Tinker Swiss Cottage Public Investigation 11-17-2018

The Tinker Swiss Cottage is a historic place, museum, and park in Rockford, Illinois, USA. It was built as a personal residence by Robert Hall Tinker in the1860s. It is now a popular destination for school trips and wedding receptions.

Robert Hall Tinker was born in Honolulu to missionary Reuben Tinker (1799–1854) and his wife Mary Throop Wood (1809–1895) in 1836. Tinker moved to Rockford in 1856, where he was employed as an accountant by Mary Dorr Manny, the wealthy widow of John H. Manny of the Manny reaper works. Tinker traveled Europe in 1862 and was greatly impressed by the estates and gardens he had seen there. On his return to Rockford, Tinker built himself a 20-room Swiss-style cottage on a limestone bluff overlooking the Kent Creek and the home of Mary Manny. In 1870 Robert and Mary were married, becoming Rockford 's most influential couple. Tinker was mayor of Rockford in 1875 and a founding member of the Rockford Park District.

Upon the death of the Tinkers, the cottage was left to the Rockford Park District. The home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on December 27, 1972.

Curator Litteral reports that there used to be an orphanage on the property where the current main parking lot is now located. There was at least one shooting that also occurred in the parking lot where a man was shot in the chest.

Located at: 411 Kent St., Rockford, IL. 61102, 815-964-2424

Executive Director: Samantha Houchmann

Website: www.tinkercottage.com

Equipment setup: Teams were Jim Piscopo in the Carriage House, Ron & Laura Lovatt in the Basement of the Main House, Tim Schmuldt and Dean Thompson in the Red Room on the second floor of the main house and Dale Kaczmarek in the Barn.

Experiments performed: EVP, SB-7, SB-11, Ovilus X, Radio Specter, Mini-Portal and Dowsing Rod sessions were conducted in the Carriage House, Barn and the main house on both the basement and 2^nd floors.

Personal experiences:

Ron & Laura Lovatt: Investigators: Ron and Laura Lovatt (as part of larger group representing Ghost Research Society)

Investigative tools used: Old school Digital Recorder and K-II

Report: We investigated Tinker Swiss Cottage on November 17, 2018 and were assigned to investigate the downstairs kitchen area and to host the various groups of people as part of the public investigation sponsored by Haunted Rockford. There were a total of 4 groups during the night that investigated at different times throughout the night. We held EVP sessions for each group during the night. Here are the results of the evidence collected and personal experiences recorded and experiences by the group members and the investigators:

EVIDENCE-

First group was group 3-

One of the major experiences that were seen was that the motion detector that is used by the security system kept blinking as if it noticed motion in the room but that all those in the room was motionless. We assumed that the motion detector was picking up spirits coming in and going out of the room and this happened all night. A lot of the members in the room experienced cold spots and cold sensations during the EVP session that also come and went. The K-II that was on the kitchen table went off and blinked orange a few times during the session. We saw various shadow play down the hall with different shadows that might have been adult and child size in mass. Ron put the K-II on the floor in the door well to see if he could pick up on more motion but the motion stopped including the motion detector in the room when he put the K-II on the floor. We guess the spirits were afraid of it. We did get 3 responses from the EVP that were heard on the digital recorder during the review session and these EVPs were:

1 Question: Do you mind us coming in your house? Answer: Yes

2 Question: Who are we with tonight? Answer: Robert

3 Question: Let us know you are here answer: Alright

During the session we also picked up footsteps, but also had an issue with noise contamination from upstairs investigation that was being picked up on my digital recorder.

Second group was group 1-

As stated before the motion sensor continues to go off during the second EVP session. The K-II went off to orange a few times and people also experienced various cold spots and heard shuffling of feet in hallway and sound of a dress making shuffling sound also. We also heard footsteps and I saw a white dress floating with no body features in the hallway and then it disappeared. WE also heard what sounded like footsteps like someone was walking with out 1 foot a thumping sound. We picked up 3 different things while reviewing the EVP session:

1 We did shave and a haircut and someone tapped 2 times right after that.

2 we heard what sounded like someone breathing close to the mic on the recording.

3 question: Do you miss screwing with Steve answer Yes

We also experienced background contamination from the upstairs investigation on the digital recorder.

Third group was group 2-

As the night went on the evidence started to slow down and even though we did see the motion detector continue to go off and did see a shadow in the hallway again and heard some footsteps in the hall way, we did not have a single EVP to report on in this session. We also experience background noise contamination again from upstairs.

The final group was group 4-

The final group of people had a few investigation instruments with them to go along with what we were using. The motion detector continued to go off and on one person’s phone app he got a few words that were: among us, Resent, and plain. We did hear footsteps again and some knocking that was unexplained. But we think the spirits were getting tired of us because we did get 2 EVPs and they were:

1 question: Who is with us? Answer please stop

2 question: do you know you’re dead? Answer: Yes

That was it other than again the background noise contamination from upstairs.

