The Crescent Hotel and the Night that Changed My Life Forever!

Dedicated to:

 Ashley Floyd-Essman

 

                On our way to Branson, Mo., to visit the Titanic Museum so I could write a blog post, we were in the car driving when my husband mentioned how close we would be to the Arkansas border. We live in Ohio so it’s very rare for us to drive that far west. After hearing how close we would be, my first thought was, “Oh my God. How far will we be from the Crescent Hotel & Spa? The Crescent is known to be the most haunted hotel in America and is on my bucket list?” I’ve seen the hotel on TV many times and I fell in love with the historic site. The history of the hotel alone, not including its beauty, is amazing!

          Turning to my husband, I said, “Quick, look up the Crescent Hotel & Spa and see how far away we will be? If we are close, I will be shocked!” Normally, my husband would say, “Are you crazy! I’m not looking that up,” and then I would have to do it myself later, but oddly, he did!

          “It’s an hour and fifteen minutes away from where we are staying,” he informed me and then he found something else even better! The hotel offered ghost tours and he sent me the link.

          Four hours later, I had checked us into the Branson-area hotel, gotten the kids in their bathing suits for my husband to take them to the pool while I was gone, and bought my ghost tour ticket at the Crescent for their 9 p.m. tour. I was ready to hit the road. 

          An hour and fifteen minutes later, after winding my way through the creepiest half desert/half forest mountains (most of the time I was freaked that I WOULD discover that bigfoot was REAL because I was going to see one jump out in front of me on the road), I finally arrived in total darkness turning up small winding hills which were extremely hard to see. Suddenly, my Honda Pilot popped out on top of a hill and soon the stunning mega stone hotel, the Crescent Hotel & Spa, was right in front of me. I smiled as my heart lit up with joy and suddenly felt like a kid in a candy store at its massive sight.

          Gathering all my ghost gear, deciding that I didn’t care if I embarrassed myself by having it will me and using it in front of strangers, I shot out of my Pilot, locked my door and ran up to the front entrance taking tons of pictures like the tourist I was. As I was taking pictures of the beautiful fountain lit up in the darkness with a crescent moon stationed in its center, high above the glowing fountain, outside the hotel’s main entrance, I was blissfully unaware of how this night was going to change my life forever.

          Walking inside the hotel’s historic, immense lobby with an elegant fireplace and Venetian furniture, I could not stop smiling if I tried.

 I spotted some books across the room on some bookshelves – my mothership! I began walking across the large lobby past a big desk with a large fluffy cat sitting on top looking like it was checking out passing guests. At first, I thought the cat was a statue, but then I thought I saw it move. Getting closer to it, I said aloud to myself, “Is that real?” Then the cat looked over at me after hearing me speak and took off.  “Well, I guess it was real!” I said, again to myself, and began picking up some of the books to look at them.

            I found a book about the hotel, House of a Hundred Rooms: Tales the Ghost Tour Guides Do Not Tell. The book guides tourists through the history of the Crescent Hotel using stories of real people who lived and worked there, and its haunted tragedies. Little did I know that later that same night, I would make a call asking the book’s author, Keith Scales, for an interview as my first blog guest! But at the time, I was just excited to hold the tale of the hotel’s history in my hands.

            As soon as I bought the autographed copy of Keith Scales’s book, I walked to the historic metal elevator and pressed the button for the 4^th floor. I didn’t know it at the time, but when I stepped into that elevator, so did my guardian angel! Yep, that’s right! My guardian angel.

          Making my way toward the end of the 4^th floor hallway, I spotted, across from the restaurant the place to check in for tours. However, I was an hour early. “I should ask if I can switch my tour and do the earlier tour?” I swiftly thought. “Then I can get back to my kids earlier. It’s a long drive back and it’s so dark!”

          I walked over to the two ladies taking tickets for the ghost tours and explained to them who I was and that I drove all the way from Ohio to be there, telling them honestly about my situation and how excited I was to be there and I was planning to write about their hotel and ghost tour. They were so kind. They got up and even walked me to the tour entrance door and introduced me to David, who was to be my tour guide.

          I sat on an old chair next to a couple in their 40s. I smiled at them and suddenly felt the need to look at the woman next to me again. I didn’t know the reason, but somehow, I felt this strange feeling or pull towards her. “What is it?” I thought to myself. There was something about her. I also felt the need to speak with her, but I couldn’t understand why or what I needed to speak to her about.

