Investigations – Page 9 – Midnight Watchmen

Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, PA – 8/29/2008

Reports of paranormal experiences began to trickle out from the inmates and guards in the 1940s. One of the more interesting ghostly stories of Eastern State happened to perhaps its most famous inmate – Al Capone. Other prisoners were said to hear Capone constantly screaming and begging with an unseen entity to be left alone. Capone himself reportedly said that the spirit “Jimmy” was none other than James Clark – one of the men murdered in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre that Capone was believed to be behind. It is even said that the spirit of “Jimmy” continued to haunt Capone well after his time in Eastern State Penitentiary, up until his death in 1947. The spirit that tormented Capone was hardly the only the ghost believed to haunt the walls of the prison. The sounds of disembodied screams, footsteps, talking, whispers, laughter and even crying are still commonly reported to this day. As is the case with black shadowy figures that are seen running down the hall or even darting from cell to cell. The most active area of the prison is reportedly Cellblock 12, but people have reported other strange encounters in Cellblock Four, Six and 15 (Death Row), as well as the Infirmary. There have even been sightings of a ghost, believed to be a guard, who haunts the Central Guard Tower and continues to keep an eye on the cellblocks.

Members Present: John C. Fowler; Jon Bolton; Jeff Robbins; Jimmy Graver

Guests: Brian Glockler

Time: 9:00 pm to 3:00am

Temp (Average): 72-74°F

Humidity: unknown

Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent

Wind Speed: unknown

Weather: Rainy

# of Pictures: 425

Hours of Video: 02 hours, 48 minutes, 59 seconds + MINI DV COMING SOON!

Hours of Audio: 14 hours, 17 minutes, 05 seconds

Findings:

Coming Soon!!

Personal Experiences:

Click Here to Read!

Notes:

I think its very interesting that the employee we talked to and was one of our two guides said: “No employee has ever seen a ghost or anything like that at E.S.P.”, Though numerous other employees past and present of E.S.P. have told us their paranormal stories…

Status:

Undetermined

Van Sant Bridge, Solebury, PA – 7/11/2008

Legend claims that one can hear a baby crying near the bridge at night. It also speaks of Horse Thieves who were hanged there still haunting it.

Members Present: John C. Fowler; Jon Bolton; Jeff Robbins.

Time: 8:00 pm to 9:05 pm

Temp (Average): 83.3° F

Humidity (Average): 56%

Moon Phase: unknown

Wind Speed: unknown

Weather: Clear

# of Pictures: 165

Hours of Video: 00 hours, 13 minutes, 13 seconds

Hours of Audio: 01 hours, 02 minutes, 22 seconds

Findings:

None

Notes:

This bridge is visited frequently by teenagers, as evidenced when we were there we met a group of four “checking” this place out themselves. And before we called it a night, another group of 7 to 10 showed up. We’d like to go back sometime later when we can find a quieter night to do a proper investigation. As for some of the myths, we could easily hear voices from the neighboring houses from time to time, so it’d be no surprise if someone didn’t realize how close a few houses were that at some point heard a baby crying that sounded as if it was from the bridge itself!

Status:

Hype.

Saint James Episcopal Cemetery, Bristol, PA – 5/24/2008

Several ghosts haunt this cemetery. An old “Iron Chair” is next to the grave of Merritt P Wright. The name of the chair is “The Witch’s Chair”. Legend has it that anyone who sits in the chair at midnight in the month of October, will have the arms of a witch encircle them. Not too far from “The Chair” is the grave of Gertrude Spring. Supposedly she is the women behind the ghost of “Midnight Mary”.

Members Present: Cedric; Jon Bolton; Jimmy Graver; Tony Fantozzi

Time: 8:00 pm to 9:00pm

Temp. (Average): 74° F

Humidity: 37%

Moon Phase: Unknown

Wind Speed: Unknown

Weather: Clear

# of Pictures: 429

Hours Of Video: Coming Soon!

Hours of Audio: 57 minutes, 3 seconds

Findings:

We had a wide range of Humidity from our base average of 37% slowly rising and as we asked for a sign of our presence it jumped to 53%! Then a few moments later dropped back slowly to 37%.

Notes:

Beautifully quiet and peaceful except for the skunk, ground hog and a few people who had no respect for what we were doing…. Even though the legend states October we visited it to check things out and do a preliminary investigation. We will be back…

Status:

Coming Soon!

Jennie Wade House Museum, Gettysburg, PA – 11/9/2007

The Jennie Wade house, originally the McClellan home, lived through the Battle of Gettysburg and witnessed the tragic death of Gettysburg civilian Jennie Wade, as she was preparing bread for the Union soldiers. This brick house was not a good spot to be in during the fighting as it was between both armies and commonly referred to as “No Man’s Land”. Northern soldiers were setting up defenses South of town while Confederate forces were occupying the North side of town. As both armies fired on each other, the Jennie Wade home was struck repeatedly and riddled with bullets. The north side received most of the damage as it faced the Confederate position and today is marked with over 150 bullet holes. Also causing damage to the Jenny Wade house was a Confederate 10-pounder “Parrot” artillery shell. The shell hit and entered the Jennie wade house going through and causing damage to the 2nd floor wall that separated the two dwellings. Fortunately, the Civil War projectile did not explode, and remained lodged in the house for many years after the war until it was removed. Evidence of this direct hit can still be seen today while taking the tour of the Jenny Wade house. The house is now a museum and contains a Gift Shop in the rear.

Members Present: Cedric, Jon Bolton, Tony Fantozzi, Jeff Robbins

Guests: Paul (Guide)

Time: 9:00 pm to 1:00am

Temp. (Average): 60 -65° F

Humidity: Unknown

Moon Phase: Unknown

Wind Speed: Unknown

Weather: Rainy

# of Pictures: 603

Hours Of Video: 4 Hours, 00 Minutes, 0 Seconds

Hours of Audio: 4 Hours, 41 Minutes, 7 Seconds

Findings:

E.V.P. (5)

Thump Squeal

Surprised Breathe

Voice-Breathe

How Come

Son of a Bitch

Notes:

Our thoughts on this case at this point is that whatever is haunting Jennie Wade house whether it’s Mr. Wade mourning his daughter to this day, Jennie Wade herself or the children reported to be in the upstairs bedrooms; is that whatever is there is the type of spirit(s) that likes it’s privacy as well as enjoying being mischievous from time to time. My reasons for this are the facts that our one video camera would power on but not record in the one room that Mr. Wade is supposedly haunting, as well as the fact that as soon as we went to back down to the basement to collect our equipment, we heard what sounded like someone running across the floor above us, of course no one was in the house but us. Jeff Robbins & John Cannon ran up but didn’t find anyone or anything. Our guide reported as soon as we left that he heard a bang on the door, but none of us was there to hear that, so it’s going in here as a side note only.

Status:

Coming Soon!