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Vahle House
February 13, 2010
"If only walls could talk!" As paranormal teams go into their clients homes to investigate we
often think of this catchy phrase.
What stories lie within the plaster and lathe. How many secrets do the floor boards hold in
their grains of wood. Who were the people that started families behind these doors only to
lose them behind them too soon. If only those walls could talk, but maybe they do, we just
aren't listening closely enough. Fortunately for paranormal investigators this is our job, to
listen very closely, so when Tommy Vahle contacted us about his house on Maiden Lane we
were committed to listening very closely. Built in the late 1860's or early 1870's, his house
has seen much of the history of a booming town along the Mississippi River. It was just a
few blocks away from everything that made Quincy, Illinois an up and coming city. Life
abounded in this area in all it's forms, including death. Houses were built up with families
living as close to the downtown area as possible to make it easier for a family to go about
their day to day business. Wagons pulled by horses trotted at a quick pace on dirt covered
roads. The corner of 4th and Maiden Lane saw this activity day in and day out. Children
were hit by wagons pulled by these horses at a much more alarming rate than our children
of today are hit by cars. Drownings whether accidental or deliberate happened more in one
year just four blocks west of this home than we can remember ever happening, having lived
here all of our lives. Death cut short was a part of the lives of these early settlers who were
trying to live in what was considered the western part of our country at that time. Bethsheba
Hobson came out of the history of the area as one of the most cruel deaths to be cut short at
the time. It was 1871 when Dr. Parks was called to the home of Marshall and Bethsheba
Hobson. The diagnosis of Dr. Parks for Bethsheba was that she was suffering from a
complication of pregnancy. His recommended treatement to help her would be to terminate
the pregnancy. The Hobsons, trusting the doctor, agreed to this and so the operating began
on a Sunday. Using the very crude instruments he tore away at Bethsheba's life source and
she died a very, slow and painful death. For three days she lay there dying, as her husband
watched. She never recovered and the loss of her life and her child's had to be a most cruel
punishment for those who loved her. Did Bethsheba still wonder these floorboards looking
for her child? her husband? her life? Tommy Vahle believed so having seen balls of light
hovering inside the house. Crystal who now lives in the home has seen the shadow of a life
form walk through the house and sometimes the faint voice of a woman could be heard.
River Town Paranormal Society went into the home to test their accounts of this activity to
see if there were natural explanations for the lights,the shadow and the voices. The
following pictures, evp's and videos will tell our story of the investigation, adding even more
life to this sweetheart of a house located on Maiden Lane.
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The Vahle House, Maiden Lane
