, I'm sure there are no things. But back then, they were all pretty fucking awful.

Yeah. I mean, this is like the donkulous. And in his reports about the scene, he said that at the scene, he found a basket. Apparently, this was common in initiations. I guess. And in this basket was a length of rope, cigarettes, a razor, some fig cakes, and the most intriguing thing was Dr. Workman found some cloth with chloroform on it. In whose possession again? This was in a basket found at the scene. So, steward had this basket with him. So they had given him this basket. And I'm gonna get into the chloroform thing in a second, so don't worry.

Because the fracas are like, oh yeah, like what? Where'd you guys get that? I'm like, what, I don't understand what the problem is here. So the form of it all. So the following day, the coroner William Scarborough was informed, but he was informed of this by Dr. Workman, not even by the president of the college.

Guys, what? And he was like, what the fuck? Like, are you kidding me? Why did you not call me? And he did end up examining the body in Cincinnati. What? Along with a detective whose name is Detective Grim. That's pretty fucking awesome.

Yeah, I was like, you don't have a choice. You got to be an detective. I know. I was thinking Scarborough is also a really cool name. That is a cool name. And immediately, he called for an inquest. Because he looked at this and he was like, are you fucking kidding me? This inquest was a week long and had around 33 witnesses

called to testify. Detective Grim was quoted as saying, the wounds on the right, right, right, whit. And why can't I say this? Right, wrist. Woo, right, wrist is hard. You have to like take a pause because you want to say wrist, right wrist.

Right wrist. That's hard. And the left ankle of the young man certainly seemed to have been made by cords or ropes encircling them while he was using all of his great strength in trying to free himself. So he was tied to the trunks. Down to the tracks.

Down to the tracks. This is when Chic got wild though, because Kenyan officials and President Pierce were adamant that Stewart was not tied to the tracks and their fraternity itself was like, nope, this was totally Stewart's own fault and not ours. Like took no responsibility. It's like, how would the president know he wasn't there?

Exactly. In fact, they deemed Stuart's actions that that night as careless and negligent. Stuart, are you kidding me? The pledge who was forced out there. Yeah. Yep. Pierce went on a crusade to squash any and all of this, starting right from the moment Stuart's body was found.

But he also accused the coroner of trying to stir shit up. Why would the coroner try to, like, he's just bored. It's a slow way. Like, is the, like, coroner is like working for TMZ. Like, what is, he's not trying to stir shit up. He's just like, this is wild that you just sent. First of all, that his body was brought to the president of the fucking college, his house, and then he was sent on a fucking train in the middle of the night home out of the jurisdiction of the corner. Yeah, I think the corner was,

I think you were trying to sterk yourself out there. Yeah. Actually, Mr. President, like, I don't know why you thought this wasn't gonna be fucking questioned. Meanwhile, the corner and most other officials were very sure that he was tied, and no matter what, the entire thing was mishandled and shady as fuck, no matter what. This includes the behavior of Stuart's own father and former frat boy himself. Yeah, what was the fucking deal with that?

Newbold refused to say that his son was led there or left there in a perilous position. He said he was tired from the evening before and he must have been sent out there as part of the initiation. He said, because that makes sense. He sent sent out there. They do that all the time.

They leave people in isolated areas because bonding normal. And he said he must have been so tired from the evening before he fell asleep on the tracks. Literally go lay down on the tracks. Thank you. Like how dare you say that about your son. Literally blaming his own son for his tragic death. Did the mother ever say anything? I never read anything about what the mother said. Now, this makes a lot of sense when you hear what the fraternities pledge was at this time. I'm so terrified. What Delta Kappa Epsilon's pledge was. I'm so scared. New members and new bold himself had taken this this particular oath. This is the oath that you will take. Oh no. I swear by all my hopes on earth to keep this pledge with the brethren of our order.

May my life be a curse to my death be loathsome, my heart cut out and cast into dust, my flesh rot from my bones, my bones crumble away if I ever reveal any of the secrets of our beloved order or portray my brethren. That's on some toxic masculine right there. That is fun. Some shit. What? Also, no matter what your flesh is gonna fall off your bones and they are gonna fade away. So I don't really think it's that big of a deal

to worry about, because kind of inevitable. And it's like, do you really think Chad and Tommy over here are gonna curse you forever? If you, do you think they have that fucking power? I don't think so. I wish you had said what my go to is, which is Chad Braden Tha. Chad Braden Tha over here.

