Photo of schoolhouse before renovations
This rocked in area of the cemetery is where it is rumored that the bodies of small pox victims were burned.
| Private Home Case #57 (Old Schoolhouse and Cemetery) |
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Date:
November 16, 2007 Time:
8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. Location: Cass County, Missouri |
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Investigators
on Scene: Brenda, Dee Ann, Linda, Chris, Jeff, Brian, Adrianne |
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Attendees
on Scene: Male and female homeowners and their son |
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Conditions:
Clear Temp:
55 degrees to 37
degrees Humidity:
31% Barometer:
28.82 Lunar Phase: Waxing Crescent 40% full Geomagnetic: Quiet Solar
X-Rays: Normal Wind: SSW 7mph |
Evidence
Collected:
Digital
Photos Taken: 120 (pending report
from Linda) Positive
Digital Photos: 34 (pending report from Linda) 35
mm Photos Taken: 18 35
mm Photos Positive: 0 Video:
2 EVPs: 3 |
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Brief Home and Property Description & History: The
home was once a one-room schoolhouse which was built in 1888 and used in
that capacity through the 1950’s. The current owners purchased the
schoolhouse about 10 years ago and renovated it into a 3-bedroom home,
complete with ½ basement, kitchen, dining room and a loft above the
living room and kitchen. The old school house serves as their living room
and the owners took great care in keeping as much of the original woodwork
and structure as possible. Also on the property is an old barn, which was
constructed in 1888 with wooden pegs and the foundation of an old slave
quarters. Located
in the backyard, is a small cemetery which was used by the local
community. The last known burial was in 1908. Not many tombstones remain
and there are many unmarked graves. Located in the northeast corner stands
a box-like structure constructed of rock. It is rumored that this rocked
in area was used to burn smallpox victims during an epidemic, many of them
being children. It is also rumored to be the burial location of 3 civil
war soldiers who were ambushed not far from the site. The house is located along a road which was used as a main thoroughfare during the Civil War due to its proximity to the river. Not far down this road there sits the burned out remains of an old house. Although it is unknown the exact year that this house was built, it is known that there was a house located there during the Civil War. It is said that some soldiers stopped by the house to force the home owner’s sons to go to war but were shot in the road by the boys mother while she was standing on her front porch. This particular road and area of Cass County saw much activity during the Civil War including several recorded skirmishes. |
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Photo of schoolhouse before renovations |
This rocked in area of the cemetery is where it is rumored that the bodies of small pox victims were burned. |
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Current Owner Reportings: +
Female home owner sometimes hears muffled voices in the master bedroom.
She says that they sound as if they are coming from the basement den. +
The family has had several experiences with missing items, which later
turn up in plain sight. +
During renovations, there was much unexplained activity in the home, but
over the years the activity has settled down some. +
Some friends were driving by when the thought they saw a man and a boy
digging or shoveling something in the side yard but when they looked
again, they were gone. They reported that they appeared to wearing
old-time clothing. + One night when the male homeowner was sleeping on the couch in the living room, he thought he heard his wife upstairs turning the knob of the washing machine. It was 3:00 in the morning and he was wondering why she was up doing laundry at that time of night. As he lay on the couch, he heard someone come down the steps and also felt an extreme temperature drop in the room. He did not elaborate on anything else he saw or felt at the time but would only say that he covered his head with the blanket because whatever it was scared him. |
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Reported
Findings and Experiences: Renovated
School House and Cemetery +
We focused our equipment on the interior of the renovated home. The video
camera filmed 2 orbs, however there was nothing distinctive about their
movements so dust could not be ruled out. +
3 EVPs were recorded in the house. The name of “Walker”
was recorded while no one was in the house. After Brenda, the male
homeowner and his young son returned to the house to change batteries, a
male voice was recorded saying what sounds like “Where
is Black
At?”
Later
in the evening the female homeowner took one of the recorders upstairs to
ask some questions. She asked the following: “What is the last year you
remember? Was it important?” This was answered by a male voice saying,
“Sixty-six.” +
A few orbs were photographed in the house, however none of them were
distinct enough to rule them as spirit orbs. The cemetery offered up many
good orb photographs, particularly around Chris and Jeff. EMF readings
were spiking at the time the photographs were taken. + Due to the lack of equipment, we were unable to conduct a proper investigation of the barn and slave quarters. We hope to return in the future to continue our investigation of these properties.
Abandoned
Burned-Out Pioneer Home +
A few of the investigative team members entered this house to take some
photographs. When Brenda looked up the stairway, she saw a dark shadowy
figure dart across the upstairs hallway. +
Upon opening the cellar door, Brenda commented that she felt something
touch her face as she opened the door. Upon making this statement, both
Brian and Adrienne commented that they had also felt something had touched
them also, as if it had gone between the three of them. +
An unexplained misty-looking orb was photographed at two different
locations on the property. +
As Chris was taking EMF readings through the broken glass of the front
door, he felt as if someone had grabbed his hand. The EMF meter spiked at
this time and again several more times as the team stood on the front
porch taking photographs. + As Chris was leaving the property and stood in the road, he doubled over and said that he felt very sick. He claimed he had a sharp pain in his chest and was overcome with emotion. When asked to describe his emotion, he said he suddenly felt a deep unexplainable hatred towards the house. MPR feels that his experience may have been related to the shooting of the soldiers in front of the house.
