Travelers: Lotz House Overnight Investigation

Johann Albert Lotz was born in 1820 in Germany where he worked as a master craftsman woodworker. In 1848 Johann moved to the United States, first stopping in New Orleans where he met his wife Margaretha. Shortly after that they moved to Franklin TN and bought a small plat of land from Fountain Branch Carter. There Johann built his showcase home. The house is two stories and features four large columns in the front reflecting the Greek revival style. Inside he built three fireplaces of varying degrees of woodworking to show his skill. He also built a magnificent walnut railing on the staircase with the first post being a piano leg. On the top he carved his name and the year. Everything from the cabinetry and furniture in the home could be used to show potential clients his range of skill.

 Johann and Margaretha had five children of their own Paul, Augustus, Matilda, Julius, and Julian. Also living in the home were Margaretha's two children from a previous marriage, Joseph and Amelia. It's a beautiful home and location sadly the family would not be able to enjoy it properly. Years later on April 12th, 1861 the American Civil War began and the Lotz house would be at the center of one of the bloodiest battles.

Before the battle Julius and Julian passed away from either sickness, drowning, or possibly poison by playing in a creek that had been contaminated. Sources are unsure but I believe they were 3 or 4 years old.

The Union army under the command of Major General John Schofield arrived in Franklin around 4:30am on November 30th. They began setting up their position with their backs to the Harpeth River while repairs were done to the bridges that would allow them to cross and continue north to Nashville. They had been moving all night as they tried to reach Nashville before Confederate General John Bell Hood could cut them off from the 30,000 reinforcements that  Major General George Thomas had waiting in Nashville. Due to over confidence and a failure of command or orders being followed (it is unclear) the Union army was able to pass by Confederate troops at Columbia and Spring Hill. This set up the two sides for a meeting 12 miles further at Franklin.

On the morning of the battle the family woke to discover thousands of Union troops. The river however was impassible at the time because of recent rain fall and they could not cross until repairs were done to bridges. With no choice the soldiers began fortifying their position and preparing for battle with over 20,000 Confederate troops. The Carter family, hurriedly sent a message for the Lotz family to come to their home and shelter in the cellar.

Almost 12 hours after the Union troops had arrived in Franklin Hood and his army also arrived in Franklin. Some say Hood was angry at his commanders and troops for allowing the Union to pass in the night and so ordered his men to battle immediately. Others say it was not anger but determination to prevent the joining of two large union forces from meeting in Nashville. Either way this would start one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War sometimes referred to as the Gettysburg of the West.

At some point the Confederates broke through the Union line and brutal hand to hand combat began around the Lotz and Carter Houses and gardens. The Union troops were able to hold their defenses and by 11pm both sides were exhausted. Hood and his men pulled back to regroup and rest. Schofield and the Union took this chance to continue their march to Nashville. Technically that left Franklin in Confederate control but it was not a victory. The Confederate side had 6,252 casualties with 1,750 killed. Among them were six of Hood's Generals one of which was Patrick Cleburne who was arguably one of the best division commander's on either side and today has a small park just a block from the Lotz House named for him.

This was the most exciting investigation we have had so far. We left knowing we had good communication and probably one of the best S-Box interactions we will ever have. But beyond the evidence we collected one thing that stands out in our mind is how much the staff and especially Thomas Cartwright love and care for the spirits. It was evident in every interaction Thomas had whether it was the others using dowsing rods trying to communicate with Eula Lee Carothers or with Mark using his GeoPort.

While we waited for the whole group to arrive Meg and I split up and began taking photos inside the home. Meg went upstairs and was taking a series of photos in the "red room". In her fourth photo a figure can be seen in the back of the mirror. In the following video I go through the photos and then attach the real time audio recording. 

Later in the night one of the Lotz House employees told us that there are numerous reports of seeing soldiers in that mirror.

After Thomas gave a history and tour of the home we began investigating. I left stationary cameras in the downstairs gift shop, the stairwell, and the upstairs "red room." With those areas covered we went upstairs to the "children's bedroom." There we used our EMF detector to try and communicate with any spirits present.

Every investigation before this we would leave and be like "nothing much happened but we will listen to the recorders and see what we got." Not this one! We had three of the best S-Box interactions we have ever seen! Really I can't see how they can get much better. To explain what we were doing our S-Box or Spirit Box sweeps very quickly through radio stations so that words of sentences heard are across multiple stations. Meg was listening to the S-Box with noise cancelling headphones so that she could not hear my questions. At one point in this first session I thought we were communicating with several Civil War soldiers. I asked what other battles they had been in and after a few moments Meg listed three cities that also had battles. I asked what state they were from and a few moments later she said a state. She couldn't hear me and I was floored by how accurate the responses were. It took every bit of constraint to not stop and tell her how awesome this was going. I uploaded the whole S-Box session on youtube as well as a short version where I took out the long pauses between questions because I realize some people don't have 20+ minutes.

