Lemont Historical Society Investigation

Originally called The Lemont United Methodist Church and this building had its inception about 1853 around the time of the digging of the Illinois Michigan Canal. In 1858, Reverend Williams organized a class which later became the current church.

The trustees eventually met in July of 1861 and decided to build a church of Lemont limestone at a cost of around $2000. On September 14, 1861 the cornerstone was laid. Within it was placed a Bible, Hymn book, Discipline, Copy of the Chicago Tribune, History of the Lemont M. E. Church with a list of officers, a copy of the Methodist Christian Advocate and two pieces of U.S. coins dated 1860.

Later on October 21, 1861, the church was not completely finished but services were held nonetheless. At this time the country was engulfed in a great Civil War and the church was used a recruiting depot. The first couple married in the church was Mattie Jones and John Wells; the latter joined the Union Army and went off to war. In 1898 the United States declared on Spain and again the young folk from this area went off to fight in another war. This happened yet again in 1914 and 1941 during World War I and II and again in 1961 during the Viet Nam War.

In Lemont, sixty-four of the village’s 400 inhabitants formed the “Lemont Guards,” and in Blue Island, a war meeting resulted in the creation of a company that later joined the 13th Illinois.

This remained a church until 1973 when it became a funeral home. It is now home to the Lemont Historical Society.

Address: 306 Lemont St., Lemont, IL 60439

Phone: 630-484-1919

Website: www.lemonthistory.org

Hauntings: There have been strange mist-like images captured on Ring cameras. A soda can moved across a table in the upstairs choir loft area and witnessed by the president of the society. Sounds of footsteps have been heard in the basement. A full-bodied apparition of a man dressed in a Civil War uniform walked past the front door.

During a recent past investigation, a laser grid was positioned downstairs facing away from the Civil War display when some of the dots disappeared and then it looked like a wave of dots came towards the camera which is highly unlikely and very unusual and unheard of.

The Ghost Research Society investigated the Lemont Historical Society and the team members included: Mike Rosario, Charles Williams and Dale Kaczmarek.

Equipment setup: A laser grid was facing the back of the downstairs area, monitored by a Nightshot 4k camcorder, along with a REM Epod in the middle of the floor and a set of motion sensors positioned at the entranceway to the targeted area.

A digital recorder was employed as well as the Phasma Box, SB-11 Ghost Box, Ovilus V and X. A Shadow Tracker device was placed in the middle of the downstairs floor. A Melmeter with a telescopic probe was used to pick up any extraneous electromagnetic energy present.

Another Nightshot camera was stationed on the 1^st Floor facing towards the pews and the Altar. A K-II Meter was used throughout the building with nothing more than some normal background EMF.

Experiments performed: Three Phasma Box sessions were conducted downstairs, one in the pews and the last upstairs. An Ovilus V session was conducted downstairs by the Civil War section in both dictionary and phonetic mode and a short Ovilus X session also downstairs in the same area.

A SB-11 Ghost Box, Ovilus V in both dictionary and phonetic modes was conducted upstairs.

Paranormal experiences:

Mike Rosario: Intro and Equipment Used: For this investigation, we traveled to the Lemont Area Historical Society in the Historical District of Lemont, Illinois. This took off on Saturday, May 20, 2023, at approximately 7:00pm with Dale Kaczmarek, Chuck Williams, and former GRS member, Jim Graczyk and Lou Hovanes, as well as some societal members of the Lemont Historical Society. The night’s weather was warm, with skies clear and calm. Equipment I used in this investigation were my K-II Meter; a Philips VoiceTracer Digital Voice Recorder; a DVC 4K Ultra HD 48mp Night Shot Digital Video Camcorder with an LED IR Light, and Green Laser Grid for the basement, and main church hall (for the nightly investigation).

