Cemeteries are places most likely to be haunted. Do you think it is ethical for paranormal groups to do investigations in them?
I have received a few inquiries concerning the status of Snowball Mansion. Information had suddenly fallen silent…that is until now. Mike and Nancy Stevens bought the house a few weeks ago.
About three years ago, the mansion was involved in a little real estate scam. The Fuhrings who ran the establishment as a bed and breakfast put it on the market for $1.9 million, initially. The expected buyer put down $1 million on the Snowball Mansion and financed the remainder with two loans. She never made a payment on those loans nor moved in. It turned out the buyer was part of a multimillion-dollar real estate fraud scheme, and the house was tied up in an F.B.I investigation. Those involved were arrested and charged. Finally, earlier this year the mansion was returned to the lender and placed on the market.
So for three long years it sat vacant, waiting for new life. Vandals broke windows and doors. The copper wiring and air conditioning unit was also taken. Graffiti covered the walls. Windowpanes were cracked. Fences needed mending. Despite its slight decay, the Stevens still snatched up the property for $470,000 with hopes of restoring it.
It’s bed and breakfast days may be behind it for now. Mike and Nancy along with their two teenage children and Mike’s elderly mother have moved in to the five bedroom house. Walter Molony, a spokesman for the National Association of Realtors, says it’s not required by law to disclose a house’s haunted status to potential buyers. However, Gena Riede, the real estate agent who represented the new owners, was kind enough to inform them of Snowball Mansion’s ghostly secrets.
The family has only lived in the house for a few weeks but so far only the elderly mother has experienced anything out of the ordinary. She occupies the “granny apartment” on the ground floor and often complains of furniture moving on the floor above her during the night. The rest of the family is asleep two floors above and knows nothing concerning the sounds. However, Mr. Stevens believes his mothers sensitivity to noise is to blame…not ghosts.
I have read and wrote about some of the worst of humanity. The history attached to Jimmy’s Restaurant in Morristown, New Jersey certainly falls in that category. The original building was constructed in 1749 by John Sayre. Generations of his family lived in this house without incident. It has seen its good days including Alexander Hamilton proposing to his beloved Elizabeth in the room later known as the Tap Room. However, the sweet would turn to sour.
After about a century of peace, Samuel, his wife Sara and their maid Phoebe were the latest Sayres to inhabit the home in 1833. Samuel hired Antoine Le Blanc, an immigrant sailor from the West Indies, to help around the farm in the house. A simple misunderstand turned to murder. Le Blanc thought he would be supervising a large operation. He spoke very little English, contributing to his mounting frustration. He decided to cut his loses and run away with the money he believed the Sayres were hiding in their home.
On May 11, 1833, Le Blanc put his plan in to action. He snuck in to the Sayre home and bludgeoned Samuel and Sara to death with a shovel and buried them in a dung heap. Then, moved on to Phoebe. Using an ax, he sent her to an early grave as well. He ransacked their home and took Samuel’s clothes, a horse and what little money he could find and fled the home. His plan was to escape to his native land but with the blood of Morristown’s most esteemed families on his hands it was only a matter of time before he was tracked down and captured. He never left the state. Le Blanc was brought back to Morristown.
His trial took a total of nine days. Today, if you can not afford a lawyer, you are appointed one by the court. In 1833, Le Blanc didn’t have any money and therefore was appointed not one but three of the top attorneys. This was unheard of in the 19th Century. His legal team requested a jury made up of naturalized U.S. citizens, a change of venue and a cooling off period. All were denied. On August 13, 1833, Le Blanc was convicted of murdering the Sayres (not including Phoebe's murder) after a 20 minute deliberation. He was sentenced to death by hanging. He made a full confession of all three murders, with the help of a translator, prior to his death.