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| These two photos of the burned-out house were taken back to back. In the photo on the left, there appears to be an unexplained black mist just to the left of the side porch. This black mist is not present in the photograph taken immediately afterwards. It was at this location that all the team members reported feeling a presence. |
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Psychic Readings: Because Misty was not available for this investigation, Brenda
asked several team members to give their impressions of their experiences
during the investigation. Brenda:
Upon
entering the renovated part of the house, I immediately sensed the
presence of a male spirit. I did not feel that this male was connected to
the house but more so with the cemetery. I got the feeling that he was a
friendly spirit and would just come in sometimes out of curiosity. I feel
that this was later confirmed by the recorded EVPs. The
cemetery felt peaceful to me. I did witness the EMF meter spiking several
times and took some photographs which appear to have some genuine orbs in
them. My
general consensus is that the house is visited from time to time but the
activity is not constant enough to deem the location as haunted. I do feel
that the family has experienced genuine paranormal activity but I feel
those experiences are due to their close proximity to the cemetery which
is literally in their backyard. As
for the burned out structure, I felt there was a strong female presence
there who is very upset about the condition of the house. I picked up the
initial of “S” while I was there and was later able to confirm that
the head-female who lived there during the civil war was named Susan. I
feel that she is still there protecting the property and needs to go to
the light. I did feel that this house was haunted however it would need
further investigation and proof with our equipment in order to make that
determination. Adrienne:
I don't have much to add in reference to the School. To me the
school house was very peaceful. I did not feel anything within the
structure. The same is to be said about the cemetery and the barn.
To me, they were both peaceful. I did not feel a spiritual
presence or any feeling of unrest. The
burned-out house was a different story. Immediately stepping onto
the grounds that surrounded the property I began to "tingle".
I don't know how to better explain it. It felt almost like a
level of anticipation. My breathing was a little shallow and
the muscles on the back of my neck and upper back
tightened. The
feeling continued once we (Brenda, Brian, Bob, Lisa and myself) were
inside the residence. The level of it never seemed to change,
but the feeling was continuously present. At one
point inside the residence, I think it was as we were exiting the
structure, Brenda and Brian opened the door to the cellar. An
immediate rush of air followed the opening of the door, along with the
feeling of something brushing my forehead, near the top left hand side.
I was standing at an angle, behind and between the two of them,
who also felt the same brush. I believe the areas where we felt
the brush were different, due to our different heights and the
feeling that whatever brushed us swooped up and out when the cellar
door was opened. After I
exited the residence and stepped onto the roadway that ran in front of the
residence, the "tingle" immediately ceased. It was
almost like a feeling of relief. Once we returned to the
property with the whole group, the "tingle" again returned. However,
I didn't feel a presence again until we were all outside the residence
taking pictures. Most everyone was standing on the front porch, but
Jeff and I were standing approximately 10 feet in front of it, where we
had a view of the entire front of the residence. I believe we both
felt that we were being watched from inside the residence, particularly
from the top-most front window. I never saw anything, but definitely
had the feeling that someone, or something, was watching us. Jeff: Chris,
Linda, and I were the first to begin investigating the cemetery behind the
school house. The cemetery was very aged, and had a feeling of unrest.
Both Chris and I were drawn to the far southeastern corner of the
cemetery, where we began asking questions with voice recorder in hand. Linda:
During investigation of back of house by cemetery I felt the boy’s
grandfather. He was not interested in sharing information. Mostly felt as
though he might have been a male chauvinist or very closed type
personality. But without a doubt a soul still not passed over. I felt the reason for not passing was
due to concern for his “living” spouse. At the burnt house I had my very
first vintage replay. I saw the house as though it was only half of what
it was that night. I felt a presences of a women being alone and
uncomfortable. The road that is there was there in my replay. Also even
though the home was smaller it had a more grand feel to it. (which
wouldn’t be hard considering the condition of it now) But even if it
weren’t burnt it was a grand well kept property in the replay. However the women I felt didn’t put
off a higher social status. ( She seemed like regular country folk to me.) That’s pretty much it for me. Oh yeah- The big tree in the back yard of the school house had an ominous feel to it. I don’t know what happened within the area of the property but it wasn’t a happy vibe I was getting.
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MPR SUMMARY Unfortunately Misty was unable to attend this investigation with
us, however because of the rich history behind this location, we hope to
return in the near future to get her readings and further our
investigation of the property. MPR would like to thank the homeowners for their great hospitality and for the opportunity to investigate their home. We were quite impressed with the great care they took in retaining the natural features of the original structure and the masterful way they managed to turn this old structure into such a beautiful home. We feel the experiences they have had, are genuine, however we feel that most of their experiences are due to the presence of the cemetery and the history that surrounds their property. Because of their location, they will probably continue to experience both residual and interactive activity. |
