Cheney House Investigation 2015

Built in 1827, the "Little Red House" was Jerseyville's first frame structure. The two-story building served as a stagecoach station, a Pony Express stop, the town's first tavern, the first school and the first bank. A slave cell in the basement was a stop on the Underground Railroad, connected via an underground tunnel to a log house that once sat across the street. In 1843, it became the home of Dr. Edward A. D'Arcy, whose daughter, Catherine, would marry Prentiss Dana Cheney. And it was Cheney who built the modern-day Cheney Mansion around the Little Red House.

Currently part of the Jersey County Historical Society, it's a beautifully preserved home and our guide was Carol Senger.

For further information about ghost tours and other events contact the owners.

Located at 601 N. State Street, Jerseyville, Illinois 62052, 618-498-3514

Numerous reports of ghosts include the apparition of Miss Dorothy, a former nursemaid who roams the hallways and the bedroom bearing her name. Reports of people hearing talking upstairs, like women holding a conversation. Sounds of dining room chairs moving, like somebody's pulling out the chairs getting ready to sit down, people moving about and radio stations that switch by themselves. Previous investigations by other paranormal groups such as Paranormal Researchers of Southern Illinois run by Brian Lavigne have encountered strange sounds and numerous EVPs while investigating the site. A little girl has been heard singing, frequent phantom footsteps, smells of perfume, vomit and animal odors and the basement seems to be very aggressive against female investigators.

The Ghost Research Society investigated the Cheney House March 7, 2015 and the team members included: Stan Suho and Dale Kaczmarek, with help from Dean Thompson, Jeanne Chilton and Bob Davies, Lori Leger, Adam Hayes, Dave Hwang and Vicki Craig from Champaign Urbana Paranormal Society

Equipment setup: A static IR camera was set up in the nursery facing the bed and the door leading to the attic that occasionally opens by itself. On the bed was a REM Epod. A shadow detector was set up facing the bed and the entry doorway and was illuminated by a large IR light. Cables were strung to a Command Center in the entryway to the building on the main floor. Stan also had some setup which will be explained in more detail in his report.

Experiments performed: EVP, SB-11 (antenna not connected to any radio frequencies), Ovilus X and Ghost Radar sessions were held in the Basement, Nursery, Graveyard and Dorothy’s Room.

Personal experiences:

Dale Kaczmarek: I personally did not have any encounters or experiences while investigating however there was some consistent and intelligent Ovilus responses during a session in Dorothy’s Room which went on for almost thirty minutes! There were numerous references to the Attic and books. The device almost implored us to go up to the attic many times by saying “up”, “attic” or “stairs”. The upstairs however was off limits to investigators. There was also mention of a “purple book” which Dean later found two such books in the nursery that related to nursing and which lead us to believe that we might have been talking to the spirit of Dorothy herself.

There were other, not so nice, communications and explicatives that came through in Dorothy’s Room and even a deep low growling sound that was audible to many in the Basement EVP session.

The Graveyard session was uneventful except when I asked about moving the stones, to which both times I received a stern “no”.

Stan Suho: This was the second visit of the GRS to the Cheney House. The investigation followed a long weekend of Helicopter’s, dodging men in black, and climbing Indian mounds. Bob's group had set this up and we were joined by Jeanie. I concentrated on an area on the second floor hallway, where on the last visit; a loud crash boom bang was heard by everyone present. We could find no reason for the sound. My Ghost Camera was placed in a Bedroom focused down the hallway where the sound was recorded. The Ghost Microphone was also in use. The G.E.I.S.T. system was not in use because of space and weight restrictions in the car. The setup was monitored back at the command post by a Monitor, DVR, and Laptop running Audacity audio software. The last time the sound was recorded on a real to real tape recorder. This time we had state of the art equipment and nothing paranormal was recorded. Dale and the rest of the crew were busy doing EVPs throughout the house.

Conclusion;
I found out late in the investigation that there is a Cemetery out in the back yard. Next time I'd like to put a camera in there and see what shows up. Because of the long drive back we broke up early. Nothing to report on my end.

Evidence collected:

Fuck you cheney.MPG – while conducting an Ovilus X session in Dorothy’s Room, the Ovilus X suddenly says, “Fuck you!”

Growl cheney.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in the basement, a low growling sound was recorded and heard by many near Bob.

No cheney.MPG – while conducting a Ghost Box session in the small graveyard, a question was asked, “Do you want somebody to move them (the stones) back to where they were originally?” The Ghost Box responds with, “No.”

No2 cheney.MPG – while conducting a Ghost Box session in the small graveyard, a question was asked, “Can we move the tombstones back to where they were?” The Ghost Box responds with “No” again even before I finish asking the question.

Response.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in the Basement, a question was asked, “You can talk through this device I’m holding.” A response is heard in the background that doesn’t come from the Ovilus X.

Yeah cheney.MPG – while conducting an Ovilus X session in Dorothy’s Room, a question was asked, “Are you being disrespectful to us?” The Ovilus responds instantly with, “Yeah.”

Yes cheney.MPG – while conducting a Ghost Box session in the nursery, a question was asked, “Do you want me to hide?” The Ghost Box responds with, “Yes.”

Conclusions: This investigation of Cheney was a bit more active than the first time our team investigated it. There were a lot of intelligent and sometimes instant responses from our devices. There may still be some intelligent as well as residual entities residing within the confines of this historic old building. A little more equipment would have been helpful in monitoring areas that weren’t being investigated for evidence collection however only Stan and I were there from the GRS. Bob’s team was busy with their set up and it would have taken too much time to set up more equipment cameras, monitors and other devices.

I do however believe that we could have found more data if additional equipment was employed. It is still a fascinating location with a long and colorful history and perhaps many ghosts that still linger on the premises.