Marion County Poor Farm Investigation

Most poor farms cost the counties they resided in, but the Peabody Poor Farm in Marion County actually brought in money.  The building was constructed in 1890 and when superintendent, W. K. Palmer took over in 1893 he brought a new attitude toward the ethics of poor farm residents.

The men farmed 180 acres and raised hogs. The women produced baked goods and sewing as means of supporting themselves and the farm needs. Palmer was so good as encouraging and promoting new ethics to the residents that soon they had a surplus of $200 toward county taxes.  

The residents were the poor, the indigent and the mentally challenged of the area. Unwed mothers were allowed to stay during their pregnancy but had to leave when their child was adopted.

In the 1900’s much of the land was sold off and the poor farm became the Marion County Rest Home at Cedar Ridge.  In 1964 the residents were moved to the new Cedar Ridge Rest Home and the old building was purchased locally and turned into apartments.

There is no ugly past to the property; no mistreatment of the people who lived there. 

There should be nothing but good memories from the place. As a poor farm, the residents; or as they were called back then- the inmates were well treated and held great pride in their ability to sustain themselves and pay taxes to the county. When it became a rest home it was renovated to accommodate the new residents and even an elevator was installed for access to upper floors. 

The residents were so happy with their new home that when TV became a new item, they pooled their own money to purchase one for the house residents.

In 1973 the property and building are down to 2 ½ acres and sold to a private family.  It has been a private resident, a restaurant, a spiritual retreat and finally a private resident/museum.  Activities in the home are substantial especially after the home was struck by an unofficial tornado in 2009. That event seems to have stirred up activity in the residence.

We made several visits to the home and captured class A EVP’s (electronic voice phenomenal).  Personal experiences included being touched, hearing footsteps and whispers and numerous cold spots throughout the property.  Below are some of the photos we captured.

Marion County Poor Farm

The rear of the home took the storm damage and opened up a splurge in paranormal activity.

This photo was taken in the attic

                                      Notice the interesting rod on the left side of the photo.

Taken in one of the back bedrooms now with a damaged roof after the storm.

Be sure to check back for more photos.

Remember all you ghost hunters out there, respect property and respect the dead, and always carry extra batteries! Be sure to check back for more investigations by Cee’s Ghost Hunting and Paranormal. You can also sign up for email notifications at the bottom of this blog.  Be careful out there.

ghost-written by D. Susan Rutz

Ward Meade Mansion Investigation

Side view of the Ward Meade Mansion in Topeka, Kansas.
(clicking on the photos will enlarge them}

Anthony Ward and his wife Mary Jane purchased 240 acres of riverside land in 1854 from an Indian named Joseph James; he was a half breed from the Kansa tribe. The Wards were the second settlers in a town yet to be named Topeka, Kansas.

By the 1870's the family built a two-story, Victorian home; constructed of limestone and brick. Limestone is a known conductor of spirit activity. Reported ghostly activity includes a male apparition, footsteps, the sound of children giggling, mist and arm grabbing as well as EVP's (electronic voice phenomenon). Mr. Ward died in April, 1874 and his wife in March of 1897. Their daughter, Jennie, married a railroad man named John Mackey Meade and their decendents lived in the mansion until it was given to the town of Topeka as a historical site in 1961.

After the house and grounds were turned over to the historical society of Topeka other buildings of historical interest in Kansas were brought to the site and turned into what is now called, Old Prairie Town.

On our investigation we went through the mansion and the Potwin Drug Store brought in and set up on the property. The drug store was in operation in the Potwin area of Topeka for seventy-five years and when moved included everything that was in the building, even the marble counter topped soda fountain. The drug store is still opened for fountain treats and boasts the best ice cream floats in the area. On the second floor were the offices of a local dentist and all his equipment and furniture were included in the move.

The parlor or sitting room

It was a hot evening when we arrived for the investigation. We were disappointed to find out that the furnishings in the mansion were not original to the building and most were reproductions of the era. The photos and paintings on the walls were originial to the house so that gave us hope to catch something paranormal. Energy from previously owned processions can often attract the spirits that owned them.

                                    

Something over the mantle. Notice the camera fuzzed over and the rest of the photo is out of focus.

The upstairs master bedroom. That's the cradle in the photo. We expierenced a lot of cold spots upstairs, in the hallway, in the children's playroom and in the master bedroom. We also smelled perfume in that room. We left a recorder on the dresser but some time after leaving the house to investigate the drug store, the recorder mysteriously turned off.

The entrance to the Potwin Drugstore, notice the red streak at the entrance.

The entrance to the upstairs dentist office shows an orb at the bottom left by the bushes but there is also a large one at the top of the stairs.

The photo right after it shows the large orb has disappeared and a new orb is on its way up the stairs.

The investigation at the Ward Meade mansion and Old Prairie Town buildings was exciting and we were hungry for more, so on the way home we stopped at a local cemetery. This is a tree at the entrance to the cemetery. It is carved as a work of art but notice the blue mist enveloping the tree trunk.

Orbs in a cemetery? Who would have thought, right? Well, we know there are more orbs than dust and bugs in a cemetery, check these out.

