MacPherson House - Napanee
Date: Friday August 20, 2010
Time: 7pm – 1am
Investigator: Rachel, Crystal, Dan, Paula.
Equipment: DVR cameras, hand held night vision cameras, Audio recorders, EMF.
Weather: Warm, 25 degrees Celsius, dry.
Driving through Eastern Ontario you come across many towns, but none like Napanee. Originally settled by Loyalists in 1784, Napanee is one of Ontario’s oldest incorporated municipalities. It has beautiful scenery as well as amazing old houses that catch your eye as you drive past. The town also boasts about their “claim to fame”, Avril Lavigne. The pop/punk princess whose rise to fame with ‘Let Go’ and her current dating status have kept the town in everyone’s mind. However Avril is not the only thing that keeps this town talking. The spirits and ghosts that seem to enjoy this quiet Eastern Ontario town have kept the stories coming.
On the bank of the Napanee River you will find an extraordinary house (now a museum), that once belonged to a very community oriented citizen of early Napanee: Allan MacPherson. Once run down and unrecognizable, the MacPherson house has since been restored and set up to look as it would have in the 1830’s. Many stories have surfaced over the years that the peaceful house with the white picket fence may have some ghostly tenants. Reports of doors being opened, lights turning on and sounds of footsteps have resonated the halls of this historic home. Are there ghostly inhabitants at the MacPherson House or is this old house just settling in for many years to come? We were about to find out.
“It’s my dream house!”, Crystal yelled as we congregated in the parking lot across the street from the MacPherson House. “I’ve always wanted a house like this,” she continued to say as we all stood looking at the two-storey white house that soon would envelope us with rich colours, period furniture and a ghost or two. We gathered our equipment and headed towards the house. Once inside the gates we all stood there in awe, as we looked up at the house that would be our ‘home’ for the next few hours. “Which door do we go into?” asked Rachel. “I’m not sure but let’s ring the bell”, replied Paula. Being the only male in the group that evening, Dan walked up and rang the bell. We waited, but there was no response. “I guess no one’s here yet”, Dan said. We waited a few more minutes, and still no one came. We decided that now was the best time to get some outdoor photographs of the location while it was still light out. Soon after, Emily showed up and took us in through the side door. We entered into the Summer Kitchen, which was a very large room, with a large fireplace. The smell of must and old wood gave the place a very authentic feel. “It smells like old,” stated Rachel as they unloaded the equipment on the table. “I like it,” she continued.
As soon as we entered the building we could tell that Crystal was beginning to receive information from those who have been unable to get their voices across for many years. We decided to start off on a tour of the house. Our first stop was the Summer Kitchen. “Rebecca, Becky,” Crystal said. “I see like a guild of some sort,” she continued. “I also see two babies with her. One has passed and one is older. I am also picking up on an older gentleman. A solider? Military? He is Rebecca’s father, or father figure. He is very bossy. I’m just picking up on the daily life of her,” Crystal said as she made her way across the room. When Crystal had made her way to the quilting machine she stopped and stared at it with a look of confusion. “Something is out of place here,” Crystal mentioned. “I feel like there should be a door going outside here,” she said as she pointed to the back wall. At this point Crystal looked towards the opening for the basement. “I’ll wait to go down there,” she stated. With a quick shutter and a forward movement away from the descending stairs, we followed Crystal to the hallway.
We didn’t get very far before Crystal was drawn into what is now the Staff kitchen. “This area makes me nauseous. I’m not sure what is below, but it’s the area. It’s like a vortex. An area with a lot of spirit energy. People will be dizzy and feel sick when they come in here,” Crystal said. And as quickly as she entered the room, she exited.