Conclusion:

We think it’s clear that Tinker is haunted but with good spirits not ones seeking to harm anyone.

Jim Piscopo: We arrived about 6: 30PM and set up our equipment. I was in the carriage house using the Phasma Box and my Sony camcorder with night vision. We did four different EVP sessions, one with each group and got a few interesting responses which I hope got captured on video.

Dale Kaczmarek: I did not have any paranormal experiences this time while investigating Tinker Swiss Cottage but some participants from Group #4 did hear the sound of footsteps in the hallway during Session #2. There were several times that the spirits apparently picked up upon the conversation between investigators and reply with words that were very relevant to that conversation. During Session #2, Group #4 before the session began there was talk about school and words like “equation” and “school” came through. This indicates an intelligence.

There were some explicatives that came through the devices and, for some reason, during Sessions #3 and #4 for Groups #3 and #1 only one channel of my digital recorder functioned. It worked perfectly at later investigations at other locations. That never happened to my recorder before or since.

The Ghost Research Society investigated Tinker Swiss Cottage on November 17, 2018. Team members included: Jim Piscopo, Ron & Laura Lovatt and Dale Kaczmarek with help from Dean Thompson and Tim Schmuldt of Ghost Head Soup

Evidence collected:

..11 tinker.MPG – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Barn, a question was asked, “What year is it?” The device responded with, “..11.” There is something undiscernible just before 11 was spoken.

Be dead tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Barn, a comment was made, “How about talking to us instead amongst yourselves?’ A phrase came through that sounds like it says, “…be dead.”

Be right with you tinker.MPG – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, a question was asked, “Do you want to go outside to see the train?” The device replied with, “Be right with you.”

Been driving watch out tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Barn, the device blurted out, “Been driving.” A question was asked, “Can you say my name? My name is Dale.” The device then replied with, “Watch out.” (Wonder if the two phrases “been driving” and “watch out” were interrelated and not a reply to the question asked?

Can you hear me tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, the device said, “Can you hear me.”

Cat meow tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, the sound of a cat came through the device.

Daddy who’s going to tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, the device blurted out, “Daddy…who’s going to.”

Dead tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, the device said, “Dead.”

Devil tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, a question was asked, “Can you tell us your name?” The device responded with, “Devil.”

Get started tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Barn, just as the device was turned on it said, “Get started.”

He comes tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, the device says, “He comes” followed with, “I come with…”

He was buried tonight tinker.MPG – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, the device said what sounds like, “He was buried tonight.”

Hello kitty tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, after the “Cat meow”, the device then continues with, “Hello kitty.”

Help me tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, the device says, “Help me.”

Hey I have you tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, the device says either, “Hey I have you” or “Hey I have it.”

Horse tinker.MPG - while conducting an Ovilus X session in dictionary mode in the Barn when the device says, “Horse.”

JF tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, a question was asked, “Can you tell me who the President is?” The initials, “JF” came through the device.

Male tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, a question was asked, “Are you a male or a female?” The device responded with, “Male.”

My favorite red tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, a question was asked, “What kind of car did you drive?” The device responded with, “My favorite red.”

No children tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Barn, a question was asked, “How many children are down here?” The device responded with what sounds like, “No children.”

Think hard think hard or tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Barn, the device blurts out, “Think hard, think hard or…”

This sucks tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, the device said, “This sucks.”

Thud tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, a question was asked, “Were you one of the children?” A loud thud was recorded.

We’re friends tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, a question was asked, “Is Mr. Tinker here tonight?” The device said, “We’re friends.”

Whine please tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, a loud whining noise came through the device that almost sounds like feedback. The device says in a high-pitched female voice what sounds like, “Please don’t antagonize me.”

Worker tinker.MPG – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, a question was asked, “What was your job at the house?” The device replied with, “Worker.”

Yep tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, a question was asked, “Is there a little boy here tonight?” In the background a faint voice is heard saying, “Yep.”

You cute tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, a deep male voice said, “You cute.”

You’re not going to like it tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, a question was asked, “What’s your favorite animal?” The device responded with, “You’re not going to like it.”

Your trying to tell you in tinker.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Carriage House, the device blurted out, “You’re trying to tell you in.”

Words spoken by the Ovilus X in dictionary mode: Session #1, Group #2 sunset, end, lash and Lynn; Session #2, Group #4 equation, school, horse, cupcake, tall, mite and reservation; Session #3, Group #3 month, level, inches and process; Session #4, Group #1 nothing.

In phonetic mode; Session #1, Group #2, you are; Session #3, Group #3 Army, asshole and help. The Ghost Radar said return during Session #2, Group #4.

Conclusions: This public investigation wasn’t as active as some of the explorations that we have conducted in the past. It’s always a big question mark as to how much, if any, paranormal evidence we are able to collect at any given investigation. There were some interesting responses and a lot of words and phrases, some that did not actually answer specific questions posed.

However I still feel that this area is haunted by a number of people’s spirits who have once lived here in the past.