The Mathias Ham House

JohnHart · Mist Joined: 18 Mar 2008 Posts: 35

The Mathias Ham House

Location: Dubuque, IA

History: The Ham House is a twenty three room gothic mansion in the north end of Dubuque Iowa. The house sits on the borders of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconson, overlooking the Mississippi River.

Mathias Ham was a frequent visitor to Dubuque before making it his home in 1833. While on a visit to Kentucky in 1837, Mathias met and married his first wife Zerelda Marklin. They moved into a stone cottage in Dubuque, in 1840. They had six children together: Felly, Lewisan, Sidney, Thomas Benton, Zerilda Jane, ans Sarah Hetherington. Zerelda died in 1856 at the age of forty three.

On September 9, 1857, Mathias married his second wife Maraget Mclean. They had two children Mathias and May. Around the time of his second marriage, Mathias began work to expand the house, the expansion project was finished in 1857. Margaret died in August 1874 and Mathias died at home on March 8, 1889. Sarah Ham was the last family member to live in the house; she died on May 15, 1921. The city of Dubuque bought the house from Sarah in 1912. Since 1964 the house has been operated as a museum by the Dubuque County Historical Society.

The Ham House is large on the outside and beautifully decorated on the inside. The ceilings are fourteen feet high and the windows extend from the floor to the ceiling. A sprial staircase leads from the third floor to the lookout tower.

Haunting: Members of the museum staff have reported strange incidents in the house. Windows that open by themselves and objects that have moved from their original location. Strange voices and phantom footsteps have been heard when no one is around. Cold spots and cool drafts have been felt around the house. Numerous electrical problems have been reported along with organ music playing from light sockets.
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John Hart
Vintage Computer Collector