Chicagoan Kate Kellogg Meets a Ghost on a Train
A Deceased Friend Had Come to Say Goodbye...
Kate Starr Kellogg was an educated woman and a suffragette, so she couldn’t believe her senses when she saw a ghostly form at the foot of her Pullman compartment.
In the early 20th Century, Kate Starr Kellogg was a prominent Chicago educator and principal of Lewis-Champlain High School in Englewood, and a District Superintendent in the Chicago Public Schools.
She was a suffragette and leader of the campaign for education reform and other social and community causes. Kate Kellogg was not prone to nerves or flights of fancy.
Miss Kellogg Has An Uneasy Feeling
Kate Starr Kellogg told this story about her encounter with a friend saying goodbye. Kate had booked passage on a train for a night journey and as she got ready for bed, she felt a presence that made her so uneasy that she couldn’t sleep
Since she didn’t usually have premonitions or wasn’t overly nervous, Kate thought that her feeling meant that the train was going to have a serious accident. She insisted that the porter raise one thickness of the double window of her berth. She thought to herself, “I shall have only a single pane of glass to break my way through if anything does happen.”
Suddenly she saw a shadowy white figure standing at the foot of her berth. The figure was shaped like a woman and it stood motionless for a long time. Kellogg tried to get the figure to go away by reasoning that it was the light from the car shining through the opened curtain on some of her dresses that she had hung at the foot of the compartment. Kellogg sat up, removed the garments and lay down again. The figure was still there and nothing white was left to produce the illusion.
Kellogg Confronts the Figure in White
Kate kept trying to reason the figure in white away. This time she theorized that it might be the shadow of something outside reflected in the window. She sat bolt upright in her berth, and drew the window curtain aside. She peered into the darkness, but all she could see was a dark landscape punctuated by a few pinpricks of lamp light.
"Who are you?" she demanded of the figure in white, but the ghost didn't answer.
The figure remained for several hours before it finally melted away. In the meantime, Kellogg ceased to be afraid of the figure. She looked at her watch, noted the time of its appearance and disappearance and turned over and went to sleep.
Kellogg Learns the Identity of Her Ghostly Visitor
Kate arrived at her destination safely and without any more annoyance or trouble. The first thing she did after she greeted her hostess was to tell her about the experience. After an enjoyable visit, Kellogg returned home and didn’t think anymore of her experience on the train.
Then one day shortly after her return, Kate received the news that a dear friend had suddenly died on the same night that she saw the lady in white on the train. The friend had passed away after an illness of only a few hours and her passing had occurred at the same time that the figure had appeared at the foot of Kate’s berth and at the same times that Kate had noted.
It's said that her friend’s last words had been, “Tell Kate,” but she came and told Kate herself.
References:
Brooklyn Eagle, October 1, 1899, p. 37.
The New Encyclopedia of the Occult, John Michael Green, Llewellyn Publications, 2003.
Kate Starr Kellogg was an educated woman and a suffragette, so she couldn’t believe her senses when she saw a ghostly form at the foot of her Pullman compartment.
In the early 20th Century, Kate Starr Kellogg was a prominent Chicago educator and principal of Lewis-Champlain High School in Englewood, and a District Superintendent in the Chicago Public Schools.
She was a suffragette and leader of the campaign for education reform and other social and community causes. Kate Kellogg was not prone to nerves or flights of fancy.
Miss Kellogg Has An Uneasy Feeling
Kate Starr Kellogg told this story about her encounter with a friend saying goodbye. Kate had booked passage on a train for a night journey and as she got ready for bed, she felt a presence that made her so uneasy that she couldn’t sleep
Since she didn’t usually have premonitions or wasn’t overly nervous, Kate thought that her feeling meant that the train was going to have a serious accident. She insisted that the porter raise one thickness of the double window of her berth. She thought to herself, “I shall have only a single pane of glass to break my way through if anything does happen.”
Suddenly she saw a shadowy white figure standing at the foot of her berth. The figure was shaped like a woman and it stood motionless for a long time. Kellogg tried to get the figure to go away by reasoning that it was the light from the car shining through the opened curtain on some of her dresses that she had hung at the foot of the compartment. Kellogg sat up, removed the garments and lay down again. The figure was still there and nothing white was left to produce the illusion.
Kellogg Confronts the Figure in White
Kate kept trying to reason the figure in white away. This time she theorized that it might be the shadow of something outside reflected in the window. She sat bolt upright in her berth, and drew the window curtain aside. She peered into the darkness, but all she could see was a dark landscape punctuated by a few pinpricks of lamp light.
"Who are you?" she demanded of the figure in white, but the ghost didn't answer.
The figure remained for several hours before it finally melted away. In the meantime, Kellogg ceased to be afraid of the figure. She looked at her watch, noted the time of its appearance and disappearance and turned over and went to sleep.
Kellogg Learns the Identity of Her Ghostly Visitor
Kate arrived at her destination safely and without any more annoyance or trouble. The first thing she did after she greeted her hostess was to tell her about the experience. After an enjoyable visit, Kellogg returned home and didn’t think anymore of her experience on the train.
Then one day shortly after her return, Kate received the news that a dear friend had suddenly died on the same night that she saw the lady in white on the train. The friend had passed away after an illness of only a few hours and her passing had occurred at the same time that the figure had appeared at the foot of Kate’s berth and at the same times that Kate had noted.
It's said that her friend’s last words had been, “Tell Kate,” but she came and told Kate herself.
References:
Brooklyn Eagle, October 1, 1899, p. 37.
The New Encyclopedia of the Occult, John Michael Green, Llewellyn Publications, 2003.
