Madison Seminary Investigation

A 70,000 square foot building built in 1847 as a women’s structure and private high school for boys which included some dormitories. In 1859, a brick addition was added to the east side of the building, and the existing structure was used as a boarding hall. The seminary continued until July 1891. In November 1891, the building was sold to a women’s group of the Grand Army of the Republic, known as the Ohio Women’s Relief Corps (WRC), and the building was renamed Madison Home. It provided assistance to Army nurses and soldiers, mothers, wives and sisters who had been displaced by the Civil War and had nowhere else to go.

When WRC could no longer afford to maintain the building, it was donated to the state of Ohio in 1904, but a portion of the facility still was maintained by WRC. It then became known as Home of the Ohio Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Their Wives, Mothers, Widows, and Army Nurses.

From 1904-62, the state continued to maintain the building, as it was run before, as a home for needy widows, mothers and children of Ohio’s veterans. The building was renamed the Madison Home, which later would suffer severe financial difficulties.

In 1959, the brick one-story center section was constructed, which joined the Ohio Cottage and the East Wing. The newer section was used by the Madison Township trustees as their public meeting room during the 1980s and early ’90s.

On June 30, 1962, the WRC Madison Home ceased operation when it was taken over by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Hygiene. Widows living in the home were returned to their relatives. Those having no living relatives to care for them were placed in nursing homes. Many were distraught at the idea of leaving their home.

From 1962-75, in an effort to help with the financial strain, the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Hygiene used the facility first to rehabilitate mentally ill patients from Cleveland State Hospital. With patients still living there, the building became a sub-section of Apple Creek Institution, and the name was changed from Madison Home to Opportunity Village. The facility then was used to house mentally retarded women who, for the most part, could take care of themselves. At the same time, it also housed inmates in good standing from the Ohio Women’s Reformatory in Marysville. Through a project with the Ohio Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation, these inmates and developmentally disabled women would learn occupational skills, such as becoming nursing aides, janitorial and secretarial skills to live productive lives in society.

In 1964, the complex was used as an extension of Cleveland State Hospital for aged and senile women, but just for a few months.

In April 1975, operating funds declined to the point that the state could no longer afford to operate the programs, and Opportunity Village ceased operations.

In 1964, the complex was used as an extension of Cleveland State Hospital for aged and senile women, but just for a few months.

In April 1975, operating funds declined to the point that the state could no longer afford to operate the programs, and Opportunity Village ceased operations.

Subsequently, the property underwent further transformations, including:

n 1977 — The Commissioners of Lake County passed a resolution March, 28 1977, to purchase Opportunity Village. The deed was filed on June 3 that year;

n 1978 — Madison Township leases the building from the county and moved into it for the operation of Madison Township government;

n 1981— Madison Township officially takes title to the property from the Lake County Board of Commissioners;

n 1987 — On May 29, Madison Township trustees contact Lake County commissioners about buying the property and building back per the deed’s “reverter clause”;

n 1989 — The Lake County Board of Commissioners honors the reverter clause from the 1981 deed, and the commissioners buy back the property. The township continues to lease the building until September 30, 1993;

n 1993 — Madison Township moves out of the building, and the building remains vacant;

n 1997 — On November 18, the Lake County Board of Commissioners passes a resolution to the sell the building and 2.91 acres of land; and

n 1998 — On May 21, the Lake County Board of Commissioners sells the property at public auction to John Cassell, owner of Cass-Mill Nurseries, for $28,500. The facility is used mainly storage and office space for Cassell, who allows the Madison Historical Society to use a portion of the building as offices and as a museum.

(Thanks to the Star Beacon from Ashtabula, Ohio, Debbie Palinksy; reporter and the article from October 31, 2009)

Adam Kimmell purchased the property in 2016 and poured lots of revenue into the building and began allowing ghost tours and investigations soon afterwards.

