Leonard's Cave Investigation

A large cave, known by archaeological evidence to have been inhabited by Indians, is almost in the center of the Leonard Community. The cave (and the community) was called Leonard because it was on the farm owned by Lemuel Leonard, whose widow, Sally, donated the land for the community cemetery. The cave is still, for the most part, unexplored. The opening to the cave is larger than the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.

A large stream runs within the cave at all times. The “spring” in front of the cave is actually the headwaters of Trace Creek. The cave in unique in that it has a very large room at the entrance. In this room, on the ceiling in an imprint of a cows hoof, how it got there, no one knows. There are other unique things in the cave, like the turtle rock, the rainbow on the back wall of the cave about 4 o’clock in the evening of a summer time. The Buckeye tree that wept, but now is gone, was struck by lightning.

The main passageway to the right of this large room leads to another room. A stairway from this room leads to an upstairs room. The large room at the entrance was made into a combination dance and beer hall in the late 1930s. It had a large volume of business for a year of so. The cave came to the attention of the Tennessee Government in the early 1900s when the State Geology Department unearthed four skeletons in the large room of the cave in the early 1920s, thought to be the remains of two men, one woman, and one child. Artifacts found in the graves establish that the Leonard Cave had served as a burial ground for Indians. Two of these skeletons were placed in the State Museum in the War Memorial Building in Nashville.

The dancehall was closed shortly after Ed Darman of Cookeville was shot there by a Clay County officer.

Located at 36, 31.350 85, 47.387 off Bakerton Rd., Hermitage Springs, Macon County, Tennessee between Trace Creek Rd. (550 yds.) & Olin Bean Rd. (100 yds.)

Hauntings: Reports of paranormal activity have occurred in the cave since its closure.

Equipment setup: I setup a full spectrum camera and static IR camera with IR lamps in two separate rooms. In the room just to the right of the entrance where some bones were evident I set a Tri-Field Natural EM Meter near what looked like circle of stones, possibly burial sites, an EM Pump and Jim P. set up another static IR camera facing that area.

The rest of the team wedged a K-II meter in the rock face and began an EVP session when suddenly the K-II meter didn’t just slip but appeared to be shoved or twisted out of its nook in the cave wall and tumbled to the ground. About that same time I felt a distinct poke in my right kidney like a finger. We found shell cases in the cave and it made me wonder if what I had felt was no finger but actually the barrel of a gun since we were strangers and trespassing on a previous owner’s property?

The Ghost Research Society investigated Leonard's Cave on July 7, 2010. Team members included: Jim Piscopo, Stan Suho and Dale Kaczmarek with help from Brian & Michelle LaVigne, Dean & Susan Thompson, Jeanne Chilton.

Jim Piscopo: I really didn't feel anything in the cave.

Video review:

7-7-10

12:44 possible yell (scream.mpg)

17:46 high-pitched whoop (whoop.mpg)

28:43 Michelle asked the question, “Are you alone?” in an EVP session, then the K-II meter was dislodged from being wedged into a cave crevice and fell to the floor. This is a close up shot of this event. Close up

32:00 (approximate) I got poked in the back (poke.mpg) after panning around with the camera; I noticed what looked like an apparition of a man sitting in a cave crevice with his arms crossed over his knees. It could be simple matrixing, however it does look very convincing. Poke.jpg, and poke.bmp.

55:14 3 distant screams (3screams.mpg)

Jim Piscopo video review:

He also got another view of the K-II meter tumbling off the ledge during the EVP session.

Breath.mpg a disembodied breath very close to the camcorder microphone

Overall opinion and analysis: During the beginning the tape there was a lot of contamination and loud talking by group members in the entrance to the cave sitting at a picnic table. Their voices did carry into the cave and was picked up by all the camera’s audio so exact determination on whether the above sounds are paranormal or normal can not be absolutely be possible. I would have liked more EVP sessions conducted especially where I got poked in the back and where some bones were found. I think they could have been interesting catches.

Leonard's Cave revisited: July 6-8th, 2011

GRS Members Present: Jim Piscopo, Stan Suho, Nicole Tito, Lisa Krick, Lauren Kasmar and Dale Kaczmarek with help from Dean & Susan Thompson, Jeanne & Michael Chilton, Missy Darr, Lori & Casey Wedding and David Flaskampar.

Personal Experiences:

Lisa Krick: This is a cave which was owned by the Leonard Family and was on their property. A large cave, known by archaeological evidence to have been inhabited by Indians, is almost in the center of the Leonard Community. The Cave and the Community were called Leonard because it was on the farm owned by Lemuel Leonard, whose widow, Sally, donated the land of the community cemetery. The cave is still, for the most part, unexplored. The opening of the cave is larger than the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.

A large stream runs within the cave at all times. The "spring" in front of the cave is actually the headwaters of the Trace Creek. The cave is unique in that it has a very large room at the entrance. In this large room, on the ceiling is an imprint of a cow’s hoof, how it got there, and no one knows.

The main passageway to the right of this large room leads to another room. A stairway from this room leads to another room. A stairway from this room leads to an upstairs room. The large room at the entrance was made into a combination dance and beer hall in the late 1930's. The Cave came to the attention of the Tennessee Government in the early 1900's when the State Geology Dept. became aware that five skeletons had been found in the cave in the 1920's. Artifacts found in the graves established that the Leonard Cave had served as a burial ground for Indians. Two of these skeletons were placed, in glass showcases on display in the State Museum in the War Memorial Building in Nashville, Tennessee. Today the Cave is held by private owners, who do not want people coming onto their property or wandering about the cave.

All that being said, we gained permission to investigate in the cave and we headed to the far right room, where there were bones left. As we ran an EVP session, I could hear the murmur of conversation between males coming from another area. It was over and above the sound of the running spring in the cave. At about three minutes into the session someone asked “can you communicate with us again?” At which point my recorder picked up a sigh or “yeah” very close to me that was not heard in real time. After repeatedly hearing the murmuring of voices in another room, Dean and I went to check out the sounds. I used the parabolic device and could still hear it, but it was no clearer what the conversation was … still just a murmur.

The next session we did was at the “upper room” where I had heard the conversations coming from. Nicole and Michael climbed up to the opening into the room of the cave and listened. We all heard more conversation and a lot of shuffling, but nothing was captured on audio.

We then sat at the cave opening and ran a session, because this was the area where the Indian graves had been found. The K-II was popping in response to specific questions but there was no corresponding evidence gathered on audio.

Next, we went back to the “bones” room to run another EVP session. During this session I spoke with a spirit whom I believe to be Native American. I was asking if he was important to his clan and we all heard a disembodied voice near me state very clearly, “yes” … however, it did NOT pick up on my audio recorder. A bit later in the session someone stated, “That wasn’t supposed to happen” then dale murmured something and then there was a whisper not heard in real time but picked up on my audio recorder which stated, “Lisa” … pretty creepy cool!

Evidence collected:

Leonard Cave Teeth Room Communication during a Ghost Box session a response like “out” or “get out” was heard.

Leonard Cave Teeth Room take two whisper name every else was talking in a normal tone of voice and in the background a strange female whisper is heard.

Lisaorb.mpg is an orb that seems to follow Lisa Krick in the cave.

Moan.mpg sound of a male moan is heard in the background.

Orb.mpg is an orb that was captured.