Garret Bias moved to are in the 1830s, purchasing a farm near Council Hill. He brought with him his wife, two small children, and a servant girl. The Bias family kept to themselves, and work on the frontier was very hard.
A cholera epidemic claimed his wife, and his daughter six months later. The deceased were buried on the farm with little fanfare, fueling suspicions and rumors of foul play. Mortality was high on the frontier, cholera epidemics frequent, and home burials were common. No formal accusations were ever made.
The servant girl, Catherina, now a young lady, soon became the mistress and wife of Garret Bias. A man by the name of Jacob Ably was hired to help out on the farm. Garret and Catherina would have two daughters before his death of cholera. His son, Hiram, now a grown man, mysteriously disappeared within weeks of his father's death.
Catherina, now a widow with two small children, then married Jacob Ably. Within a short time, her two children would die mysteriously. Catherina rarely came to town, but when she did people noticed signs of abuse and she rarely smiled. Catherina would bear three children with Jacob Ably; the oldest, Henry, is said to have been run off the farm for trying to protect his mother from the abusive Jacob Ably.
Catherina allegedly hung herself in 1877. Jacob reportedly found her, cut her down, and brought her inside the house. The children accused Jacob of murdering Catherina, but he was never charged.
The only proven murder on the Ably farm happened when the middle son, Joseph, shot and killed his father, a crime that landed him in prison where he died ten years later.
The roads and land surrounding the Ably house are haunted by the ghosts of the Bias family and Jacob Ably, and driving on the road near the farm will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Going at night is not advised.
Ably House