The Farm in the Valley: A Classic Haunt

N.A. Reiter, L.L. Schillig

13 June, 2000

Introduction:

In October of 1999, we were contacted by Mr. MH, of Columbus. MH indicated that he had read an article about our research in the OSU Lantern, and felt that he might have a case for us.

MH related that the farmhouse belonging to his paternal family had been the site of occasional ghostly phenomena over many years. On one occasion, MH and his wife witnessed a salt shaker on the kitchen table tip over suddenly, for no apparent reason. Comments about ghosts in the house had been made as far back as MH's grandmother's generation. MH also related that his father, on a number of occasions, experienced a classic ghost "game"; that of disappearing and re-appearing tools.

The farmhouse lies in the rolling hill country of Appalachian Ohio, near Cambridge, in Guernsey County. MH 's family has used the farm for two generations as a summer home, and weekend get-away. It has not been permanently occupied since MH's grandmother spent her final years there.

MH and I stayed in touch by e-mail over the winter of 1999 / 2000. He occasionally related other minor facts about the house, and the activities there. Finally, as spring came around, we made arrangements to pay a visit to the property on the weekend of May 5th and 6th of 2000.

We found our way down small highways and back roads to the farmhouse, arriving there in the mid-afternoon on Saturday. We were greeted by MH, who conducted us around the property and who helped us to "settle in". A couple of hours later, we were joined by MH's sister P, and her friend J.

The house lies on the western slope of a long hill, and nestles against it in Appalachian fashion. It is a sweet, tidy place that beckons and invites. The hundred acres of the farm proper lie out across the hills to the east, and the valley to the west, composing a small domain of incredible beauty and serenity. Perhaps once a farm of crops and cattle, it now raises pastures and fields of sleepy dreams and brook-side redbuds that peep through the morning mists.

Here, at this postcard picturesque location, we would strive to track down the basis for generations of ghostly happenings.

Physical Investigation:

Our party consisted of myself, LS, my eldest son Trevor, and LS' son Paul. Upon our arrival, we found the weather to be mostly sunny and almost unnaturally hot for the date, with a moderate humidity and a few high hazy clouds.

As we neared the farm, we evaluated the local terrain. The property contains two small creeks. The nearest neighboring residence appeared to be about 1/4 mile further down the road. Across the valley to the west lay a wooded region, where pastured cattle from an adjoining farm roamed freely. Hills extended to the east, and at the head of the valley a distance to the north.

There appeared to be no significant manmade sources for EM energy, such as radio towers, high tension lines, etc. within at least a mile radius. However, as we will note later, a discovery was made that raised the possibility of some considerable NATURAL EM energy.

Upon stowing our equipment, MH showed us about the house, with LS taking the lead for the purpose of gathering intuitive impressions and doing some preliminary dowsing. I followed behind, taking random photographs with three cameras. (primarily Tri-X 400 B/W film).

Following this, we retired to the sunny front lawn, and LS related her impressions to MH. These impressions and results are recounted in the following section. We then busied ourselves with more photography, and I was able to perform a survey of the house with several instruments. For this case, we utilized (in addition to our usual cameras) the following:

• Hall Effect Magnetic Gaussmeter
• Electrostatic gradiometer
• Gold Leaf Electroscope
• Anaeroid barometer
• Temperature / Humidity meter
• GE Tape recorder with low-noise cassette tape (for EVP)
• Motor driven 35 mm camera, actuated with our "Watch-dog" IR motion detector.

As early evening set in; MH's sister P and her friend J arrived. After a round of introductions and chat, we all set out for Cambridge, and were treated to a fine supper. Whilst away, the Watchdog was set up in the farm-house living room, with it's camera pointed across the room at a region where LS had sensed a very strong presence.

Upon our return, we drifted about the house for the balance of the evening, taking photos, making readings, and talking with our hosts.

The front porch of the old farmhouse was a call to adventure and dreams. On most any evening, a rich tapestry world of lazy stars, tinking cowbells, and the stirring of the valley grasses at the passage of small varmints plays out. Scents of distant wood smoke, lilac, and breezes carrying secrets from the wooded far hills caress and carry one off like a magic carpet, hillbilly style.

We all sat on the porch, drinking moments and telling tales until quite late.