They're not gonna be cursing your ass. They don't even know how to like, yeah, it's not gonna happen. They're too busy at, I don't know, like vineyard vines. There you go. But this is the thing that he had taken and these, they took it seriously back then, especially. Seriously, that you're going to cover up your son's murder and be like, yeah, he just took a nap

on the track. Yes, I guess I didn't instill in him and his childhood not to sleep on train tracks. You are not to betray the secrets of your brother, not even for your child, whom you created. And it gets even worse because during the inquestest it came out that not only did they wash, did they whisk away the body that evening illegally, but they had a local guy named Ralph McMahon go out there, bribing him with $3 at the time.

And he was told to wash away all the blood from the tracks and anything that was out there. Dude. He said he, and he testified to this. What? He said he never got his three bucks, by the way. Yeah, but he said, I didn't think he did. And he said he never found a head, which was missing,

but he said he found pieces of skull and jawbone, and also some fabric with muscle and flesh still attached to it. Oh my God. He was told by fraternity members according to him to bury these things in a little box. Wow. And he did. Wow.

Also, just for my conversion lovers out there, that would be like a hundred bucks today. So that's, yeah. A good amount, but like worth it, question mark? I know. It's like, he must have been on hard times. No, they were able to determine without a doubt by examination of the body and scene that Stuart was lying flat on his back on those tracks. He stated,

it was stated that he was, quote, bound in some manner that he could not extricate himself from his perilous position. They were also able to determine that this all happened in violation of Ohio law, because it states that any body of a person who had died of violent death must not be disturbed or moved except by order of the coroner. But nothing happened from that. President Pierce also typed up a fucking death report himself that evening.

This is so obviously a cover-up, it's the skulls and I won't hear anything else about it. He, the president of the university, typed up a death report. Like, who the fuck do you think you are? That's the thing I'm like, get out of here. Oh my God, the toxic masculinity oozing from this story. I need to dig a shower. Now to top it off, the frat bros said

all of the seemingly fucked up parts of this were just common rush practices. Sometimes they tied ropes around pledges and led them around like cattle to different locations. So what, that's what the rope was for. Where did, where did rushing stardust? That's what I wonder. Who said, let's hurt each other for fun? Like, where did all the hazing rituals come? And then they, then he said they always did the chloroform thing, but it was just a bluff. It was supposed to scare, the idea was to scare the shit out

of the pledges because that's what bonding was about, you know? And they claim they never actually chlorformed anyone, especially not Stewart. Then why would you need chloroform? Why would you not just have a little fake thing that's like a bottle of raw juice or like just some kind of juice that says chloroform on it?

You're like, we're gonna chloroform you. You have actual chloroform. Also, why are you pretending to chloroform anybody? Like, what is this? I don't understand. I also don't think you are pretending. I think you are chloroforming people. It's really wild to me.

But more than a dozen of the frat bros were under suspicion of having something to do with his death. And later, former pledges came forward to dispel any rumors that they were not hazing rituals associated with this fraternity because they were working very hard. And President Pierce was working very hard to claim that there were no hazing things associated with the fraternities.

Meanwhile, they're like, yes, sometimes we tie people up with drugs. Yeah, I don't understand what that's all about. And these former pledges said that they endured a lot of torturous things when they were pledging. To give examples. And one of them said that they had to eat a full bar of soap. They were forced to eat an entire bar of soap. And we're physically assaulted as part of the process.

Why? Yeah. They believe you, so what they believe happened, this is what everybody is pretty much coming down to. They believe you is let out there by frat boys and possibly, but they're not sure, including his own father, because sometimes former fraternity members were parts of these initiation rituals. Holy shit.

Or his father was waiting in that like bullseye building. West Wing bullseye, I think it's called bullseye building, where the initiation was going to like fully take place. Oh my God. He was either there or he was at the scene, we will not know. The fact that he was even just like present in the campus at this time. And what happened was he was brought there. They believe he was tied to the tracks, blindfolded and told you are going to be left here until the train comes and runs you over.