Initial Investigation: For this investigation, of the two groups, I was accompanied primarily by Dale and Chuck during the Basement and first & second-level investigations. A couple of the societal members joined us later in the evening, both in the Basement, first, and second-level areas. I began by doing my usual K-II sweeps in and around the Basement area to get some base readings. Around a steady 0.2-0.3mG reading, nothing too high. The first floor had a little fluctuation, around 1.1-1.5mG action at times, but not too much, as there was a lot of equipment being used by many people of the two groups, and could’ve had some type of false readings as a consequence. The second floor loft area was more fluctuations: about 2.1-2.3mG readings, but nothing beyond that. I had my IR camera stationed near the rear section of the room recording on the first floor of the church, looking directly at the pews, foot/pathways, and Alter areas. EVP sessions were conducted on all three levels: Basement, first and second floors. These main areas of the building yielded some interesting results with the Phasma Box ITC device sessions, mainly. A very interesting night!

Evidence: Upon reviewing all of my evidence, I did not capture any video or photographic evidence, but did capture some interesting audio whilst during our EVP Phasma Box session on at least two floors of the building. Various disembodied voices without the ITC device were also heard. The Basement and loft areas I experienced some heaviness, and there was a thickness in the air at times. Nothing unpleasant or uncomfortable, just slightly different changes in atmosphere, really. It was an overall very productive, fun night, and can’t wait to visit again!

Charles Williams: Full spectrum camera, GoPro camera, Zoom Recorder, REM Epod and Melmeter.

The GRS team functioned as one unit, sometimes Lou and Jim did their own. Phasma Box, EVP, Ovilus V & X and Spirit Box sessions were employed throughout the investigation. Facebook Live also employed.

Personal Experiences: None

This Historical Society is in a former church. Of note, there was one tombstone out front; the staff believes this was placed there without a grave. Some things came through the devices, overall a quiet night. We did one session in Basement, had a pizza break, had another session in the basement, one in the former Sanctuary, and one in the former Choir section. Overall a good first investigation to get the year started.

Dale Kaczmarek: The only area where I might have had something happen or felt anything usual was the Civil War relic area downstairs. I believe with all the “trigger objects” and relics from actual soldiers who fought in the war left an impression on me when I first entered that area.

There were some interesting responses on various real-time devices but not much else. Being this was a recruiting station for the Civil War, perhaps those who never made it back home alive might have been drawn back here to where they were mustered into the war. I didn’t really feel anything else unusual anywhere else in the building.

Towards the end of the last session upstairs, after reading 0.0 all the time we were up there, the Melmeter began alerting between 1.1-1.3.

Evidence collected:

Anybody in here lemont.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session upstairs the device said, “Anybody in here?”

Disembodied voice or voice within lemont.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session upstairs, a comment was made, “Hello.” The device responded with what vaguely sounds like, “Voice within.”

Guys open the back door lemont.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session upstairs, the device responded with, “Guys open the back door.”

Helpx3 lemont.MP4 – William’s static IR camcorder picked up a female voice coming through the Phasma Box that said, “Help.”

Hi Jimmy lemont.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the basement, the device said, “Hi Jimmy!”

I gotta pee right now lemont.MP4 - while conducting a Phasma Box session upstairs, the device blurted out, “I gotta pee right now. “

I love you I know lemont.MP4 - while conducting a Phasma Box session upstairs, the device, “I love you I know” as though two different entities were talking to one another via the Phasma Box.

I need recognition lemont.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session downstairs, the device said, “I need recognition.”

Lotta history lemont.MP4 - while conducting a Phasma Box session upstairs, the device said, “Lotta history.”

Sorrow lemont.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session downstairs the device suddenly said, “Sorrow” near the Civil War section.

Test me lemont.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session downstairs, almost immediately the device said, “Test me.”

That’s okay lemont.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, a comment was made, “We’re going to end this pretty soon.” The device responded with, “That’s okay.”

Touch me lemont.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session by the Civil War section, the device blurted out, “Touch me.”

Two dozen or 2000 lemont.MP4 - while conducting a Phasma Box session upstairs, a question was asked, “How many people are upstairs right now?” The device replied with what sounds like either, “Two dozen or 2000.”

Conclusions: This was an interesting building with a lot of history, trigger objects and past personal experiences from staff members. Even though it was a bit quiet during our investigation, we did have some, what I believe to be, intelligent responses on various real-time devices during a few of our EVP sessions; especially downstairs and upstairs. The church and pew area did seem to be very quiet and quite devoid of EVP or personal experiences.