          Soon David began speaking interrupting my own thoughts as he started telling the crowd about the hotel’s wonderful history. 

Our Ghost Tour Guide David 

                                                This is basically what he said:

          The Crescent Hotel & Spa is known as America’s most haunted hotel! The Crescent was built for the rich and famous in 1886 in Eureka Springs, AR. Guests came from far and wide to stay at the Crescent, although to stay at the luxurious hotel you had to be personally invited. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the best business policy and the hotel went out of business, falling into disrepair.

          In 1908 the hotel was bought and turned into an all girl’s college called The Crescent College and Conservatory for Young Women. Unfortunately, the school closed in 1924, but later reopened in 1930 as a junior college only to close again 4 years later in 1934. 

                The Crescent was leased for a short while and soon sold to Norman Baker, an infamous conman who fashioned himself a doctor however he didn’t have a medical license. Baker claimed he could cure cancer by using water from the Eureka Springs. He advertised it to cancer patients looking for hope and  turned the property into a cancer treatment hospital and health facility.

                However, in 1940 Baker was arrested and went to prison for mail fraud. The poor Crescent sat abandoned until 1946 when the property was sold to John R. Constantine, Herbert E. Shutter, Herbert Byfield, and Dwight Nichols. After going through several other owners, in 1997, it was sold to current owners Marty and Elise Roenigk for $1.3 million. They restored it to look like it did back in its glory days.

          Today the Crescent Hotel & Spa is well known in pop culture due to many paranormal TV shows visiting the hotel and recording their haunted experiences. That’s right; Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, and Paranormal Witness have all come to the hotel capturing lots of ghostly activity, intriguing guests to come who want to have their own haunted experience at the historic hotel.

          One of the most well-known ghosts, Theodora, is a past resident and a former assistant of Baker when the facility was a cancer treatment hospital. Theodora is seen standing outside Room 419 looking for her lost room key. She takes up conversations with hotel guests, only to suddenly vanish into thin air leaving the guests perplexed. She also is seen on the 3^rd floor of the hotel pushing a gurney with a dead body covered in a white sheet, usually at exactly 4 a.m.

          The hotel has many popular rooms with ghost stories such as a young man named Michael, a 17 year old, Irish immigrant and stonemason; and a poor, little, 6-year-old boy named Breckie, who died of appendicitis after four days in the hospital. The hotel even has a small closet-sized space in the basement known as the morgue that was used when the hotel was a hospital.

Breckie

          Did I go to see all these things? YES! However instead of experiencing a ghost or a haunting, I experienced something else.

          During the tour, we started on the 4^th floor when David, the tour guide, took us down to the end of the hall. I got out my EMF reader and began scanning the hallway. The group soon followed David down the well-known stairwell toward the 3^rd floor were the nurse, Theodora, is often seen at 4 a.m.

          On the way down the stairs, I was walking next to Ashley Floyd Essman, the woman I sat next to who so grabbed my attention prior to the tour. For some reason, I felt drawn to Ashley. I can’t explain why but something in my head said the word, “Angelic” and I was drawn to her. As soon as I heard the word in my head, my EMF reader went off. We both smiled and looked at each other nervously since the EMF reader was going off but soon we were talking all about the paranormal, TV shows, and more. I told Ashley what I write about and we became instant friends, staying together during the entire tour. Ashley’s husband told me she loved paranormal stuff, but it definitely wasn’t his thing, so we both teased him as we all moved along with the tour.

          David took us around several places telling us ghost stories turning to me to see if my EMF reader was going off or not, and, if so, telling me why and who he thought it was, based off ghost stories of the hotel. Then he took us downstairs to the basement and morgue. The entire way down the hall my EMF reader was going off like crazy. I even captured a video of it beeping and lighting up. As I did, I looked behind me to Ashley. Both of us exchanged looks in disbelief watching what my EMF was doing.

                                                        Walking into Basement

          When we reached the morgue, we were taken into a room to view Baker’s collection of his cancer patients’ tumors, which he had cut out after their deaths to hide the fact that he hadn’t cured their cancer. Later, he buried the jars on the property, most likely at night so he wasn’t seen. The buried bottles were recently found by the hotel’s gardener, Susan Benson on February, 5, 2019. 

