1859 JACKSON COUNTY JAIL - CONTACT IN CELL #1


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STEW, CHRIS & MARK IN CELL #1

For the first series of vigils within the 1859 Jackson County Jail, Stew, Chris, and I closed ourselves up in Cell #1. This cell is the southwest cell on the 1st floor of the old jail building. A majority of sources refer to this as the "haunted cell." It is said that almost any person touring the jail area will be able to identify this cell by the oppressive atmosphere that exists within it. Nausea has been reported by people entering this cell...as well as some of the other cells on this level. Two weeks prior to this investigation, a tall shadowy shape was seen exiting Cell #1 by Lindsey Gaston and member's of another paranormal investigation group.

With all of these legends and paranormal accounts focused on Cell #1, it was the logical choice for a vigil location. In addition we had an IR camera positioned outside the cell pointed at its iron doors from the exterior...and a stationary IR camera positioned in the cell pointing at its iron doors from the interior. See the Stationary Cameras section of this investigation report for more on camera placements.

 

Entering Cell #1

 

Holding Vigil Inside Cell #1

During our vigil, Chris was sitting in a folding chair in the northeast corner by the iron doors (as shown in the photo on the above-right). I was sitting on the floor against the south wall underneath the cell's window. Stew was sitting on a stool in the southwest corner. We were sitting in complete darkness...both iron doors to the cell closed tightly shut.

We began doing EVP work, and I was asking questions outloud while a digital recorder and an analog recorder were both recording. I was saying some fairly standard, boring things, such as....

  • If there is anyone else here besides us, we want to communicate with you.
  • Were you mistreated here at the jail?
  • Do you mind us being here in this cell?
  • Did you lose your life in a fight in the jail?

The subdued tone of my questioning sparked the interesting events that would unfold over the next few minutes. Chris got the impression that if there was a spirit present...that the spirit would be fairly irritated with my line of questioning.

Chris felt as if a prisoner's spirit was present with us, and playing a hunch Chris decided to ask a much more aggressive question. When Chris began asking this question, it sort of shocked Stewart and I, because Chris had been sitting so quietly up until this point. Plus, the tone of Chris' voice as he asked this question was a little creepy. In the first audio file below, you hear Chris asking:

"You feel the rope around your neck (long pause) and it burns as you hang (longer pause) can't get the taste of blood out of your mouth."


After the word "mouth" there is another long pause and then you will hear Stewart clear his throat loudly at the end of the recording. At the time we had no idea why Stewart was clearing his throat so loudly.
 

  I was the only investigator present that night that knew a 6'6" tall shadowy figure had been reportedly seen leaving the very cell in which we were sitting. Add in the fact that we were sitting in pitch darkness, that both of the cell's heavy iron doors were closed tight, and that Chris had just said about the most provocative thing you could say in a jail where a number of people were actually "hung." Needless to say, the whole situation was uncomfortable.

A minute or two later, Stewart calmly told Chris and I that it felt as if someone or something squeezed the back of his neck. He hedged a little bit by suggesting that possibly his neck muscles had just cramped up...though this is not something that normally happens to Stew. He compared what he had felt to "when your big brother squeezed your neck...and it sort of paralyzed you."

Below is the audio clip of Chris' provocative question and when you hear Stewart clearing his throat loudly at the end of the clip...that is the point at which he feels his neck being squeezed.

WAV


After just a couple of minutes, I noticed that I was having a little trouble catching my breath. My throat was tight, I was having trouble swallowing, and it was not a good feeling. In this next bit of conversation, I tell Stew and Chris what I'm experiencing...but point out that it could be feelings brought on by the power of suggestion. Chris confirms that he is having the same tightness in his throat and is having to swallow a lot. Here's the audio clip of that conversation:

WAV


We are a science-oriented group of investigators. So we tend to not take anecdotal and eye-witness evidence at face value. In this next audio clip, you'll hear Stew and I discussing what psychological and physical effects may have caused him to feel his neck getting "squeezed" and caused Chris and I to feel a tightness in our throat and problems swallowing properly. So here we are minutes after our "encounters" in Cell #1, questioning our own experiences...and probing for natural explanations for what we felt....

