History of the Land:
The Vaile Mansion is located in Independence Missouri in Jackson county along the bank of the Missouri River. The area was once the northern boundary of the Osage Nation which included parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. They have traits in common with both Woodland Tribes as well as Great Plains tribes. They were noted for their use of horses and and their buffalo hunts on the Great Plains.
On November 10, 1808 the US Government and Osage Nation signed the Osage Treaty at Fort Osage (then Fort Clark). In the treaty over 52,000,000 acres, mostly in Missouri, were ceded to the government. Immediately the Osage people protested the treaty questioning whether all necessary representatives were there. They were forced to Kansas where smallpox, other diseases, and war would devastate the tribes.
The earliest European settlers were French. The land was fought over during the French and Indian War and came under British rule and then was promptly ceded to Spain in 1763. In 1800 Spain was forced to return the land to France in the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso and then in 1803 the area was sold to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase. In 1804 Lewis and Clark reached the area and picked plums, raspberries, and apples on their journey west writing in their travel log that it was a "high commanding position." That spot would become Fort Clark and later renamed to Fort Osage.
In 1821 Missouri was formally admitted into the Union of the United States. And in 1826 Jackson county was organized and named for Andrew Jackson. Independence was selected as the county seat and the town quickly began to expand as it became a central location for westward travel. Independence was called "The Queen City of the Trails" as it was the starting point for the three western trails: Oregon, Santa Fe, and California trails. The infamous Donner Party left from Independence in 1846 on the Oregon Trail. Independence also served as an important trade route since it was the furthest west that steamboats could travel on the Missouri river due to the confluence with the Kansas River just six miles away.
In 1831 Jospeh Smith, founder of The Latter Day Saint movement, stated that a New Jerusalem would be founded in Independence. Followers were encouraged to travel to the area and begin purchasing land. The new comers clashed with existing settlers and in 1833 a decree ordered all members of the Latter Day Saints to leave Missouri. In 1838 removal came to a head between August to November in the Missouri Mormon War. One of the worst clashes was on October 30, 1838 at Haun's Mill. Mormon families had gathered there and were surrounded by over 200 militia members. The battle resulted in 17 deaths.
During the American Civil War Independence saw two battles within the city limits in 1862 and 1864. Also in Jackson County was the 1864 battle of Westport, called the Gettysburg of the West.
After the Civil War train travel began to increase and moved the center of travel to Kansas City.
My sister and I believe in the idea of places holding trauma and memory. Even in this limited history above the amount of upheaval and change and the number of people who traveled through this area surely has had an impact.
History of the Vaile Mansion:
Colonel Harvey Merrick Vaile was born in Bennington, Vermont in 1831. In the 1840s he moved to upstate NY where he would meet Cecilia Sophia Graham and they would eventually marry. Harvey held a variety of jobs including teacher, lawyer, lobbyist, and reporter. However the majority of his fortune came from land investments and partnership in the Star Route along the Santa Fe Trail.
As Harvey's wealth increased he and Sophia wanted to build a home that matched. They wanted to have a home that people could use as a gathering place and took inspiration from some of the finest homes in Europe. The Vaile Mansion was completed on October 12,1881, at a cost of $150,000. It was a modern marvel for several reasons but the most impressive reason was the fact that it had heating and hot water. Especially impressive since no other home in Jackson County had indoor plumbing. The home had 31 rooms, 14 foot ceilings, a mansard roof, long gothic windows, speaking tubes, and two chandeliers originally meant for the White House but purchased by Harvey when a defect was discovered in them.
The home was designed by architect Asa Beebe Cross. Cross designed over 1000 structures in Kansas City though today only a handful remain one of which is the Vaile Mansion, another is St. Patrick's at 8th and Cherry in Kansas City, and a third is Sauer Castle at 935 Shawnee Rd in Kansas City.
Unfortunately Sophia and Harvey did not get to live the life the imagined when they began construction on the home. Harvey was charged with fraud and theft of funds with his Star Route. He spent over $100,000 on legal fees and countless hours traveling from Independence to Washington DC to defend himself. He would eventually be acquitted but during the time when he was away Sophia became ill with stomach cancer. On February 14th, 1883 while Harvey was in Washington Sophia passed away from an overdose of laudanum which she had been prescribed for pain.
Harvey would never get to use the house as a grand and happy gathering space, in fact the planned ballroom on the third floor was never finished. The couple did not have children and Harvey Vaile never remarried. In the Kansas City Times Mary Paxton Keeley remembered a chance encounter meeting Harvey Vaile when she was a young child with her father and brothers visiting the grounds and the lake which on some days was opened to the public.
Upon seeing her father and his children an aged Vaile asked if they were all his and then commented that the father was indeed a rich man.
Harvey passed away due to complications of a stroke on June 4th, 1894. His Last Will and Testament surprised some. His cousin Olivia Sprague, who had moved in and run the home after Sophia's death was left a yearly allowance, the home was left to become a women's school called called The Independence Ladies College, and to his nieces and nephews he left five dollars each. Not surprisingly the nieces and nephews fought the Will.