Address: 6769 Middle Ridge Rd., Madison, OH 44057

Telephone: 440-721-8937

Owner: Adam Kimmell

Website: www.madisonseminary.com

Hauntings: A lot of activity seems to happen on the 2^nd floor and the landing on the stairs.

Basement: Former living quarters for employees, people will get touched and have their hair played with. The entity apparently does not like men. In the past, people have gotten dizzy and nauseous while in this area.

Past paranormal groups have often provoked in this area (we never do) and it is said if you provoke or push him, he will push back much harder. He will also try to separate the group by making noises in other rooms. When they go to investigate the source of the sounds, they become separated.

Laundry Room: There is a laundry shoot that comes all the way from the attic. A lot of shadow play here and another team actually caught a shadow figure by one of the windows.

Drunk tank: There is a small room used in the past as a Drunk Tank probably from the 1970s or 1980s. Some minor activity has been reported here in the past.

There is a room next to the Drunk Tank where there have been reports of a spirit allegedly making the room darker. There are also reports of dizziness, nausea and headaches.

Office: This room was decorated and furnished for a former caretaker and he used to love to smoke cigars. Besides some smells, this area is great for EVPs and EMF activity.

Bathroom: There is a bathroom where a suicide took place in the past.

Sara’s Room: A room filled with a lot of trigger objects and is apparently inhabited by a child’s spirit. According to staff, she doesn’t like to talk on any ghost boxes.

In a hallway is another laundry shoot door that apparently like to open and close by itself.

Attic: This was the most uncomfortable room in the building due to the excessive heat and no air conditioning. Children used to play here in the attic. A lot of mentally unfit individuals were kept here in very small rooms.

Equipment setup: Since the building is immense no Command Center was setup, however various members set up cameras on tripods to take pictures and videos and monitor certain hallways throughout the evening. A lot of paranormal equipment was employed including the X-Cam SLS device, REM Epod, Melmeters, digital tape recorders and cameras, Nightshot cameras and camcorders, EDI+ meter, Tri-Field Natural EM Meter, K-II Meters, dowsing rods, Ovilus X, Mini-Portal, SB-7 Ghost Box and SB-11 Ghost Box.

Experiments performed: EVP, Mini-Portal, Ovilus X and dowsing rod sessions were conducted in the basement area, a dark room next to what was once used as a Drunk Tank, Sara’s (children’s) Room, a bathroom where a suicide took place in the past, attic and a office.

The Ghost Research Society investigated Madison Seminary on July1, 2018. Team members included: Kathi Para, Marge Sucha, Greg Kos, Katherine Meagher, Michael Wright and Dale Kaczmarek

Personal experiences:

Greg Kos: In the beginning we were in the basement and some witnessed a VOICE Recorder on a shelf move right to left by itself. That room had a shadow figure in it and an adjoining room who was like an authority figure. Later on in the evening while we were doing an EVP session I captured an image in the hall outside the playroom on the 2nd floor. Later on during another EVP session I captured alight anomaly coming from the window behind a desk. I captured no EVPs on my voice recorder.

I would definitely go back for another investigation...It’s a great location with a ton of history!!

Katherine Meagher: The people that maintain and run Madison Seminary were extremely informative on the history of this establishment. It is always nice to see the individuals run establishments that work hard on up keep and preservation of historical buildings.

The friendly atmosphere and conversation was refreshing.

I unfortunately did not get anything that stood out from the investigation. The recordings that could have been EVPs were so quiet you can’t be sure it was not from foot movement or something explainable. I would love to go back and see more of the restorations that the owner was conveying to us in our friendly banter.

Kathie Para: This is a huge building that we couldn’t possibly explore in one night but we managed to cover quite a bit of it.

First we got a tour of the building and a bit of its history. During the walk through I captured several interesting bits of audio throughout the whole building, which I included with this report.

We did EVP sessions in several areas of the building. To keep the length of this report within reason I will only give the highlights.

