LIBERTY HALL 1796- WHAT DID YOU SEE???

Senator John Brown built the hauntingly beautiful Liberty Hall in 1796.  It remained in the Brown family for generation before being willed to the Colonial Dames of America in 1955.  This home turned museum has since been a staple of Kentucky's history.  But who this the illustrious "Lady in Gray" that so many visitors to Liberty Hall have witnessed seeing?  Margaretta van Varrick, also known as Margaret, was the aunt of John Brown's wife, whose assistance was requested after a death in the family.  Sadly, only days after her arrival, Margaretta died of a heart attack.  Her remains were buried in a small family plot located on the property.  But later when the plot was relocated, Mararetta's body was lost.

Soon after, the first reports of a ghostly apparition referred to as "The Lady in Gray" began.  The first to report the sighting was Rebecca (great name don't ya think? lol), a visitor to Liberty Hall who stayed the night in Margaretta's old bedroom.  She awoke with a start to find a woman standing next to the fireplace.  She was so terrified she hid beneath her covers.  When she regained her courage, she stole a peek, but the woman was gone.  She's vanished into thin air.  Many visitors who have slept in the haunted bedroom have had similar experiences.  Other visitors to the museum have reported seeing "The Lady in Gray" peering out of the upstairs windows.  A skeptical college professor in search of an explanation for the odd occurrences stayed overnight.  To his surprise he was awakened by a gentle touch upon his shoulder and confronted by the transparent image of a woman smiling down at him.  The professor's perception of the paranormal was changed that night, by "The Lady in Gray".

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A REAL FULL BODIED APPARITION??? I HAVE!!!

The Londoner which now
the Churchhill Pub.

Now, I have been investigating the paranormal for more than 30 years!!!!  Yes, I know....I was only 3 when I started....(LOL ok not really) but you get the point that I have done this for many years!!!  Long before there was a TV show on every channel, and the media was full of "reportedly" pictures of ghost....I was in my room as a teenager reading everything I could about the paranormal and going alone to cemeteries and haunted locations because if you told ANY of your friends what you were doing they would think you were NUTS!!!!

As you know, ghosts don't JUST APPEAR on command and they don't ALWAYS re-appear as you wish they would, unfortunately some of them seem to have a mind of their own!  Over the years, I can say I HAVE seen MANY, MANY strange things.....like...... countless shadows, unexplainable sounds, things moving on their own and SOME THINGS I wished I hadn't seen.....BUT the one thing that I can say for certain is...... I have only seen ONE, yes I said....... "only ONE" ......full bodied apparition!!!  It was not transparent.....it was not white or foggy.....nor did it scare me in any way! My apparition was a very beautiful young lady.  I will NEVER forget it as long as I live!!!

I had just moved to Lake Dallas, and really didn't have any friends in the area so I looked up a local ghost group to join.  I found a group in McKinney and loved them!  I started trying to attend their monthly meetings and investigations.  I am sorry, I can't remember the group name it was so long ago but I do remember the main leaders name being Windell. Now, from what I could tell, Windell and his wife had been doing this for some time and had even earned a little local notoriety.

It was sometime in early Oct. about 20 years ago and we had been contacted by, the then owner, of the Londoner, a pub/restaurant on the square in McKinney, Tx.  From a brothel in the late 1800's to the current day Pub/Restaurant with many twists along the way and full of local history it seemed we couldn't go wrong with this place.  The owner had complained of some paranormal activity and a local TV channel had gotten word of it and wanted to do a Halloween story on it.  So we were going to go do an investigation while a TV crew filmed us.  Sounded fun to me!!!!  Get to be on TV!!!!  I'm going to be a SUPER STAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  ok.....NOT!!!!!!!!!!!! 

The stairs up to the second floor.  Even they
look creepy!