Sleeping locations were determined throughout the house, and by slightly after midnight, we had lights out.

I took a small bed in the upstairs, near the south end, where LS had sensed a presence or pattern. Additionally, I had also observed it to be closest to a location where I had observed both an electrostatic gradient, as well as a mild magnetic anomaly. I had a flashlight with me, needless to say.

Nevertheless, the night passed, and with a hazy dawn, all in the party awoke and were present unscathed. Comparing stories over a massive breakfast, it was determined that no-one had experienced anything strange in their sleep.

By morning's light we wandered the property a bit, took some final photos, and said extended goodbyes. Leaving the charm of the old farmhouse, and the beauty of the valley it presides over, was difficult and sorrowful. We headed out before noon, looking often in the rear view mirror.

Results From the Physical Investigation:

The instruments listed in the previous section were indeed used extensively throughout our visit. As for photography, we totaled approximately 130 shots, on 5 1/2 rolls of film total. We record, here, our specific physical results:

A. Downstairs - Kitchen:

1. This had been the location of the salt shaker episode, experienced by MH and his wife. We examined this room extensively with our instruments, however, found no observable anomalies. When our film was developed, however, we find that on one colour shot, taken of the N end of the kitchen looking across the table from the S end, we see a haze and shadow effect at the far left of the photo. A copy of this shot is attached. Our opinion is that the effect does not seem to be an obvious result of flash or glare, thus may have a factor of strangeness.

A. Downstairs - Pink Room:

1. This room had a noticeable, but charming atmosphere. LS received some fairly strong impressions here, recounted in the next section.
2. With our Hall gaussmeter, we observed a noticeable (about 20%) deviation in background magnetic amplitude. The affected region of the room seemed to be the SW corner, in a general sense.

A. Downstairs - Living Room:

1. LS observed the intuitive impression of a male presence here, again described in her section.
2. Our Watchdog camera, set up here for about 2 hours, did not record any trips / action.
3. With our gold leaf electroscope, however, I did observe a slight deflection while carrying the unit through the area of the room in front of the fireplace. This may have indicated a faint electrostatic anomaly or ionized air mass.
4. No magnetic anomalies were found.

A. Other Downstairs Areas, and Cellar:

1. No significant findings are noted for these portions of the house. The cellar was a very small room, accessible only from the outside.

A. Upstairs - North End of House:

1. While LS received some very distinct, and possibly historically significant impressions here, there did not seem to be any anomalous activity as read by any instrument here.

A. Upstairs - South End of House:

1. A curious blend of anomalies showed up here. Magnetically, we observed a sharp rise in background ambient on our gaussmeter when walking from the north end to the south end of the upstairs floor. This rise occurred at a point roughly in line with the S- side of the upper stairway landing. It did not seem to be due to any recognizable artifact.
2. Near a small plastic chair in front of a dresser, along the west wall at the south end, we observed an additional rise in magnetic ambient, of about 15% value. The peak reading lay at a point in mid-air, about 4 feet off the floor, over the plastic chair. It was reproducible, and did not seem to move.
3. In addition to magnetic deviations, we noted a deflection of about 2mm on our gold leaf electroscope when walking past the region between the chair and dresser. This seemed to have faded away, when returned to about an hour later.
4. We ran our EVP cassette tape at this end of the room. (About 30 minutes worth) Upon playback, we note no anomalous sounds or voices, however.
5. We measure temperature and humidity at various points upstairs. At the anomalous south end, we find a slightly cooler, moister condition; 78.7° F and 59% RH, as opposed to 83.1° and 56% RH at the north end.

A. The Outside, and Surrounding Property:

1. In two of our black and white photos, taken outside, we see anomalies worth noting. In one, we see a translucent orb near the NE corner of the roof-line. This orb is curious, it seems bent or folded like an amoeba conforming to the bend at the point where the outside wall meets the lower roof slope.
2. In the second, we see a faint orb-like splotch superimposed against the brick of the upper chimney. In addition, we see a small bright object, of curious form, near the tree branches outside of the kitchen and back porch area. We note that this may be an insect, illuminated by the flash, however, it also seems to be too distant to be of the luminosity it displays; if it were a reflection from a bug.