Full version:

Short version:

After investigating in a few other rooms we returned to the bedroom where we had such a great S-Box session and tried again. This also did not disappoint. This session was again quite long so I have condensed it in this video. One of the high points of this one was when I asked the soldier if they were here as a hospital. They responded with the word "ether" and then when I asked about their injury they answered "foot" and "they took it". Meg also had the word "sick." Also she heard the phrase "General Hood Killed us." Now before the battle the Union troops moved through the night past where the Confederate army was and were spotted by scouts. According to some accounts Hood says he gave a command to attack but others said no command was given. As I said above overall the battle was a loss and the army of the TN never fully recovered. We also got responses asking for a priest which may have been from a soldier named Willard Tolliver who the staff has identified even researching to find what unit he may have served in.

S-Box Session 2: 

Speaking of Hood we also heard a response on the GeoPort that a different group had brought that was possibly about General Hood:

We had a third S-Box session but this time it was at the end of the night and most everyone else had stopped investigating so we played the S-Box out loud since it would not interfere with other investigations and we had several other people in the room with us investigating. 

We also made contact with past residents of the house. We were upstairs trying to reach out to Johann Lotz and we received an answer from the Geoport:

And finally in this compilation we possibly made contact with Thomas Carothers.

Since we were making contact with soldiers Meghan decided to read an A.E. Housman poem about soldiers.

Overall this was an amazing experience that has us excited to return. When talking about the paranormal I often say I know I will never have any evidence that will convince a skeptic but this maybe the closest I can possibly come with the photo and S-Box sessions. 

Another reason we love the home though was, again, the staff. Everyone we met not only loved the location but they respect and care so much for the spirits that still reside there. I think that helps foster communication. 

A day around town: Exploring Nashville

If you take a vacation but stay home it is called a stay-cation. This was just one day so can that be a stay-day?

I was concerned the Stay-day, yeah I'm keeping it, was going to get derailed by an enormous amount of rain we have had in the last week or so that catapulted this February into the record books for TN. Across the state rivers and creeks rose to various flood levels. Many parks are actually still underwater because the rain may have stopped but the numerous dams around TN are releasing water at different times and the flood watch will continue for at least another 24 hours. Luckily we just had to skip one stop but the majority of the Stay-day was unaffected.

Most of out stops came from information I learned from a book my Mom had bought me for Christmas "Secret Nashville." The book listed not only odd stops around the city but gave some background information on more popular tourist spots. I looked through it to find a nice little walking tour of downtown and then we hopped in the car for a few short drives to other spots. Our day did start a little late because of a rock slide on I-24 that caused a back up and may take at least a week for T-DOT to clean up and re-open the highway. But since we were going to skip one other stop it didn't really effect things too badly. My sister and I got to my Mom's condo and picked her up and headed out to our first stop:

1. Breakfast at Biscuit Love in Franklin - so this was not from the book instead it was recommended to us by one of the valet's at the Downtown Omni Hotel. Sometimes when we are planning to go to Nashville for the day and don't want to take the bus we will drive to the Omni Hotel to get our car valet parked and then eat at Kitchen Notes inside the Omni so that we can validate our parking and basically park for free. Chances are we were going to eat somewhere and Nashville has a serious parking problem. Bonus is that Kitchen Notes is always a good meal (For lunch and dinner I really recommend the burger and stone ground grits). On the day we were there we were finally checking out breakfast at Kitchen Notes. On our way out the valet asked us how it was and told us Biscuit Love had the best biscuits around.

So on his recommendation I looked up Biscuit Love. They began as a food truck and have grown into  three brick and mortar locations. I decided to go to the Franklin location which is their newest location. Right in downtown Franklin Biscuit Love has taken up residence in the Corn House. The house is a Queen Anne style building dating back to 1892, after the original home was destroyed by fire. The Corn family moved in around 1920, they were a prosperous family and owned Lillie Mills. Their patriarch Charlie Corn was apparently a character who was known for being very welcoming with a good sense of humor. The Corn family owned the house for over 60 years and then it became an event center before Biscuit Love moved in, as a result the 1892 home is well preserved with the original wood flooring and fixtures.


