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FAMILY   -   FAMILY FEATURES
Who is that Woman in the Window?
The Newhall Ranch House is Home to Several Ghostly Residents
October, 2006 - Issue #24
This picture, presumably of Rory MacGregor, is the only known artifact of the spirit who resides, among others, at the Newhall Ranch House.
This picture, presumably of Rory MacGregor, is the only known artifact of the spirit who resides, among others, at the Newhall Ranch House.
It seems like everyone knows about Martha. Every third grader who comes to Heritage Junction asks about her. Many have been seen waving up at the second floor window of the Newhall Ranch House, shouting "Hi Martha!"

Martha is a spirit who resides (not lives) in the Newhall Ranch House. Soon after the house was moved to Heritage Junction in 1990, people started to report seeing a woman in the upstairs of the building, but no one was there.

After dispatching members to check it out a few times, the Historical Society invited a local psychic, Rena Elliot Chiu, to visit the house. She found a particularly strong and consistent spirit who went by the name Martha. On a later visit, Rena speculated that her last name was Granville. We have never found any record of anyone by that name in the area; in the early days, however, records are very rare. Rena described her as a woman with long brown hair wearing a blue Victorian-era dress. She apparently is happy that the house is being restored and is especially fond of the old pianos currently stored there. Subsequent sensitives have also reported a similar spirit in the house.

Martha was also accompanied by an 8-year-old boy named Timothy. Rena pointed out that the two are not related, although Timothy seems to cling to Martha. Rena also thought she saw a man in a black frock coat, but could not elaborate on him. Previous Ghostathon guests have reported hearing what sounded like a ball bouncing upstairs, where Martha and Timothy tend to stay. No one who has had any kind of threatening experiences there, although one visitor was frightened away after hearing a clear voice speak to her. Most of the experiences people have had are hearing unexplainable sounds and witnessing little ghostly pranks.

Rena has also discovered another spirit in the Newhall Ranch House. She said his name was Rory MacGregor, and that he was very precise about the spelling. Rory didn't say much; he just tipped his hat and apologized for not removing it when Rena entered the room. As volunteers who worked on the house listened, Rena described a man of medium height with a handlebar mustache wearing a cowboy hat. As she continued to describe him, one of the volunteers asked her to stop for a moment and wait while he retrieved something.

When a building is moved, things fall out of the walls, like marbles and bits of newsprint used to plug up draughty holes. One of the things that fell out of the Newhall Ranch House was a photograph of a man holding the rein of a horse who fit Rena's description to a fair-thee-well. Only a couple of people knew about the picture. Presented with the photo, Rena confirmed that this was the man she had seen, only that he was a little older looking when he made his appearance.
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