The group was invited to the museum to investigate and document the reported haunting that has been experienced by many of the locals.
It is believed that the spirit of a young woman that died in the late 1800s, named Cora, is present. Cora was in her early 20s when she died of a Yellow fever epidemic in Lake City. Cora passed away in the upstairs bedroom in which visitors have experienced various occurrences. Another possible presence is that of May Vinzant that spent the majority of her life in the home. May was very active in the community and died in 1981 at the age of 102. Though she did not pass away in the building itself, she loved the home and today it contains many of her personal possessions.
The museum also contains many donated items from local families that are on display. Many of these personal items are from various wars and likely close to the past owners. With all of these personal items in the home, there is the potential for additional spirits attached to these objects.
Past experiences by volunteers working in the home include movement of May’s objects. There is a cabinet in May’s room that holds many cherished possessions including her Bible, which sits upright on a stand. During a tour, it was witnessed to slowly lay itself down in the bookcase and seen by both the tour-guide and visitors. People have “felt” a presence on numerous occasions and a woman that claimed to be sensitive had seen a female’s figure by the front door.
Group members John, Renee, Kevin, Edel, Melissa and Loraine conducted the investigation. After a tour of the facility by the client we set up the IR cameras in the hot spot areas and took baseline readings with the EMF meter and digital thermometer. Baselines looked normal with the only high EMFs being recorded in the back stairway where electrical panels are located.
We spent approximately 5 ½ hours investigating, during which, there were numerous personal experiences. While in Cora’s room, Renee felt a touch/brushing of her hair and Edel felt the presence of a cold spot. During the same time, Edel and Renee heard what sounded like footsteps in heels walking down the hallway. I also heard running down the upstairs hallway while I was sitting downstairs. The running and footsteps were evident and sounded as if made by someone in shoes. This is important since each of us had previously removed our shoes due to the hardwood floors in the building and the sound made by our own walking. We were informed after the investigation that volunteers working in the building late at night have heard the same sounds.
Several times, different investigators witnessed small pinpoint lights (possible orbs) in the museum. We have witnessed similar lights in locations with reported haunting. In each case, I tried to debunk the source of the light but was unsuccessful. The light was below any windows and located near the floor, thus not coming from outside. In my case, I was looking straight in the direction of the light when it was visible.
Battery drain was also experienced with pieces of investigation equipment. In each case, this occurred with either new or fully charged batteries.
In review of the evidence, we didn’t find anything on the digital or IR cameras. We did however catch numerous items on the digital voice recorders. We found several recordings of voices including one “goodbye” as Renee and Edel are leaving Cora’s room. This voice is of special interest since it is of a man’s voice while we were expecting to find the spirit of either Cora or May. Additional voices are possible answers to questions and what sounds like breaths. We also caught the sound of the footsteps and additional knocking. Some of the knocking was in response to an attempt by Kevin to communicate while downstairs.
Based on the personal experiences and evidence, we do feel as if there is paranormal activity in the museum. We would like to do a follow-up investigation based on the knowledge that there is a male presence in the building. Evidence is posted on the website.