The Wolcott House: Forgotten Histories, Whispered Tales

N.A. Reiter and L.L. Schillig

17 April, 2002

Introduction:

In the fall of 2001, we were contacted by Mr. Chuck Jacobs - director, curator, and manager of the Wolcott House Museum in Maumee, Ohio. Trish Valentine of the ZigZag magazine, which had recently carried another of our case study reports, had directed Chuck to us.

In his e-mailed communiqués, Chuck related to NR some of the stories handed down over the years that related to ghostly or unexplained occurrences in the Wolcott House. These anecdotes were accumulated from guides, volunteers, visitors, and Chuck and his wife Karen as well. In a ghostly vein, the tales were what one might almost come to expect from a house of such antiquity and historical importance. Feelings of presence, invisible touches, footsteps on the old wooden floors when no one living was present, and even an occasional peripheral vision glimpse of human figures had all been reported.

Chuck has been conducting extensive and intensive research on the mansion, and he and his colleagues have studied the site from a wide range of perspectives, among them archaeological, architectural, and multicultural. He thought our investigation might open new doors and new windows to fathoming the home's storied past.

We eagerly accepted Chuck's invitation, and proposed that we would make our visit in the spring, when our investigating activities resumed, and the weather had turned for the better.

The Wolcott House is a robust late Federal-early Greek Revival style home built in the pioneer days of the Maumee and Toledo, Ohio area. (See House Photo) The first time visitor is inclined to think that the spacious white columned house might be more at home in Virginia or the Carolinas, rather than on what was then the frontier of a fledgling river town. The house was raised on a high bank above the Maumee in the late 1820's and early 1830's by James Wolcott, a Connecticut native who came to the threshold of the Black Swamp frontier in 1826. Wolcott was a Renaissance Man - gentleman farmer, merchant, shipbuilder, architect, politician and judge. While not a formal military officer, per se, he was also given the informal honorary title of "Col," short for Colonel (and as we shall see, there may actually have been a deeper meaning to this "nickname"...).

Mrs. Wolcott led a no less colorful life. She was the daughter of William Wells, Captain of Spies for "Mad" Anthony Wayne, and granddaughter of Little Turtle, chief of the Miami. Mary Wells Wolcott divided her childhood between her parents and their Indian agency at Ft. Wayne and her Uncle Samuel and his thoroughbred horse farm near Louisville. (Samuel Wells, along with his close friend William Henry Harrison, were heroes of Tippecanoe). The Mansion on the Maumee was built for Mrs. Wolcott with a federal government compensation for lost Wells family lands.

The house remained in the family for several generations, and as one would suspect, it saw the accompanying river of humanity - births, deaths, anger, love, sorrow and passion. It passed into public hands in 1959. Wolcott House is now the centerpiece of a museum complex that includes several other pioneer era houses and structures having since been moved onto the property.

As winter passed into spring, we once again contacted Mr. Jacobs, and made a firm date for our investigation.

Our Visit:

On Saturday, April 6th, we arrived in the late morning at Wolcott House and were greeted by Chuck and his wife Karen. The couple immediately made us feel at home with warm conversation and generous hospitality.

After familiarizing Chuck and Karen with our procedures, we began our slow survey - room by room - of the house. LS moved ahead with dowsing rods. Karen recorded LS’s verbalized impressions while following her survey route. Both of our hosts were extremely thorough and cautious in not divulging any historical anecdotes or information to LS during the survey.

While LS surveyed the rooms, NR followed at a distance using our "light assortment" of instruments (digital and 35mm cameras, Hall Effect gauss-meter, electroscope, ultrasonic sniffer, digital thermometer and relative humidity gauge).

Prevailing weather conditions at the time of our visit were in the 40oF range with clear skies and low humidity.

After our initial foray and several return visits to areas of interest designated by LS' dowsing reactions, we enjoyed a delicious late lunch with deep metaphysical conversation provided by Chuck.

Finally, we bid our new friends adieu, agreeing that we would be very happy to return for further visits to the rest of the grounds, as well as some lecturing.

Physical Investigation Results:

Several locations were discovered where distortions or deviations in the background magnetic field were noted, using our Linear Output Hall Effect probe:

Downstairs - in hall between rooms, and at doorways where LS sensed a strong female image. Magnitude perhaps 20 to 30 percent of background ambient - consisted of irregular time varying jumps or fluctuations. No power switching or appliance generated EM fields were obvious as a conventional explanation.

Upstairs - stationary rise between corner of Fallen Timbers display case and room corner. Corresponded to dowsing reaction. Maximum distortion about 10 to 20% of ambient. No apparent correlation to ductwork or ferrous artifacts.

Upstairs - slow rises and falls as well as jumpiness associated with restored bedroom. Strong - perhaps 50 to 100% of ambient. (.2 to .4 gauss)

No observable electrostatic or ultrasonic anomalies. We record the ambient temperature and humidity in the house at between 65° and 68° F, and 35% RH.

Photographic Results:

Several photos taken with our Mavica digital camera showed distinct orb images. One of these is shown here on the left.

