The ghost of Nellie Ottman.
Irish lore tells us that Halloween is the time when ghosts return to visit their former homes. As the legend goes, ancient Celts set bonfires on hilltops to frighten away evil spirits, and they sometimes wore masks and other disguises to avoid being recognized by the ghosts.
Maybe this is what’s behind the extravaganza at local Irish icon, Dan McClain’s house each October, when he fills his yard with every conceivable symbol of Halloween.
Regardless of Dan’s motivation, it turns out that Pacific residents have recounted a number of visits from local ghosts since I’ve lived here. They all seem to be friendly former residents just stopping by to keep us in touch with the past.
My favorite is the ghost of Nellie Ottman, a St. Louis Street resident who was a favorite when she was alive.
Lea Saenger, who once operated a bakery shop in Nellie’s former home at 210 West St. Louis Street, once told me that she had become quite friendly with Nellie’s ghost.
The bells at the front door and on the front counter rang when no one was there; papers were moved on desks; teacups were moved to a different room; and the music on the radio station mysteriously changed from easy listening to oldies or country music.
“She definitely did not like “Easy Listening,” Lea says.
The late Billy Murphy said reports of Nellie Ottman’s ghosts rearranging the teacups in her former home sure sounded like the “Miss Ottman” he remembered.
“She definitely knew how she wanted things to be,” Billy said.
Nellie worked at Anderson’s Drug Store, across St. Louis Street from her home in the late 1940’s when Billy attended Pacific High. He was given fifteen cents to buy his lunch on Friday, the day when, as a Catholic, he did not eat meat. He would make certain that he had two extra pennies because he could buy a pint of ice cream at Anderson’s for seventeen cents.
“Ms. Ottman didn’t like for us boys to eat out of the cardboard cartons,” Billy said. “She didn’t think that was right. She would make sure we had these fancy little China plates and real spoons so we could eat our ice cream like civilized boys.”
The possibility that the specter of Nellie Ottman was wafting around her former residence brought a chuckle from Sue Reed, the town historian, who had a personal connection to the would-be ghost.
“I would dearly love to see Nellie’s ghost. She was one of my favorite people,” said Sue, whose husband Jim was Nellie’s Godchild. “If I could see some sign of her again, I’d be thrilled.”
On her book In Retrospect, Sue noted that Nellie’s father Joe Ottman was an undertaker and he operated his business on the ground floor at 210 West St. Louis. The family lived on the second floor. He learned the trade, as well as the skill of carpentry, from his uncle, Henry Kessler, the city’s first undertaker and sexton.
The emotional rigors of tending to family funerals made him sad, so Ottman sold the undertaking business to his brother-in-law, John Thiebes.
He continued to operate his cabinet business on the ground floor and added a one-story framed building on the east side of the brick structure, which he completely outfitted as a carpenter shop.
Passersby stood in awe at the open doorway of the shop where they could see the neat row of lathes, each powered by a belt that reached to a shaft near the ceiling.
“His shop was an attraction to many a Pacific child,” Sue wrote. “They would wander in and pick up sweet smelling wood shavings or blocks left strewn on the floor. It was fun to play with the blocks and trace patterns in the sawdust with their small fingers.”
Joseph Ottman died in 1943 at age 81. Nellie, who never married, continued to live in the house until her death in 1979. But now, local lore suggests that she still comes back to visit.
“If there are ghosts, she would be a welcome one,” Sue said. “She was an unforgettable character.”
Greg Myers and his wife Patti bought Nellie’s former home in 2014 and opened their Edward Jones office there.
Joseph Ottman bought the building in 1894 and he and his mother lived on the second floor. After he married Emma Thiebes, the couple had two children who lived in the building. The Ottmans had occupied the building for 85 years.
Ottman was a man of many talents and from this building he oversaw huge construction projects, served as superintendent of the Missouri Pacific Railroad carpenter shop, organized the city’s first fire department and served as chief for 20 years, and played trombone in the town band.
Greg said while he enjoyed the stories of the history of his building, he had not seen anything out of the ordinary in the building since moving in. But, he added, he would be perfectly happy to share the building with Nellie.
“I remember her well,” he said. “She attended the same church and was good friends with my parents (Bob and Edna Myers). She was a sweetheart.”
If you believe in such things, Nellie may not be the only former resident dropping by this month. Ghosts have been reported at the McHugh-Dailey building, the Thiebes (Little Ireland) building and the woods south of City Park. I’ll keep you posted.