It was pretty disgusting but while in the room viewing the collection, Ashley was taking several pictures and videos behind me when she caught a red orb whisping in a circle high in the air until it disappeared amongst the members of our group. She had also taken a picture of an old patient wheelchair and large metal cabinet claiming she saw mist near them. 

            We were later led into a small space apparently used to stack the bodies on top of each other and leave them until the funeral home could come transport them. David asked members of our group to go into the small room, once used as a morgue, claiming that others we entered and shut the door have experienced something or gotten pictures of several ghosts.

          Ashley, her husband, and I, along with two other women, walked into the small dark room and David shut the door. We all began taking several pictures when suddenly Ashley’s husband (and skeptic) said, “Ashley, stop rubbing the back of my leg.” To which Ashley and I looked at one another via the two women’s cell phone flashes. Ashley and I knew she couldn’t be touching her husband’s leg because she wasn’t near him. She was standing next to me, on my other side.

          Ashley told her husband it couldn’t be her because she was not standing next to him and he yelled out for David, “Open the door!” David heard him scream and opened the door. He curiously asked, “Is everything okay?” as we piled out of the room. Ashley and I began telling David what happened and thought it was so funny that the ghost had touched her husband, who had stated to us that he didn’t believe in the paranormal. Pure irony! David said that this wasn’t the first time he had heard of someone having that experience.

          On our way out, I asked David, Ashley and her husband to take a picture for my blog article while holding the lit up EMF reader and they did. That was the first and last time I would ever see Ashley Floyd Essman.

Ashley Floyd-Essman and Husband

               After the tour David took me around the hotel telling me more as I took pictures. I had so much fun and he called Keith Scales for me and I talked to him about an interview for my blog. I drove back to the Branson hotel arriving at midnight and, by the morning light, I woke up to several text messages from Ashley. She sent me several pictures and videos which are seen here in this blog post. Most of this is from Ashley.

Ashley, her husband, and David (Our Ghost Tour Guide)

          Over the next several days, my family continued our trip then came home. On the way home my husband looked at me fearfully saying I didn’t look good, which I could tell really frightened him. I thought he was overreacting and assured him that I felt fine. I got home and talked to Ashley every day and night. We made lot of future plans to go ghost hunting together around the country. I even invited her to my birthday party the following week!! A total stranger but I felt as if we had known each other all our lives! It was such a strong feeling, one that I had never had before.

          We had such a connection!! She loved, read, and watched all the paranormal things I did! I just felt such a connection with her. It was the most unbelievably amazing connection I have EVER had with a friend.

          Then on day six after meeting Ashley, I picked up my phone and had an urge to text her about our exciting plans, even though it was past 9 p.m. She wrote me back saying something candid with a quick ‘goodnight,’ which was odd. That was the last I ever heard from her. That night I got terribly sick with the flu, or possibly Covid-19, because back in early February 2020 they didn’t really know what the symptoms were yet. I felt like I was going to die and was sick for weeks.

          That same night, Ashley died from a massive-heart attack at the age of 47! Her mother was kind enough to message me on Facebook and tell me that she had died. Ashley had told her whole family about me and our fast friendship. I was devastated and still very sick. My husband found me on the floor crying in shock. I had thought about Ashley during those days of not feeling well and thought, “hmmmm…I wonder why I haven’t heard from her. I will have to write her,” but I was too sick. That same night was the night I found out about her death.

          At my birthday party, I was still very upset and talked about it to my friends most of the night. I am a person who always believes that everything happens for a reason, only I couldn’t understand how there could EVER be a reason for loosing Ashley. I just didn’t understand why this had to happen. “Why would God introduce me to a great person, only to take her from me as soon as we had met?”

          I knew I wasn’t going to truly get over losing her even though I just met her. I felt that she was my best friend. We had talked and talked so much about our plans and future trips. We had so much fun during those talks. “Why would God take her from me?” Still, to this day, I grab my phone to text her and then remember and get upset all over again or become angry again from the loss. Some people don’t find out why, but I did!

          Three weeks ago, I was sitting at the Victorian House Museum in Millersburg, Ohio, talking with a spirit with two fellow paranormal investigators and friends, Paul and Harry, when suddenly Ashley came through. I was instantly crying and telling her how much I loved her, missed her, and cared for her.

