Haunted Tales of Huntley

 Halloween is a time for tales of "things that go bump in the night,"
and a few Huntley families have their own scary tales. 

Take Tom and Barb Conley. The Conleys live in the 3,600-square-foot home at Woodstock and Third streets that originally belonged to Thomas Stillwell Huntley, the founder of the village.

Doors inside the house sometimes close by themselves, Barb said. 

"It usually happens once every other month," said Barb. "We find it intriguing. We think the Huntleys are paying us a visit. As long as they don't scare us, Huntley and his family are welcome to come back."

Huntley built his home in 1856. The home underwent a major restoration and doubled in size in 1906. It features a dumbwaiter and wood stove in the kitchen, a claw-foot tub in one of the bathrooms, stained glass windows, built-in china cabinets in the dining room, and a circular staircase off the front foyer that was taken out twice and installed three times before its owners in the early 1900s were happy with it.

The Conleys purchased the home in 1986. If Huntley does pay a ghostly visit, he would feel right at home. The Conleys decorated the house in the style and furnishings of the 1840s era, which is when Huntley first came to the area.
Huntley and some of his family members are buried at the Huntley Cemetery.

Also along Woodstock Street, resident Donna Britton lives in a house that originally belonged to another founding family, the Hoy family.

"Will Hoy was the founder of the State Bank of Huntley, which is nowthe Harris Bank," Britton said. "Will's wife, Belle, was one of the founders of the Huntley Women's Club. She was also involved in other civic activities. She had beautiful gardens and enjoyed playing on her grand piano. Will and Belle raised three children."  Britton, a teacher, has had a few instances that could make someone's toes curl.

Britton's dwelling is an eclectic-style home, she said. The predominant style is Colonial revival foursquare with Prairie-style influences. Features include bays and bump-outs, a raised basement with a decorative stone foundation, a hipped roof, a large front porch, leaded windows, Tuscan columns and a beveled glass front door.

In 1904, the year that the house was built, there was a snowstorm in March, a tornado in May, a very wet summer, and an unusual cold spell in the fall.

"During all of this, the Hoy family was planning and carrying out the construction of their home," Britton said. Belle died in her home in the winter during the late 1930s. Her funeral was held in the home, as was the custom. Will died many years later in 1959.

There is a large wooden staircase with a landing inside the house. Britton said that when you come within two steps of the landing two weeks before and two weeks after Halloween, there is the scent of a man's cologne. After Britton told her students about the strange occurrence, some of her students decided to write stories about it. Britton said another unusual occurrence took place one night while she wascleaning the basement of her home. She heard the doorbell ring and started climbing the stairs to answer the door when she realized that the doorbell she had heard was not her own.

"I have a push button doorbell," Britton said. "The doorbell sound that I heard was the old, mechanical type with the 'brrring-brrring' sound. After I opened the door and there was nobody there, I stayed outside for a while and then went back in and called a friend. I never felt scared. I knew that the Hoys were very nice, hard-working peopleduring their lives."

Longtime Huntley resident Mary Beth Manning recalled a story of something that "went bump in the night." The incident took place ather childhood home along Mill Street. After hearing a loud noise one night, Manning's mother looked outside and saw something kneeling downand bumping up against the door. The intruder turned out to be a lost sheep.When Manning grew up, she became a teacher and taught at a public school in Hampshire. While she took her kindergarten class out for recess one day, one of her students ran up to her and said he had just seen some ghosts near St. Charles Borromeo Church. Upon closer inspection, Manning told the boy that his "ghosts" were really Dominican nuns in their snow-white habits.
For more Huntley scary stories, check out this Web site: www.ghostsofamerica.com.