Windell had tons of really cool equipment.  Some things I had never seen nor heard of, so I was sooooo excited about the investigation that I could hardly stand it!  So, we loaded up Windell's van and off we go.  As we arrive just around dusk....the owner was standing outside the Pub waiting on us.  I was on the equipment crew, so my job was to help unload the equipment and set up.  Windell and his wife were the lead investigators and they went on into the Pub and started interviewing the owner about his experiences.  Some of his reported paranormal activity was...that upstairs in his office(now the ladies restroom) he had a little pug dog that he let wonder around the restaurant after the Pub closed.  For whatever reason, this little dog would run and play all around the Pub but would REFUSE to come into the manager's office.  The owner said he had tried everything, picking him up and holding him as the owner sat at his desk...but the dog would just go crazy trying to get down and get out of his office!!!  The man said that the dog sometimes would even lay just on the outside of the door BUT NEVER came in! hhhuuummmm

 

He also told about a couple of the bartenders that were getting creeped out because they would put up clean glasses in the wire holder above the bar and all of the sudden.....these glasses would just START FLYING off the wire rack and crash into the floor!!!  This happened on more than one occasion!  Also, the people that would be staying late cleaning up at night, would say the doors would be locked(so no patriots would come in) and when they would go to leave for the night all the doors would be UNLOCKED!!!!  One employee even experienced as she was walking to the door to lock up for the end of the night the door FLEW OPEN all by itself!!!  It SCARED her so bad..... she ran out another door leaving the front door wide open, although the next morning, the morning staff said the door was locked and closed as it always was when they came in!

Now, let me tell you............this place is MOST DEFINITELY HAUNTED even today!!!!  I just ate there as recent as a couple weeks ago and was talking to the wait staff about the haunts and the young man I was talking with said, "oh yes!  We have stuff happen here all the time!"  And he proceeded to tell me a couple personal encounters he had had personally with the ghost or at least one of them.

Now, back to my story.  The first claim we wanted to check out was the report that the owners little Pug dog wouldn't come into his office.  The owner was even willing to give an uncooked STEAK from the kitchen to entice the dog with.  Well, right off the bat......the camera crews equipment was failing right and left.....either the batteries would suddenly be dead or their camera's would malfunction.  Now, we all know what THAT means!!!!  Anyway, the camera crew was really getting frustrated trying to film and having so much trouble.  We went upstairs where there is another dinning section, bar, over sized chairs  and a pool and dart board area.  Windell and his wife placed the steak on the floor right beside the manager's desk and ask the owner to set at the desk and call the dog.  Well...........just like the owner had said...........the little dog started barking and jumping around like he REALLY REALLY wanted to go in but just wouldn't!!!!  Our EMF meters were going off along with a couple of other pieces of equipment I can't recall, but I remember hearing Windell say......"that was one of the STRANGEST things he had ever seen!!  That dog WILL NOT go in!"  What could be the reason for that....

The bar and bar stools.

This is where I walked by the bar stools
and they were all in a roll up against
the bar like they should have been.

One of the MOST AMAZING experiences I can remember......was that we were all around the manager's office and I needed to go get some more batteries....I know that is hard for you to believe that a ghost hunter would need MORE batteries LOL....but I walked ALONE down to the other end of the bar on the second floor as we had left all our bags on the far end of the bar out of the way.  I turned around and walked pass the bar where there wasn't ANYONE but me in this area....and walked pass the bar stools sitting upright nice and neatly up against the bar itself........and in less than 3 minutes literally...........I grabbed a hand full of new batteries and turned around to walk back.................and I COULDN'T BELIEVE WHAT I SAW!!!!!

I tried to draw how the bar stools were
so you guys could understand a little better.

The view looking back toward the pool tables,
and where the old manager's office was.
 

ALL the bar stools were ON TOP of the bar standing upright!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  There probably was 6 to 8 bar stools all nicely sitting on TOP of the bar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  THERE WAS NO WAY THIS WAS POSSIBLE!!!!!!  I yelled at Windell and said "LOOK at the bar stools! They weren't like that just  a few minutes ago and there was NO ONE here but me!!!!!! No one could believe it because they were all on the other end and for someone to do that, first of all..... the chairs are very heavy and it would have taken someone some time to get all of them up on the bar!!! It wouldn't have been easy!!!  CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!


The boots "the lady in blue" had on looked similar
to these.

I looked and looked and this was as close
to the dress that "the lady in blue" wore.