          Ashley told me that she knew and that she would always be there with me. Ashley then told me the most interesting news of all…WHY THIS ALL HAD HAPPENED! Ashley told me she was meant to meet me in life, so she could help me in her death, watching over me as my GUARDIAN ANGEL! She told me God had sent her to me.

          That day was very emotional for me and still is…but now I truly have learned that EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON!! So when you have a doubt, please think of this story! And think of this….

Fate:

If I hadn’t heard my husband say that he couldn’t believe how close we were staying to the Arkansas state line, then I never would have asked him to look up how far away the Crescent Hotel was from our hotel. And I never would have gone to the hotel, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, I never would have gone on the earlier ghost tour where I met Ashley!!!

All of these things led me to meet Ashley and if one of them didn’t happen, just one of these things, I wouldn’t have met her!  It’s all God’s work! He did it all!! It was truly meant to be.

          So why am I telling this story? Because God works in mysteries ways that we as human beings don’t understand and sometimes may never understand. I am one of the lucky ones, because I did get to experience and learn why I met Ashley and why I lost her.

          You also may be thinking, “Well, what took her so long to write this article then?” That’s a good question, to which I have a deep answer: if I did write this article, then it would mean that Ashley Floyd-Essman did die and that was something I wanted to deny! But after hearing her come through to me a few weeks ago I knew I had to and she did too!

          I really hope this story helps someone else deal with their loss and grief as well. It hurts and it’s still hard for me. My grief isn’t gone. But now I know that God has His reasons, and I need to put my trust in Him. It’s just a reminder of that and to live each day like so.

          Ghosts may haunt the Crescent Hotel & Spa, but instead of meeting a ghost like others go to the hotel to experience, I MET A BEST FRIEND AND MY GUARDIAN ANGEL!! Now, who can say that?!

          What will your experience be at the Crescent Hotel & Spa in Eureka Springs, Arkansas???

 

©Rosella C. Rowe

This article and blog post is dedicated to my dear friend, Ashley Floyd- Essman. I love and miss you! Thank you for being my friend and angel.

Other Pics that of spirits I took in the hotel:

Spirit in Lobby

Ghost in Dress

No Glass Over This Printed Board

For more information about the Crescent Moon Hotel:

https://www.crescent-hotel.com/

Crescent Hotel Ghost Tours and Events:

www.americasmosthauntedhotel.com

-Keith Scales: House of a Hundred Rooms: Tales the Ghost Tour Guides Do Not Tell…:

https://www.amazon.com/House-Hundred-Rooms-Tales-Guides/dp/1978086881

The Victorian House Museum:

My First Visit & Investigation:

          The Victorian House Museum in Millersburg, Ohio, is a hidden gem in the heart of Amish Country! So, what makes this house so special? THERE ARE SO MANY REASONS! Some of which I wouldn’t even come to know until my second visit there.

          After stumbling upon an ad on Facebook for the Victorian House Museum, the house simply called my name. In an instant I thought, “I don’t care how far away this place is, I am going!”

          Soon I was scheduled for my investigation and interview of the staff for my blog. I was so excited!

           When I arrived at the house, I began to interview Mark Boley, director of the Holmes County Historical Society, and the seven members of the Victorian House Ghost Guild. The Ghost Guild is a paranormal team that leads the private paranormal investigations for the house. 

          The group also conducts its own paranormal investigations in the home collecting their own evidence. Everyone was there to tell me about their paranormal experiences as well as reveal their passions for the beautiful Victorian home. Each volunteer is highly educated about the history of the house and wishes to share The Victorian House Museum’s resident ghosts with the world.

        

           Additionally, visitors who have come to see the house, and may not know it is haunted, have experienced mind-blowing paranormal activity! According to Society Director Boley, he believes the skeptics who tour the house are the ones who have the most powerful experiences! Especially with Lena, who is one of the resident ghosts and last owner of the Victorian home.