Bye. And that's the shit they would do to these pledges. They would be like, yeah, you're going to lay here until the train comes and kills you. It's a good mind game. But then they would leave the pledges sitting there shitting his pants. And then a half an hour later, they come back and they're like, haha, just kidding. So you think they like fucked up the train schedule? Well, that's the thing. So in their tiny defense at least in this part,

I will say, is that there were no train scheduled to come through that evening. So this was supposed to be a scare tactic. I don't understand the scare tactic. No. But I don't, I have to try not to believe that they didn't, they couldn't have known a train was supposed to be. I don't think they, I don't think they wanted him known a train was. I don't think they I don't think they wanted to kill this kid.

I don't think that was the plan. I think the plan was to the play when he's in and. I don't think it was to kill him. No, I agree with you and there was no train being scheduled for this night so that just wasn't something they were worried about. But this train in question had been sent that way on scheduled for a routine maintenance trip to Mount Vernon. So the idea is that the Frappost bros tied him up, scared him into thinking he was going to be run over, thinking in their heads there's no danger of that, there's no trains coming. Then they left for a pretty small period of time, came back to collect him, thinking he would just be

scared shitless, but alas, they were fucked, and that's when the cover up began, because they immediately called President Pierce and said, what the fuck do we do? And was, do you know, President Pierce was a, um, I couldn't find that, but I just want, I imagine that it's, fraternities were like a big deal back then. Oh, yeah. So even some, yeah, and it was a big, it was a huge part of the college thing back then.

And so I think they were worried that it was just gonna it would have, yeah, pretty much. I read of the case recently where like there's this huge cut, there was this huge cover up going on with a specific fraternity and a boy had died. Yeah, it's it's why it still happens. Yeah, it does, you know, like they're taking way too seriously. I don't. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. mean, it's a you do what you do, but if you're hurting people for something, then it doesn't make any sense. And it's pretty fucked up. So enrollment at the college actually dropped like a hot potato after this for a while. Oh, Mr. President, how do you feel now? Yeah, because it was scary and it was shady as fuck.

People were like, what the hell is going on there? And if I get hurt here, are you gonna cover it up too? Like, what the fuck? If I was a parent, I would never let my kid go there. And as a very clear thing here, can you call it just very different now? Well, yeah, like it's, but back then, this was like a big deal. But now, there are obviously hauntings associated

with this as well. The rest of the frappopros and the initiation itself, like I said, it keeps on, like you're saying frappos. Frappos, the rest of the frappos. This initiation was going to be held, like I said, in the West Wing Bullseye building. That building is part of the Delta Kappa Epsilon frapp buildings and still is, I believe, people even now will see a full-body

apparition on the fourth floor where the initiation would have taken place. They see him often, and it's usually, they think it's Stuart. Oh, they do. They see him often on the anniversary of his death, and he just looks out the window in that specific room, which is now a dorm room, and he just stares at the train tracks. Oh. Students refer to him as Stewie now. Oh.

In fact, according to the Kenyan archives, where they have tons of these hauntings documented, a student named John from the class of 04 said he was living in that room during this time at the school and he had heard stories, like it's very well known, this story. And so on the night of October 28th, he locked the window tight

because he was worried people were gonna fuck with him. Yeah. And he was like, so I locked it. And the thing is, he was like, it's a rusty lock. It's like a very old, rusty lock. So once you shut that lock, it's hard to open again. It kind of like cranks. Yeah. So he was like, wind can't open it.

Like somebody trying to open it would make a lot of noise. It just would. So he said, he woke up in the middle of the night and the window was swung open. And he never heard it, no one ever came in the room. But what's weirder is another night, he said he was sleeping with his girlfriend in there.

And he said he felt cold hands touching. And at first he thought it was her, but when he woke up, he was like, she was asleep. Like her hands were nowhere near me. So he stood up and just kind of like turned on the light and was like, what the fuck's going on? Yeah. And he was looking around the room

and he noticed this little crawl space door. No. That is in the near the closet or in the closet. Oh, oh. He said there was a padlock on it and that lock was broken. I would show myself. He went in there with a flashlight

and there was a crawl space through there. The cajuna's on this note. I know. And he said he was just like flashing the flashlight around the crawl space, just seeing if something was in there. And he said in there, he found countless signatures on the walls, pledge books, Delta Kappa Epsilon Pins, and other souvenirs from the past.

Whoa. And when he looked further, he said he found a signature that said, SLP-05 a signature that said SLP05. Oh, yep. Holy shit. And that's like documented in the archives at the school. That's fucking crazy. Isn't that wild?

