1859 JACKSON COUNTY JAIL MUSEUM

INVESTIGATION ALBUM - Part 1 (of 2)


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All of the photos in the Investigation Albums (parts 1 and 2) are captured from the video we taped during the actual investigation. They aren't of as high a quality as the images taken with our film and digital cameras and larger versions of them are not available, but they give a good feel for what it was like to be there. Browse through...and read what interests you.

We met at the Courthouse Exchange Restaurant and Bar prior to the investigation for food and so we could go over the details of the investigation. We met Lindsey Gaston over at the 1859 Jackson County Jail Museum at 7:00 PM. We set up a base of operations in the only room that was currently being heated...the old kitchen area. We loaded all the gear out of our cars and into the kitchen. On the left, Shawn is checking the TIF 7000 DTP (Digital Thermometer/ Pyrometer) to make sure its working properly.
On the right, Valerie, Edward, and Stew are ready-to-go. We decided to fully walk through the Marshall's Home and the Jail with Lindsey prior to setting up the stationary cameras that Stew had brought along on the investigation. Edward Kann's wife Valerie came on the investigation with us. She has an equally strong interest in the paranormal and was curious to see exactly how an investigation was conducted.
This is the breezeway. It was the open area between the Marshall's House and the Jail in the days when the Jail was in use (1859-1933). Now this area is blocked off from the weather by a gate and sheet of plexiglass in the open space that used to lead into this area. Something about this area of the jail museum bothered me all night. Over the course of the evening, every time I had to walk through this area to get back to our base of operations...it made me anxious.
Our first stop was in the Parlor of the Marshall's House. This would have been the room where formal entertaining was conducted. Here Mike and Dave are taking notes. Mike was using our EMF detector to take electromagnetic field readings in each room. A big part of what we do on investigations involves taking notes about temperatures, EMF readings, our impressions, odors we smell, sounds we hear, and anything odd that we observe in any fashion.
That's Chris in the foreground and Mrs. Waldo in the painting in the background. In our Background section of this investigation report, you can read about what used to happen with they would hang Mrs. Waldo's painting in the same room as Mr. Waldo's painting. Many of the more expensive or important paintings in the house were in winter storage. But there were still a fair number of old-fashioned portraits throughout the house.
In the picture on the right, Mike is listening to Lindsey tell us stories about the Marshall's House, while Shawn is taking notes on the air temperature in several locations in the room. In the History section of this investigation report, you can read about Order 11...which mandated that everyone vacate several counties, including Jackson County. There is a beautiful piano in the Parlor that was abandoned in the middle of a farm field during the evacuation.
The Nightshot setting on our Sony video cameras comes in handy when you are working in the dark...but it also tends to give everything sort of a creepy green hue. In the picture on the left we are all in the Marshall's Office listening to Lindsey's stories. Valerie and Mike are visible in the picture. Its amazing to walk on floors that Frank James walked across...as well as William Quantrill.
When we were done with the 1st floor of the Marshall's House, we made our way down the breezeway towards the stairs that lead to the 2nd floor. The picture on the right is Dave making his way out of the Marshall's Office. At the time the jail was in operation, this was the only door between the Marshall's House and the 1859 Jail. It was a huge iron door, to protect the Marshall and his family from any actions that might originate from within the jail itself.
The first bedroom on the 2nd floor is the Master Bedroom. Henry Bugler was killed in this room in 1866 and the former Museum Director had an encounter in this room he would never talk about with anyone. Read the History and Background sections of this investigation report for details on these two stories. In the picture on the left Stew is in the foreground and Lindsey is in the background telling us details about the room.
Still in the Master Bedroom, Mike, Valerie, and Edward are learning more about the history and legends surrounding this portion of the Marshall's House. Many visitors to the museum feel a "presence" in this room, and the museum staff has to answer a fair number of questions about this "presence" and what causes it.
While most of the group was in the Master Bedroom, Chris noticed this dried flower on the floor in the Hallway just outside the bedroom door. Chris joked that perhaps it was an "apport" (the paranormal manifestation of a physical object out of thin air). Over the night we found several dried flowers on the floor on the 2nd floor. We also located several bowls of potpourri throughout the bedrooms on the 2nd floor, providing a natural explanation for where the dried flowers came from.
This picture is of Mike writing down EMF readings in the Children's Bedroom. The children's bedroom itself does not have any specific paranormal stories tied to it, but there are reports of a child's apparition or residual image being seen in the Hallway outside the bedroom. Mike did an excellent job of taking EMF readings throughout the Marshall's House and the 1859 Jail.
  This picture is of Stew, Edward, and Dave in the doorway of the North Bedroom. There have been numerous reports of the bed covers being found pulled down in the mornings by the museum staff in this bedroom. Edward and Valerie performed a long vigil in this bedroom right after our initial tour was complete.