          

          That’s right  – from shadow figures, disembodied voices, batteries drained, sudden loss of internet during public events, rolling blackouts (electrical outages rolling throughout the house during public events), to the unexplainable movement of displayed objects locked in a glass cabinet! (SEE YOUTUBE VIDEO AT BOTTOM) 

          

          Also, full-body apparitions of a little girl, a Civil War surgeon, and the last resident, Lena Lee, who is known to suddenly appear in your face, scaring non-believers, have appeared. And last but not least, YOUR OWN RELATIVES coming through during a paranormal investigation! Yep, you read that RIGHT! This house is well-known by the Ghost Guild for paranormal investigators experiencing their own relatives visiting them during investigations in the house. Sometimes these loved ones even give information from beyond the grave solving family mysteries!  

          

But first here is a brief history of the Victorian House Museum:

                    The Victorian house is a Queen Ann style designed by Cleveland architect Fenimore C. Bates. It was built by L.H. Brightman, an industrialist from Cleveland, for only $10,000. Construction began in 1900 on the home and it was occupied sometime in 1901 however not completed until 1902. The family celebrated their first Thanksgiving in the house in 1902. The house has 28 rooms.

                    Brightman had 12 children; however, only eight lived in the residence, two died in Cleveland before the house was built. The Brightmans’ residence was short-lived for Mr. Brightman was an inventor and manufacturer of mill machinery shafts. His business simply outgrew its facility in Millersburg in 1903 and he moved to Shelby, Ohio. That move was also short lived and three years later the family moved to California, where they remained. 

L.H. Brightman

                    Then in 1907, C. W. Kochenerfer and a Dr. Lewis purchased the home turning it into a sanitarium for alcohol and drug addicts, rheumatism and convalescent patients, and those with other health issues. The sanitarium was marketed to patients who simply wanted the comfort of home with rest and quiet. However, the small business failed leaving the house empty for a few years until it was sold in 1909 to H.C. Lee, co-owner of Lee & Griggs Construction Co., and the home remained in the Lee family until 1971 when the last resident, Lee’s daughter, Lena Lee, left the home and went to live in a nursing facility.
 

 

                    Lena Lee loved the house; however, after three failed marriages, Lena fell into a deep depression becoming known locally as the woman in black, because she wore only black dresses after her third marriage. Lena was neither physically nor financially able to keep the home up and closed most of the home down in order save money on heat, only living in two rooms on the first floor. This left the house is disrepair and covered in black soot from its coal burning stove in the basement.

Harkness (H.C.) Lee and Lucy Ellen Payne

Lena Lee

           In 1971, the house was bought at auction for $12,500 and gifted to the Holmes County Historical Society so the Victorian home could be restored to its true beauty! Unfortunately, all the furniture in the home had already been sold at the auction. But several of the pieces have been gifted to the society. The historical society worked for years to restore it, one floor at a time. It took three years to have all three floors open to the public. All the woodwork had to be thoroughly washed a total of six times, revealing light woodwork instead of the dark wood thought to be original to the house. The parquet floors also were thoroughly washed and scrubbed bringing the whole house back to life. And because of all the coal soot, even the ceilings had to be washed revealing the most beautiful artwork on the parlor ceiling.

          Harry, the leader of the Ghost Guild, along with Paul and Melissa, took us (my investigator friend Evan and me) into the Victorian House Museum, and we were given a tour through the gorgeous home. We were also shown pictures of ghostly activity caught on film over the years and were shown the known paranormal hot spots in the house.

          Soon the Ghost Guild left us to our explorations, but they stayed in the house in case we needed them later. Evan and I went up to the third floor to start our investigation.

          Earlier, Harry had shown us a picture of two entities caught on camera in a room named the “Maids Room” in the middle of the third floor.  In this picture you can see a shadow of a person on the door of the small bedroom; however, standing just outside the door in the hallway, you see a woman with an old fashioned bobbed hair cut, wearing a black dress with a white collar.  After seeing this picture, we simply had to check it out and started in The Maids Room first!  

After seeing this picture, we simply had to check it out and started in The Maids Room first!

        While we were investigating, the strangest thing happened! We were asking questions when we noticed that my EMF reader was going crazy and was at its highest level, all the way to a 5, which is extremely rare! It was even more mysterious that it would stay at that high level for so long.