After a long night it was time to pack up and head out so I started caring out the equipment to the van.  As I walked out to the van which was parked up the city square a bit....  it was just me and I had my hands full trying to make it to the van without dropping anything!  I put everything in the van and turned around and started to walk back to the Pub.  As I walked back I looked up  and saw this lady, a very pretty lady, sitting on a bench, sitting very straight and very proper with her hands slightly crossed one over the other wearing white gloves with a small beaded bag or purse that had a string that was wrapped around one of her wrist as the purse draped over her dress.   Her dress was baby blue with a white panel insert that almost looked like an apron. I could see her shoes sticking out from the bottom of the lace on her dress which looked like a black boot with shoe laces that crisscrossed down the center of the boot.  Her hair was very dark and was up in a bun.  She NEVER looked at me....she just sat there smiling..............looking across the street.  It seemed that she was unaware that anyone or anything was around her.  She looked very pretty just sitting there on the bench.  I remember STOPPING DEAD IN MY TRACKS because I had been back and forth to the van may times that night and NEVER saw or NOTICED her before!!!  Now, it wasn't like a flash.....I was able to STUDY her appearance as I was confused thinking that it was one of those "lifelike" sculptures that you sometimes see made out of concrete that sit on the outside of historical buildings.  But the funny thing was..... I JUST didn't remember seeing her before and I think I would have noticed that there was a figure like that on the bench?????


This is not "the lady in blue".  But it kinda
looks like the way I remember her just a little.

The bench where I saw "the lady in blue".



I probably looked at her for 10-15 seconds thinking HOW lifelike she looked!!!  Then I just went on into the Londoner.  When I got back inside Windell was standing in the doorway talking to the owner and I said " that sure is a pretty figure of a lady on the bench outside".  The OWNER looked at me with such a funny look!!!!  He said, "we don't have a figure of a lady sitting on a bench outside".  I said, "yes you do........ I just now saw her".

The owner suddenly had a little quirky smile on his face and said, "what color dress did she have on?"  and I said "blue why?"  He said that was a spirit that is seen quit often sitting on that bench, but we didn't tell you guys about it because we were focusing on the Pub.  I couldn't help it!!!  I RAN back outside COMPLETELY CONVINCED that I was still going to see a lady in a blue dress sitting quietly on a bench......BUT............... as I looked to the corner..............I saw the bench............BUT NO LADY IN BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!  I just couldn't believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!



McKinney, Tx

The best I can so NO COMMENTS, I tried
to draw how I remember my first experience
with a full bodied apparition.

The owner told me that  "the lady in blue" is believed to be the wife of a cotton farmer that died.  They used to bring their cotton crop to town to sell on Sundays.  So, is she just picking up where he left off?  For whatever reason, she sits quietly on the bench, I feel very fortunate to have had the chance to met her.

The ladies bathroom where they had to screw the picture to the wall because it would fall down all the time all on its own.


These are the same bar stools that I
saw mysteriously standing on top of the bar!!! 

The ladies bathroom where reports they
had to screw the picture to the wall because
it would fall down all by itself.  This is where
the old manager's office was that we couldn't
get the little dog to come into.








The now Churchhill Pub.









 

MARY SURRATT-"LADY IN BLACK"-WASHINGTON, DC

So, I am headed to Wahington DC tomorrow and can't wait to see all the history this great state has to offer!  You can bet I will be checking out some of the haunted places here.

I thought I would tell ya'll about one of the MOST famous hauntings in Washington.  It's not that this place is SCARY or full of lots of different spirits....BUT it IS one that has been reported with regular paranormal activity.

John Wilkes Booth, the man responsible for Lincoln's assassination, was known to freguqent a tavern operated by John Lloyd, but owned Mary Surratt.  In April of 1865, Mary Surrantt along with Lewis Powell(who had attempted to kill Secretary of State William Seward) and Louis Weichmann, who dropped off a package at the Inn that was later picked up by Booth, were all arrested as conspirators in Lincoln's assassination.  Lloyd was pressured into testifying against Mary.  But what other proof did the police have on Surrant?  The incriminating evidence against Mary was that her boardinghouse, located a few blocks from Ford Theatre, was a convenient haven for Booth while in town.  And, to matters worse, both of Mary's sons were involved in the Confederacy.

