Miami Ghost Chronicles
Investigates

The following are pictures of different
investigations done in conjunction with other paranormal agencies, and
impromptu (or emergency) investigations conducted by Miami Ghost Chronicles
along with visits to famous haunted sites

Old Alms Cemetery, Gettysburg
May 2006

The Old Alms Cemetery is but a tiny, little cemetery which sits smack dab in the far corner of the Gettysburg National Park. This cemetery is quite old and predate the battle which was found in Gettysburg in 1863.
There was an old boarding house on the site where mostly indigent people lived. As the boarders aged and eventually died, there were buried on the site. As years passed, more people were buried on the site and eventually the old home was torn down leaving the cemetery behind.
excerpted from New Journey Ghost Research

Barlow Knoll, Gettysburg
May 2006

Formerly Blocher's Knoll but renamed after Francis Barlow's troops were overrun and killed after a foolish decision by Barlow. Barlow's troops retreated after being attacked from two sides and being placed on a very bad location. Many different forms of paranormal activity have been associated with this place.

Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
Miami, FL (2006)
Orbs captured while visiting an old masonic temple with another FPRF member, Charles Del Campo.

Other haunted masonic temples...
Employees at a Winnipeg restaurant converted from an old Masonic Temple believe the place is haunted. Some refuse to be in the building alone because lights flicker on and off and objects move by themselves. But the ghost doesn't seem to mean any harm. In fact, when wait staff return to work in the morning, it's as though he's had a party in the restaurant overnight. Salt and pepper shakers have been moved and napkins used.

Conjuring Hair-raising Ghost Stories By Rick Armon
Beacon Journal staff writer
KENT (OHIO) - Spend a little time upstairs at the Masonic Temple and you might just see her. The ghost of Kitty Kent, who was fatally burned filling an oil stove inside the house in 1886. She makes an occasional appearance in a white flowing dress, unwilling for some reason to move on to the other realm. Or so the ghost story goes.
Excerpted from www.ohio.com

Hornitos, California
Mother Lode Ghost Town
March 2006
The town was founded by Mexicans who were run out of the neighboring town of Quartzburg for the crime of being Mexicans. In its heyday Hornitos was a wide-open camp whose streets were lined with fandango halls, bars, and gambling dens. But the town was never the same after it was invaded by the "undesirables" from neighboring mining camps. During the gold rush Hornitos was the meanest town in the Mother Lode. Population of about 15,000 people Chinese, Mexicans, Germans, and Italians all came to Hornitos to strike it rich.

Now only about 50 to 75 people live in Hornitos, but you can feel the spirits of the ol` timers there. This is not the quiet, still town that it appears to be.

The spirits of two women prostitutes who fought with knives till only one was left standing can be felt in the town square. The fight was over who a miner belonged to as a client. After the fight the miner was long gone. If you stand still and listen you can hear the screams of the women as they fought and the cheers of the miners who stood around and watch.

Another miner roams around the jail house where he died. Accused of stealing a horse he was placed in the town jail. The jail is still standing today and is about 12' X 12' and has two windows about 1` square and is built out of brick.

Cowboys who were drinking in a local bar decided to go to the jail and told the miner if he tied a rope aroung his waist they would pull him through the window. The miner did so and the cowboys pulled and pulled until they broke his back and he died. The miner never rested his soul and can be felt walking around the jail.

A young mexican girl who died at a young age from perhaps a disease outbreak was buried on top of the ground with bricks and stone placed over her. Through the years tourists have stolen those stones and bricks from her grave leaving it uncovered. You can feel her searching for those stones to cover herself and lay at rest again.

The name of the infamous Mexican bandit, Joaquin Murieta, is still associated with Hornitos as he was almost captured there in the early 1850s, but escaped.

As well as the well-known chocolate make of San Francisco D. Ghirardelli & Co., who established The Ghirardelli Store (1858).

Anyone who steps into Hornitos streets will find that they have stepped back into the 1800`s. Shooting and stabbings occured daily there. So many people came to Hornitos to find a new life only to usually die tragic deaths.
excerpted from
www.strangeusa.com, www.ghosttowns.com

Myself and well known psychic & shaman Sunfox in the streets of Hornitos

The Myrtles
7747 U.S. Highway 61, St. Francisville, LA 70775
www.myrtlesplantation.com