          Evan asked to see it and, when I gave it to him, it suddenly stopped. I took it back and it did it again, moving all the way to 5. He then took it back again, and again it stopped. He then said into the room, “If there is anyone in the room with us doing this could you stop so Rosella could communicate with you? We would like to ask you questions.” I agreed with him and then the EMF reader, still in Evan’s hand, went off in response. We were hoping this was in agreement. Then I looked over at Evan and, behind him, saw a dark large shadow (looking just like it did in the picture Harry had just shown me earlier) dart across the same door where the picture was taken.

          After seeing the figure, we waited a few minutes before asking more questions. Then I stated to anyone there in the Maids Room with us that I was there to write their story and tell the public about the Victorian House and why it’s so special. Evan then asked, “Did you know she was coming? Did you know she wants to tell your story?” In return, we heard a simple “Yes!” The activity died down after that and soon the room filled with tension and, unfortunately, the EMF reader started to act up again shooting to 5. We took this as a sign to leave the room, so we moved to the ballroom.

          In the ballroom we asked questions for a few minutes and soon heard a loud sound in the hallway that sounded like the wooden floorboards were being stomped on really hard down the hall. Evan and I jumped, not expecting that kind of activity.

          Moving on, we walked out into the hallway on the third floor and called down for the Ghost Guild volunteers. We told them our experiences so far, showing them our EMF readers that were now BOTH lit up on red as high as they could go! The Guild members told us this was really strange and thought that maybe it could be an electrical problem because normally paranormal investigation groups come in at night, when all the electric is shut off. 

          So, Harry went downstairs and shut off all the house’s electric to see if that was it. Unfortunately, our EMF detectors still were fully lit. Harry and Paul informed us that this had never happened before, which was my suspicion, and it was then that I knew we were being tested! It was as if we were being hazed by the resident ghosts.

          As a sensitive, I knew I didn’t feel right in the house. It simply didn’t make sense! Especially after hearing about the many paranormal experiences the Ghost Guild had. Nothing added up! I simply felt an odd energy in air inside the home and knew I was being…..BLOCKED! This was the first time I had ever experienced something like this.

          Soon Paul, a Ghost Guild member and volunteer, walked Evan and me down to the basement where he proceeded to ask questions along with Evan while I did an EMF scan of the room. We were at the back of the basement in a room full of tools.  I was told this space was used by Lena’s third ex-husband, Hershel Unkel, who was an inventor. The Guild members believe that Hershel, as well as Howard, a twin son born to Mr. Brightman and his first wife, Mrs. Brightman, reside in the basement. 

          Using our EMF readers that had finally subsided in their unusual reactions as we walked into the basement, we tried to communicate; however, we would only get spikes when walking in and out of a certain area near the front of the house. As I did, I experienced a very cold spot. Paul then directed us to move toward the end of the basement where he thought we would have more action. We walked back near the basement stairs and I sat down in an old chair. Then Evan began to ask questions aloud to Hershel, an entity believed to be in the basement. “Hershel, are you the one here with us right now?” To which Evan’s EMF spiked a bit. Then Paul spoke to Hershel, “These are my new friends. Rosella is a writer and wants to write a story about the house and can tell your story if you let her. Can you talk to my new friends? They are nice people and aren’t here to harm anyone.” Evan’s EMF reader made a little spike, again lasting a minute, and then all went quiet. After a few moments, Paul told us he thought that the two spirits had moved from the room and we followed him upstairs to the second floor.

          Evan, Paul and I walked into the room designated the “Children’s Room and Nursery.” The paranormal group and volunteers believe that children from the Lee family and, possibly, the Brightman family, like to stay in this room. In fact, Mark Boley, the historical society director, has had some vivid experiences witnessing a little girl apparition in this room.

          Mark described walking into the Children’s Room to check to see if the paranormal group visiting that night needed anything. Instead he found a blond little girl with blue eyes dressed in a white old-fashioned night gown standing in front of an old dresser looking right at him. He thought he was crazy for a moment, rubbed his eyes, and walked to the master bedroom, which is beside the children’s room, to wait for the group to come down the hall. He wanted to see if the group saw what he had seen on their own.

          He said they walked into the room and shouted out, “Look, there’s a little girl!” Mark then walked into the room and stood behind the group and watched a member of the group lie down on the floor and reach out toward the little girl slowly, so he didn’t scare her. In turn, she also reached out and soon their two fingers touched!! That’s when a cat apparition appeared on the bed! Mark reported that this was the ONLY time he has ever seen the girl or the cat appear.

