Our History Press editor did not want too many first person accounts or ghost hunting details in the book so we have a couple buildings that we had to delete info from their chapters.
I previously shared details about Whaley House and Spencer House, next up is the Stockton House.
On May
18th 2016, Joe had the privilege of meeting with the people from Michigan
Spirit Quest (MSQ) and discover their findings in the home from an
investigation they did a month before.
This was MSQ’s second investigation of the Stockton home. The first one
was done the year before, in the middle of the night. This investigation was in
the daytime. Over the years there have been many claims of haunting experiences
in the home. The findings of MSQ will be broken down into the areas where they
found the most activity. The evidence they found makes us believe that there
are several ghosts in the home for many time periods.
As you
enter the house through the grand front doors into the main hallway you
immediately catch a glimpse of the past. The staff and tenants at the Stockton
house have reported hearing whistling and the feeling of someone being in the
hallway. After MSQ’s investigation, they were able to capture the whistling
several times throughout both of their investigations. Other activity that was
found in the hallway was the sound of footsteps. This was recorded several
times during the investigation when the investigators were in other locations
of the house, like the morgue and attic. The footsteps sounded like a man
wearing boots pacing the hall. Listening to it, it sounded like someone that
has been in the military. Could it be Colonel Stockton watching over the
home?
Some
interesting activity was also caught in the parlor. This spirit seemed to be
from a more current time period. One of the questions asked was “does anyone
sit in chairs and look out the window?” the spirit responded “Hell yeah”. There
have been claims of seeing a spirit looking out the window. Other voices were
heard throughout the investigation in this room, most of which were low and
breathy to the point it was too hard to make out what they were saying. Another
example of this was caught on one of the recorders in another room while the
team was in the parlor, they asked if anyone sat at the desk? The recorder in
the room next to it picked up a voice that said, “She left.”
Leaving
the parlor and going into the drawing room, the team also captured many low
breathy voices. Most of which were just one word responses to questions, like
“no”, “wow”, or “yes”. There was one exception, when one of the investigators
asked the other team member if she should shut the door, a spirit replied, “all
the way.”
Moving
along in the house to the butler’s pantry and servant’s area, there again was a
lot of recorded talking that was quiet, fast, and breathy. One of the spirits
was very polite, and still seemed to be working when he guided the crew by
saying, “right through there.”
Leaving
the main floor of the house, the sound of a lady humming could be heard several
times on their recorders. When the team listened to the recordings as they were
going up the stairs, they recorded a voice telling them to, “Go away.” On the
upstairs floor in Baylis’s bedroom they also recorded some weird tapping on the
floor when asked how many spirits are in the room. Later when listening to
their recording they heard a spirit answer, “Two.”
In the
1920’s an extension was put on the house as a hospital wing, when the home was
turned into St. Joseph’s Hospital. One of the places with the most activity was
the morgue on the first level. The team recorded footsteps many times
throughout their investigation. One of the spirits seemed to want to interact
with the team. One of the team members made a comment about her phone, while
they were packing up the equipment and the spirit responded, “That’s bad.” The
same spirit also seemed to like her peace when he told them, “quiet.” Another spirit responded to their questioning
with a, “thanks.”
The
operating room was another place in the hospital that seemed to have a lot of
activity with low breathy voices that were not fully able to make out what they
were saying. In one of the recovery rooms many staff members and visitors have
claimed to feel chills, hear sounds, and get creeped out. When they listened to
the recordings after investigating that room the sound of a man moaning in pain
could be heard.
Haunted Flint
Haunted America Series
Roxanne Rhoads and Joe Schipani
Publisher: The History Press
Release Date: September 2, 2019
ISBN-10: 1467143049
ISBN-13: 978-1467143042
Book Description:
Sinister Secrets in Flint’s History
Home to ancient burial grounds, unsolved murders, economic depression, and a water crisis, Flint emits an unholy energy rife with ghostly encounters.
Colonel Thomas Stockton’s ever vigilant ghost keeps a watchful eye over his family home at Spring Grove, where guests occasionally hear the thump of his heavy boots.
Restless spirits long separated from their graves lurk among the ancient stones in Avondale Cemetery.
Carriage maker W.A. Paterson’s spirit continuously wanders the halls of the Dryden Building, and something sinister and unnamed resides in a Knob Hill mansion waiting to prey on impressionable young men.
Join authors Roxanne Rhoads and Joe Schipani on a chilling tour of Flint’s most haunted locations.