And in 2016, even a student actually fell from that window. Oh. And they had to put me, they ended up being okay. Like they went to the hospital and they were injured, like very gravely, but they made it. But they had to put metal bars over that window. Just that specific window house spooky. And that's not even it for this school. That's not even it. There was another hugely tragic event to happen here.

February 27th, 1949. There was a massive fire that killed several students and injured more. Oh, no. That evening on February 27, 1949, there was a big sophomore dance. And all of the boys had gone back to the old Kenyan dormitory afterwards. It was a newly rebuilt and renovated building and had new fireplaces in it as well. The old fireplaces that were original to the building had been built over,

and the flus were all blocked up and unusual. Unusable. That evening, some students lit fires in the new fireplaces, and one of these sparked in just the right way. That somehow made its way into the old chimney flu, and then hung out between the walls and smoldered between the first and second floor walls and eventually the pressure caused it to burst open and flames poured out. Oh my god. And they were already out of control as soon as they poured out of that wall. Because they'd been building. Building and the gases were building and everything and it was 4 a.m. when this happened. Fire is one of the scariest fucking things to me. While you were working on these cases,

I was like gathering some information for my upcoming cases. And I was just reading about this terrifying fire. It's like one of my biggest fears as a fire. Oh man, that's, I feel the same way. And honestly, that was a mass, like biggest fear. Yeah, we were never allowed to have candles in our room. Yep, she literally never, that's why I have so many candles in her.

Me too. Because I can never have candles. It's so funny you and I both have like a shit ton of candles. Like a discussion with candles, but you got to be smart about it. Yeah, always be smart. And I won't light a fire in our fireplace. I know. We have candles in the fireplace.

You do? That's funny. That's a good way to do it. But as the chaos of escape went on, that everyone's running everywhere, seven students died of asphyxiation. And that's terrible. And two other students died from internal injuries

and skull fractures because they had jumped from higher floors to try to see themselves. Oh my God. The nine students who died that evening were Ernest Awaji, Albert Lewis, Martin Mangle, Edward Brought, Mark Peck, George Pinkis, Steven Shepherd, Jack McDonald's, and Colin Woodworth. Colin was actually from Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Oh my goodness.

Isn't that interesting? Yeah. Was this an all-boy school at one point or was that just a male dorm? That was a male dorm. Oh, at that point. This is even sadder. People reported that they, when they were gathering around there,

the boys that were in part of the building and how to fixated, they were singing as they waited to die to comfort themselves. It was like the Titanic kind of thing where they lay play, the ban plays. Like these, and students said they heard them singing in there. Isn't that the eerie thing you've ever heard? That's haunting us, fuck. I know my whole body is like chill.

So by 1951, they had actually reconstructed an exact replica of Old Kenyon just around the ashes of the old one. Wow. They didn't even move it. They just right up on the same one. All right. Now students in that dorm, and apparently the inside of that dorm is really different now, but the outside is an exact replica. And it's in the same place. It's creepy. So now students in that dorm

will actually hear voices of people screaming and calling for help sometimes. One student in this gave me the chills. Oh, I'm so scared. One student was shaken out of bed and heard pounding on his door. And he then he heard a clear voice yelling, Ed, wake up, fire. He later learned he was staying in Edward Brown's

dorm room. Dude. Isn't that like, whole, like, and he said he opened the door and no one was there, but he could still hear my whole body is bubbling right now. Yep. That's residual hauntings. You just hope that it's energy left behind and not the actual spirits having to live through it over and over. And other students have heard get out or help me and hear frantic pounding on doors around 4am. There's been reports of singing being heard. Like, I'm getting chills, honestly,

just saying, what a tragic tragedy. So much a tragedy. And a very interesting thing from the Kenyan archives is that a student actually told a professor about some ghosts that people were seeing in the building. He was like, I keep hearing it and he's like, I, and then I finally saw one myself. And he said, but it was weird.