Now I don't know if I would say Biscuit Love biscuits are better than Kitchen Notes but they are different and really really good. I had the "East Nasty" a buttermilk biscuit with fried boneless chicken, sharp cheddar, and sausage gravy- next to it on the menu it said "voted best sandwich in America." It was the size of the plate and I don't know I would consider it a sandwich (since in my mind a sandwich can be held with two hands and eaten) but it was amazing and I know I will be ordering it again. We also split an order of Bonuts (fried biscuit dough, tossed in sugar, topped with lemon mascarpone, served over blueberry compote) between the three of us. The lemon mascarpone was super refreshing and very light on top of the fried biscuit dough.

Overall I'm pretty sure I will be visiting the other Biscuit Love locations and since I plan on returning to Franklin to explore its rich history I am sure I will be back to Biscuit Love in the Corn House as well.

2. Next began our walking tour of downtown. We parked at the Court House parking lot and began walking along James Robertson Parkway to one of Nashville's most well known tourist destinations: Bicentennial Park. We have been to the park before but the Secret Nashville book gave some insight into details that we had no idea about. For example at the start of the park is the largest map of TN. It is granite and is set in the concrete so you can walk over it and explore the different towns and counties of TN.

Just passed the map are two large American flags each standing for 100 years of statehood. Both of them are surrounded by 8 smaller TN state flags representing TN being the 16th state. And just beyond that is a splash area for children to play in during the summer that has 31 small fountains for each of the 31 main waterways of TN. The fountains are in front of a wall filled with facts and quotes about the waterways ofTN that have played a large part in the State's history and formation.





Once inside the park we came to the two thousand seat amphitheater with a spectacular view of the State Capitol behind it. Nashville has long prided itself as the "Athens of the South" and this theater is just one more connection to ancient Greece after all the word amphitheater has its roots in Greek: amphi means "around or on both sides" and theatron meaning "place for viewing." True to the amphitheaters of Ancient Greece this one is in the shape of a semi circle with the stage at the front.



We walked up the east side of the park along the walkway of counties where each county was represented by a circle giving the name and some information about the county ranging from history and formation to famous residents. Each circle also contains a time capsule. As we walked my Mom offered the idea of traveling to each county which made me wonder if I looked up the most interesting destination in each county how long would it take to drive?

At the north end of the park we came to the Court of Three Stars and Carillon of Bells. Something that maybe I had known but forgotten or just never really given much thought for was explained, the tri-star of TN represents the three regions of the state: East TN, Middle TN, and West TN. The Carillon of Bells had 95 pillars with bells at the top, each one representing the 95 counties of TN. Every 15 minutes the bells played bits of the TN waltz. On the hour it plays more of the Waltz and then the State Capital Bell answers. Near the bells was a small building with a piano inside of it that we think can control the bells. There was also a clock monitoring the time. While the bells are automatic I do wonder if the piano can be used at special events to play different songs?

We walked back on the West Side of the park along a wall that gave the history of TN. Since we were walking from north to south we travelled back in time. A little less than half way down we came to a memorial to WWII. In the Memorial is a globe that shows paths from TN to represent the different paths troops would have taken around the globe.



Then we came to a fountain pointing out that McNairy Spring had been discovered nearby and was an important source of fresh water for early residents.




As we walked along the wall we read different historical facts ranging from formation of schools, literature, musical accomplishments, disasters, and battles. The wall is broken into several fragments during the Civil War representing the fragmented country and state.

At the end (well beginning but we were going backwards) we came to a quote from James Weldon Johnson poet, diplomat, and activist:

"And God stepped out on space, 

and He looked around and said: 

I'm lonely- 

I'll make me a world."

3. As we walked around to our next planned stop we saw a historical marker across the street. It marked the old location of the First Baptist Church that served as the headquarters for the Nashville Sit-In movement. The Nashville Sit-Ins lasted from February 13th to May 10th in 1960. The non-violent movement aimed at desegregating the downtown lunch counters.






Next we continued walking around the State Capital Building towards Broadway. At Union street we turned left and began walking towards 7th Avenue where a historical marker claimed to show the spot where the Barn Dance that became the Grand Old Opry began.







4. Two blocks further down Union Street we came to a statue of Chett Atkins playing a guitar with an empty stool next to him. As we approached my Mom commented that she has walked past the statue many times and Meghan responded "but this time you are coming to see it."

5.  Next we crossed Union street to begin walking up fifth but first we detoured to a historical marker about the Tennessee Ornithological Society, the state's oldest conservation group.











6. Stop six was at the corner of 5th avenue and Church Street but before we got there we stopped at a couple more historical markers. The first was  a marker honoring  Sarah Estell.