History
The Myrtles Plantation was built in 1796 by General David Bradford and called Laurel Grove. He lived there alone for several years, until being pardoned for his role in the Whiskey Rebellion in 1799. He then moved his wife Elizabeth and their five children to the plantation from Pennsylvania. One of Bradford's law students, Clark Woodruff (or Woodrooff) eventually married Bradford's daughter, Sara Mathilda, in 1817. After the death of David Bradford in 1808, Clark and Sara Woodruff managed the plantation for Elizabeth Bradford. They had three children: Cornelia Gale, James, and Mary Octavia.
In July of 1823, Sara Woodruff died from yellow fever. Clark Woodruff continued to manage the plantation with his mother-in-law. In July of 1824, James died of yellow fever as well, and his sister Cornelia Gale succumbed to the disease in August of that year.
When Elizabeth Bradford died in 1830, Clark Woodruff and his daughter Mary Octavia moved to Covington, Louisiana, and left a caretaker to manage the plantation. In 1834, Woodruffe sold the plantation, the land, and its slaves to Ruffin Gray Stirling. Woodruff eventually died in New Orleans in 1851.
Stirling and his wife, Mary Catherine Cobb, undertook an extensive remodeling of the house. When completed, the new house was nearly double the size of the former building, and its name was changed to The Myrtles. The Stirlings had 9 children, but five of them died young. Stirling died in 1854 and left the plantation to his wife.
In 1865, Mary Cobb hired William Drew Winter to help manage the plantation and as her lawyer and agent. Winter was married to Mary Cobb's daughter, Sarah Mulford. Sarah and William Winter lived at the Myrtles and had six children, one of whom died from typhoid at the age of three. Although the Winters were forced to sell the plantation in 1868, they were able to buy it back two years later.
In 1871, William Winter was shot by an unknown man on the porch of the house and died. Sarah remained at the Myrtles with her mother and siblings until 1878, when she died. Mary Cobb died in 1880, and the plantation passed to Stephen, one of her sons. The plantation was heavily in debt, however, and Stephen sold it in 1886 to Oran D. Brooks. Brooks sold it in 1889, and the house changed hands several times until 1891, when it was purchased by Harrison Milton Williams.
Over the next several decades, the land was split up and owned by various Williams heirs. In the 1950s, Marjorie Munson owned the house itself. Munson apparently noticed odd things happening around the house and began to question neighbors about its history. This is possibly the beginning of some of the legends surrounding the Myrtles. The plantation changed hands several more times and was restored in the 1970s by owners Arlin Dease and Mr. & Mrs. Robert Ward. At some point the house changed hands again, being bought by James and Frances Kermeen Myers. The Myerses apparently believed the house was haunted, and it began to be featured in books and magazines about haunted houses. Frances, publishing as Francis Kermeen has written a book about the Myrtles and its supposed haunting. The house is now a bed & breakfast and offers historical and mystery tours, and is owned by John & Teeta Moss. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Legend of Chloe
Possibly the most well known of the Myrtles supposed ghosts, Chloe (sometimes Cleo) was reportedly a slave owned by Clark and Sara Woodruff. According to one story, Clark Woodruff had pressured or forced Chloe into being his mistress. Chloe and Clark were caught by Sara Woodruff, and Chloe began to listen at keyholes, trying to learn what would happen to her. Other versions of the legend have Chloe listening in at keyholes to learn news of Clark Woodruff's business dealings or for other purposes. After being caught, either by Clark or Sara Woodruff, one of her ears was cut off, and she wore a green turban to hide it.
After having her ear cut off, Chloe supposedly baked a birthday cake containing oleander leaves, which are extremely poisonous. The various legends diverge as to why she did this, with some saying she was getting revenge on the Woodruffs and some saying she was attempting to redeem her position by curing the family of the poisoning.[14] According to the legends, her plan backfired. Only Sara and her two daughters ate the cake, and all died from the poison. Chloe was then supposedly hanged by the other slaves, either as punishment or to escape punishment by Clark Woodruff for harboring her.
The historical record does not support this legend. There is no record of the Woodruffs owning a slave named Chloe or Cleo. The legends usually claim that Sara and her two daughters were poisoned, but Mary Octavia survived well into adulthood. Finally, Sara, James, and Cornelia Woodruff were not killed by poisoning, but instead succumbed to yellow fever. Regardless of the factual accuracy of the Chloe story, she supposedly haunts the plantation.