He said, some of them were only seen from the knees up. Oh, that's weird. Isn't that interesting? Yeah, you and I were just talking about that with Paul feed. We were talking about ghosts that were only seen from the knees up. This maybe this explains it. Okay. So he said on the fourth floor, he saw ghosts that were the only the knees knees up were visible. But another student underneath him on the third floor saw literal feet suspended in the ceiling. What? So they were like, what the fuck does that mean? They did research and found out that when the new dorms were rebuilt, they had raised the floors 18 inches. What the? So those ghosts

they saw were just existing in the original Kenyan building, where the floors 18 inches. So those ghosts they saw were just existing in the original Kenyan building where the floors would be 18 inches lower. And that makes sense for the Holly Hotel as well with all the reconstruction that exactly. Oh my goodness. So they must have lowered or rose a floor. And those ghosts are still living in that original blueprint. Yeah, what a simple explanation. Yeah, we were just that we couldn't even figure out. Yeah, wow. Isn't that like my mind to explode in? I don't know why, but I love that.

It's just very interesting. It's like, it's so logical. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. That's why I like it, because I'm like, yeah, yeah, that okay, yeah. Like, isn't that wild? I'm so sure. I'm so sure. Now a student named Rachel who was staying in the dorm said one night she and her roommate were actually

awoken by a loud siren. And she said according to and it was according to Kenyoncollegion.com. She said quote, it was a really loud blaring that you automatically associate with a fire alarm. She thought it was just an evacuation. So she was like, they got up, they like peaked out the window and she's like, no one's outside. And then the siren stopped.

Okay. So she said the next day, she asked her RA about it and she knew nothing about it. And was like, what are you talking about? And then she asked everyone else in the dorm, like anyone else she knew. And she said, no one else heard the sound.

Only her and her roommate. You would feel like so. Thank gosh, her roommate. Thank goodness. You feel so crazy. Yeah. So that is that's the coverage for the fire. Now we're going to take you to, and there's more. But wait, there's more. The capill's residence halls, I hope I'm saying that right. In 1979, it is documented that a student fell down an elevator shaft and died. One of my other biggest fears. He was coming home from a party around

2.30 a.m. Another student he was with saw him waiting for the elevator in the lobby. That student used the stairs. The elevator actually got stuck between two floors. I believe it was like the eighth and the ninth or it was a high floor. And they believe he tried to pry open the door and jump to the floor below because it was like halfway between. Oh. And he missed and fell all the way down. He died later at the hospital of severe injuries. In an article by Wendy McLeod from the haunted Kenyan tour in the Kenyan College, alumni bulletin, there's a story in this story like gave me such chilly willy. So you can find this story in a lot of different places because there's a security officer named Dan Turner,

I believe his name is, and he has been around for a lot of these things and dealt with a lot of the haunting things. He actually passed away, which is sad. But he had a lot of stories about things. And his fellow security officers back them all up. They're all like, yep, we were there. Oh, that's awesome.

But this is a story that this was in the 90s and I think it was 1995. Whatever, I hear the 90s all I can think of as the 90s. Kevin from Delta, the best. But in 1995, Dan Turner was working the security office in the area and he was told when he began his shift that night that the capill's building was acting a fool. No direct quote. Truly.

It was no one was in that building at the time. It was not abandoned, but they weren't having kids staying in that building at the time. What? It was empty, but lights kept going on, and apparently water was being turned on in the showers. A lot. So creepy.

But whenever they would check, no one was there, and they had officers standing outside of it, no one was going in, no one was going out, but they would watch the lights turn on. So they were basically, they were like, get ready for some bullshit tonight. We don't know what's happening. And around 5 a.m., he got a call, And the call was rushed to the Capitol's building immediately, and it was to all security officers. Oh shit. So the dispatcher said that they had received three calls,

one after the other, and they were from Capitol's building, and they were from room 511, 611, and 711, and they were one after the other. Every time this dispatcher answered the call, it was a woman's screaming bloody murder, and then it would hang up. Oh my fucking God. And then immediately after 6-11,

call screaming, hang up. Immediately after 7-11 screaming, hanging up. That's one of the scariest things you've ever said. Isn't that horrific? And there's no one supposed to be in this moment. No one. What the... And seemingly, it didn't make sense because 5-11 on one floor would call screaming hang up

and within a second, it was the next floor. There's no way somebody could run up and do that. Nobody could get up there that quickly. Oh! So, they sent Dan Turner, Troy Galen, and Peter in Ryan Pence. I mean, these poor fellows. Oh, I said their names wrong. Sorry. Dan Turner, Troy Steinmetz, Galen Nighbarger, I believe it is in Ryan Pence. So four officers. Okay. And they sent them there. No one saw anyone enter eggs at the

building. They were state, they kept some of them out there to watch. Nobody came in. No one came out. They went in through the building to all the different rooms, no one was in there, and they all spread out checking every room, and they saw that every exit was locked. So it didn't make any sense. I'm so scared right now. On the fifth floor, there was a shower that was on, and it was on and it was on scalding hot just steaming. Mm-hmm, but no one there. And in the rooms where the calls came from, 5, 11, 6, 11, 7, 11, I could never forget. I could never forget.