We the continued down the hallway. The Dining Room was on the left, while a smaller room was on the right. Crystal peered into the smaller room first. “I’m not sure if this is a past occurrence or something that might happen in the future. I don’t want to alarm you, but I can see fire coming up between and out of the two windows. It’s like an electrical fire of some sort and it comes up between the walls,” Crystal said to Emily. Crystal moved into the Dining Room. “Compared to the other rooms I have been into so far, this room is the quietest. I’m not picking up on much in this area,” Crystal said as she looked around. “However, I do feel like this room should be bigger. I’m also seeing dancing. I also feel like this was more of a sitting area, a parlor or library of some sort.” With that out, we moved on into the next room: The Parlor Room.
“This is my favourite room! It feels the best,” Crystal stated as she looked around the room. “I’m getting the name Andrew and Julie. I am also getting the year 1869, 1873, the 1940’s. Something to do with big changes.” Crystal was silent for a moment as she looked around the room. “Now I’m getting something about Egypt,” mentioned Crystal. “I am also picking up on an old sewing machine. Fabrics, cloths, textiles. Making fancy dresses and gown. Very time period,” she continued. “I’m feeling a link to Fort Henry. I am also feeling that there is a family portrait and that someone is missing from it.” Crystal was silent again for a moment. “This year, I feel that someone is going to pocket something. I would beef up security during tours,” Crystal mentioned to Emily.
Attached to the Parlor Room is a room that is set up to look like a girl’s room. Emily told us that this was not always a room for a young girl, but would have probably been used as a bedroom for visitors. Regardless of its décor or use, Crystal clearly did not like the room. “Creepy! I don’t like it!” exclaimed Crystal. “I feel that two deaths have occurred in this room.” Crystal looked around the small room. She placed her hands on the foot of the bed and immediately removed them. “I don’t want touch anything. I’m afraid to get sick,” Crystal said with a look of disgust on her face. “I feel as if it was small pox related. I am picking up German. So it could have been German measles or something.” Upon saying that, Crystal exited the room.
We exited the Parlor Room and walked down the hallway to the Gift Shop. Crystal entered the gift shop and begin to describe what she was picking up on. “I’m not picking up on much. He’s about eight or nine, with a little newspaper boy hat, trousers, suspenders. Dirty thirties era. Picking up on the name ‘Jackson’,” Crystal told everyone. “This room was more like a bedroom,” she mentioned as we exited the room and moved on to the next.
We ascended the staircase to the second floor where Crystal began to feel discomfort. “My heart is racing and I am finding it hard to breath,” she stated. “I just got the chills,” Rachel mentioned shortly after. We made a left into a large, open room which held glass cases filled with artifacts and archives. Crystal stood still for a minute to take in the surrounds. “It feels like two different families lived here at the same time. One on one floor, one on the other. I’m also picking up on the name ‘Andrew’. Peter or Andrew. One of them has a wife and a daughter. They keep repeating the name ‘Andrew’,” Crystal told us. “He’s decorated with medals. They are showing me him and his uniform. It’s kind of hot,” joked Crystal. We moved around the room looking in the glass cases at all the artifacts and photos. “I feel as if a marriage ceremony took place. Maybe happening in this room? A joining of a business deal, but there is some love. Like an arranged marriage.” Crystal moved towards the back right window. “Tall ships. Nova Scotia, New Zealand. Journey by boat,” Crystal said as she looked away from the window. “They are telling me something about pirate treasure. Something found that was of value.” Crystal returned to looking back out the window. “Somebody, more than one, drowned. I see skating on the lake. One little and one adult falling in and never coming out,” stated Crystal as she walked away from the window and towards the door to the hallway.