A second interesting effect is seen in the photo below, taken in the downstairs hallway where LS sensed a strong agitated female presence or pattern. In this case, we see a faint but noticeable haze that appears to permeate the hall.

Intuitive Impressions and Dowsing Results:

The following text is transcribed from LS' notes.

In general, Wolcott House seems quite full of residual energy from former tenants and others who have a strong emotional connection to the home. I have listed below specific patterns, which are discernable to me:

Area 1 - Downstairs Display Room

This room seemed full of people (a number of which seem to be in a military capacity). It almost seemed as if they were coming into this room for the purpose of finding a room as if the house were being used in the capacity of a hostel. I am not clear as to why they are here, because this does not seem to be the house's real purpose. Why are they here? I feel confused in this room.

Area 2 - Downstairs Front Room

For whatever reason the crowds of people are in Area 1, it seems to be a little more focused in its nature here. There is a heavy male presence here, which exudes an authority figure persona. People seem to be coming to him for legal counsel or advice. Again, a military energy is in the room, but I do not believe that the male energy acting as counsel is in the military. He seems to be giving "armchair" counsel.

Area 3 - Foyer

In the area at the back of the stairs between doorways, there is a dowsable female energy. She seems to have a great sense of urgency. She is small of frame and seems to have a darker complexion. She is either a servant or a slave. She is very upset and seems to be running into Area 1, where her energy abruptly stops at the door frame to the room. I can physically feel my own heart rate increase in response to her frantic emotional state. She needs to tell somebody something.

Area 4 - Front Room (Connected to Dining Area)

There is female energy in this room, although not the servant felt in Area 3. Near the front side window, she seems to be looking down the road. Whatever she is looking for is in relation to military movements or troops coming. The troops make her somewhat anxious, however not for fear of any sort of battle engagement. There is a level of fear in this room. I am also compelled to think about Indians here, but I cannot make a connection. I can sense the servant girl from Area 3 near the piano; she is worked up/scared about something that is outside - almost to the point of being afraid for her life.

Area 5 - Dining Room

There is yet a different woman’s energy near the back door to this room. She seems somewhat plump and is wearing a bonnet and a plain gray dress. She does not seem to be a servant. As in Area 4, there is an energy that wants me to look out the window to see something that is coming down the road. The bonnet lady is concerned about this, but not to the frantic level that the servant displayed. Was there some sort of skirmish - not in the immediate vicinity - but close enough that caused her to be uptight.

Area 6 - Basement

There are a lot of people in this room also. Something is being stored secretly near the opening to the outer doors. Guns and/or ammunition seem to be being held here for the military, possibly on a temporary basis. This covert storage is part of the cause for the level of anxiety for the female energy upstairs- "Oh my God, we have this stored here! What if someone harms us trying to take it? I don’t want these things in my house." I sense paranoia from a male energy peering out a window on the opposite side of the basement - he is nervous about something that might be coming (military overtone).

Area 7 - Pantry

Female energy - possibly the bonnet lady. Nothing descriptive discernable.

Area 8 - Upstairs Parlor

Male energy from Area 2 present. While he displays counsel in the downstairs area, here it seems more internalized. Downstairs, it was more businesslike in nature, while here he can reflect on his decisions and advice - and he is worried.

Area 9 - Master Bedroom/Front Hallway

This area has a woman’s presence, but neither of the women’s energies from downstairs. This is the real lady of the house. There is sadness/melancholia/depression around her. I can sense two small children (boy & girl) very close in age (3-5 yrs. old) playing about her as she sits, but it is almost as if she is in a daze and oblivious to their actions. She feels secondary to her husband’s business/military concerns.

Area 10 - Upstairs Exhibit Area (Near top of stairs)

Very strong energy presence from the female in Area 9. She doesn’t even want to go downstairs. She would be content to get away from the world up here. She is on emotional overload - won’t anyone even leave her alone up here? My attention is drawn to a ceiling door - were there once windows accessible from the attic, for I feel a need to look out higher windows to view some outside activity by the river.

Area 11 - Top of Stairs

I sense a female walking up the stairs, who feels the need to make an extreme left towards the current exhibit area. She seems very submissive/subservient and knows it would be highly improper for her to walk towards the upstairs parlor in any way. I can sense the male energy coming from the upstairs parlor. I cannot pinpoint who the female energy is, although it does seem like this is her home. It is a different feel from any of the other female energy I have sensed thus far.

Area 12 - Restored Bedroom off Hallway

There is a lot of sorrow in this room. There are two females present, who appear to be mourning the death of a baby or very young child. The mother of the child seems ill herself. Seems childbirth related more than general illness.

Area 13 - Toy Room

There was an area of dowsable energy, although no intuitive imagery.

Area 14 - Christmas Storage Room

This area has an entirely different feeling. I sense this is an addition.

Front Yard

I sense military troops moving toward Maumee. I don’t sense any sort of battle, just movement.

I sense that one of the children who grew up here either moved an adjacent home or in extremely close proximity in adulthood.