The call those rooms had their lights on and the phones unplugged. Oh! As they went to leave, so they were like, we don't know what's, they plugged back in the phones. No. Turned off the lights and we're like, we just got to get out of here.

As they go to leave, they're still in the building. No, no, no, no, no. They were dispatched and heard from room 811, a woman called screaming and hung up again. So the next room up. What? So they run up there. What? No one's there. What? But the

light was on and the phone was on. Dan Turner was the one in the room and he heard the elevator then go down. But you have to hit a button for that to happen. So he radioed the others in the lobby on the floors and they were like, none of us pressed it. Oh. And apparently they left in one of the security officers was like I wasn't waiting for that door to open and see who's in there. No! It just wasn't happening.

But another worldly being, but no one came out. And that's it. That's it. That's all they had. That's the scariest fucking story you've ever fucking took. Is that terrifying? I'm hiding in my sweatshirt right now.

I'm telling you, Elizabeth gave this gift to us Elizabeth's like a story gifted. Yeah, wait that's straight up the creepiest thing I've ever heard truly ever ever ever Truly I've heard some fucked up shit. Yeah, you have oh Told you some fucked up shit. This is the scary shit. I don't know why I hate that so much, but I really, really hate that. Because it's like, ugh. And there's several people that can say it happened. Like, oh.

There's more, though. How? There is a building that is now the Schaeferd at Dance Studio, and it used to be the Schaefer Pool. Okay. And it was called, I guess it's called the greenhouse, because it had a glass ceiling, so it kind of looked like a greenhouse. pool. Okay. And it was called, I guess it's called the greenhouse because it had a glass ceiling. So it kind of looked like a greenhouse.

Cute, cute. Apparently a student who was on the swim team used the diving board to take a dive and ended up hitting his head and dying in the pool like breaking his neck. Oh gosh. The diving board was removed later, but there were reports it was because the pool

was just too shallow, but that kind of also lines up with the story that someone broke their neck. Yeah, it was too shallow. Yeah. Now he was this person is referred to as the greenhouse ghost. Okay. And people don't even want to patrol there. Like the safety officer is the maintenance workers don't like going in that building because it is the creepiest part of campus.

According to them. What about art? That's the creepiest part of campus. Does anybody are the capitalist buildings used now? I think they're still used. I think I'm not positive. So right now. Get out of there. Get out of there. Now it's a dance studio now. Like they went they took out the pool and now it's a dance studio. That's probably like ballet. And the student dancers will find wet footprints across the floor. That's so much fun. That's so much fun.

And security officers have seen the lights turn on and when they go to investigate, no one's there. And one safety officer, I think it might have been Dan Turner. That's my guy. That's my guy. He heard footsteps when he was checking it out one time. And he turned around to see a water puddle

in the middle of the dance floor. And he said he called for backup and they came. They saw water puddle in the middle of the dance floor. And he said he called for backup and they came, they saw the puddle, nobody could figure out where it came from. They said it was a puddle. Now, there's also reports of students and officers hearing splashing in there when it was, because at one point before it became the dance studio,

they still use the pool for like the swim team and such. And they would like lock it down for the night. Everyone was out lights off. And then all of a sudden they'd be watching from the security office and the lights would turn on and they could hear splashing. And they would go in there, no one was in there. Oh, it's like that. Now, what I'm going to end on is what is referred to on campus as the Gates of Hell. The Gates of Hell. The Gates of Hell. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna use a,

I'm gonna use an email from a listener who also suggested that we talk about Kenyan College. Okay. And her name is Sarah. Hi Sarah. Yep, we can use it. Okay. I was just like, I was like, Hi Sarah. I'm just Sarah. Hi Sarah. Yep, we can use it. Okay. I was just like, and I was like, Hi Sarah.

