Page 13 - AAA Magazine – AAA Ohio Auto Club – September 2018

This city of 48,000, wedged between Columbus and Cleveland, is known as the Haunted Capital of Ohio, though many argue it’s among the most haunted places in the U.S. In fact, more than 100,000 people every year make a paranormal pilgrimage to Mansfield. As a result, a cottage industry of sorts has sprung up, where an entire Haunted Mansfield Trail highlights organized ghost hunts, hotel packages and self-guided tours.
From the Travel Channel, A&E and Discovery Channel to Biography, SyFy and “Unsolved Mysteries,” the Bissman Building, along with nearby Mansfield Reformatory, have been featured on virtually every national network that probes the paranormal. In every case, producers found plenty of phenomena to fill a show. Some even returned for a second episode.
Ben Bissman and paranormal expert, tour guide and author Joe James emerge from the front door to greet the group. Building background and rules are laid out, and expectations are managed for the gang of ghost hunting zealots who will enter the building at 8 p.m. to take part in seven solid hours of serious paranormal research. No drinking allowed. Shenanigans won’t
be tolerated.
James unpacks his tools of the trade, which come
with their own acronyms. A Mel Meter and a K-II Meter measure electromagnetic fields, or EMF, along with temperature changes, both believed to be sparked
by ghostly beings. A digital voice recorder captures electronic voice phenomena (EVP). Ghosts, James
says, emit sounds on a different frequency than a
living human voice, yet are translatable for ghost hunters to hear. Some say ghosts are visible only in ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) light. So James’ full-spectrum camera uses both IR and UV light waves to record images, which he says increases the odds of spotting paranormal entities.
Bissman explains that his is the seventh generation to own the building, which began its life in 1886 as
the headquarters of his family’s wholesale grocery business. They were famous in these parts for fresh-roasted coffee and ground spices which richly scented the morning air around the thriving small town. The commanding structure now houses a screen printing business and a small recording studio. Yet, it
is spirits from the past for which this 130-year-old building is best-known today.
“We like to say, ‘Not all employees left at the end of their shift,’ ” said Bissman. He adds that the murder of a young girl and the gruesome 1911 death of a former Bissman worker are behind the building’s lively paranormal energy.
“My grandpa used to warn me, ‘Stay away from that elevator or you’ll end up like old man Simon,’” said Bissman. “I thought it was just a saying. I didn’t understand exactly what he meant until I was older and heard the story.”
The story goes that F.W. Simon had worked for Bissman for nearly 40 years. On the day of his retirement, he was decapitated in a grisly accident on the freight elevator that sent his body to the basement, while his head stayed on the fourth floor. But Simon’s
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