Our next stop was the Master bedroom. Immediately Crystal was drawn to the corner by the bed. “Someone is peeking. It’s female. Hair parted, bun at the back,” Crystal began to describe. “Trickery. Going from room to room secretly and collecting information. There are tons of secrets. She is like a spy. Now they are bring up Nazis. It could be related. She knows something from both sides of the fight. She knows too much,” she mentioned. “I see a perfume bottle and she is drinking from it. Like secret alcohol. She is very secretive, sneaky, very smart about playing stupid. However she is very nice.” Crystal walked towards the windows. She stopped and looked towards the bed. “Someone is hiding underneath the bed,” she said. Crystal continued, “I feel as if this room is related more to the winter months. Like there was a summer bedroom and this room was the winter bedroom. I’m also sensing that the woman was in one room and the man was in another. I am also picking up on a fight between a male and female. I feel that this is re-enacted through residual energy.” Crystal walked towards the window. “Someone appears out this window. Those outside will see someone standing here if they look up,” Crystal said as she turned and walked away from the window. Crystal now seemed to be getting agitated. “I’m sensing a physical altercation. Someone pacing and constantly checking out the window. Over and over and over. Every night,” Crystal stated as she acted out the pacing. “This is also residual. You’ll hear a door slam, followed by footsteps, then nothing.” Crystal was still pacing back and forth, to and from the window. “I keep wanting to pace,” she said. “It’s like I’m waiting for someone to come back. Like an affair. Waiting for them.” Crystal final stopped pacing because something caught her eye. “There is more activity on the right side of the bed. I can see someone laying on the bed. Sleeping with a white night cap. It is the same woman that paces. She keeps catching the corner of my eye every time I walk by the bed.”
Crystal then turned towards the door that leads to the staff room. This area use to be the servants quarters. After asking if she could open it and receiving her request, Crystal was not impressed. “Wow, the energy really drops from this room to the other,” Crystal stated. “I wouldn’t want to work in here. I would be so uncomfortable by myself.” Crystal exited the room hastily. “The feeling is almost as bad as the basement,” Crystal told the group as we left the bedroom area.
As we exited the Master bedroom, we headed down the hallway to a room that was set up as a nursery, complete some creepy-looking dolls. “It’s a Jolly Jumper, medieval style!” Crystal exclaimed. “It’s kind of creepy,” added Rachel. “I’m picking up on the names ‘Samuel’ and ‘Andy’. There is another, a girl. I can’t get her name,” said Crystal. “I don’t feel anything yucky. There are suppose to be three, but one is missing in real time,” she continued.
Emily then asked if we would like to venture up to the attic. Of course we couldn’t decline. The stairs that led up to the attic were steep, but that wasn’t going to stop us from seeing what was up there. As we gathered at the top, Crystal began to walk around the attic. “I feel like this was an extra room in use and that it wasn’t just an attic. I see it as a work space. A desk. A writing room. Novels, documents, Government of Canada type stuff. Lots of it,” Crystal said. “I’m also getting hidden money in baseboards or up here,” she continued. We looked around the attic for a few more minutes before deciding it was time to leave the stuffiness of attic.
The last stop we had was the Basement. The only place Crystal was avoiding since we arrived. The basement had two parts: a Kitchen and a room that was most likely used for a distillery. We decided to enter the basement from the Summer kitchen. As we descended the stairs, we entered the room that may have been used once as a distillery. “It doesn’t feel as bad down here now that I am down here,” Crystal said as she looked around the basement. Something caught her eye again. “Someone just walked over there,” Crystal said, as she pointed and looked down the back hallway that led to the other side of the basement. Crystal took her eyes off the area and began to look around the room again. “I feel a lot of anxiety. Like the diary of Anne Frank. A hide out, being captured. Some kind of seizure of assets. This is where the two different families comes in. Secrets. Someone sold someone out,” she said. “It comes back to the government thing. I keep wanting to say ten dollar bills.” Crystal went back to look down the hallway she had previously seen a shadow run down. “Someone was rushed into the other part of the basement when we came down. Hiding behind a wood stack. It’s feeling like someone is going to get you.” Crystal took a step towards the hallway, while the rest of us followed behind. This left her no choice but to continue down the dark corridor.