great picture of daytime orb
Other Legends
There are a variety of other legends surrounding the Myrtles. The house is reputedly built over an Indian burial ground, and the ghost of a young Indian woman has been reported. During the Civil War, the house was ransacked by Union soldiers, and legend claims that three were killed in the house. Supposedly, there is (or was) a blood stain in a doorway, roughly the size of a human body, that will not (or would not) come clean. Other legends say that cleaners have been unable to push their mop or broom into that space. However, there is no record of any Union soldiers having been shot on the Myrtles property.
A mirror located in the house supposedly holds the spirits of Sara Woodruff and two of her children. According to custom, mirrors are covered after a death, but legend says that after the poisoning of some of the Woodruffs, this particular mirror was overlooked. The uncovered mirror reportedly trapped the spirits of Sara and her children, who are occasionally seen or leave handprints in the mirror. These handprints may have been left by workers replacing the glass or resilvering the mirror.
The plantation is also reportedly haunted by a young girl who died in 1868, despite being treated by a local voodoo practitioner. She supposedly appears in the room in which she died, and has been reported to practice voodoo on people sleeping in the room. There is also a ghost who reportedly walks, staggers, or crawls up the stairs and stops on the 17th step. Some have said that this is William Winter, the victim of the only reported murder in the house. Alternate versions of his murder claim he managed to walk or crawl up the stairs, and collapsed in his wife's arms on the 17th step. However, this version of the story is contested. There have been other reports of odd sounds, but they generally do not have legends attached to them.

Columbia State Historic Park
Mother Lode Country, California

Movies and TV programs shot here are: High Noon, Pale Rider, and Little House on the Prairie.
A Brief History
In March of 1850, the Hildreth brothers happened to camp in the area during an until-then unsuccessful search for gold. It had rained during the night, so they hung their blankets up to dry. With time on their hands, they did a little panning and soon discovered how rich the soil was with gold, minerals, and other gems. When other prospectors noticed how much time they were spending in the locale, it was quickly teeming with hundreds of men. People soon found they could pull a clump of grass from the ground and find gold nuggets in its roots. Within a month the population peaked at 6,000. By the end of 1852, there was more than 150 businesses; such as stores, saloons, and hotels; in the town to support the miners.

After California became the 31st state to enter the union during September 1850, Columbia lost the honor of being the Golden State’s capital to Sacramento by two votes. As the price of gold began to dwindle in the 20th century, so did the town’s major industry. By the 1940s, most of the serious mining had ceased. On the other hand, unlike so many other former boomtowns, it retained a small population and, although deteriorating, it avoided becoming clusters of abandoned, derelict buildings. Located in the Sierra Foothills, it is such a pretty area many of its residents will never leave. Columbia’s downtown area was established as a state park in 1945 and since then the state government has gradually been buying up all of the buildings built during the Gold Rush period and preserving them.

The Ghost Stuff
The most commonly known haunted buildings are The City Hotel and Fallon Hotel. The aforementioned has the ghost of a grieving young mother, who staff named Elizabeth, while children staying at the latter have reported seeing a little boy who urges them to see the dancing girls in the theatre. Between not wanting to spoil all of the details of the ghost walk and wanting to learn more of Columbia’s ghost folklore, I asked around the stores and succeeded in learning a few.
The Columbia Mercantile staff still babysits a girl who is believed to have been the little daughter of a previous owner and died of “the fever” at the age of seven. They call her Lizzy. Most of her phenomena takes place at the back of the store. She is known to knock merchandise off the shelves. Occasionally, they hear her giggle. One of the employees, Gaylin, said a past employee has seen a little girl with long, dark hair walk into the back room.

A sign at the St. Charles Saloon warns punters to “Beware of pickpockets and loose women.” Donna, who works there, says they have no ghost stories, but swears she’s seen a few shades standing off to the side as she works there. She claims she’s even seen lights moving around at The City Hotel when it was supposed to be shut down for a couple of weeks and had no staff around. She believes it was Elizabeth moving about there.
Eliot, at Columbia Booksellers, claims that a psychic who visited the area told him of couple of adult male ghosts who hang around the covered wagon exhibit at the north end of Main Street. She said they were still in shock after dying in the fire of a building on that spot.
The schoolhouse is also reputed to have quite a bit of phenomena. Caretakers have tried to set up the display of a working classroom during the 19th century, but everytime they have tried to place a second grade reader on one particular desktop, it is soon found shoved on the floor. Perhaps that pupil feels he has graduated from the second grade and is insulted by the insinuation.