WAV


When it was all said and done and it was time to leave the cell, we found out we had locked ourselves in a little too well. When we closed both iron doors, the swinging handle had wedged against the rock walls...and we couldn't get out. This was entirely due to natural causes...but its still funny to listen to!

WAV


Stew, Chris, and I asked Lindsey to come along with us on our second vigil...this one in the Master Bedroom of the Marshall's House. We were describing to Lindsey what had happened to us in Cell #1, and this audio clip is of me summing up the paranormal view of what had happened versus the psychological explanation of the events. The paranormal versus psychological issue is something we struggle with on every investigation and during the creation of every investigation report.

WAV

Chris and I both had Stew squeeze our arms as hard as he felt his neck "squeezed" in Cell #1. Chris and I both agreed that the pressure that Stew placed upon our arms was similar to a firm handshake. That is a fairly large amount of pressure to feel on the back of your neck...and personally this seems somewhat beyond what you would experience based on imagination or power-of-suggestion.


DAVE & SHAWN IN CELL #1

Shawn and Dave were the next investigators to enter Cell #1 for a vigil. When we were leaving the cell and they were entering it, we told them absolutely nothing about what we had felt of experienced in the cell. The one thing I did tell them, was to make sure they made note of any feelings, impressions, or experiences they had during their vigil. But that is all we told them.

Dave and Shawn also sat in the cell with every light off and the two doors closed.
 

At the beginning of this audio file, you'll hear Dave talking about his dad's skepticism that Dave will experience anything paranormal on an investigation. Suddenly Shawn interrupts to say that his ear has been flicked by something unseen. Dave clicks on his flashlight...and blinds Shawn. (Who said these investigation's weren't hazardous?)

WAV


  Dave took this picture of Shawn right after Shawn felt his ear "flicked." We were unable to locate any anomalies or evidence of the paranormal in the photograph.

After Shawn and Dave talked about the flashlight and a few other things, Shawn went on to talk more about the fact that he felt someone or something flick his ear. Its clear listening to the recordings that Shawn was having trouble believing what had happened. Listen for how he's trying to get his head wrapped around the whole event....

WAV

Immediately after this piece of audio, Shawn says on the recording, "I don't know what to say about it...you know, this (explicative) doesn't happen to me. Its my imagination."

One of the interesting things I've found out about working with a science-oriented team of investigators, is that their healthy skepticism often leads them to directly question and doubt their own experiences. There is value in having someone who is skeptical of paranormal activity actually experience sensations or events that appear unexplainable. Shawn is right. The feeling of having his ear apparently "flicked" in Cell #1 could just be his imagination. But its possible that it could be something more.


Dave and Shaw switched seats during their vigil in Cell #1, so that Dave was now sitting in the chair where Shawn had felt his ear "flicked." After awhile Dave felt a "warmth" on the right side of his face, and described it "as if the right side of my face and my right ear were smacked." Its interesting to hear how quietly and calmly Dave describes what he is feeling. Again, Dave is careful to not jump to the conclusion that what he is feeling has a paranormal cause. In many ways he understates what he is feeling, and only over time reveals more about it.  

WAV


Dave and Shawn began comparing the sensations they had both felt on the right side of their head or face while sitting in the chair by Cell #1's iron doors. It becomes clear as they talk, that neither of them actually felt a physical "flicking" or "smacking" of their body...but felt the sensations you would feel on skin that had been flicked, smacked, or hit. They described it as a prickly feeling...or a tingling warmth on the skin. Eventually, Dave felt this sensation on the right side of his face, his right ear, and the right side of his neck....

WAV


Anecdotal experiences and eye-witness accounts are interesting...they are compelling, but as an investigator they are only partially satisfying. As evidence they have a limited amount of impact. Were our experiences paranormal? As a science-oriented team of investigators we are still struggling with that question.

Having fully analyzed the reported experiences of our investigators in Cell #1, we can only say that those experiences remain unexplained. Do they constitute conclusive proof of paranormal activity in Cell #1? No. But they are another important piece of circumstantial evidence gathered at the 1859 Jackson County Jail Museum.

-Mark Stinson


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