A special gallows was constructed in the Morristown Green just for Le Blanc. The traditional trap door was replaced with a counterweight and pulleys. The purpose was to hoist the killer eight feet off the ground for public viewing. After the hanging, Le Blanc’s body was subjected to re-animation experiments by a Princeton scientist named Dr. Joseph Henry with the help of Dr. Canfield. The only reflexive hints of life were rolling eyeballs, limbs contracting and a contorted grin. Then, his head was plastered, preserving his death mask. His body was skinned, allegedly taken to Atno Tannery to be made in to souvenir wallets, book covers and purses. Each was signed by the sheriff in 1833 to prove authenticity. These items were sold to cover the expenses of the trial and the celebration afterward. A piece of his skin was also found at Princeton University Library tucked inside a book. Last, by court order, Le Blanc’s body was dissected and buried. His remains were dug up near the courthouse about a century ago but has since mysteriously disappeared.
Since the murders, the house seen its share of owners and businesses. In 1946, it was converted in to a restaurant which suffered a devastating fire eleven years later. Reconstruction included expansions and additions to the building while saving a tree growing through the atrium dining area. In the 1970s, the house momentarily left its restaurant days behind to make way for the Wedgewood Inn owned by William McCausland. David DeGraff later turned it back in to an eatery called the Society Hill Restaurant. And most recently it was Jimmy’s Restaurant. Jimmy’s was closed and demolished in 2006 to make way for a bank.
Some say Phoebe still haunts the location, still seeking justice for her murder. The room Phoebe once occupied was reported to always be colder than any other room. Waitresses use to see Phoebe’s reflection in the mirror instead of their own. There were reports of behind touched on the shoulder. One person supposedly saw a bloody hand reach out from one of the paintings. Le Blanc’s spirit is also believed to be haunting the grounds. Considering the gruesome treatment of his body after death, I’m not entirely surprised if he is. Objects were known to move on their own. Candles extinguished become lit again. On the night of the Society Hill’s grand opening, a punch bowl cracked and split apart, spilling the punch. Chairs rock by themselves and lights go on and off.
Exorcisms have been performed on the property but the activity continued. The above claims are from the property’s past. I don’t know if the bank is experiencing much the same. But if there is any truth to the reports, I’m sure they have.
The Goatman is believed to be the spirit of a man named Oscar Washburn, a black goat farmer. About fifty years after the Alton Bridge was constructed in 1888, he brought his family to North Texas and moved them in to a house nearby. He soon came to be known as a dependable, honest businessman, earning the nickname “Goatman”. Unfortunately, successful black men were still not welcomed in the 1930s. Klansman in the local government became outraged when he displayed a sign on the bridge: “this way to the Goatman”.
One night in August 1938, Klansman turned their headlights off and crossed the Alton Bridge. They burst in to his home and drug the Goatman away from his family to the bridge. Standing him on the side, they fitted a noose over his head and pushed him over. The Klansman peered in to the water to examine their handiwork when panic set in. The rope was still there but the Goatman’s body disappeared. The Klansman rushed back to the house and slaughtered his family. Oscar Washburn was never seen again and was presumed dead.
Since his attempted murder, strange occurrences have taken place on the bridge. Some believe the Goatman haunts the bridge and nearby woods. If you crossed the bridge with your headlights off, you would meet the Goatman on the other side. An alarming number of abandon vehicles and disappearances led to the construction of a new concrete bridge. The old red iron one remains accessible to the public by foot.
Tampa Theatre is the city’s only non-profit theater. Operating costs are mostly covered by its membership program, various corporate sponsors as well as ticket sales. It features a wide variety of independent, foreign and documentary films and has been used as a backdrop for movies, MTV videos and local programming. The theatre was built in 1926 and officially opened on October 15 the same year.
John Eberson designed it to reflect Florida Mediterranean including touches of Italian Renaissance, Byzantine, Spanish, Mediterranean, Greek Revival, Baroque, and English Tudor and seats 1,446. Inside, audiences are transported to a lavish, romantic Mediterranean courtyard complete with old world statuary, flowers, and gargoyles. Above them is a nighttime sky with twinkling stars and floating clouds. For decades, the Tampa remained a centerpiece in the city’s culture. People were treated like royalty uniformed ushers and attendants, sole kisses in the balcony and followed the weekly newsreels.