The basement room next to the “drunk tank” was pretty interesting. A voice recorder placed on a shelf appeared to be moving. In the dark only the light from the device was visible and it seemed to be slowly moving. Possibly it was an optical illusion but four of us witnessed it several times. Dowsing rods confirmed something did not want pictures taken. My camera went wacky; it kept zooming in every time I tried to take a picture. Finally, after a little while I shut it off and only then was I able to take pictures. Upon reviewing my audio I got a voice that seemed to come from outside the room say “no” in answer to a question.

We got a lot of K-II activity in the “office” room as well as some relevant responses from the Ovilus and another app.

The attic was extremely hot, so unfortunately we spent very little time there. I did get a distant voice on my recorder.

The “suicide” bathroom on the 2^nd floor was very active. We got amazing K-II activity on two different meters in response to us, probably some of the best I’ve witnessed.

The room with all the toys in it was also a hot spot, although most of the activity was outside of the room in the hallway. We heard several noises in the hall. One in particular sounded like a pebble being thrown. We kept hearing voices down the hall as if there was a conversation going on. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to capture the voices on my recorder. Two of the group kept smelling black pepper, which was interesting.

Madison Seminary is a great location, Adam and his staff was very friendly and helpful. This is most definitely high on my list of places I want to go back to!

Marge Sucha: Equipment I used: Digital Voice Recorder, K-II meter, FLIR Camera.

The day we investigated this location the temperature was hot and muggy. Shortly after arriving we were given a tour of the building.

EVP session in a room off the hallway from where they kept prisoners. We did a dowsing rod session in this area. We had some interesting responses. The EDI+ was going off outside the room and several of us got the feeling spirits might have been trying to separate us.

We did an EVP session in a room next to the drunk room. We were told this room is a room that is known to get so dark you can't see anything. I had my recorder on a shelf. Several investigators saw the red light on my recorder moving. We also were using the dowsing rods in this room and Kathie asked if she could take a picture. The response was no and every time Kathie tried to take a picture the camera wasn't focusing so close on something the picture wouldn't take.

In the children's room while conducting an EVP session several of us kept hearing talking in the hallway outside the room. We also has some interesting responses from the Ovilus.

Upstairs in the bathroom where someone committed suicide we did have some K-II responses.

It was quiet that night in the attic where the children would play.

We final EVP session was done in an office to honor the grounds keeper. While doing our EVP session none of us could remember his name and Kathie apologized. Right after that the word from the Ovilus was "don't forget" We also did have some K-II responses in this room.

Mike Wright: The Seminary was a very large building with several wings, and floors there were a few things that stood out during the EVP sessions, in the second session we were taking photographs with our phones and got several orbs that were moving rapidly through the phone screen. The Ovilus had a number of responses that seemed to be answering the specific questions that were asked. The dowsing rods were also responding to those questions. There were a few sections we did not get a chance to investigate, would not mind going back to this location to get a chance to cover the whole building.

Dale Kaczmarek: I found this huge building to be a fantastic place to investigate except for summers in the attic. The basement was very cool and that means temperature wise also. There were several while in the basement that claimed that the light on Sucha’s digital recorder was moving from side to side. A few claimed to have seen it move while Meagher and I did not. I believe it was an optical illusion of the dim light in a very dark room.

There was some K-II activity in the building at various locations which could have indicated spiritual activity but I believe that, for the most part, it was picking up natural fields that were nearby.

A Facebook Live session was attempted at the last EVP session in the Office. All in all, it was very quiet for such a large place with all the history and past hauntings that have occurred. This just goes to show that evidence is not always gathered at every location investigated.

Some of the ghost applications were very active with words and I’m kind of “on the fence” when it comes to some of the ones used.

Evidence collected:

1^st floor odd sound Madison.MPG – while we were doing the initial walk-through on the 1^st room, an odd sound is heard in the background.

