The O68
Ghost Hunters:
Dee Dee Colabella
Dylan Miller
Greg Mursko
Julia (AAAAAH!) Bruce
Mela Rispoli
Clairvoyant Medium
LoriAnn Witte
Glebe House Director
Ghosts:
Sarah Marshall
Former Resident
John Marshall
Former Resident
Autumn is the time of year when people’s thoughts turn to spooky stories and haunted houses. For some though, ghost hunting is a year-round interest. Connecticut is filled with haunted locations – from the Fairfield Hills State Hospital in Newtown to the 1754 House Inn & Restaurant in Woodbury.
068 Magazine recently spoke with paranormal investigator Amy Bruni (see page 38) and decided to embark on a ghost hunt of our own to The Glebe House Museum and Gertrude Jekyll Garden, a revolutionary building also located in Woodbury, CT.
A Bit of History
The Glebe House dates back to the 1700’s. “Glebe” is an old English word that referred to land given to a reverend or priest on which to build his house as well as a farm to benefit his family. In 1771, Reverand John Rutgers Marshall and his wife Sarah moved from Stratford to Woodbury and took up residence in the Glebe House. The couple had nine children and three enslaved people. Marshall, Woodbury’s first Angelican minister, was thought to be loyal to the King and endured significant oppression and abuse from Patriot townspeople. The house has several hiding places – it is speculated that Marshall hid from his tormenters. “Marshall was considered a tory. Inspectors looked for people who were Loyalists, it was the witch hunts of the time. Marshall died in 1789 after moving from the house, most likely as a result of injuries from being beaten by these committees of inspection,” says LoriAnn Witte, Director of the Glebe House.
Ghost Hunting 101
Safety First
Never go alone, bring along a friend or two.
Get Permission
If you’re planning your ghost hunt on private property or building, make sure you’re allowed to be in the space after hours.
Timing is Everything
Wait until it’s dark. Ghosts or spirits tend to be more active at night – hence the term “the witching hour.”
Keep an Open Mind
Be curious and engage all of your senses – so you are completely in tune with your surroundings.
Document Evidence
Digital recorders and cameras can often pick up things our eyes and ears don’t.
So, What Happened???
It was a dark and stormy night….actually the night of our ghost hunt indeed was – but the thunder, lightning, and pervasive darkness only added to the spooky atmosphere. Armed with some special equipment, a heightened curiosity, a splash of bravery, and a large pack of Twizzlers, the 068 team and LoriAnn, as well as Mela Rispoli, a clairvoyant/medium, spent an evening at this allegedly haunted house.
Upon entering the house, Mela immediately felt an active energy. “Houses, buildings, and structures have their own personalities and energies,” she says. “I felt in this house there is a woman who wants her story to be told and a man who does not want that story told.”
LoriAnn gave our team a tour of the house – from the front room where they once held funerals to the attic where the enslaved people slept. Mela sensed the presence of an underground tunnel that led to the nearby cemetery. “There’s an urban myth that there was a tunnel under the house. Studies by Yale have disputed this,” says LoriAnn. Mela felt strongly that the tunnel did exist.
As we went from room to room, we used an EMF meter, which detects spikes in the electromagnetic field. A sudden, unexplained spike in EMF readings is often considered evidence of a potential paranormal presence. The EMF meter will light up – ranging from light green (weak signal) to red (strong signal). As we made our way through the house, we would ask a question of Sarah Marshall and often felt her response via the lights.
Later, we used a Spirit Box, which is a specialized device that continuously scans through both AM and FM radio frequencies. One of us wore noise cancelling headphones connected to the Spirit Box as well as a blindfold so as not to be influenced by anything else in the room. Then, we would ask a question. The person listening through the Spirit Box could then pick up sounds and words. Some examples of words we heard were “leave,” “get out,” “help,” and “Dylan,” the first name of one of our team.
Both the EMF meter and the Spirit Box gave us signs that would be difficult to explain away. The EMF box, which we believed was Sarah Marshall communicating with us, would light up to questions, but also lit up when the four women were casually communicating – as if she enjoyed being a part of the ladies’ chat.
While we can’t confirm that there were actual ghosts present while we were at the Glebe House, the idea that spirits linger after a person dies is a commonly held belief. You’ll have to do a bit of investigating and draw your own conclusions. •