By the ‘60s and ‘70s, America’s economy shifted. More and more people fled to the suburbs, leaving the downtown business districts to slowly die off. The Tampa’s audiences dwindled as the costs rose. Many of the nation’s movie palaces were demolished as the land became more valuable than the building. In 1973, The Tampa Theatre faced the same fate. But in this case, Tampa citizens and City leaders got involved until an agreement was made. The city rescued it by assuming its leases. The Arts Council of Hillsborough County agreed to manage the special events, concerts and films. The theatre reopened in 1978 and became a national model on how to save an endangered theatre.
The theatre is believed to be haunted by three ghosts. Foster "Fink" Finley worked in the theatre’s projection room. He died on December 17, 1965 of a heart attack while working the projector. Hogley "Hog" Higley worked in the concession stand. He also died on the job on September 16, 1962. Godfrey "God" Gidget entered the 16-mm Shrine through the screen and disappeared on October 23, 1959. Visitors have reported mysterious gushes of air throughout the theatre, and voices.
Do you think Data loggers are an effective tool in paranormal investigations?
It seems a little battle has been brewing in Cambridge, United Kingdom between a Catholic Church and a self appointed “King of all Witches”. Magus Lynius Shadee owns occult shops in France and Normandy. His next branch is to be located in Cambridge, supposedly opening on December 24th. Church leaders fear he may prey on the vulnerable or the distressed. While they aren’t believes, a concern rose in the possibility of Shadee using manipulation of people’s fears which may result in mental problems.
Shadee has yet to reveal the location of his shop other than it will be in the city centre. The shop and "surgery" will be open to the public and will offer exorcisms, physical research, paranormal phenomena, direct voice communication, manifestation of "ghosts" and witchcraft. He has offered to prove his abilities to anyone interested. However, it seems he has already begun the demonstrations without any inquiries.
On a visit to the city, he claims to have performed an incantation to conjure a demon. The purpose was to prey on worshipers with the possibility of the element possessing and driving them to suicide. I don’t know whether he is trying to convert Father David Paul of St Laurence's Roman Catholic Church, a driving force of the skeptics, or looking for a little publicity for his soon-to-be new occult shop.
Either way I think it’s in poor taste to conjure a demon in a church. According to police, his only potential crime is under the Public Order Act which could have been committed if anyone was in the church at the time of the ritual and was alarmed or distressed by it.
The Stranahan House is the oldest surviving building in Broward County, Florida. Built in 1901, Frank Stranahan was the first settler along the New River. He made the trip to Fort Lauderdale in 1893 due to health reasons. Frank decided to use the site to run his Barge Ferry as part of the new road between Lantana and North Miami. Stranahan was also Forth Lauderdale’s first postmaster as well as a banker and businessman. This trading post for settlers and Seminole Indians soon became a community center and town hall for the area. Frank married Ivy Julia Cromartie, one of the area’s first schoolteacher.
The upper floors hosted community festivals and dances until 1906 when it became the Stranahans permanent residence. The house came with modern plumbing, electric wiring, wide porches, running water, interior stairways, and bay windows. Throughout the years, it was remodeled and expanded to represent the original 1913-1915 look. The original furnishings were either sold or given away over the years. Stranahan House has since been restored to its original interior and exterior.
Frank Stranahan committed suicide by drowning himself during the Great Depression. His bank failed, leaving him unable to repay the many friends he owed. At the hour of his death, his wife stopped all the clocks in the house as it was a custom in the 1900s. After his death, Ivy lived on the upper floors while renting the first floor to outsiders for use as a restaurant. In 1971, Ivy passed on as well. The restaurant closed eight years later when the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society took over ownership. Today, it operates as a museum owned and managed by Stranahan House Inc.
While Stranahan House does not have a bloody history, it still has had numerous paranormal occurrences. Days after the house became a museum, the clock in the parlor began to tick on its own. The ticking originally was stopped after Frank’s death. Burglar alarms have a tendency to go off where no intruders can be found. The mysterious smell of a woman’s perfume often makes its presence known. Some say Frank and Ivy have never left their Fort Lauderdale home. If you speak to them during a visit, they may make an appearance in one of your photos.