          When Paul, Evan and I were in the room we all sat down on the floor. I still felt like the spirits there were blocking me. The air felt still and stale as we sat there, and we began to speak aloud to any spirits in the little bedroom. I told the spirits who I was and why I was there. I also told them about my children and that I loved children’s books and toys, and my EMF reader lit up in response. I talked about my favorite books to read to my children, one was about Lake Erie. When I said this, my EMF reader lit up like Christmas! It really liked Lake Erie and at the time, we didn’t understand why. However, we soon would….

           I then got out my cell phone and asked if it wanted to see pictures of my kids. I also had some PDFs of children’s books on my phone for my own kids that I could show the spirit if it wanted to see them. The spirit, I think was the same little girl that Mark had experienced, lit up my EMF again. So, I started to pull up pictures of my kids and showed them, I then showed them videos of my kids and read then a children’s book from my phone. It loved it all and kept responding to what I was saying again and again.

          Soon Evan also took out his phone and began showing the little spirit his cat, because we thought it liked cats, and the spirit really loved it and lit up his EMF and mine in unison. It was amazing!

          We knew we had to go so we wrapped up by saying goodbye.  I told Paul and the little girl spirit, that I would be coming back. I said the next time I came I could bring the children’s book about Lake Erie with me if it wanted me to and would like that, and my EMF lit up again with glee.

          We were walked out by all the volunteers including Mark, the director, who had come to bid me goodbye and invite me back. I turned toward the house, and facing the marvelous and amazing home, and said, “I will be back. Something about this place is calling to me. It’s like it has a hold on me that I just don’t understand yet.” But I knew that one day I would.

          As everyone looked at me, they weren’t surprised. They told me they all felt the same way. “It’s like the house gets you and just drawls you in,” Harry said as he looked at me. Paul nodded and soon we all were looking at the house together.

          Soon, I was getting into my car to start my long three-hour drive back home. As I pulled my Black Honda Pilot out of the drive and starting to drive away from the house, I looked back at it saying aloud, “I will be back. I still have much more to learn from you.”

          Later that night, I had a dream that the great granddaughter of the Brightman family was in the Children’s Room. She calmly was looking around in the small room with endearing emotion, touching the little dolls and children’s trinkets, slowly walking about the room.

          The next day, Harry happened to call me. I told him I had a dream that a granddaughter was coming to visit the house. Then Harry told me that Mark had to talk with me because over the weekend something amazing had happened.

          The next day I was on my way to the house again. I just couldn’t stay away! As soon as I walked in, Mark pulled me aside like an overwhelmed child in a candy store, and began telling me that the granddaughter of Dorthea Brightman had come to visit over the weekend. He said she had spent a lot of time in the Children’s Room upstairs and even told him about an experience that she had when entering the room, she felt chills and she had also experienced another event several years ago in the basement during another visit to the house.

          She said that she was standing near a small baby buggy (similar to one that her Grandmother Dorthea had taken a picture with as a child that still hung on the wall in the house upstairs). The carriage in the basement began to move slowly, and soon rolled across the room completely on its own.

            Mark was amazed and talked to her a little bit about the paranormal activity in the house and happened to ask her where she was from…. HOLD ON TO YOUR SEAT…!! Lake Erie area, she told him!! Mark says and I quote, “I almost died right then!” He said to me, still in shock.  “There’s our Lake Erie connection!” he said with emphasis to me. “Yes!” I replied. Then I told Mark all about my dream.

          Mark was blown away. “Oh my God!” he exclaimed. “Wow, just wow. You never could have known that she would come! That is just crazy. Just wow!”

          So would I recommend visiting the Victorian House Museum or booking a paranormal investigation of your own at the house!! I think you already know the answer!

          Until next time…I will tell you about my return investigation to the house that changed my life forever! Each of my visits to the home is even more fascinating then the last! I hope you stay intrigued!

           

      

       ©Rosella C. Rowe

For More Information:

 

Victorian House Museum Website: https://www.holmeshistory.com/victorian-house

 

YouTube: Historical Video: https://youtu.be/CcIXy97PNkI

 

Book A Private Investigation:

- YouTube Ghost Guild’s Paranormal Activity at The Victorian House Museum:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4NIE-sLXYE&feature=youtu.be