Weichmann also testified against Surratt.  Later he claimed that he was pressured by government officials to do so.

Many believed that President Andrew Johnson would pardon Mary.  After all, up until that point in history, no female prisoner had ever been hanged!  Unfortunately for Mary, the pardon never came.  On July 7, 1865, Mary, along with three others, was hanged at Fort McNair.  One of the men who died along with Mary, Lewis Powell, proclaimed her innocence with his dying breath.  But his words fell on deaf ears.  That day marked the first woman to ever be hanged in the United States.

Ever since, people have witnessed the ghostly apparition of a woman with her hands and feet bound roaming about the site of her execution, her face barely visible beneath a black hood.  And many a soldier's child, when asked who their invisible friend is, happily report, "it's the Lady in Black".
One thing I would like to point out is... more than likely Mary's feet and hands were bound that way once she hung she couldn't kick or grab for the noose.  BUT some customs believe that if you tied their feet and hands together this would prevent the spirit from returning.

So, we will see.....hope to have a LOT to tell you about next week!  And hopefully I will have the "upcoming" topics for the year ready.  And let me tell you.......this next year has LOTS of exciting events coming up starting with Yorktown Memorial Hospital in Yorktown, Tx.  This place is going to be one SCARY PLACE!!!  I hope to start posting on Instagram and Twitter so you guys can be right there with us as we explore this abandon hospital full of spirits!!!

Everyone have a Happy New Year and PLEASE PLEASE be safe as you partake in some "adult beverages".  I wish each and everyone of you the BEST YEAR EVER to come.....hopefully the spirits will be excited about a new year and want to "Party with US"!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!

WHITE ROCK LAKE, DALLAS,TX- I DON'T REMEMBER EVER BEING SO SCARED!!!

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!  IT'S FINALLY OCTOBER!!!!!  My favorite time of year!!!!!!  I love it!!!!

Ok.  Back to business....White Rock Lake, Dallas, Tx.   This beautiful lake is located just north-east of Dallas.  Now, I have heard about White Rock Lake for years and the story of the "lady in white" that supposedly haunts it shores.  And it could just be me.....but almost every HAUNTED location has a "lady in white" apparition associated with it, so I have never put much stock into the haunting........until NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
   
 Reports of a ghost of a twenty year-old looking girl, described as wearing a soaked 1930s dress, who usually appears at night along the roadside of East Lawther Drive. Witnessess claim the phantom asks to be taken to her home on Gaston Avenue in Dallas before disappearing in the car during the ride. Legend claims the woman to be a drowning victim during a boating accident in the 1930s. Reports of the ghostly encounters were published in Dallas-area newspapers in the 1960s.
Another story is that on November 24, 1942, another distraught woman, 35-year-old Rose Stone of Mansfield, Texas, also committed suicide by drowning herself in the lake. Her body, dressed in sweater and skirt, was discovered in eight feet of water near the municipal boathouse by Johnnie Williams, who assisted the park superintendent and city fireman in the search. A note was pinned to her sweater asking that relatives in Fort Worth be notified of her death. Mrs. Stone's coat and hat were found on the shore.

A friend and fellow team member who lives close to the lake offered to take me out to the lake and so off we went!  Now, I can say this....at night...I DON'T get a warm and cozy feeling about this lake.  I don't know why...just don't.

Now, I have been investigating the paranormal for more than 30 years.....and I can honestly say....my experience at this lake was like none other I have EVER had!!!  In other words.......scared the crap out of me!!!!!!  My friend John and I were riding around the lake stopping every now and then to take pictures.  It was already creepy....but what happened next I will NEVER FORGET!!!  We took a small road John said he had never been down before.  As we pulled into a small turn around area, we saw this very long, tall structure, with windows broken out and tall narrow metal doors.  It was crazy looking.  John was like "what is this place?  I have never seen this before".  For lack of a better description....it reminded me of like war bunkers....all in a row.  It had to have at least 20 doors and windows all in a row, and at night it was WAY WAY CREEPY!!!