LS' Intuitive Observations and Dowsing Results:

The following observations are transcribed from LS' notebook:

On-site Impressions:

In the kitchen, there was a strong dowsable area in front of the cupboards/sink. Our hosts indicated that poltergeist activity around a salt shaker had occured in the kitchen. I sensed a period of time when this area was not a portion of the house, but rather a back stoop. I had the impression of a woman in her 50-60s with her hair in a bun, wearing a gingham dress and apron. She seemed quite anxious and distraught as she was looking up the hill and yelling for help. There seemed to be a fire on the property, probably an out building ablaze. There seems to be some concern for the animals.

(* If I had to analyze some of the symbolism of the salt shaker in this area being the focus of poltergeist activity, I would question as to whether the smoke house was the focus of the fire. The fact that the salt shaker could be connected with salt used to cure meat could thus make the connection with her concern with the "animals" or rather food supply.)

In the hallway by the steps, I sensed an uneasy feeling. There were no distinct intuitive impressions that I could elaborate on.

The "pink room" towards the back of the house was a very pleasant area. I sensed a woman's presence whose name began with the letter "E" (Emily? Elizabeth?). I do believe that someone passed away in this area, but there is no negative energy associated with this passing.

The living room had a very strong dowsable area to the left of the sofa table. This energy seemed to be moving. A cold spot was also sensed in conjunction with this energy. There is both female and male energy in this room; however the male energy is associated with the moving cold spot. The image I received in this room was confusing. While the man seemed rather tall and of medium build, his clothing puzzled me. At one point, I sensed him in a modest dark suit; while a few moments later, I saw him buckskin clad. I sensed the name (?) Frank. He seemed to be worried and pacing. Also, while in this room, I sensed that there was a connection to some form of local government on the part of male energy.

The upstairs was filled with children huddled at the north end. This area seemed a bit colder to me, and I believe that this is more residual energy from days gone by rather than an active haunting. These children seem to be peering out the window and are afraid of Indians. There fear is unfounded, but nevertheless real to them. In the southwest corner of the upstairs there is a heaviness. This presence is of a very young woman.

Interviews:

Our host was able to tell one interesting tale that day to corroborate an intuitive impression or two. The John Sampson (last name changed) family originally built the home in the 1830s. According to our host, John's wife was Elizabeth (although 1850 census records list her as Mary...but, one must also remember that Mary may have not been his only wife) After the Civil War, a Sampson married into the "H" family and the property became owned by this union.

A family tale states that the children of earlier times had witnessed the collection of a number of local Indians on the hill within sight of their home as they were being relocated to points further west. The 1850 census records indicate that the Sampson clan consisted of a dozen children, thus giving some credence to the upstairs impressions.

Also, his grandfather had spent the remainder of his days in this home. He was a township trustee. This could be some of the energy being picked up in the living room, although not the energy that I sensed moving.

After some research, I was able to determine (and later have confirmed by our host) that Henry Sampson (?Hank/?Frank) was a founder of the Cambridge-California Mining Company. This group was active in the famous 1849 gold rush. While numerous members funded others to go in their place, some of the founders actually went on the hunt...Henry Sampson being one of the adventurous who actually made the trip and returned in 1851. I believe this is the "moving presence" in the living room whose attire bothered me. This might explain his suit one moment and buckskins the next. Likewise, his pacing could probably be explained as a by-product of anxiety about leaving his family in pursuit of fortune.

Intuitive Conclusions:

I believe that this is primarily a low-level, residual energy haunting. Most impressions received here are simply strong energy patterns imprinted into the fabric of time and space. The energy of the moving presence in the living room may be at a deeper level of concern. This may indicate more of a consciousness, or a "stuck" spirit that has not moved on; however, further time would be needed to observe this phenomenon to make a better determination.

Two Additional Observations:

The Moving Figurine -

Shortly before finding our sleeping spots for the night, Trevor Reiter had been sitting in one of the chairs in the living room; sprawled back, thinking idly about the day, and listening to conversations elsewhere in the downstairs portion of the house. On a table, toward the center of the room, at the back side of the sofa, was a small folk-craft figurine of an old man sitting in a chair. The figurine was a wood or corn-husk doll, with a little bowler hat and glasses.

