The hall is located in Simpson county Kentucky along 31W which, back in stage coach days, was the Nashville Road. The home was built by Andrew Jackson Caldwell in a style that was rising in popularity. A book published in 1848 by Orson Squire Fowler "The Octagon House" explaining the benefits in terms of space, lighting, and air flow may have been inspiration for Caldwell and others. All the bricks used in the home were made on the property. Caldwell finished his home shortly before the start of the Civil War and it played a large part in Kentucky's history. After a defeat at Bowling Green the Confederate army retreated back down the Nashville road toward TN. They found a friend in Caldwell and a resting place on his property during the retreat. The Orphan Brigade, as they were called, retreated and rested at his home in February. Shortly after they left the Union Army came and occupied the area and, knowing Caldwell was loyal to the Confederacy, would regularly search his home for soldiers who may have been hiding. The family did hide soldiers in the home sometimes in a hidden crawlspace under the front stairs and other times in the cupola/attic.
The Caldwell family also suffered personal loss in the home. Mary Elizabeth Caldwell, Andrew's young daughter, was killed in 1854 in the downstairs winter kitchen when her dress caught fire. And Andrew Jackson passed away in 1866. His wife Harriet continued in the home until 1918 when she sold it to a Doctor from Nashville, Miles Williams, who passed away there and left it to heirs who used it as a rental property until Billy Byrd and the Octagon Hall Foundation purchased it in 2001 in order to preserve it and its place in Kentucky's history.
We arrived early and each gave a $5 donation to walk around the museum. This way we could build up some pictures of the place and get a feel for the location and layout. It worked out well because the hall is truly a museum filled with information and artifacts from the Civil War. The paranormal and haunted aspect is cool but there is a lot to see for history buffs as well.
We arrived early and each gave a $5 donation to walk around the museum. This way we could build up some pictures of the place and get a feel for the location and layout. It worked out well because the hall is truly a museum filled with information and artifacts from the Civil War. The paranormal and haunted aspect is cool but there is a lot to see for history buffs as well.
During our visit before the investigation we spokewith some of the caretakers and members of the paranormal investigation group called the Nightstalkers. They warned us that the spirits of Octagon Hall are very used to being investigated and will play with you. We experienced that by having cameras and batteries malfunction and one funny interaction where Meghan denied knowing what a piece of equipment did and we got a response of " I doubt that." By the way, Meghan truly did not know what that piece of equipment was.
Since we plan on returning I will focus on the history at that time. Today's post will be just a short one about the results from our evidence review.
Our main tools for investigating were the voice recorders that we carried on our arms and our S-Box. I had set up trap cameras in several rooms but did not capture much with them. I created three videos that will have all the interactions we had but I pulled out several clips specifically to show the two types of hauntings we believe we encountered.
Intelligent Haunting: An intelligent haunting is going to mean that the spirits in the location can and will respond and interact with you. This is really the type of haunting we are looking for when asking questions such as "how many are in the room," as can be seen in this clip:
The next clip is also another example of an intelligent haunting. Since our aim is to learn about who is there and why we often ask questions looking for information about whom we may be contacting:
Residual Haunting: A residual haunting is the repetition of sounds and actions that happened in the past. I think of it a lot as 'place memories.' In this video we are about to head outside during our visit before the investigation:
And now the next clip is from the upstairs bedroom of Mary Elizabeth. Meg sat down and began reading stories out of a children's book. We had first done this in Waverly on the fourth floor where the children's play area was located. Our hope is to provide spirits with some entertainment instead of just asking them questions. We had success in Waverly and we had success here. It is certainly something we will continue in future investigations.
Next is a video I have from down in the winter kitchen. My video camera battery kept draining despite being fully charged so I used a portable backup to keep it charged. There are a few reasons why I decided to upload this clip. First at 1:04 and again at 3:47 I think I see an orb/light anomaly which could be a bug or dust but because I had been filming and not seen a lot of dust or bugs and the way it moved slowly made me think it was not dust. Also I like some things that we did as a good example of what a paranormal investigation is like. At one point I introduce myself and the others in the room do the same. This helps me have examples of everyone's voices on the recorder so that if I did have an EVP I could compare it and make sure it wasn't someone whispering. Also it gives me a good count as to how many people are there. Finally it is a solid example that this requires patience because so much of what we are doing is hoping for something in evidence review. I ask at one point if Mary Elizabeth, if she is there, could move the pot. There are stories of it moving on its own. However actually getting that on film would be mind blowing and very rare:
The next three videos are compilations of all the recordings whether EVP or S-Box that we had through out the night. Because it was a public investigation and there were so many people many of our recordings were unusable however what we did get makes me certain we want to return on a night when there are less people to set us up for clearer results.
Part 1
This is all from our visit before the investigation.
Part 2:
In this clip we have several examples of what I believe are residual EVPs. Also at the 4 minute mark I start a clip from the barn when we were using one of the other investigator's spirit box. Instead of searching radio stations it can be manipulated by spirits to speak words. In this clip the investigator asks if the spirits want someone to leave. While I want to be respectful of spirits I must admit this is a question I try very hard not to ask for this very amusing reason.
Part 3:
My final video is mostly from the upstairs of the Caldwell home in Mary Elizabeth's room and a room that was used as a hospital. We have several S-Box interactions including one clip at 6:30 when Meg is saying she doesn't know what the device in front of us does (again she didn't lie it wasn't ours) and a spirit answers, "I don't believe that." Remember we had already been told that they are very aware of being investigated and questioned.
Another good thing to come from this investigation was that it was after this that Meg and I really decided we like this and want to continue. We had been speaking to a couple there who formed their own group and they inspired us to do the same. So we are making our own group which is really just us but will have a name and a symbol. I am going to continue using this blog and my youtube account to upload and share evidence. I don't know if we will get to the point where it is worth creating social media for just paranormal investigations. But we can cross that bridge if we come to it. The group name is Travelers and we are working on getting an official design though we do have a drawing Meg created as a start.
We used symbolism and signs of luck from both our Italian and Irish sides. The round drawing features an Ash tree at the center, Yggdrasil the tree of life, with Pulcinella, an Italian trickster figure. He carries a red pepper in one hand, to ward off the evil eye, and a four leaf clover, faith, hope, love, and luck, in his other. At his feet is a hedgehog, Irish symbol of good luck. In the bark of the tree are three numbers 42, 48, and 85. In La Smorfia Napoletena 48 stands for the dead who speak, 85 stands for the souls of purgatory, and 42 means coffee... ok we chose 42 because of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy but coffee works well too.
So far this year we have visited a cemetery/haunted playground in Alabama. We also have booked an investigation at the Vaile Mansion in February and will be returning to the Crescent Hotel in March. Other than those two we are hoping to keep things local this year with a return to Waverly and new locations like the Thomas House and South Pittsburg Hospital. I also want to go to local cemeteries and learn about the areas local legend: the Bell Witch.
Here are links to my other blogs about paranormal investigations:
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