My team and I captured this EVP (electronic voice phenomena) with our Sony Digital Voice Recorder at Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery in Midlothian, Illinois. First you will hear our Tech Specialist telling our camera man to see if someone was over there. He thought he heard something and questioned our camera man to go check it out. As soon as our camera man steps up you can clearly hear a spirit say, “…

Popularity: 1%

jordannews – The news came by e-mail: “I may have an fascinating tale brewing for you,” Jordan resident Kathy Machowski, a ghost hunter a founding member of Beyond the Veil, wrote earlier this fall. “I was in a graveyard not to far from Jordan, and I was doing my ghostie thing. Well, I got an EVP of a man saying, ‘William Bonney.’”

Electronic voice phenomena (EVP) are sound recordings believed to be the voice of a spirit. Often, EVP’s are not heard at first, but after an investigation, ghost hunters analyze recordings to catch signs of a ghost. Cemeteries are very active with EVP’s, Machowski said.

One of Machowski’s recent EVP’s was distinct and quizzical. Someone had mentioned William Bonney, an alias used by Billy the Kid.

“I thought, Wow … William Bonney has never been known to have been in Minnesota,” the e-mail from Machowski continued. “I am going to be going back to see if I can get more EVP’s and to check the headstones.”

The ghost hunter returned twice to the Lydia Zion United Methodist Church cemetery in Spring Lake Township, talking and recording. The first time, her EVP’s turned up a woman who did not mention the frontier outlaw, who according to legend, killed 21 men, one for each year of his life.

The number is disputed.

As was his death, Machowski said.

The man who claimed to have killed Billy the Kid never received the bounty placed on the head of his notorious prize, Machowski said. The gravesite of Billy the Kid, born Henry McCarty, is unknown.

“With all this information, could he have survived?” Machowski said in an interview. “Maybe. Can’t say.”

Machowski’s suspicion had been that he was buried in Lydia, but her search – even for aliases, including his dearest friend’s names – finished empty handed.

But after a small ghost hunt last week with the Jordan Independent staff, she analyzed her recordings and wrote another e-mail:

“There was a man and a woman there at the graveyard when we were there. Some of the voices are very faint and hard to hear. … When I questioned about dropping the name of William Bonney, I got a woman saying, ‘Fame.’”

Then, in the same location as she had recorded the first mention of William Bonney, she recorded a man saying, “He’s dead.”

A friend of hers searched the gravestones for Billy the Kid’s aliases, as well. He did not find any, but he searched for the birth certificates of the deceased. One of them could not be found, raising further suspicion with Machowski.

“That place isn’t that huge,” Machowski said in an interview. “And a lot of them have the same name, because you know, a family-oriented town.”

Machowski, who plans to return for more recordings, said it’s just another mystery worth pursuing.

NOTE: Billy the Kid (Henry McCarty, alias William Bonney) was buried at Fort Sumner, New Mexico and the man who killed him, Pat Garrett, was buried at the Masonic Cemetery in Las Cruces, New Mexico. I’m going to try to make some inquiries and keep tabs on this case…it’s an fascinating mystery.

Popularity: 1%

selmatimesjournal.com – Once a year Ancient Cahawba opens its gates to the public and every year several ghost hunters and history lovers who are courageous enough make the journey to Alabama’s first capital city walk through those gates.

Hunters, history buffs and those just interested in an fascinating night climbed aboard a converted cotton trailer Friday. The roomy open-air cabin went in the silent, starry night. The headlights cut through the darkness, which enveloped the passengers behind.

The first stop on the tour was the New Cemetery, which was made in 1851. Luminaries lit the path to the tour’s first stop.

“There are messages left behind in this landscape by the people who lived here,” Linda Derry, site director, said. “Some of those messages are out in the open and are pleased, but some you have to look for and are quite sad.”

Derry pointed out a monument to the Bells. One side reads J.R. Bell and the other remembers J.A. Bell. They were father and son who were killed in a shoot-out in the main street of Cahawba. The Bells’ deaths were the ultimate conclusion of a long feud, which accused the family of making their slave steal keys from people, or was it?