 



I said, "what do you think?  Should we get out and see what this is?"  John says, sure.  John had been  driving so he got out on the drivers side and stepped away from the car to take pictures of some sort of building that was on his side.  Now, from the minute I opened the door, I had a "cold chill".  What WAS this place????  I just couldn't make sense of what it would be down here at this beautiful lake???  It just didn't fit in.  As I started to walk away from the car and into the moonlight that was providing me enough light to make my way over to this strange place....just as I lifted my camera to start taking pictures, I heard a noise.  At first it wasn't loud and I wasn't for sure what it was.  So, I put down my camera so I could listen better and see if there was......maybe a person or animal walking up to the car....but it DID NOT sound like footsteps!!!!  It was something else!  I turned and looked over my shoulder to see if John was hearing anything and he obviously wasn't because he was just starting to take pictures and didn't seem distracted by any noise.  Is this my imagination??? Maybe I'm just edgy because we had been to some pretty scary cemeteries before we came out to the lake.

As I slowly turned back around, I realized it WASN'T my imagination!!!!!!!!!!!  There was something there and it was getting closer and closer to me!!!  My heart was beating so fast, and I was trying so hard to be calm and come up with a responsible explanation as to what I was hearing.   I kept looking around and could see NOTHING.....but SOMETHING was getting closer and closer to me....and it WASN'T walking......it WASN'T like footsteps.......it was SWISHING!!!!!!!!!! Which just confused me more????  What the heck!!!  The SWISHING just kept getting closer and closer and with every second it was getting louder and louder..........it was coming right up to me and getting right in my face!!!!!!!!!!!!  You know you have that space around your body that is your comfort zone and when people get to close...you tend to step back because they are to close to you.............well THIS was TO CLOSE!!!!!!!!!!!  I wasn't imagining it.....but yet I could not SEE anything....but MOST DEFINITELY a presence was there.  All of the sudden, I had this terrible pain in my stomach....it was a physical pain.....and I knew WHATEVER this was.....I had to get away....and quickly!!!!!!!!!!   I started screaming at my friend to GET IN THE CAR NOW.....WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!!!  He was so confused and was like "what's wrong.....what happened?"  I said JUST GET IN THE CAR....SOMETHING IS HERE AND WE HAVE TO LEAVE NOW!!!!!!!!!!! 

We jumped in the car and all I could say was "SWISHING.......SWISHING....IT WAS RIGHT UP NEXT TO ME!!!!"  He said.....did you hear footsteps?????  I kept saying NO....it wasn't footsteps...it was SWISHING AND IT WAS RIGHT IN MY FACE!!!!!!!!!!  As John drove off...I looked back over my shoulder to see if I could see anything..........and there was nothing there....nothing but the shadows of this strange building.

I was shaking and trying to catch my breath!!!  Was something trying to enter my body?  Was something going to hurt me?  I just didn't know!  After we drove off I started to apologize to John and tell him how sorry I was that I reacted that way.  I just don't scare that easy....and I can't remember one time that I wanted to run.....but this time I DID!!!!  I was sooooo mad at myself for reacting that way!!!  I have NEVER had that kind of experience were something UNSEEN was right in my face!!!!  It was like any minute I was going to feel the breath of SOMEONE or SOMETHING on my face!!!  Now, you guys don't tell anyone about that part......I am STILL the great, not scared ghost hunter!!! LOL

The next morning John called someone that worked for the property and found out what we saw was an old abandon boathouse that was built way back in 1930. I still don't understand the design of the building it just doesn't look like a boathouse at all!!!  It's creepy.  And yes, reports of hauntings have been reported from there.  After John told about the abandon boathouse....I found the story above about Rose Stone committing suicide at the boathouse.  NOW IT MAKES SENSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The SWISHING.............the SWISHING of WET CLOTHES!!!!!!!!!  THAT IS WHAT I HEARD!!!!!!!!! Was Rose wanting me to contact her loved ones for her?  Did she want me to make sure people knew where to find her body??  I don't know.....but SHE or SOMEONE else that has drown in that lake......walked right up to me in wet clothes and I will NEVER FORGET IT!!!