Berthoud Weekly Surveyor October 31, 2013 Page 5 The historical society and Mark French are interested in obtaining and copying old photos from Berthoud’s past. Please contact Mark at 532-2147 if you have any photos you would like to share.
A LOOK AT BERTHOUD
Berthoud’s first haunted house reported in 1884 belonged to Dr. Enos Chase
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uriosity about haunted places dates back to the early history of Berthoud and the Little Thompson Valley. In fact, the first house of the community that was identified as a haunted house Surveyor came to light Columnist in December 1884 when the town of Berthoud was just settling into its new site after being moved from the Little Thompson river bottom. The story Mark of the house French began to unfold on February 14, 1878, when Dr. Enos G. Chase staked unofficial claim on a 160-acre homestead three miles east and one mile north of present-day Berthoud. Nearly three years later in January 1881 Chase finally made things official when he forked over the $10 filing fee that made him the legal claimant to the quarter sec-
tion of land located at the northwest corner of modern Weld County roads 5 and 46. The exact site Dr. Chase chose on the homestead for his house is not known. On June 8, 1882, The Fort Collins Courier reported the death of the doctor-turned-homesteader when it noted, “Dr. Chase, of Berthoud, was found dead in the field where he was planting corn. Dr. Chase was a native of New York, graduating from a medical college of high repute. He served during the rebellion as a division surgeon, and after the mutual unpleasantness settled in New York, resuming his profession, but his health failing, he came to Colorado for his health. He had apparently regained it and was unusually robust at the time of his death. Heart disease is supposed to be the cause. Mr. Bemis, city clerk of Boulder, is a son-in-law of the dead physician. He left three children, two of whom have reached maturity. We are indebted to J.W. McIntyre of this city, a warm personal friend to the doctor’s for the particulars above given.” Capt. J.W. McIntyre who informed the Fort Collins newspaper of Chase’s
Praise & Worship
scene, and its occupants the unwilling lectures her classes day by day on the death lived on the homestead directly witnesses, of strange, and at times shameful conduct of spirits that pay west of Dr. Chase. her midnight visits en dishabille, even mysterious proceedings. Strange Even though Dr. Chase died in noises occur at unseasonable hours, to unbanged hair. June of 1882, his survivors proved up arousing the sleeping family from “The cause of this singular condion his claim in May 1883. In 1884 the hitherto peaceful slumbers and cartion of affairs is there is a haunted farm was sold to Jake Welty whose rying consternation and an unknown house in the neighborhood. This family was presumably living there dread to their hearts. At times the ear house is situated three miles out of in December of 1884 when the Fort is pierced with screeching Collins Courier noted, of some soul in the deepest “Berthoud, the metropolis anguish which finally die of the Little Thompson away with feeble moans. valley, is reveling in the These are followed with ecstasies of a genuine senwailings akin to those sation in which the sheeted supposed to be uttered dead and troubled spirits, by the damned consigned phantoms of a former existo eternal torment, and tence, figure as star actors. again by peculiar and It is the talk of the whole unintelligible raps in difsurrounding country. Men, ferent parts of the house. with blanched cheeks and Articles of furniture are palpitating hearts, speak of displaced, beds are moved, it with bated breath in the tables upset, chairs turned stores and shops, on the down and bolted doors are street corners, at their fireswung wide open, while sides, at church and wheranon strange lights and ever two or three gentleunearthly forms suddenly men are gathered together, make their appearance and wonder what the world and instantly disappear, is coming to. The women until at last life has betoo, drop their knitting and come a burden to the flesh with busy nervous tongues and blood occupants of this gather up the stitches of goblin possessed domicile. this marvelous story, and No satisfactory cause has with minds filled with yet been assigned for these doubts and fears, weave curious nocturnal visits, them into all manner of except that the house is fantasies until the very air actually haunted by the about them seems filled disembodied spirits of with myriads of ghastly some of the doctor’s ungrinning phantoms, uneasy fortunate patients. These spirits of departed mortals. noises have been listened Even lovers, forgetting to and these scenes witthe old story told so many nessed by many people in millions of times with such that community, and as pleasing effect, sit with we have said at the outset, sealed lips and listening Berthoud and vicinity is ears the whole livelong fairly reveling in the ecstanight though trembling in sies of a genuine, double each other’s embrace for breasted sensation.” fear some gibbering ghost Whatever became of may suddenly appear and Photo courtesy of the Berthoud Historical Society the haunted house is not break the spell. The chil1910 Halloween postcard. known because the Fort dren go tip-toeing to their Collins Courier never trundle-beds at night and reported on the supernatural activithe village and was once occupied by refuse to woo the drowsy god in the ties at that location again and the a doctor. The house is now occupied absence of burning oil. The morning town’s first newspaper, The Berthoud by a plain, unpretending; though at church is given up by the preacher Beacon, did not come into existence intelligent people. Since the doctor to dwelling on things supernatuuntil 1886. removed, the house has been the ral, while the blushing schoolmarm
Five bright planets return to the November night sky
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Berthoud Family Church “The Church with a View!”