Trevor happened to glance up at the doll, at one point, and noticed that it seemed to be rocking back and forth gently, as though a breeze was pushing on it. However, the lower portions of the doll and chair were obscured by the back of the sofa. Finding this rather queer, Trevor stood up to see the doll in it's entirety. He was mortified to see the rocking movement stop, but more so at the fact that the doll's chair WAS NOT a miniature rocking chair, but a straight legged chair!

Upon learning this, we examined the doll carefully and photographed it, but found no anomalous conditions present. This event, along with the heat of the evening, made for a long night for Trevor, although he did manage to eventually fall into a few hours of decent sleep.

We can only speculate on the connection between this event and the sensed presence in the living room...

The Hill Stone - A Petro-Voltaic Connection?

As we were leaving the property on Sunday morning, I pulled over at a point about 500 feet north of the house, at a spot where the cut-away into the hillside for the road had exposed a nice patch of the underlying layered rock. My assessment of the stone was that it was a medium tan layered shale. I snatched up a couple of loose "plates", each several inches across and perhaps 1/2 inch thick. My intention was to later wash and keep them as souvenirs.

Several days following our investigation, I washed one of the stones thoroughly, and dried it. I was surprised to find that instead of an amorphous dusty or powdery shale, the stone was actually a more dense micro-crystalline structure, like a quartzite or very dense small grained sandstone. The colour was a greenish gray, not unlike olivine. On one of the flat sides, an orangish-brown stain or coloration indicated a high iron content as well. The other side was a more homogeneous green-gray. Clearly, as this material lay under the hill, we would have expected to find the iron oxide sides of assorted layers to all be in a similar alignment.

The analogue with a voltaic pile battery struck me. Did this stone have a natural petro-potential as discovered and discussed in the past by Thomas Townsend Brown, and others?

I got out my Fluke 79 meter and made a pair of small aluminum foil ends for my probes. What we find is intriguing!

When tested laterally, or with both probes on the same side, we see some mild petro-voltaic potentials, in the range of 15 to 25 mV. However, when tested through the center axis of the stone; from face to face, we find a stupendous steady potential of around 300mV! A natural battery! At that point, I regretted not having an extensive ground probe system to be able to monitor the total potential at the farm hill! If we consider the potential for one layer, and the fact that the E-fields of the layers are conceivably additive, then we speculate that potentials on the order of kilovolts could be present, here and there across the hillside.

Small samples of the stone were examined in an SEM, using EDS (energy dispersive spectroscopy). A sample of the orange dusty side shows silica, alumina, and a very heavy percentage of iron. The dull green - gray side shows iron as well, but a much smaller amount. Copies of these EDS scans are attached, as jpg figures.

There has been considerable speculation by a number of parties on the role of natural electromagnetic forces in cases of paranormal phenomenon. Persinger, for example, has found evidence for links between solar magnetic and geomagnetic fluctuations, and religious visions and psychic phenomena.

We have also found claims from ghost researchers indicating that ghostly activity and manifestations seem to increase during storms or under conditions where a greater yield of charged particles is present in the atmosphere. (Joshua Warren, et al.)

We speculate again; might the residual energy patterns and possible "trapped" spirits somehow be able to gain power, and thus be able to display greater degrees of manifestation, from areas of high natural petro-voltaic potential? If one were to examine the underlying rock strata of haunted property or locations, might one find a high degree of petro-voltaic energy? Could these high potential fields amplify ghostly and or psychokinetic activity? Might the unusual "activity" at the Farm in the Valley be due in part to an enhanced geo-electric field that is a result of the layered iron rich, polycrystalline hill rock?

General Conclusions:

We have agreed that the Farm in the Valley was a welcome respite from the types of cases we had encountered of late. Although not of unearthly or diabolical intensity, the paranormal activity at the old farmhouse seemed to have a reasonable basis. Our investigation did acquire several very valuable pieces of information from the situation, despite it's mild character. LS found regions of strong patterned energy, and the possible roaming ghost of a very historically real personality. I observed magnetic and electrostatic anomalies. Trevor had the bejeezus scared out of him. It was truly a good case. We plan to stay in touch with MH, and would always welcome the opportunity to visit the redbud be-jeweled hillside home again, for another round of observation.

In closing, we would like to thank MH, sister P, friend J, and the generations of kindly folk who have passed through the doors of the old farmhouse, some leaving behind their essences and maybe more...

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