The Trip:
We planned to leave enough time to visit some historic sites and places connected to the Vaile Mansion. For example the pictures above of the confluence of the rivers, Fort Osage, St. Patrick's, and the Sauer Mansion. On our first night in the area we stopped at Lutfi's which not only had delicious catfish but amazing carrot cake dessert. The guys behind the counter were amazingly welcoming and after a short conversation they offered us some of their chicken wings to try with a sauce they were very proud of on it. It was Friday in Lent and we could not eat meat so we tried to decline the wings but they insisted we take them and have them Saturday for breakfast. The wings were a perfect breakfast especially since our hotel did not have much breakfast due to Covid restrictions. If you are ever in the area near Independence/Blue Springs do yourself a favor and stop at Lutfi's! I know I will be back.
The Equipment:
When we booked the investigation we knew it was a public investigation meaning there would be many people in the home that night, but we hoped it would be a manageable amount of people and we began making plans about setting cameras in different hotspots as well as Meghan memorizing some Shakespeare and various poems to recite for Harvey and Sophia's entertainment.
We wanted to place a trap camera looking at the stairs going to the third floor due to reports of a shadow figure that had been seen in the stairwell, we also planned on putting a recorder on the third floor so that we could cover the area without having to be up there, similarly we planned on putting a trap camera in the basement to look at the door that is said to close itself, and finally another camera in the nature's bower a strange small sitting area overlooking the front lawn and street. However when we arrived we realized it was more people then we felt comfortable with to leave our equipment around. We did end up leaving one camera watching the stair case to the third floor but that was it. As a result we had the one trap camera, my video camera, the two recorders we were carrying, and a body camera that we were still testing out to see how it would perform.
The Investigation/Evidence:
Before going to the mansion we stopped at the Vaile family mausoleum for an S-Box session.
We arrived a little early which was fine because it allowed us a quick nap before beginning. There was a sign in sheet that asked for team name so this will forever be the first official investigation under our team name: Travelers. Now the house is large with over 30 rooms however the amount of people made investigating a little difficult because we didn't want to interfere with anyone else's recordings and by the same token we had to listen very carefully to ours. I think we started out with a good plan. We went straight to the Nature's Bower to set up our camera and look at the faces in the wood grain.
While there we had an Estes Method S-Box session. This is our newest experiment in investigating and helpful in a situation like this where the sound of the S-Box would negatively effect other investigations. For the experiment Meg was wearing earbuds connected to the S-Box and then noice reducing head phones so that she could not hear my questions.
We left the Bower to go to Sophia's bed room and sitting room. There were so many questions that we had for Sophia and she is said to be one of the most active spirits in the home. We wanted to be sure that we got to spend some time in this side of the house where Sophia spent most of her time when she was ill. As Meg walked past one room she heard a woman's voice. Unfortunately we did not have that voice on a recorder but it sounded like a cry/moan.
We left the second floor and went down to the first floor. While down there we had some plans for Meg to recite an AE Houseman poem as well as some Shakespeare. Listening back to the recordings though we were struck by how much we heard voices in the recordings. The best way to describe it was as "swirling voices." At the end of this blog post I will link a compilation video of all the EVPs but first I will post some that I have separated out like this one from the first floor women's parlor.
After leaving the first floor we spent time in the basement. As I was walking I saw a very unique orb fly past the video camera. Normally I won't include orbs as evidence because they are usually just bugs reflecting light but this one not only had a strange shape but a strange pattern of movement.
We left the basement and went straight up to the third floor to try and spend at least a little time on that floor. The floor is famous for evps, disembodied voices, and shadow figures. We set up a laser grid which despite having new batteries began fading in and out as we sat upstairs.
After exploring the third floor before heading back downstairs I commented about how there wasn't much to explore and we recorded this evp.
Now there was a door that we could have pushed up to look into the attic but having been told there are bats I wasn't going to look.
We came back down from the third floor to check on my trail camera and stopped to talk with two other investigators who were using their SLS.
Now that we had been to every floor for at least a little bit we turned our attention to the other side of the house and Harvey Vaile's office. There we recorded this residual EVP that I found very moving when I listened to it later. Also I used one of my favorite pictures: a portrait that shows Harvey Vaile standing in front of one of the fine marble fireplaces with a clock behind him. I think the fact that you see Harvey reflected in the mirror is what draws me in.
Finally here is a compilation of all our other EVPs/evidence from the investigation.
We hope to return to the Vaile Mansion someday for a private investigation so that we can fully set up our equipment. Meg did so much more research into the history of the home, people, and land then I included here. This investigation will forever be a special one since it was the first time we actually publicly investigated as Travelers!
Thank you. Please consider following my youtube jorekkeroj and this blog for our future investigations. We will beginning the evidence review from our investigation at the Lotz House.
