http://ems.gmnews.com/news/2005/1109/Front_Page/004.html
Front Page November 9, 2005 Couple undaunted by houses ghostly history Ayers Allen House on Durham Ave. predates the Revolutionary War BY KATHY CHENG Staff Writer People knock on their door, peer through their windows, and even ask if they are devil worshippers. But that doesnt bother Steven and Tyreen Reuter. We try to be nice and tell them, No, we are not Satanists or worshippers of the devil, said Tyreen. The Reuters and their baby son live in the Ayers Allen House on Durham Avenue in Metuchen, which dates back to the 1700s. Some say the building is haunted. We havent seen a ghost, said Steven. But strange things have happened. Strange enough for them to believe that several ghosts are present in the house, including one they call Jonathan, who watches over the house. We believe the ghost is very protective of the house, said Tyreen. The previous owner, Louise King, lived in the house for almost 50 years. She and her husband, Samuel, bought the house in 1948. Samuel King died 20 years later. Louise King said she saw the ghosts and was very fond of them, according to the information Tyreen wrote for the Metuchen Edison Historical Society. King, a former schoolteacher, had many experiences with ghosts and would tell her stories to her students. In 1960, she allowed Hans Holzer, a famous ghost-hunter, to conduct a seance in the house with Ethel Meyers, a medium. But she made Holzer promise not to scare away any of her ghosts, said Tyreen. Tyreen and Louise King have more in common that just the Ayers-Allen House. I am originally from northwestern Connecticut, and she had been the previous owner of the house I grew up in, said Tyreen. The Reuters were house hunting in 1998 and wanted an older home, a fixer-upper said Tyreen. This house was the last house the Realtor showed us, she said. The house had not been lived in for two years and was unkempt, she said. The Reuters looked at the home one day with several other people and the agent. One of the girls was complaining that the house was dirty and they should change a lot of things, and the real estate agent was agreeing with her, said Tyreen. We were downstairs in the basement and they were on the second floor, when we heard her [the real estate agent] fall down the stairs. It could have been the ghost or just something that could be explained, said Steven. But we thought that was weird, said Tyreen. When the couple first moved in, Tyreen had trouble trying to open a rear window on a landing leading to the second floor. It was stuck, so I started to complain and question if we made the right decision on buying the house, said Tyreen. The window was in the same spot where the real estate agent fell down the stairs. All of a sudden, the window went straight up and came right down on both of my hands, said Tyreen. Again, it might have been a ghost or something that could have been explained, said Steven. So, now we are very careful in what we say and when we have work done on the house, we tell the workers to be aware, said Tyreen. Jonathan Ayers built the house in 1740, according to historical records. His uncle, Thomas, was a carpenter and probably helped or taught him how to build the house, according to Tyreen. Zachariah Allen (Jonathans grandson) and his wife, Catherine, lived here during the Revolutionary War. They used part of the house as a tavern, where soldiers and other local people could come to eat ginger cakes and drink ale, she said. Since the house is so old, there are lots of stories about it, said Tyreen. Many believe that the ghost of a Revolutionary War soldier haunts the house. Others say it is a Hessian soldier who hung himself here in one of the upstairs rooms, she said. Some people have seen a woman wandering around looking for her young son who was murdered by the British. Others have seen the spirits of two Native Americans from the tribe of Chief Matochshoning, who were hung unjustly in a tree in the yard, Tyreen said. The Reuters dont mind living in a old house that may be haunted. But some of their family members and friends are not comfortable in the house, especially Tyreens mother. She tells me different stories where she thinks the ghost is sitting on her, said Tyreen. One of our friends didnt even want to step into the house. My mom said she heard the door latch rattle upstairs, and she thought it was me, said Steven. But I was sitting downstairs at the time, so you dont know what to believe. >From an observers standpoint, the house is deceiving from the outside because it looks like it only has one floor. But once in the house, it is bigger than expected, with two floors and three bedrooms. Inside, the Dutch doors have latches, not doorknobs. The original ovens are still in the kitchen wall. The stairs creak with every step. Nothing seems out of the ordinary, except for one of the original upstairs rooms, now used as a bedroom. The room seems colder than the rest of the house. Most visitors who have been in the room leave with a strange feeling, the Reuters said. We are the fifth family who has lived in the house, which is pretty cool, said Tyreen. The house has three working fireplaces, and there used to be even more, because that was how people heated the house and cooked their food, said Tyreen. One of the fireplaces is a beehive oven that was used for baking bread and pies. It was hard to heat the house only using fireplaces, so the ceilings were built low to hold the heat, she said. My friend, a contractor, who comes and does work on the house, is tall and always hits his head, said Steven. When he first came to the house, he would be like Oh you need to put Sheetrock on these walls, you need to do this, you need to do that, said Tyreen. But now he has learned to deal with the house. The house is not even, the walls have angles to it, said Steven. The living room, music room and two of the upstairs rooms are the original rooms of the house, said Tyreen. The Reuters still find items that belonged to previous occupants. The Wales family lived in the house in the 1920s, according to historical records. Presumably, a boy from the Wales family liked to roll marbles on the uneven floors, and we still keep on finding them, said Steven. One of our dogs found a silver spoon, which is a hundred years old, said Tyreen. Other items found include pegs, broken pottery, oyster shells and dominos, the Reuters said. Near the end of her life, Ethel King started to tell people that the ghosts had gone away, Tyreen said. We think because she didnt want to be bothered, said Tyreen. She was afraid that they would tear down the house like they did the house next door to it. We hope that people stay interested in the house, so it will be less likely that they will tear down the house. But the couple has no plans to move anytime soon. We have enough space and we look to stay here, said Tyreen. Unless I have quadruplets, then we might have to consider something else. For more information on the Ayers Allen House, contact the Metuchen-Edison Historical Society online at www.jhalpin.com/metuchen/met-ed.htm, or write to P.O. Box 61 Metuchen, NJ 08840-0061. The Embassy of Satan - http://www.webspawner.com/users/revnephilim/ __________________________________ Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click. http://farechase.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/98XolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Visit our Psychic/Paranormal message boards at http://www.skatemd.com/forums/index.php Arcade, Journals, Chats, Boards, Fun! Yahoo! 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