We also passed Woolworth's and another marker for the Sit-In movement. It was at Woolworth's and three other downtown stores that the young students peacefully and with dignity staged their Sit-Ins. Through their good work Nashville became one of the first southern cities to desegregate lunch counters. Those students and many others continued their protest and fight for rights and in 1964 Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.








Stop six was supposed to be the Downtown Presbyterian Church however the church was locked and self guided tours are not allowed. I would have had to contact them ahead of time to arrange a tour of the Egyptian Revival styled Church. The location has been a Church dating back to 1814 but the current building was built in 1848 after a fire destroyed the earlier Church.  William Strickland who designed and over saw the building of the State Capital, until his death, was called on for this building as well. During the Civil War it was used as a hospital. During WWII soldiers who were traveling through Nashville, a major hub for rail travel, slept in the church by the thousands. In 1954 the Congregation sought a new location in the suburbs and the Church was in danger of being destroyed and replaced with a parking lot. However the remaining Church members who did not want to move with the help of the National Trust for Historic Preservation purchased the Church and it still stands today serving the community in a variety of ways.

7. As we walked up fifth the rest of the way to Broadway we came to the Ryman and a statue of Bill Monroe who is credited with being one of the pioneers of Bluegrass music.

And then we began walking up Broadway. The street was filled with tourists and music could be heard through the large open windows of the bars lining the street. We stepped into Music City Showcase one of the souvenir shops on Broadway and walked to the back where we found our next stop: A Willie Nelson fortune telling machine. For a dollar you can get some words of wisdom from Willie.












8. The next stop was on the way back to the car so we continued walking to first and Broadway to walk along the Cumberland and our parking garage. On the way we passed a historical marker calling out one of Nashville's first white settlers. Timothy DeMontbrun, which somehow became Demonbreun, settled and began trading furs in 1769 and became a permanent resident when he opened a store and tavern in 1790.

Also for the record it is pronounced De-mum-bree-un.





As we walked past the Hard Rock Cafe we saw a cool wall mural of a giant painter and tiny onlooker.

Then we came to Riverfront Park which due to the rain was more like River In Park. While the flooding is nowhere near 2010 it is still pretty high and you can see the steps of RiverFront Park disappear into the water. Also the statue across the River is not normally in the water.

We walked past Fort Nashborough, a recreation of the early 2 acre structure that had been built along the  Cumberland River. Included in it was a statue of James Robertson and John Donelson two of the earliest settlers and also the namesakes of two counties including mine, I live in Robertson county.














This brought us to what was supposed to be stop eight on the list. It was a brick street. When we got there though we were a little underwhelmed. The book made it sound like a unique brick or something however it was a pretty normal brick street. I've seen lots of brick and cobblestone streets which is why this didn't really stand out to me much. I mean it is a nice street but pretty typical.







9. Stop nine required a short drive across the Cumberland to East Nashville. There we found a wall mural of a hot air ballon that has a basket you can actually stand in. I love wall murals and one that allows the viewer to become part of it was to cool to ignore.

10. Another short drive away took us to a Civil War Memorial for the Battle of Nashville.

Also in the park is an Oak tree that has stood since the battle December of 1864. It has actually been classified as a Historic Tree because of the important history it has "witnessed."

11. The next stop was 40 music square west and Starstruck Entertainment. The building is surrounded by a brick wall and hidden in the wall is a heart shaped brick signifying music row as the heart of Music City.  

12. Stop twelve is truly a hidden gem in a parking garage underneath a row of stores right off Broadway and in the garage are a series of murals painted with acrylics by Brian Tull. The first one is titled "The Highway Has Always Been Your Lover." The inspiration came from a photo. The second mural is "Anabell" after Brian Tull saw Jesse Lee Jones, the owner of Robert Western World, 1952 Cadillac in an alleyway. The third is titled "Before We Abandoned It Out West" and is my favorite of the three.

Artist Brian Tull @artistbriantull

13. The next stop is an old silo in a West Nashville neighborhood called the Nations. On the silo is the image of Lee Estes, a highly respected member of the community who has lived there his entire life. I used to work near the silo and saw the stunning painting every day as I drove by. The artist is Guido Van Helten who is known for his paintings that look almost like black and white photographs.  

14. Our final stop was diner at the Patterson House a local Nashville restaurant that you could walk by and never realize it is a restaurant. It is famous for its cocktails and for strict rules about cell phone use. There are no pictures allowed inside the restaurant. 

And that concluded a great day of discovering Nashville.