Miscellaneous Notes

I recall getting a vivid image of a red sash around the waste of a military person, but regretfully, I do not recall what location I was in when this came to me. The uniform seemed dark blue or gray, while the sash seemed like a folded over red band which hung down almost to the left knee.

Science Interlude - Some Notions about Time:

Since 1996, LS has gathered and examined her intuitive impressions during most of the cases we have undertaken. Sometimes, these impressions have been strong enough to border on the realm of everyday senses, particularly the visual. Other times, they appear to invoke what may be sympathetic physiological responses, such as changes in heart rate, shortness of breath, and pain. We have acquired these impressions and have compared them - often with success - to historical events and personalities. This methodology has often become something of a light-hearted or informal "scorecard" for the monitoring of LS' clairsentient ability.

On the other hand, on only perhaps two occasions have these impressions legitimately appeared to LS to be related to a sentient source - an image or energetic pattern that possesses the character of will, intent, and response. A dead person hanging out. And even in these cases, we cannot be sure that the energetic pattern encountered may not have been a psychic construct or "tulpa"-like entity.

Yet in the case of the frantic image of the serving girl in the ground floor hallway at Wolcott House, the degree of detail and "density" were undeniable, despite the un-reactive and repetitive nature of the image. A mental film clip, a scene, or perhaps...a glimpse of another time. What is the nature of the imagery that LS perceives?

To say that the perceptual images found in places like the Wolcott House are mirages or images out of time is simplistic, though convenient for some ghost hunters. It presumes that we understand time - and with apologies to fans of General Relativity everywhere, we do not. Another reason such images are probably not direct glimpses through time is this - what we think of as "Time" is a horrid abstract. Most people would presume that they know the answer to the following simple thought experiment:

You are sitting in a time machine. You set it for five minutes into the past. You turn it on, and then look up at the clock. What do you expect to see? Most would say that you would see the clock on the wall read five minutes earlier that just a moment ago! Simple. Sorry - you would, in actuality, see nothing, because you would be dead. Why? Because to return to where you were five minutes ago, you neglected one important fact. The earth is turning, and revolving around the sun. The sun is moving through the galaxy. The galaxy is moving through the universe. The place that you were, in your cozy home time machine five minutes ago, is now many miles away, probably in the depths of space. That is how far the Earth moves (taking you with it!) in just five minutes.

Time and space are inseparable. If one wanted to somehow capture images through time of the Wolcott House past, one would have to look at a point in deep space, millions of miles away. The past does not travel with us, because all matter in the universe is in motion. Time does not move. Matter - meaning you, us, the Wolcott House - is what moves.

So if the clairsentient images of LS are not direct glimpses through time, what are they? One possibility is that they are very subtle impressions left in the atomic and molecular structure of the matter making up the surrounding house. But if so, how and why do they play back in a motivated and re-enacted sort of way?

We have recently turned to a new idea. The images perceived by LS and other sensitives may actually be "real-time" actual viewing of not a past time - but rather another time-line! In the many-universes theory supported by some scientists and thinkers, there exists a near infinite number of parallel universes that represent every single possible combination of circumstances. A universe where Wolcott House was built in 2245 in an alternative America. Or where Lake Erie is populated with 90 foot long purple whales. If LS' images were glimpses of these "strange" realities, then why does she not sense the really far-out ones - like the purple whales? Some thinkers have suggested that the more improbable universes are just much further away - in a mathematical sense - from our own "home" universe. Maybe sensitives like LS, who perceive past events and people, are glimpsing only the closest possible alternative realities - the ones almost indistinguishable from what we call our own history. And because there is no reason these alternative universe timelines need to be synchronized, past, present, and future Wolcott Houses are superimposed, each in their own timeline.

In a recent discussion with Chuck Jacobs, we suggested that in every stroll through the Wolcott House, he is walking right through James Wolcott, who broods in his study in 1830, or the frightened serving girl from 1859, or the Boy Scout troop from two weeks ago. Or perhaps the desperate traveler caught in an acid rain storm in 2187, finding fortunate shelter in the stone basement of a ruined house, in the long vanished town of Maumee, Ohio. Chuck is dealing with the thought. It's a disturbing one.

Conclusion:

It was our immense pleasure to undertake an investigation of the Wolcott House. This beautiful testimony to the Black Swamp era was one of the most impression-filled cases in our books. The history (histories?) that flows through the Wolcott House has left its marks.

We believe that there are several locations in the house that contain extremely strong energy residua of past human emotions - the lower hallway and the restored bedroom at the intermediate landing being the most noteworthy. It is likely that some of these energetic fields or regions have produced physiological responses in residents, visitors, and guests. Some may be strong enough to occasionally manifest physically.

However, it does not seem to either of us that there is a likelihood of an active, intelligent, or responsive presence.

In closing, we once again thank Chuck Jacobs, Karen, and the staff of Wolcott House for their help and hospitality. Thanks also to Trish Valentine of Zig Zag Magazine for lining up the initial contact for us!

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