“I feel a lot of magnetic energy,” Crystal said as we entered the western half of the basement. She made her way to the window where she stood, looking out. “Lanterns. ‘Leave the lantern on’. Someone has blown cover,” she said as she walked away from the window towards the fireplace. Once in front of the fire place, she stopped. “Smoke signals. Native American history is involved somehow. It’s later on, but I am seeing Natives being given blankets with small pox,” she continued. Crystal moved closer to the northern part of the basement. She stopped, looking confused and stressed out. “A lot of movement down here,” stated Crystal. “Heavy movement, but not violent. Pots banging. A whirlwind, like a tornado, of stuff happens.” Crystal stood quietly for a moment. “I’m getting ‘Emily’. Someone is really urgent about Emily. Like they are trying to wake them up, the way they say the name,” she said. “They are showing me Native Americans again. ‘Don’t worry, don’t worry, don’t worry,” Crystal said out loud. “Something is hidden still,” stated Crystal as she walked towards the north wall. “Money, treasure, heirlooms?” she questioned. “Now I am getting a sequence of events that are similar to the reports from Fort Henry. I keep seeing a dark shadow with a large cape that swooshes. Followed by a black out and not knowing what happened,” Crystal described. She then began to move around the floor. “I don’t feel threatened down here, but I wouldn’t want to come down here by myself,” she told everyone. “I keep repeating myself, but I can’t help it.” Crystal then stopped. She looked directly at an old cupboard that stood in front of her. “That cupboard. I’m drawn to it,” she stated. “Anger, cabin fever. I just want to pick things up and throw them,” Crystal described. “There is something about this. Something. I hear ‘Pick up that damn quill and sign that piece of paper already. It’s already contaminated. If you want the boat, you’ll do it’,” continued Crystal. “There is a lot of blackmail that comes from this cupboard,” Crystal continued to say.
We then ventured to some smaller rooms in the basement, but Crystal didn’t pick up on anything. We decided it was a good time to head back upstairs to take a quick break and begin setting up the DVR cameras and prepare for our sessions.
When it was time we set up the DVR camera in areas around the house that we thought would provide us with the best footage and hopefully some evidence of the houses ghostly inhabitants. During this time, Crystal sat with Emily, as well as the two Summer students and a local newspaper reported and offered them each a personal reading. Dan, Paula and Rachel left the Crystal with the Museum staff and headed to different areas of the house to set up. The first camera was set up in the small bedroom that was connected to the Parlor Room. After everything Crystal had previously said about the room, Rachel braved the unknown and went in to set up the camera. The next camera was placed in the Master Bedroom, facing the bed and the area in which Crystal had seen a figure. As Rachel and Paula were setting up the camera, Dan beeped through on the Walkie Talkie. “There is a really weird shaped orb making its way around the room,” said Dan. Rachel looked up from what she was doing with a look of surprise on her face. “Don’t tell me this now! I’m in the room in the dark!,” she exclaimed. After a quick set up, Rachel and Paula exited the room in hopes that this “weird-shaped orb” would make another appearance. The remaining two cameras where set up in the Dining Room (cutlery has been said to move) and the basement. It was now time to turn out the lights and let the EVP sessions and vigils begin.
Crystal and Emily went to the Basement to do their Vigil. (Crystal to insert her footage)
Paula, Rachel and the two summer students headed up stairs to the Master Bedroom to do an EVP session. Rachel placed the audio recorder on the bed and sat on the floor with the others. They began their EVP session. (Audio still being analyzed)
After the vigils, it was decided that it was the best time to pack things up. The house was quiet and it appeared that everyone (including the dead), wanted to sleep. We unhooked all of our equipment, placed them in their proper bags, said our goodbyes and headed back to our homes and beds.
Is the MacPherson House in haunted? Does the spirit of Allan MacPherson, Sir John A MacDonald, or any others that have passed through the doors still reside in the house? That’s a question that still lingers, with us and the residents of Napanee.
For more information on the Allan MacPherson House, please go to www.macphersonhouse.ca, call 613-354-5982 or email [email protected].
Time: 7pm – 1am
Investigator: Rachel, Crystal, Dan, Paula.
Equipment: DVR cameras, hand held night vision cameras, Audio recorders, EMF.
Weather: Warm, 25 degrees Celsius, dry.
Driving through Eastern Ontario you come across many towns, but none like Napanee. Originally settled by Loyalists in 1784, Napanee is one of Ontario’s oldest incorporated municipalities. It has beautiful scenery as well as amazing old houses that catch your eye as you drive past. The town also boasts about their “claim to fame”, Avril Lavigne. The pop/punk princess whose rise to fame with ‘Let Go’ and her current dating status have kept the town in everyone’s mind. However Avril is not the only thing that keeps this town talking. The spirits and ghosts that seem to enjoy this quiet Eastern Ontario town have kept the stories coming.
On the bank of the Napanee River you will find an extraordinary house (now a museum), that once belonged to a very community oriented citizen of early Napanee: Allan MacPherson. Once run down and unrecognizable, the MacPherson house has since been restored and set up to look as it would have in the 1830’s. Many stories have surfaced over the years that the peaceful house with the white picket fence may have some ghostly tenants. Reports of doors being opened, lights turning on and sounds of footsteps have resonated the halls of this historic home. Are there ghostly inhabitants at the MacPherson House or is this old house just settling in for many years to come? We were about to find out.
“It’s my dream house!”, Crystal yelled as we congregated in the parking lot across the street from the MacPherson House. “I’ve always wanted a house like this,” she continued to say as we all stood looking at the two-storey white house that soon would envelope us with rich colours, period furniture and a ghost or two. We gathered our equipment and headed towards the house. Once inside the gates we all stood there in awe, as we looked up at the house that would be our ‘home’ for the next few hours. “Which door do we go into?” asked Rachel. “I’m not sure but let’s ring the bell”, replied Paula. Being the only male in the group that evening, Dan walked up and rang the bell. We waited, but there was no response. “I guess no one’s here yet”, Dan said. We waited a few more minutes, and still no one came. We decided that now was the best time to get some outdoor photographs of the location while it was still light out. Soon after, Emily showed up and took us in through the side door. We entered into the Summer Kitchen, which was a very large room, with a large fireplace. The smell of must and old wood gave the place a very authentic feel. “It smells like old,” stated Rachel as they unloaded the equipment on the table. “I like it,” she continued.
As soon as we entered the building we could tell that Crystal was beginning to receive information from those who have been unable to get their voices across for many years. We decided to start off on a tour of the house. Our first stop was the Summer Kitchen. “Rebecca, Becky,” Crystal said. “I see like a guild of some sort,” she continued. “I also see two babies with her. One has passed and one is older. I am also picking up on an older gentleman. A solider? Military? He is Rebecca’s father, or father figure. He is very bossy. I’m just picking up on the daily life of her,” Crystal said as she made her way across the room. When Crystal had made her way to the quilting machine she stopped and stared at it with a look of confusion. “Something is out of place here,” Crystal mentioned. “I feel like there should be a door going outside here,” she said as she pointed to the back wall. At this point Crystal looked towards the opening for the basement. “I’ll wait to go down there,” she stated. With a quick shutter and a forward movement away from the descending stairs, we followed Crystal to the hallway.
We didn’t get very far before Crystal was drawn into what is now the Staff kitchen. “This area makes me nauseous. I’m not sure what is below, but it’s the area. It’s like a vortex. An area with a lot of spirit energy. People will be dizzy and feel sick when they come in here,” Crystal said. And as quickly as she entered the room, she exited.
We the continued down the hallway. The Dining Room was on the left, while a smaller room was on the right. Crystal peered into the smaller room first. “I’m not sure if this is a past occurrence or something that might happen in the future. I don’t want to alarm you, but I can see fire coming up between and out of the two windows. It’s like an electrical fire of some sort and it comes up between the walls,” Crystal said to Emily. Crystal moved into the Dining Room. “Compared to the other rooms I have been into so far, this room is the quietest. I’m not picking up on much in this area,” Crystal said as she looked around. “However, I do feel like this room should be bigger. I’m also seeing dancing. I also feel like this was more of a sitting area, a parlor or library of some sort.” With that out, we moved on into the next room: The Parlor Room.
“This is my favourite room! It feels the best,” Crystal stated as she looked around the room. “I’m getting the name Andrew and Julie. I am also getting the year 1869, 1873, the 1940’s. Something to do with big changes.” Crystal was silent for a moment as she looked around the room. “Now I’m getting something about Egypt,” mentioned Crystal. “I am also picking up on an old sewing machine. Fabrics, cloths, textiles. Making fancy dresses and gown. Very time period,” she continued. “I’m feeling a link to Fort Henry. I am also feeling that there is a family portrait and that someone is missing from it.” Crystal was silent again for a moment. “This year, I feel that someone is going to pocket something. I would beef up security during tours,” Crystal mentioned to Emily.
Attached to the Parlor Room is a room that is set up to look like a girl’s room. Emily told us that this was not always a room for a young girl, but would have probably been used as a bedroom for visitors. Regardless of its décor or use, Crystal clearly did not like the room. “Creepy! I don’t like it!” exclaimed Crystal. “I feel that two deaths have occurred in this room.” Crystal looked around the small room. She placed her hands on the foot of the bed and immediately removed them. “I don’t want touch anything. I’m afraid to get sick,” Crystal said with a look of disgust on her face. “I feel as if it was small pox related. I am picking up German. So it could have been German measles or something.” Upon saying that, Crystal exited the room.
We exited the Parlor Room and walked down the hallway to the Gift Shop. Crystal entered the gift shop and begin to describe what she was picking up on. “I’m not picking up on much. He’s about eight or nine, with a little newspaper boy hat, trousers, suspenders. Dirty thirties era. Picking up on the name ‘Jackson’,” Crystal told everyone. “This room was more like a bedroom,” she mentioned as we exited the room and moved on to the next.
We ascended the staircase to the second floor where Crystal began to feel discomfort. “My heart is racing and I am finding it hard to breath,” she stated. “I just got the chills,” Rachel mentioned shortly after. We made a left into a large, open room which held glass cases filled with artifacts and archives. Crystal stood still for a minute to take in the surrounds. “It feels like two different families lived here at the same time. One on one floor, one on the other. I’m also picking up on the name ‘Andrew’. Peter or Andrew. One of them has a wife and a daughter. They keep repeating the name ‘Andrew’,” Crystal told us. “He’s decorated with medals. They are showing me him and his uniform. It’s kind of hot,” joked Crystal. We moved around the room looking in the glass cases at all the artifacts and photos. “I feel as if a marriage ceremony took place. Maybe happening in this room? A joining of a business deal, but there is some love. Like an arranged marriage.” Crystal moved towards the back right window. “Tall ships. Nova Scotia, New Zealand. Journey by boat,” Crystal said as she looked away from the window. “They are telling me something about pirate treasure. Something found that was of value.” Crystal returned to looking back out the window. “Somebody, more than one, drowned. I see skating on the lake. One little and one adult falling in and never coming out,” stated Crystal as she walked away from the window and towards the door to the hallway.
Our next stop was the Master bedroom. Immediately Crystal was drawn to the corner by the bed. “Someone is peeking. It’s female. Hair parted, bun at the back,” Crystal began to describe. “Trickery. Going from room to room secretly and collecting information. There are tons of secrets. She is like a spy. Now they are bring up Nazis. It could be related. She knows something from both sides of the fight. She knows too much,” she mentioned. “I see a perfume bottle and she is drinking from it. Like secret alcohol. She is very secretive, sneaky, very smart about playing stupid. However she is very nice.” Crystal walked towards the windows. She stopped and looked towards the bed. “Someone is hiding underneath the bed,” she said. Crystal continued, “I feel as if this room is related more to the winter months. Like there was a summer bedroom and this room was the winter bedroom. I’m also sensing that the woman was in one room and the man was in another. I am also picking up on a fight between a male and female. I feel that this is re-enacted through residual energy.” Crystal walked towards the window. “Someone appears out this window. Those outside will see someone standing here if they look up,” Crystal said as she turned and walked away from the window. Crystal now seemed to be getting agitated. “I’m sensing a physical altercation. Someone pacing and constantly checking out the window. Over and over and over. Every night,” Crystal stated as she acted out the pacing. “This is also residual. You’ll hear a door slam, followed by footsteps, then nothing.” Crystal was still pacing back and forth, to and from the window. “I keep wanting to pace,” she said. “It’s like I’m waiting for someone to come back. Like an affair. Waiting for them.” Crystal final stopped pacing because something caught her eye. “There is more activity on the right side of the bed. I can see someone laying on the bed. Sleeping with a white night cap. It is the same woman that paces. She keeps catching the corner of my eye every time I walk by the bed.”
Crystal then turned towards the door that leads to the staff room. This area use to be the servants quarters. After asking if she could open it and receiving her request, Crystal was not impressed. “Wow, the energy really drops from this room to the other,” Crystal stated. “I wouldn’t want to work in here. I would be so uncomfortable by myself.” Crystal exited the room hastily. “The feeling is almost as bad as the basement,” Crystal told the group as we left the bedroom area.
As we exited the Master bedroom, we headed down the hallway to a room that was set up as a nursery, complete some creepy-looking dolls. “It’s a Jolly Jumper, medieval style!” Crystal exclaimed. “It’s kind of creepy,” added Rachel. “I’m picking up on the names ‘Samuel’ and ‘Andy’. There is another, a girl. I can’t get her name,” said Crystal. “I don’t feel anything yucky. There are suppose to be three, but one is missing in real time,” she continued.
Emily then asked if we would like to venture up to the attic. Of course we couldn’t decline. The stairs that led up to the attic were steep, but that wasn’t going to stop us from seeing what was up there. As we gathered at the top, Crystal began to walk around the attic. “I feel like this was an extra room in use and that it wasn’t just an attic. I see it as a work space. A desk. A writing room. Novels, documents, Government of Canada type stuff. Lots of it,” Crystal said. “I’m also getting hidden money in baseboards or up here,” she continued. We looked around the attic for a few more minutes before deciding it was time to leave the stuffiness of attic.
The last stop we had was the Basement. The only place Crystal was avoiding since we arrived. The basement had two parts: a Kitchen and a room that was most likely used for a distillery. We decided to enter the basement from the Summer kitchen. As we descended the stairs, we entered the room that may have been used once as a distillery. “It doesn’t feel as bad down here now that I am down here,” Crystal said as she looked around the basement. Something caught her eye again. “Someone just walked over there,” Crystal said, as she pointed and looked down the back hallway that led to the other side of the basement. Crystal took her eyes off the area and began to look around the room again. “I feel a lot of anxiety. Like the diary of Anne Frank. A hide out, being captured. Some kind of seizure of assets. This is where the two different families comes in. Secrets. Someone sold someone out,” she said. “It comes back to the government thing. I keep wanting to say ten dollar bills.” Crystal went back to look down the hallway she had previously seen a shadow run down. “Someone was rushed into the other part of the basement when we came down. Hiding behind a wood stack. It’s feeling like someone is going to get you.” Crystal took a step towards the hallway, while the rest of us followed behind. This left her no choice but to continue down the dark corridor.
“I feel a lot of magnetic energy,” Crystal said as we entered the western half of the basement. She made her way to the window where she stood, looking out. “Lanterns. ‘Leave the lantern on’. Someone has blown cover,” she said as she walked away from the window towards the fireplace. Once in front of the fire place, she stopped. “Smoke signals. Native American history is involved somehow. It’s later on, but I am seeing Natives being given blankets with small pox,” she continued. Crystal moved closer to the northern part of the basement. She stopped, looking confused and stressed out. “A lot of movement down here,” stated Crystal. “Heavy movement, but not violent. Pots banging. A whirlwind, like a tornado, of stuff happens.” Crystal stood quietly for a moment. “I’m getting ‘Emily’. Someone is really urgent about Emily. Like they are trying to wake them up, the way they say the name,” she said. “They are showing me Native Americans again. ‘Don’t worry, don’t worry, don’t worry,” Crystal said out loud. “Something is hidden still,” stated Crystal as she walked towards the north wall. “Money, treasure, heirlooms?” she questioned. “Now I am getting a sequence of events that are similar to the reports from Fort Henry. I keep seeing a dark shadow with a large cape that swooshes. Followed by a black out and not knowing what happened,” Crystal described. She then began to move around the floor. “I don’t feel threatened down here, but I wouldn’t want to come down here by myself,” she told everyone. “I keep repeating myself, but I can’t help it.” Crystal then stopped. She looked directly at an old cupboard that stood in front of her. “That cupboard. I’m drawn to it,” she stated. “Anger, cabin fever. I just want to pick things up and throw them,” Crystal described. “There is something about this. Something. I hear ‘Pick up that damn quill and sign that piece of paper already. It’s already contaminated. If you want the boat, you’ll do it’,” continued Crystal. “There is a lot of blackmail that comes from this cupboard,” Crystal continued to say.
We then ventured to some smaller rooms in the basement, but Crystal didn’t pick up on anything. We decided it was a good time to head back upstairs to take a quick break and begin setting up the DVR cameras and prepare for our sessions.
When it was time we set up the DVR camera in areas around the house that we thought would provide us with the best footage and hopefully some evidence of the houses ghostly inhabitants. During this time, Crystal sat with Emily, as well as the two Summer students and a local newspaper reported and offered them each a personal reading. Dan, Paula and Rachel left the Crystal with the Museum staff and headed to different areas of the house to set up. The first camera was set up in the small bedroom that was connected to the Parlor Room. After everything Crystal had previously said about the room, Rachel braved the unknown and went in to set up the camera. The next camera was placed in the Master Bedroom, facing the bed and the area in which Crystal had seen a figure. As Rachel and Paula were setting up the camera, Dan beeped through on the Walkie Talkie. “There is a really weird shaped orb making its way around the room,” said Dan. Rachel looked up from what she was doing with a look of surprise on her face. “Don’t tell me this now! I’m in the room in the dark!,” she exclaimed. After a quick set up, Rachel and Paula exited the room in hopes that this “weird-shaped orb” would make another appearance. The remaining two cameras where set up in the Dining Room (cutlery has been said to move) and the basement. It was now time to turn out the lights and let the EVP sessions and vigils begin.
Crystal and Emily went to the Basement to do their Vigil. (Crystal to insert her footage)
Paula, Rachel and the two summer students headed up stairs to the Master Bedroom to do an EVP session. Rachel placed the audio recorder on the bed and sat on the floor with the others. They began their EVP session. (Audio still being analyzed)
After the vigils, it was decided that it was the best time to pack things up. The house was quiet and it appeared that everyone (including the dead), wanted to sleep. We unhooked all of our equipment, placed them in their proper bags, said our goodbyes and headed back to our homes and beds.
Is the MacPherson House in haunted? Does the spirit of Allan MacPherson, Sir John A MacDonald, or any others that have passed through the doors still reside in the house? That’s a question that still lingers, with us and the residents of Napanee.
For more information on the Allan MacPherson House, please go to www.macphersonhouse.ca, call 613-354-5982 or email [email protected].