2^nd floor bath whisper Madison.MPG – while conducting an EVP bathroom on the 2^nd floor bathroom where a suicide had taken place in the past, a whispery voice was recorded.

2^nd floor odd sound #2 Madison.MPG – during the initial walk-through as the group was traversing from one location to another, another odd sound was picked up.

2^nd floor odd sound Madison.MPG – during the initial walk-through as the group was traversing from one location to an odd sound was picked up.

2^nd floor yelp Madison.MPG – during the initial walk-through as the group was traversing from one location to another, a strange yelp was recorded in the background.

Attic distant yell Madison.MPG - during the initial walk-through as the group was traversing from one location to another, a distant yell was recorded.

Attic voice Madison.MPG – during an EVP session in the attic, a question was asked, “You used to play up here as a child; is this true?” A faint voice is heard apparently in response to the question.

Attic yelp Madison.MPG - during the initial walk-through as the group was traversing from one location to another, a yelp was recorded in the background.

Basement room by drunk tank no Madison.MPG – while conducting a dowsing rod session in the basement, a question was asked, “Is that something else, other than you, that causes that to happen?” (Referring to the phenomena of the room getting darker; thought to be caused by the ghosts) A faint, “No” was recorded.

Female whisper Madison.MP4 - during the initial walk-through a female whisper was recorded in the background.

Low groan Madison.MP4 - during the initial walk-through a low groan was recorded.

No Madison.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in the basement, a question was asked, “Are there any female spirits in the basement?” A faint female’s voice was recorded that said, “No.”

Office don’t forget Madison.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in the Office, a comment was made about us not being able to remember the man’s name that the office was built for. Sucha’s ghost application responded with, “Don’t forget.”

Toy room hall noise Madison.MPG – while conducting a Quiet Time session in Sara’s Room, noises were audibly heard down the hall and recorded.

Toy room noise down the hall Madison.MPG – while conducting a Quiet Time session in Sara’s Room, a question was asked, “Is everyone being very quiet?” Additional noises were heard from the hallway.

Toy room noise from hall Madison.MPG – while conducting a Quiet Time session in Sara’s Room, Kaczmarek heard voices coming from the hallway that were recorded as well.

Toy room whisper Madison.MPG – while conducting an Ovilus X session in Sara’s Room, the device said, “Clairvoyant” and immediately afterwards a faint female whisper was recorded.

Two groans Madison.MP4 - during the initial walk-through, two low groans were recorded in the background.

Words spoken by the Ovilus X in dictionary mode:

Basement: End; Ghost application: Bled, suppose, shutter, percent and reveal and Ghost Radar: Fight.

Room next to Drunk Tank: Gentle and wheat; Ghost application: Join in, perhaps and top.

Sara’s Room: Whether, rope, sugar, happens, picture, column, reservation, question, vast, seed, these, you, digital, stirred, clairvoyant, mite, gender, park, pop, trade and November; Ghost application: Itself, shadows, Nancy, anomalies, mason, kind, traffic, yield, not brave, travel, slave, caress, without and slower.

Suicide bathroom: Bomb, gentle, oracle, yet, question and add; Ghost application: Jordan, restore, violence, Melissa, Jasmine, lust and limp.

Attic: Increased, answer, circle, sugar, warrior and end; Ghost radar: Messenger, Mia and task.

Office: Soak, trade, cents and building; Ghost application: God, beware, McKenna, bones, table, course, embark, don’t forget and Leah.

Conclusions: A very quiet night with very little in the way of activity or even direct responses to EVP questions posed. A lot of the building was tolerable as far as temperature goes; the basement being the coolest while the attic was intolerable. Staff did provide a large fan in the assembly area which did wonders to cool off the team after EVP sessions in hotter parts of the building.

Madison Seminary is an absolutely beautiful and a very historic location and I applaud Adam Kimmell for maintaining it. A lot of TLC and revenue was infused into this building and it definitely shows. I would highly recommend this location to anyone interested in the paranormal and history.