And I'm just gonna be good. Hi Sarah. And I'm just gonna read part of Sarah's listener tale because part of it, she, Sarah told us some of the stories that I've just told you, so I just don't wanna do. Like, go back over them. Yeah, yeah. But you did a great job telling me it.

But I'll read the parts about the gates of hell because she tells it really interestingly. Please do. So Sarah says, I'm originally from outside of Philadelphia, but went to Kenyan College in the middle of Ohio, Knox County, actually about a 10-minute drive from Mount Vernon. So you already have an idea of how creepy this area can be. If you haven't heard of Kenyan, it's a D3 school known for its sweat and teams and English program. Enrollment is about 1600 kids in total in the schools on an isolated hill

where fog tends together at night. It was founded in 1824, so it has a pretty long history. I think you ladies with a specially enjoyed the gnarly old graveyard. I used to go there to sit on the big subpultures and read my young adult fantasy books. I want to be your friend. For real? Yes, I'm extremely cool and popular. No, I will not elaborate. the big sub-pultures and read my young adult fantasy books. I want to be your friend for the way. Yes, I'm extremely cool and popular. No, I will not elaborate. I love you.

My geeky Latin and Greek club held initiation in the graveyard at midnight when my friend and I were co-presidents. That's so fun. More cloaks and masks and everything and we're extra as fuck, just like the Romans would want. I love that. That's the kind of shit that's fun.

Yeah, that's the thing. It's like you can shit that's fun. Yeah, that's the thing. It's like you can wear, you can wear a cloak at a robe and that's not the people. Live your best life. Before undergrad, I went to Kenyan as a teenager for the Young Writers Summer Camp, which tells you exactly what kind of dwee I am.

You're not a dwee, you're just talented. You're amazing. They did an optional ghost tour at my first night there. And years later, when I was a freshman, I was able to hear the stories again. This time, from a wise and old campus safety officer named Dan Turner, who had witnessed a lot of the hauntings firsthand. Unfortunately, Dan passed away from cancer only a year later. But as far as I know, you can still go on the ghost tours on campus.

I've typed up what I can remember and supplemented with whatever information I could find. First and foremost, there are said to be three, yes, three gateways to hell on campus. Trace. One is supposed to be in the basement of one of the science buildings, and one is at the gated entrance to the old bishops house. Oh, yeah. The last, I hate it. Tell me more. Exactly. The last one is a pair of pillars with a post between them that stand on middle path, a gravel walkway

that spans the campus from north to south. These pillars are now casually referred to as the Gates of Hell. But no one knows exactly where the name came from. According to one story, writer Anthony Burgess said on a national show that Kenyan was home to a great evil. Other stories claim it was a psychic who said the Gates of Hell were in Gambier, the name of Kenyan's college town, but she may actually have said that it was actually a suburb of Columbus, like the wrong name.

Yeah, yeah. Either way, there are some fun superstitions about the Gates of Hell. People say that if you and a friend walk on opposite sides of the posts between the pillars, then your friendship will end. Oh, why would you do that? This rumor was used for a lot of petty college bullshit. I remember groups of friends pointedly walking on opposite sides when they were having squabbles. That's hilarious. One of my friends did that to me in the rest of our friend group and we were like seriously Olivia, we're whole ass adults. But jokes on her because she stuck with us.

One of the other, you're glad it worked out. One of the other rumors is that if you walk through the gates of hell at the stroke of midnight on Halloween, then you'll step into hell itself. Oh, that's very Sabrina. And Sarah said, I'll admit, I was never ballsy enough to try that one. Yeah, I don't say that I blame you.

I've heard too many stories about parallel world gateways and children's games gone awry to fuck with that malarkey. Yeah, that don't say that I blame you. I've heard too many stories about parallel world gateways and children's games gone awry to fuck with that malarkey. Yeah, that is a bunch of malarkey. There's also the story of the campus bishop. No. Who was said to have become corrupted by the powers of the devil. The devil.

He used to live and work in the campus chapel during the mid 19th century. There's a legend that churches and chapels all used to be built in the shape of a cross, and that the top was supposed to point to George Judea. George Judea. I was, because I was looking at Judea when I was saying towards, so I was getting ready to say. Is it weird how your brain's like, no, just, I just remember how to say that.