This is Stew on the right, looking in the doorway to the North Bedroom. Stew designed and purchased the stationary camera/DVR system that we used for the first time on this investigation. We ran cables that were 100 feet long to three different locations in the house. The stationary cameras use IR technology to capture images in the dark.
  This is the 2nd floor of the 1859 Jail building. There are six cells on the 2nd floor and six cells on the 1st floor. Each cell is outfitted with two iron doors. The wooden floor in this room is not the original floor. The jail floor was originally banded metal grating, much like the door in the picture directly underneath this text. The criss-crossed metal bands allowed the jail guards to see what was happening on both the 1st and 2nd floor regardless of where they were located in the jail. The metal grate also allowed the single heat source located on the 1st floor to also provide some heat for the 2nd floor.
The picture on the right is of one of the cell's inner doors. In addition to this "daytime" door, there were solid iron doors that were closed and locked at night. The inner door had places for two different locking mechanisms, while the outer door had places for three different types of locks. In addition, a chain could be run through an iron loop on the outer doors providing a sixth "lock" on each and every door in the jail.  
The cells on the 2nd floor of the jail are currently used for storage. This is the last cell on the right (the SE cell). I the cells aren't atmospherically upsetting enough, this cell has a child's mannequin standing at the rear of the cell. If you walk into this cell unaware that the "child" is there, it can have quite an effect on you. This is the first year that the 2nd floor of the jail will be open to visitors to the jail museum. Lindsey recently got this floor of the jail ready for visitors to view...
Here Mike is continuing to take EMF readings throughout the house. We had expected to get a lot of natural EMF interference in this room do to power cables hung on the ceiling to supply power to the lights. We were surprised to find no EMF around these power cables, suggesting they were fairly new and shielded.  
In the picture on the left, Lindsey has stopped on the 2nd floor of the jail to explain to us what it was like to be a prisoner in the jail. He related to us that documentation exists that at least 6 people were actually hung in the jail. A rope was tied around their neck with the other end around the 2nd floor railing. The prisoner were then tossed into the open space between the 1st and 2nd floor to hang until dead. See the Background section of this investigation report for more details.
Here's Shawn taking a peek into one of the cells on the 2nd floor of the jail. While we would find the 1st floor of the jail somewhat unnerving, there was something a little fascinating about the 2nd floor of the jail being closed to the public all these years. Add in the fact that all sort of dusty historical items are stored in the cells on the 2nd floor...and it gave the 2nd floor its own atmosphere that was different than the 1st floor of the jail.  
We then moved down to the 1st floor of the jail. There is reportedly a cell on this level of the jail that is so haunted that anyone walking through the cells can pick out which one is the "haunted" one. For this reason, I didn't tell any of the other Ghost Vigil investigators which cell it was...and asked them to make a 15-minute-tour of all the cells and make note of any strange feelings or experiences they had. They each privately told me which cell (if any of them) they felt was haunted. See the Strange Events section of this investigation report for details on this experiment.
This is a picture of the actual museum exhibits. They are housed in the 1903 expansion of the jail...a large brick building that extends off the back of the 1859 jail building. These museum exhibits are well worth the visit to the museum alone. By browsing through them and reading the descriptions on all the photographs and objects you get a real feel for the dramatic history of our area.  
This is a death photograph of Henry Bugler taken in the Parlor of the Marshall's House prior to his burial. Mr. Bugler was shot and killed during an attack on the jail meant to break out a horse-thief. Henry's son was also injured in the attack. For more details on this story see the Background and History sections of this investigation report. This photograph and a full description of the incident are on display in the museum.
William Quantrill was an interesting historical figure. Lindsey was telling us that there are many people that study and follow the lore and history surrounding Quantrill, and that as a group they have very strong opinions regarding the man. Quantrill's raid on Lawrence had a huge impact on how the Civil War played itself out in our area. There are many questions about what truly motivated this man. He spent some time at the 1859 jail. Some say he was arrested and incarcerated, while the Marshall at the time insisted he only took him into protective custody.  
With our walk-through of the site complete, it was time to begin our investigation. In the picture on the left, Stew is making his way up the stairs in the 1903 expansion building. Many have smelled cigar smoke in this area when no cigar smoke was actually present and Lindsey felt "pushed" by something unseen on these stairs early on in his tenure at the museum. Mike smelled what he described as an ashtray smell on these stairs...but the smell came and went quickly. See the Strange Events section of this investigation report for details.
Click here for Investigation Album Part 2 (of 2)

And check out the sections of this investigation report listed under the category of "Analysis" for detailed discussions and analysis of the evidence we gathered during this investigation...

-Mark Stinson


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