Derry first experienced a ghostly encounter at Cahawba about 20 years ago right at the base of the Bells’ monument. A group of ghost hunters came in to investigate the historic and haunted town. Derry was out in the graveyard with them when the hunters became very excited. They called her over to the Bell’s monument and said they had a very clear EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena), which is a recording that plays an unexplained voice.

“It said as clear as a bell ‘Don key,’” Derry said. “I wasn’t surprised it said Don because he is our maintenance supervisor here and he hears voices all the time, but the other word key was fascinating.”

Derry went on her day and then went home, but she still wondered what Don key could mean. That following morning she found out.

Don came in that day and told Derry he couldn’t find his keys. She relayed to him about the “Don key” episode so they chose to look at the Bell’s monument. But, the keys were not there. Later that day they were found — in the slave cemetery by the Bells’ slave who was accused of taking keys for the family.

With that tale in mind the hunters were sent off with two members of Central Alabama Paranormal Investigators.

The group spread out trying to find any abnormal activity before heading to the Barker’s Slave Quarters.

There they learned about the Kirkpatrick family who renovated and then inhabited the home for mere weeks. The hunters were able to explore the first floor and the back of the home.

One man who lived in the area for a small time as a kid, Clifton Kirkpatrick, experienced a ghostly encounter nearly daily then. But he didn’t know it.

When Clifton was a young kid he would go out near the cemetery and river. He was told to mind his step by a man named Gat. Everyday he would go out and play like young boys would do — getting into things he wasn’t supposed to do or going a small too far — all the time his trusty older friend Gat would tell him to be careful.

Clifton was relaying his memories of his ancient friend one day many years after the fact when he was told that his caretaker Gat had died several years before he was even born.

Tales like this swirl around Ancient Cahawba and once a year people can come through the gates. Some come to experience the ghosts like Hannah Estes, Prattville.

“I’ve learned about Cahawba in school and we talked a small about the ghosts,” she said. “I really wanted to come here and see it for myself. The tour was really cool and it was really excellent getting to see what we learned about.”

Some visitors came because of their like of Cahawba and the history surrounding it.

“Selma has a gem right in its backyard,” Mike Rogers said. “People should come out more and see it.”

With the last volunteer Ancient Cahawba closed its gates, but they will open up next year for the night again. Even though the area was cleared out many hunters wondered what kind of activity was still going on behind Ancient Cahawba gates.
_______________________

Pegues’ Ghost: Version One

From the mystical shadows of long ago comes the memory of one of those weird, mysterious, uncanny phenomena connected with this place that sometimes happens to astonish the most materialistic, and which at the time of its occurrence caused much interest and speculation even among the most intelligent and best-informed citizens of Cahaba.

In the spring of 1862, on one of those brilliant moonlight nights, a night “in which nature seems in silent contemplation to adore its Maker,” a young lady and gentleman, prom, promenading near the maze of cedars, turned to enter one of the circular walks leading to the center of the labyrinth, when they were startled to see a large white, luminous ball moving a few feet above the ground in front of them, apparently floating in air. This ball would dart first on one side of the walk and then on the other, approach close enough to nearly touch them, go and disappear in the shrubbery, to suddenly be seen again floating beside them. Thinking the apparition was a trick of fancy or was caused by same peculiar phase of the moon’s shadows, they turned to retrace their steps, when again it appeared in front of them, going through the same gyrations. The gentlemen now determined to test the materiality of the object; but just as he attempted to grasp it, it darted beyond his reach and disappeared, to be seen no more that night.

On several occasions this apparition appeared to other parties, and became known as the “Pegues Ghost.” No one could ever certainly clarify what it was, but general opinion finally concluded it to be one of those weird phosphorescent phenomena so often read of but rarely seen, known as “will-o’-the-wisp” or Jack-o’-lantern.”

Pegues’ Ghost: Version Two

One well-known event during Cahawba’s Civil War-era was the arrival of the town’s first apparition, the will-o’-the-wisp wisp known as the “Pegues’ Ghost.” In 1862, on a moonlit night, a young couple was walking behind Colonel C. C. Pegues’ home, ambling about the thick stand of cedars when a glowing ball of white light suddenly appeared before them. Flashing from side to side a few feet above the path, the apparition went so close that they could nearly touch it, then quickly disappeared in the undergrowth only to reappear beside them moments later. When the gentleman tried to touch the object, it disappeared — much like the town itself was soon fated to vanish.

One cannot help but wonder about the historical circumstances and coincidences that surround the Pegues’ Ghost tale. The home of Colonel Pegues, the leader of the Cahaba Rifles, Fifth Alabama Regiment, was the social center of the town during this time. The large grounds with their forest of cedars, magnolia trees, Lombardy pines, scented Cowers and fountains describe the ideal retreat for lovers desperate in escape the harsh realities of war. The home was a place to court and to forget. But significantly, it was Colonel Pegues that would return home to recruit more men for his Cahaba Rifles. Was the young man in the tale a recruit?

That the apparition first showed up in 1862 seems undeniably significant, for at the Battle of Gains Mills in Virginia on June 27 that very same year, Colonel Pegues was fatally wounded. He died two weeks later. Was the apparition a warning to young recruits? To Pegues himself?

No matter. The first Cahaba ghost tale presaged more than the inhabitants could have realized: Cahawba like the Pegues’ Ghost, was soon to become immaterial, a place owing more to the past than the future, a place inhabited primarily by the events of its former glory days. Cahaba would soon become a ghost tale itself.

Source:
http://www.cahawba.com/

Popularity: 1%

zanesvilletimesrecorder.com – The Twin City Opera House, standing on the McConnelsville Square since 1890, has been the subject of tales, legends and local lore about being haunted.

And a paranormal group may have found proof to back it all up.

“A Web site said that it was haunted, and we chose that we would go and investigate to see if it really was haunted,” said Eric Glosser, director of Central Ohio Ghost Squad. “The fascination of investigating a theater made us reckon this would be an fascinating subject for an investigation.”

Many Opera House employees and visitors reportedly have seen a ghostly white figure of a man in a white suit in the theater. It has been noted that long ago, a former manager of the Opera House always wore a white suit.

That manager’s name was Everett Miller, and many people assumed that Everett liked the Opera House so much that he just couldn’t leave it, even after death.

“We have captured disembodied voices (Electronic Voice Phenomena) over 200 times on digital voice recorders. When asking for a name in the basement of the theater, a voice answered Everett,” said Glosser.

In the 1960s, the Opera House had lots of frightening paranormal activity reported. A janitor ran out of the Opera House, severely frightened, quit his job and refused to enter the building again. Objects were went, ghosts appeared in the main aisle, the main drapes of the stage would close over the movie screen in the middle of a movie, rattling noises were common and toilets would flush themselves constantly.

The owner of the Opera House at the time questioned a Catholic priest to do a blessing. Afterward, paranormal activity in the building greatly decreased but never completely went away.

On two different investigations, in the catwalk area over the stage, COGS investigators captured a small girl’s voice on recorders. The voice said that she was “Elizabeth” and that she was 10 years ancient.

Over the years, as far back as the 1960s, many visitors to the Opera House, as well as employees, have told tales of seeing the ghostly figure of a young girl hovering over the stage.

“We have also captured ancient-time jingles, sung by women, like back in the ’50s or ’60s, in the ballroom. We have also captured growling on our voice recorders, but could not be heard with our own ears, in the basement area. We have had multiple sessions such as these on different investigations,” said Glosser.

“Many people have observed the ‘black shadow person’ in the basement including two of our investigators. This summer we captured the black shadow person on our DVR system on two different cameras. We have had a piece of our equipment go by itself across the floor, which was witnessed by a book publisher from Michigan and four investigators,” Glosser said.

He said the group was so fascinated with the Opera House that they worked it out with manager Adam Shriver to allow paranormal tours to be given.

“We have had 10 groups in from Michigan, Kentucky, Virginia and others from all over Ohio. We investigate it a few times each year ourselves,” Glosser said.

When questioned if he truly believes the Twin City Opera House to be haunted, Glosser answered, “It is certainly haunted, for all of the facts I stated above.”

Not everyone sees ghosts in the Opera House, but.

“Thankfully, I have never experienced seeing a ghost in the Opera House. I don’t want to see one either,” Shriver said. “I am often here, late at night, closing the place up. I don’t want to see any ghosts.”

Yet, despite his own lack of seeing anything paranormal in the Opera House, Shriver gladly welcomes various paranormal investigation groups.

Today, in addition to movies, the Ohio Valley Opry, a bluegrass, country, and gospel music show, is held at the Opera House on the third Saturday evening of each month. Live performances also feature many bluegrass groups, which are a very well loved attraction at the Opera House.

“If there are ghosts in the Opera House, hopefully they like bluegrass and country music,” said Shriver.
________________________

History of the Twin City Opera House

The Twin City Opera House was designed by H. C. Lindsay, an architect from Zanesville, Ohio. The building was to be three tales high, and cost about $16,000. The Town Hall would have a tower that would rise 108 feet above the sidewalks of McConnelsville. The third floor would feature a grand ballroom running the complete 63 foot width of the building.

Ground was broken for the project on Monday, October 20, 1889.

Some of H.C. Lindsay’s design principles were considered quite revolutionary. The Opera House’s ground floor auditorium was uncommon in the late 1800s, and it is one of the last remaining theaters of its period with that feature. The stage floor is “raked” or sloped by 3°, to allow the audience’s front rows to see the performers’ feet. The auditorium’s central “echo dome” contributes to the theater’s nearly perfect acoustics. Lines spoken from the rear of the stage can be heard perfectly throughout the room.

The second floor would house the offices for the town government.

The formal opening was held Saturday, May 28, 1892. The opening was to be a grand affair. The program for the evening was the Arion Opera Company’s performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado.” The cast, crew and orchestra numbered nearly one-hundred. All of the eight-hundred seats that were then available in the auditorium were sold. Railway excursions had been arranged from neighboring towns to bring the cultured and the curious.

Over the years, the Opera House has accommodated an endless variety of performers and celebrities. Fire and brimstone evangelist Reverend Billy Sunday, William Jennings Bryan, and Senator Albert Beveridge spoke here. High School commencements and local minstrel shows were staged here. But, most spectacular were the traveling shows. Often arriving by train, the traveling shows brought lavish productions to McConnelsville.

In 1913 the theater was outfitted with a permanent system for showing silent films. A projection booth was partitioned off in the back of the balcony or “gallery” as it was known then, and a screen was added to the stage. The best seats in the house were those in the “Parquet Circle,” which are those in the front rows of the center section on the ground floor. These premium seats could cost as much as 20 cents, while those in the “peanut gallery” were a nickel.

The first sound pictures came to the Opera House in 1930, using the RCA photophone system. This cumbersome system involved synchronizing 78 RPM records with the film. The right “talkies” did not arrive in McConnelsville until 1936. The only time in its history that the Opera House briefly closed its doors to the public, was for the installation of the sound projectors and the renovation of the auditorium. It was at that time the ancient projection booth was removed from the balcony, and the present booth was made above the second floor mezzanine, and behind the balcony. The theater continues to screen recently released films, as it has done nearly every weekend since 1936.

Perhaps nothing in the theater is more fascinating, or mysterious, than its tunnels. For generations, the tale has been told that the tunnels were once used to hide the movements of escaped slaves, who were fleeing the south. They were said to have linked the building that once stood on the Opera House foundation to other locations in the village, and ultimately to the banks of the Muskingum River.

Sources:
http://www.waymarking.com/
http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/
http://www.twincityoperahouse.com/

Popularity: 1%