The sight of the crucifixion, apparently. Oh. I don't know if there's any truth in that, but in any case, the Gambier Chapel was said to have been built in the wrong direction. Essentially, an upside-down cross. And a front to God. At some point, there was a fire in the chapel

and the bishop was killed. Trapped on the upper story, accounts say that they heard him screaming. They could see that the flames rather than burning upward, were looking unnaturally, eerily toward the earth. It was hell. That's that they said that the devil was dragging his disciple down into hell. This is the most metal thing I have ever heard.

It just means to say that. I said, that's kind of hot. It is hot, like literally. Yeah, that's an inferno. No, that is an inferno, my friends. Now if you enter the chapel at night, you might hear him pacing the upper story and dragging chains like Jacob Marley and a Christmas Carol.

Oh my God. You can also see, still see the sit marks from flames on the stones of the outside wall. Sit, hell flames. Oh. When I was a derpy 16 year old at writing camp, you're adorable. And I love you. Three friends and I snuck out of our rooms at 1 a.m. to wander the campus and look for ghosts. We managed to evade all the counselors and campus safety officers

and ended up creeping into the chapel. My friends were completely unbothered and they teased me a little for how nervous I was. But let me see if I can set the scene. There was one faint orange glow coming from a lamp outside, and it gleamed duly against the polished wooden pews. A standing fan was blowing hot summer air at us from the front of the altar, and in the gloom you could just barely see the movement of its oscillating head.

It wasn't quiet, but I felt the quiet pressing on me, even so. Have you ever been in a place or situation where the silence seems tangible? Yeah. As if the air itself is weighing you down, as if you might somehow breathe the silence in and choke on it? Yeah.

That's what I felt like sitting in that chapel. I've been in there several times in daylight since that first nocturnal escapade, but I've never felt that same dread again. So like summer writing camp did you really fucking well? Sarah! Your pants are peckshot. You're a writer, my girl.

Sarah. That camp did you real well. You were meant to be there for real. Now Sarah goes on to tell us about the ill-fated fraternity hazing situation in Stuart Pearson. Sarah also told us about the fire, and I will end with, and also told us about the fire and I will end with and also told us about the capels building in the elevator. So I appreciate that. That elevator story made me break. It made me break. Oh, I don't like it. College campuses are always haunted as fuck. They truly are. And this one is wild.

I scared. And you know what, I'll just end with what Sarah ended on because I love Sarah. So as I love you both, Andrew Show and Deb Deb, and I'm so proud to be a weirdo, I will obviously continue to listen and to viciously rag on these dumb sad murder blaze all day, every day.

Please keep it weird. Actually, we could all stand to keep it a little weirder, okay? I'm trying to experience a light haunting before I die of old age here. And the cancer son, I'm supposed to be in tune with the mystical. This is some bullshit, but don't keep it so weird that you masturbate yourself to death. I'm like, I guess, die doing what you love, but it's just super cringe, dude. And she was talking about another story that I didn't get into. I was like, that seems out of context. That's why I had to read it,

because I was like, did you see my face? I was like smiling at first, and I slowly was like, that's what I did. I was like, I just gotta end on a bang here. Don't masturbate your Sarah. And Sarah, your animals are the cutest things ever, and you are cute, and I love you. I love you too.

You Sarah Elizabeth, and I love it in Dan Turner, RIP. But that is some of the tales of Kenyan college. Girlie girl Alina. And I didn't even get to them. Might have to do a part two Kenyan college. Fun, those. Damn. Yeah.

That murder is so sad. Rest in peace too. I'm really, I'm so sorry that happened to you. And he was adorable. If you look up a picture of him, you showed me cutest little black and white photo you've ever seen. And I'm sorry that there was really no justice served. I know. Because you were murdered and that's terrible.

Yeah, that's not good. But yeah, guys, with all that being said, we hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it. Wee! But that's the way whether you drag your fraternity brother out into the middle of the train tracks in the middle of the night and you tie him there, even though you're not going to say that you tied him there later after he dies. Don't keep

it that weird and then you won't have to explain to somebody that you didn't tie him there, okay, but exactly. Tie people places. Don't do it, man. Just bond. nd nd nd nd nd nd nd nd Hey, Prime Members! You can listen to morbid, early, and ad-free on Amazon Music. Download

the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen ad-free with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey.