Ghosts of Georgia Investigation report
On July 30, 2016, GOGPI investigated claims of paranormal activity at the Stillwell House in Stone Mountain, GA. The activity reported at the residence is as follows:
- People have witnessed apparitions, including an African-American man singing and whistling
- Unexplained foot steps
- Slamming doors
- Morse code tapping
- Odor of cigar smoke
- Lights running on and off
- Pictures falling off walls
- Ceiling fans turning on by themselves
- Household items disappear
- Phantom texts from owners phone while it was unattended
Investigators & people present at investigation: Investigators – Ed Laughlin, Beth Peters, Melissa Foster, Brian Daffern, Chris & Christy Bradley and Larry and Melinda Conley via/Skype
Moonrise, moonset and phase calendar:
| Meridian Passing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date
July 30, 2016 |
Moonrise
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Moonset
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Time
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Altitude
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Distance | Illuminated
12.8% |
Phase
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| (mi)
231,472 |
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Weather Conditions:
| Almanac for ATLANTA HARTSFIELD INTL AP, GA July 30, 2016 |
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| Daily Data | Observed | —- | Normal | Record Highest | Record Lowest |
| Max Temperature | 89 | 89 | 98 in 1986 | 68 in 1984 | |
| Min Temperature | 73 | 71 | 76 in 2015 | 59 in 2014 | |
| Avg Temperature | 81.0 | 80.2 | 86.5 in 1986 | 66.5 in 1984 | |
| Precipitation | 0.67 | 0.14 | 1.18 in 1984 | 0.00 in 2014 | |
| Snowfall | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 in 2016 | 0.0 in 2016 | |
| Snow Depth | 0 | – | 0 in 2016 | 0 in 2016 | |
| HDD (base 65) | 0 | 0 | 0 in 2016 | 0 in 2016 | |
| CDD (base 65) | 16 | 15 | 22 in 1986 | 2 in 1984 | |
Equipment used by Investigators:
Cameras: Two Canon Rebel digital cameras, Samsung digital camera, Fuji S602 digital camera, Tasco infrared trail camera, iPhone 5S Camera/Video, numerous IR Video Cameras connected to a J2000 DVR. Nikon Coolpix L28 Full Spectrum digital camera, Bell & Howell IR Camcorder, JVC Everio Camcorder, T700 Full spectrum Camcorder, DDV-2200 full spectrum video camcorder, Insignia full spectrum HD camera/video recorder, MagiCam Mini Camcorder, FLIR Bcam w/SD, set of full spectrum POV glasses.
DVR: Black HD-SDI H.264
EMF Meters: Electro Sensor EMF Meter, Cell Sensor, Digital EMF Detectors, Mel-8704R-KII, Mel-8704-R, several K-II Meters.
Audio Recorders: Sony P210 digital voice recorder, 2- Sony digital recorders, Olympus D-10 digital voice recorder, RCA digital recorder Olympus VN-4100PC. Spion Parabolic Dish.
Thermometers: Cen-Tech mini non-contact infrared digital thermometer and an Omega HH68K ambient thermometer. Mel-8704R-KII has ambient thermometer included.
Other: 2-P-SB7 frequency sweep radio( spirit box ), P-SB11 spirit box, Spirit voice receiver, Boo Buddy Bear, Laser Grid, Compaq Presario Laptop, Dell Laptop, Ovilus M, Altec speaker, 2- Rem Pods, various flashlights.
Condition of the home:
The building was built circa 1820-1840, different times were stated from different sources. The house was in good structural shape, some of room floors did have a slant to them and the floor boards would creak as expected in a house of this age, the utilities were up to date and in good working order, the doors and windows were older and prone to drafts, we could also hear outside noises and voices coming through the windows.
Start DVR 9:49 pm, Start Investigation 11:38 pm – End Investigation 4:20 am, Stopped DVR 10:14 am, Sunday, July 31st, 2016,
Base Readings – 8:50 PM
Living Room 78.8 temp, 0.0 – 0.5 EMF
Kitchen 80.0 temp, 0.0 – 0.1 EMF
Dining Room 77.8 temp, 0.0 – 2.1 EMF (HVAC under room)
Foyer 1st Level 76.6 temp, 0.0 – 0.4 EMF
Master Bedroom & Bathroom 1st Level (master) 77.1 temp, 0.0 – 0.3 EMF
Stairs & Foyer 2nd Level 79.1 temp, 0.0 – 0.7 EMF
Purple Bedroom 78.0 temp, 0.0 – 0.8 EMF
Purple Bedroom Bathroom 77.1 temp, 0.0 – 0.3 EMF
Green Bedroom 76.9 temp, 0.0 – 1.0 EMF
Green Bedroom Bathroom 76.6 temp, 0.0 – 0.3 EMF
Brown/Red Bedroom 78.5 temp, 0.5 – 1.5 EMF
Brown/Red Bedroom Bathroom 77.6 temp, 0.0 – 0.3 EMF
Attic Bedroom 79.5 temp, 0.5 – 1.5 EMF
Attic Bedroom Bathroom & Back Room 79.6 temp, 0.9 – 1.0 EMF
Attic Storage & Furnace Room 82.3 temp, 1.5 – 1.8 EMF
After Base Readings and Equipment Set Up – Investigation Began
Investigation – Team 1 – Ed, Brian & Christie
- 11:38 pm – Purple Bedroom
- 11:43 pm – Start EVP w/Flashlight & Spirit Box – 12:03 am End EVP
- 12:05 am – Green Bedroom
- 12:16 am – Start EVP w/Flashlight & Spirit Box – 12:32 am End EVP
- 12:33 am – Brown/Red Bedroom
- 12:55 am – Start EVP w/Flashlight & Spirit Box – 1:11 am End EVP
Investigation – Team 2 – Beth, Chris & Melissa
- 2:05 am – Living Room
- 2:08 am – Start EVP w/Spirit Box – 2:32 am End EVP
- 2:37 am – Brown/Red Bedroom
- 3:04 am – Start EVP w/Flashlight – 3:17 am End EVP
- 3:19 am – Purple Bedroom
- 3:25 am – Start Conversational EVP – 3:40 am End EVP
Investigation – Team 3 – Christie & Melissa
- 3:59 am – Purple Bedroom
- 4:00 am – Start EVP w/Flashlight – 4:19 am End EVP
Investigation End 4:20 am
Findings:
GOGPI was called in to investigate the above claims of activity. Base reading in the house were within normal limits, temperature normal for conditions, EMF were within normal reading, except around the electrical equipment and electrical panels where they were higher, as expected.
We did not get anything in our pictures. We did record several EVP’s. The investigators had some personal experiences, see below.
With the claims of activity by numerous people over the years, personal experience by the investigator, the EVP’s that were recorded we feel that there is paranormal activity in the house. We cannot say the house is haunted without a follow up investigation to see if we can reproduce the claims of activity, personal experiences, and to gather more evidence of paranormal activity.
Ed Laughlin
Ghosts of Georgia Paranormal Investigations
Personal Experience summaries from investigators on the investigation
Ed:
I heard a noise from the basement while standing outside, could not find a cause.
While sitting in front of the computer making sure the web camera was working I was looking at me sitting in front of the doors leading into the parlor when someone ran past the doors behind me. The nearest person to me was Brian and he was to my right setting up a camera and did move behind me. No one else was behind me.
While sitting at base I heard a loud sound, like something fell, coming from the kitchen area. Christie got up to check and found portable clothes hanger hand fallen onto the floor, it had been leaning against the wall. No one was around it when it fell. We set it back in the original position and tried to make if fall like it had but not get it to move. I also hear a mumbled voice coming from the parlor. No one was in there at the time and I could not make out what it said. At one point I heard the REM Pod go off in the parlor with no one around.
Chris:
Shortly after arriving the owner was showing me Ed and Christie the property outside and while standing on the side of the house I heard a rustling noise that sounded like it come from down in the workshop/storage area under the house. While at base with Beth, Melissa, and Larry and Melinda via Skype I heard a loud bang come from the kitchen and went and inspected but couldn’t find anything out of place.
Christie:
When we first arrived I heard a disembodied hum in the living room/parlor.
While investigating the purple room I heard thud sound over the spirit box. I also felt the vibration on the bed.
While investigating the green room I felt a cold spot on my right shoulder and felt like someone was standing beside me on my right side.
While at base -I heard a loud crash around from the pantry, I heard a child’s voice twice, I witnessed the REM Pod going off for a short time, Brian and myself her music on the front parlor/living room.
Melissa:
While I was in the parlor with Beth and the owner discussing the plasma ball, I started getting cold chills, one after another. They didn’t stop until I moved away.
When I was at base with Beth and Chris, we heard a loud bang in the kitchen. Chris looked but couldn’t find anything that would have made the noise.
Larry via/Skype:
While watching from Ky. Melinda and I did hear some Knocks, and seen some light anomalies, some of the lights we seen were debunked.
Beth:
I heard a couple of loud bangs in the kitchen area while sitting at base that could not be explained. Unfortunately, no more personal experiences than this.
Brian:
I heard a child’s voice from the parlor. After Christie and I went in there and sat down, I heard music from the foyer like the old kind of western piano. Also, we documented this one, but while sitting at base, Ed, Christie, and I heard a bang, when checked out, a mop was knocked over next to laundry with no apparent cat or source.
RESEARCH ON PROPERTY
| REPORTS OF ACTIVITY |
| · People have witnessed apparitions, including an African-American man singing and whistling
· Unexplained foot steps · Slamming doors · Morse code tapping · Odor of cigar smoke · Lights running on and off · Pictures falling off walls · Ceiling fans turning on by themselves · Household items disappear · Phantom texts from owners phone while it was unattended · Reverend Jacob Stillwell, who died at 57, is believed to be the source of most activity |
| HISTORY OF PROPERTY |
| · Built in 1822, has 6 bedrooms, and is 3000 sq. feet.
· I-house with a saltbox roof · Served as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. · Thought to be the oldest building in Stone Mountain. · A wooden board found in the attic had the signatures of several Civil War soldiers etched into the surface. Was mounted above the front door. (not sure if still there) · Spanish explorers are verified to have visited in 1597. · In 1868, the Stillwell’s were the first people to live there in a residential sense. · The Stillwell’s, Jacob, a Baptist minister, and Mary, had 9 children and occupied the home until the early 1940’s |
| HISTORY OF AREA |
| · Became urbanized in the 1960’s. (Water, sewage, etc…)
· Minerals within the rocks under the property include quartz, plagioclase, feldspar, microcline, and muscovite, with smaller amounts of biotite and tourmaline. · Land has been occupied dating back to prehistory. · Strong Native American presences in the area, specifically the Creek (aka Muscogee) and Cherokee. · Native Americans were the first humans to visit the area about 9,000 years ago. · In the late seventeenth century Europeans, probably English traders and slave raiders, journeyed to Stone Mountain. Disease followed these Europeans to central Georgia, killing thousands of Native Americans. In response to the threat posed by contact with whites, surviving indigenous tribes made alliances with one another during the late eighteenth century. These alliances became known as the Creek Confederation. |
| INTERESTING TIDBITS |
| · Cemetery is .4 mile away (3 blocks)
· Funeral home is .3 miles away · Train passes directly behind the lot across the street from the house · Jeronta Brown and Briana Brooks (very pregnant) were abducted from their home and put in a brown van on August 30th, 2014 by two men (Richard Wilson and Andre Gay) dressed as FBI officers. When ransom was not paid, they were dropped off close by the property on side of road and killed execution style while still in handcuffs. Brown died at the scene and Brooks died later after doctors delivered her baby girl at the hospital. · The headstone of Jacob Stillwell was found leaning against the house. It was put there years earlier when it was replaced with a newer one as a nearby cemetery. · The 9 children would have dances when their parents were out of town and it drew great anger from Reverend Stillwell, as he believed dancing was a sin. · No deaths listed for the property. However, during the hospital days, it was not tracked. · The Muscogee were the first Native Americans considered to be “civilized” under George Washington‘s civilization plan. In the 19th century, the Muscogee were known as one of the “Five Civilized Tribes“, because they had integrated numerous cultural and technological practices of their more recent European American neighbors. · Influenced by their prophetic interpretations of the 1811 comet and earthquake, the Upper Towns of the Muscogee, supported by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh, began to resist European-American encroachment. · During the Indian Removal of the 1830s, most of the Muscogee Confederacy were forcibly relocated · At the outbreak of the American Civil War, the Muscogee refused to form an alliance with the Confederacy, unlike many other tribes, including many of the Lower Creeks. Runaway slaves, free blacks, Chickasaw and Seminole Indians began gathering with them. |