Before the previous owners of the Sierra Gold Tea Company sold their business, which is located in the red barn on the corner of State and Columbia Streets, they were constantly finding dimes all over the place in the oddest spots. One customer swore to seeing a dime fly as she sat at her table. One of those owners had a vision of the woman who was responsible for the phenomena. Today, the Sierra Gold Tea Company is an on-line business and the building is no longer open to the public.
excerpted from epinions.com

Wilson McConnell House
Part of Columbia State Historic Park
Mother Lode Country (Gold Rush), California

James Wilson was born on July, 14, 1826 in Norway. He was a shoemaker and came to Columbia by 1860.
Rosine Rosasco married Wilson on June 1st, 1863 here in Tuolumne County. She eventually had five children with James. She was born in Genoa, Italy on September 10, 1840. She married into the Aste family and moved to Oregon and had three children her first husband. His fate is undetermined. By the 1860's she was with her family in Sutter Creek.
James Wilson's first shop, in 1860, was located on the middle lot of the three that would eventually be part of the land that the house was built on.
1867 James Wilson moves his shoemaking business into the brick building, his family lives behind the store. He shares the space with a barber and a daguerrotypist. James purchased the northern portion of the old Soderer-Marshall store, and moved his business from two doors up the street. In the mean time Rose (as she was now called) and the Wilson family lived in the rear portion of the store.

1869 James Wilson buys out the interests of the others who had been sharing the new (Soderer) building and his business is the sole occupant of the brick store. The building had housed the original store, run by James and Rose, was sold and mined out in the mid-1860's.
By the mid-1870's, James had purchased these three lots immediately north of the store where his first store and two others had been located.
1876 James Wilson dies and his widow Rose takes over the business, with the help of her daughters Theresa and Annie. She eventually had a house built on the site in 1879. The house was attached to the Wilson store next door and the family could access the home through the rear of the store. The store now focused on clothing for men, not shoemaking. The business did well and remained open until Rose passed away in 1931.
1938 Theresa (age 79) and Annie (aged 72) close the business and move to San Francisco. The home and store had gone through a couple of owners, with Mr. & Mrs. McConnell eventually purchasing the home.

1940 Dr. and Mrs. McConnell began to renovate the house with the help of a Williamsburg Architect. The McConnell's were instrumental in helping to create Columbia State Historic Park. They were very close friends with Governor Earl Warren, who they lobbied relentlessly to create the park. The park was signed into law in 1945 through the tireless efforts of Dr. and Mrs. McConnell.
1947 State purchases from James McConnell
2003 Mrs. McConnell passed away at the age of 99.
2005 The State of California purchased the house from the estate in August for the enjoyment of all the citizens of California.

1895 National Hotel
18183 Main Street, Jamestown CA (Gold Rush Ghost Town)
A woman checked into the National Hotel in 1897, often ing to the Sierra Railway Station in search of her fiance, John Davies, who left Quincy, Massachusetts in 1895 to work on the railroad and disappeared.

Four weeks later, she was found dead in her room. A piece of paper on her nightstand addressed to John Davies declared her love for him and said she’d never stop looking for him. A local doctor said the cause of death was simply that her heart stopped.

The woman’s name was lost during a fire, but now nicknamed Flo, her ghost stays mostly upstairs where guests report doors slamming, lights turning on and off. Some say their clothing has been dumped out of their suitcases. She is sometimes seen wandering through the dining room downstairs in the early morning.

Catheys Valley Cemetery
9 Miles from Hornitos, CA
Gold Rush Country

Spooky Ghost Tales from Catheys Valley
Daylight in Catheys Valley, California is precisely equal to day anywhere else in the United States, but this is a municipality where the undead stroll the lanes in the moonlight hours. Things go on here that can't be explained by science. Doubters don't trust in the local ghost tales, but the ghosts of Catheys Valley are out tonight trying to find a person to frighten. These are some of the spooky things that have happened here recently.

A woman with a semi transparent body can be spotted very frequently in Catheys Valley Park at midnight looking for a photo.
The ghost of a man dressed in a law enforcement uniform has every so often been witnessed staring at the vista from the summit of Bald Hill after midnight.

The ghost of a security guard with a bullet hole in his forehead has purportedly been distinguished on numerous instances looking over Bull Run Valley very late at night. According to what the folks who live here assert, this ghost is that of a person who settled here in Catheys Valley a long time ago.

The phantom of an elderly man with a big gray mustache can once in a while be noticed on a dark night scrutinizing Bellyache Canyon in detail. Loads of residents argue this phantom gets pleasure from startling foolish folks who are bold enough to upset the serenity in Catheys Valley.

The ghost of a guy dressed in military attire was distinguished at the stroke of midnight drifting down on Bull Run. The ghost reacted to the witness.
excerpted from
www.ghostsofamerica.com/9/California_Catheys_Valley_ghost_sightings.html
Grave of Andrew Cathey, founder of this town, want to read more about him and his family visit
www.mariposaresearch.net/catheyhilk.html

Go Through This Flame To Go Home

Free counters provided by Andale.