Online Live Stream of Sunday 10:30 a.m. service and Wednesday 7 p.m. service viewed on: www.berthoudfamilychurch.org “Faith for Today” TV Program Viewed on Comcast Channel 83, Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m. — Children’s Church 10:30 a.m. — Sunday Prayer 6 p.m. — Wednesday Adults 7 p.m. — Wednesday Children 7 p.m. — Revolution Youth 7 p.m.
Guardian Angels Catholic Church 15179 WCR 7, Mead • 970-535-0721 Masses Sunday, 7:30 am, 9 am, 10:30 am Monday, 5:30 pm Tuesday-Thursday, 7:30 am Friday 8:30 am Saturday Mass 5:30 pm Saturday Confession 4 - 5:15 pm www.meadangels.org
E-mail: info@meadangels.org
enus nears its best for 2013. As soon as it starts getting dark, look high in the southwestern sky to find the planet Venus. Venus increases in magnitude from -4.5 to a brilliant -4.8 during November, makEye on the Sky ing it about as Surveyor bright as Venus Columnist gets. On the evening of Nov. 6, find a slender crescent Moon above Venus. Jupiter rises in the eastern sky about 10 p.m. as November begins and about 7 p.m. at Mike the end of the Hotka month. Jupiter also increases in brightness throughout November starting at -2.4 and increasing to -2.6. Jupiter is a great planet to view through a telescope. You can see red and white bands on the planets’ surface and it’s four largest moons. The red planet Mars rises around 2:30 a.m. on the first and about 1 a.m. by the end of the month. Find Mars high in the southern sky just before morning twi-
light begins. Saturn and Mercury join the show during the last week of November. Looking east on Nov. 24 about an hour before sunrise, find Mercury low above the horizon, just above and to the right of Saturn. The next morning, the two planets are even closer together at this same time. Then on the morning of the 26th, Saturn will be directly above Mercury, a nice celestial exchange of positions. A magnitude 1 star is about 2.5 times brighter than a magnitude 2 star. A magnitude 0 star is about 2.5 times brighter than a magnitude 1 star. The Sun shines at about magnitude -26 and a full moon shines at about magnitude -12. The Hubble Space Telescope can look at objects that are as faint as 31st magnitude. Magnitude numbers range from -26 through zero, then 1 through the largest number that current instruments can detect, which is 31. The Little Thompson Observatory is having their monthly open house event on Nov. 15. At 7 p.m., Steve Kendrick, a senior project engineer at Ball Aerospace, will give a talk about “No Longer Lost in the Glare: Detecting Hidden Planets.” Telescope observing follows the talk, weather permitting. The observatory is at the northeast edge of Berthoud High School. More information
can be found at www.starkids.org or by calling 970-613-7793. The Denver Astronomical Society will be hosting its monthly open house on Nov. 12, from 6:30 to 9 p.m., at DUs historic Chamberlin Observatory, located near the Denver University campus at 2930 E. Warren Ave. Telescope viewing through the 20-inch Alvan Clark refracting telescope will be available, along with several smaller telescopes on the lawn of the observatory, weather permitting. Call 303-871-5172 for more information. Every Friday night of November, on the CU Boulder campus, the newly remodeled Fiske Planetarium is having a beautiful show. On Friday Nov. 1, the show is “The Dynamic Earth.” On Nov. 8, the show is “Super Volcanoes.” On Nov. 15, Dr. Doug Duncan will give a live astronomical talk about a research project at CU. And on Nov. 22, the show is “The Dynamic Earth” again. The planetarium show starts at the 7 p.m. After each show, the Sommers-Bausch Observatory will have their observing deck open to the public starting at 8 p.m., weather permitting. Hosts will guide you while you view celestial objects through their 16-inch and 18-inch telescopes. For more information, visit the web site http://lyra.colorado.edu/sbo/public/ openhouse.html.
THANK YOU FROM THE HAWORTH FAMILY We appreciate the support we received before, during and after our annexation petition. We all need to make a stand, even when sometimes we stand alone. People gain confidence from others bravery to speak up. The Haworth family, like others, wants to see Berthoud grow and businesses thrive. Thank you to those who have taken a stand to ensure that Berthoud will continue to be the town that we are so proud to be a part of. The Haworth family has been a part of Berthoud since 1901. WE ARE PROUD of Berthoud, and we will continue to support our hometown!
Karen Haworth Sorenson — Marilyn Haworth Allen — Chuck Haworth — Stan Haworth PAID ADVERTISEMENT