Haunted Ogdensburg home featured on ‘Ghost Hunters’

OGDENSBURG, New York (WWNY) - The Claire House in Ogdensburg has been standing tall since 1844. Its newest stewards are Rachel and Harold Kench.

“The house was originally built in 1844 and was the rectory for St. Mary’s Cathedral, which burned down in 1947,” Rachel Kench said, “so the priests had lived there for around 75 years.”

After the fire, a nursing home was built where the cathedral was. The rectory became a home for nuns who cared for the nursing home patients.

The building has had many residents through the years, and some decided to stick around.

“First and foremost, we have Bishop Conroy, who is our most prominent ghost,” Harold Kench said. “He has his own room in the house. Then there’s the skeleton-faced lady.”

And there’s a little girl. She has her own space in the house and wasn’t happy to share it with the Kenches’ 5-year-old nephew.

“He said, ‘I was sitting on her sofa, and she said this is mine and she pushed me off,’” Rachel Kench said.

The Kenches are restoring the old home, so contractors have been in and out. One decided he would not be returning.

“He said, ‘there’s a lot going on up there, there’s an older man, there’s a little girl,’” Racehl Kench said, “and then he did point further away into our kitchen and said, ‘what’s over here’ and I said, ‘the basement,’ and he told me — which freaked me out — ‘she wants you guys to dig down there.’”

Another time, the family was discussing abortion rights and was made aware of the ghostly stance on that matter.

With so many sightings, the family reached out to the show “Ghost Hunters.” After their investigation, they decided to make the home their season finale, which aired Thursday night.

“They did give us a lot of clarity about a lot of things,” Rachel Kench said. “It was good to get their perspective because sometimes we’re like, are we going crazy?”

If you haven’t watched the episode yet, here’s a little teaser:

“They did find stuff, they have evidence, and they had to bring cadaver dogs,” Rachel Kench said.

You can find “The Claire House” episode on Discovery Plus or the Travel Channel on Demand.

You can also plan to visit the Claire House as the Kench family is making it a haunted bed and breakfast and a community fixture.

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