What is that off to the right? Let's get a better look at that one.

A smiley face? Let's get even closer and see for ourselves what kind of bug or dust ball this might be.

Don't you love it! We do. We love capturing evidence and anomolies both. Well, all you ghost hunters out there remember to respect your surroundings, respect the dead and always carry extra batteries.

ghost written by D. Susan Rutz

Abilene Kansas Private Home

This is a investigation we did at a private home in Abilene, Kansas.

We had activity as soon as we entered. Light anomalies were everywhere and we were just sitting and talking at this point.

 at one point I started freezing, it was like a ice cube was being drawn down my side so I told Candie to take photos. I guess someone was reaching out to me or maybe they were just curious.

Keep your eyes on that lamp

As the investigation progressed the light anomolies continued but then in going over the photos at the end of the night we found this one. The man on the stairs.

 We were going up the stairs when we took this and did not see anything until we looked at the photos later. The light is a window at the top of the stairs that is allowing natural light to invade. But the person on the stairs was not visible to our eyes.

Let's Talk Orbs

Wikipedia definition: Orb (optics): The term orb describes unexpected, typically circular artifacts that occur in flash photography—sometimes with trails indicating motion—especially common with modern compact and ultra-compact digital camers. Orbs are also sometimes called orb backscatter, or near-camera reflection.

The definition goes on to explain that light from the camera illuminates particles close to the camera such as dust, pollen, water particles and such.   

Many investigators believe that orbs are nothing more than dust particles, or balls of energy coming off of power lines and do not believe that they are paranormal. The truth is Science does not know what orbs are, where they come from and what their purpose is. That’s why we keep investigating so that we can find out more about paranormal events.  

Whatever you believe we present to you some of the best photos we have captured of orbs.

First we have Orbs in motion.

 

 tree orbs

No Idea what this is! Looks like motion but someone commented that it looks like Elvis. ?

I love this photo. The night seems to be alive with activity.

 Blue orbs

Now comes the mist! Some say that mist is nothing more than water vapor captured by the camera. you be the judge of what you see.

This one looks like a head to me, see the ear?

 Look at this one rising from the grass. It resembles a person's face.

This one has it all. Orbs, mist, moving objects--the activity that night was unreal!

Let us know what you think of orbs.

Remember all you ghost hunters out there; be safe, respect your surroundings and always carry extra batteries!

ghost writer for this article D. Susan Rutz 

Skiddy Kansas Investigation

Settlers from Pennsylvania and New Jersey made their way to a location in Kansas south of Junction City 

and the Big Red One of Fort Riley, Kansas. It was 1870 and their leader was named, W.E. Tomlinson. The community was mostly Baptist and the first general store was built by J. R. College.  The name for the new community came from an unusual source. They name their town Skiddy, after a railroad man Francis Skiddy from New York. Francis Skiddy was a magnate on the Union Pacific Railroad and controlled the Northern Extension of the Tebo and Neosho Railroad, which ran between Sedalia and Nevada Missouri. The connection between Mr. Skiddy and the townsfolk is unclear, but rumor has it that he promised to build a library and community center if the town were named after him, unfortunetly after doing so Mr. Skiddy left the community and neither were ever built.

Skiddy Kansas flourished in their infancy with the construction of their church in 1882 and the 

population grew to 120 residents.  By the 1880’s residents moved on and Skiddy fell into a ghost town.

We took a trip out to Skiddy, and the surrounding fields where the old west remains virtually untouched. 

There are no construction teams digging up the ground to build. The earth remains quiet, waiting and resting. There are a few buildings standing around and a house here or there on the outskirts where a farm touches up to a town that no longer exists. But, the spirits are alive and active. Here are some of the photos we captured on our investigation.

it was a cold night in Feb and the orbs were everyehere.

they were even checking out the cats!

There are investigators that argue there is no Scientific proof that orbs are spirit related. We think they are. We submit the following photos for your viewing pleasure, what you believe-that's up to you.

Orbs were everywhere! I love those bright round globes.

And if you have problems with orbs, what do you think about mist?

That mist is coming up from the ground, the grass, the earth itself and it sure looks ominious to us.

Mist forming in the trees

tree mist

Now, we present some photos of a very bright orb and if you look at the fence you might see a face.

See the face on the fence--it's behind the bright glowing orb.

Same photo a moment later with the orb is missing but the face is still looking at us. The night was very active. The surrounding woods, fields, even some old abandonded buildings produced orbs.

There seems to be plenty of activity in the old town, perhaps residents never wanted to move away and when their time came they found their way back to the town they once loved in Skiddy, Kansas.
But, if you don't believe in orbs or mist or faces on a fence then you really shouldn't look at the next photos because we don't even know what we captured with this one.

what is that? Let's enlarge it.

let's get a better look at this weird thing

Whatever it is, it has a lot of energy. That's no bug that we've ever seen and if I had dust like that floating around me, well, I'd have a hard time breathing. Look at the hook thing on the end of one of the appendices. Like some sort of arrow tail or something.

Remember, all you ghost hunters out there respect property, repect the departed and always carry extra batteries.

article ghost writer: D. Susan Rutz