McInteer villa mansion
07/19/2023
07/20/2023
Below is the Movie Documentary we created for this investigation.
General Information
Equipment used: DVR, 3 IR video cameras, 1 full-spectrum video camera, personal audio recorders, digital camera, geophone, Mel Meter, surface temperature thermometer, 2 KII EMF meters, Rem Pod, Spirit Box, and other person emf and recording equipment.
Atmospheric Conditions:
Moon: Waxing Crescent
Temp: 78 F
Humidity: 84%
Barometric Pressure: 29.9
Wind: SE at 7 MPH
Investigators: Christy, Curtis, & Kathy
Camera 1 – Servant’s Staircase
Camera 2 – Basement
Camera 3 – 2nd Floor Hallway on dolls
Camera 4 – Living Room & Parlor Room
Camera 5 – Attic
Camera 6 – 2nd Floor Hallway
Client Claims:
• Lights off and on in the tower (no electricity)
• Figures in the windows when no one is at the home
• Speaker thrown off the counter and boxed moving
• Rocking chair that “Goldie” died in will rock on its own
• Slamming doors throughout the night
• Footsteps on the second floor throughout the night
• Some feel uneasy on the second floor (state they feel they are being watched)
• Items move from one location to another
• Creaks of turning doorknobs
• Lights in the house turn off and on
• Temperature changes
• Disembodied voices (male & female)
• Door to one of the sitting rooms upstairs opens on its own and a “shadow” person was seen
• Smells of powdery or flowery perfume and hint of cigarettes
• Faint voices saying, “that’s nice” or “very nice” when owners were doing repairs
• Sounds of children running up and down the upstairs hallway
• Bathroom door in upstairs library had banging on it as if someone was trying to get out while a heavy chest was in front of the door. Lots of activity, including three knocks, are reported in this bathroom and is the supposed location of a suicide.
• Attic is rumored to be the location of a hanging in the tower.
• Footsteps are heard on the servant’s staircase.
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Internet claims:
• 9 deaths, including one suicide
• Charles Donovan shot himself on the right side of his head with a 0.22 caliber rifle in 1922. He was 34 years old. His brother was the person who found him.
• Isobel “Goldie” Altis sold the home to George Lee Gerardy shortly before her death on 12/15/1969. She was found dead in a chair near the fireplace by the neighbor, Dorothy Bond. Her doctor stated it was likely natural causes and she had been dead for about 24 hours or more. The only original furniture in the house is Goldie’s rocking chair, which is rumored that she died in.
Historical/Factual/Relevant Info:
The City of Atchison:
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Atchison is a city and county seat in Kansas along the Missouri river about 50 miles to the northwest of Kansas City. It was it was incorporated as a town by the Territorial Legislature on August 30,1855. Three years later on February 12, 1858, it became a city. Its proximity to the river is what made the city thrive in its early years. Many freighters and steamboats made port in Atchison, and it quickly became a leading commercial center. Its steamboat landings on the Missouri
River, its wagon roads to the west made the city thrive. The U.S. Post Office made Atchison headquarters and the starting point for mail going out to the West. The stagecoach line from Atchison to Placerville, California, was one of the longest and most important lines in the country. In the 1860’s the town’s leaders and investors founded the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad in Atchison. Later, the 1945 film The Harvey Girls, starring Judy Garland, featured a very catchy and Oscar-winning song that many from Atchison still hum today. It can be heard in the following video below.
The U.S. Post Office made Atchison its headquarters and starting point for mail to the west. Atchison’s stagecoach line ran from Atchison to Placerville, California and was one of the longest and most important lines in the country.
When the surge of the land trade dwindled in the 1860’s, Atchison’s leaders began focusing their attention on making the city a railroad hub.
Investors from Atchison gave $150,000 to start this process. Thus, the Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad was founded in Atchison.
Starting around 1870 to 1900, major industries began to be established in Atchison. Large wholesale businesses were developed, and the commercial life of Atchison came alive. Atchison also developed one of the first banking centers in the state. These new founded industries grew, and the railroads helped, hauling large loads of grains, milling and manufacturing goods. During the 1870’s, Atchison became a rival to Leavenworth and Topeka as one of the state’s most important manufacturing centers.
Politics even existed within Atchison. The Lewis and Clark Expedition had spent Independence Day in the area in 1804 at an abandoned village of the Kansa Tribe at that time. Fifty years later, Atchison became one of the first settlements in Kansas Territory.
The town’s namesake, Senator David Rice Atchison, technically was President of the United States for one day on March 4, 1849, when Zachary Taylor refused to take the Oath of Office on a Sunday. Vice President, George M. Dallas, stepped down as President of the Senate just two days prior to what was to be inauguration day.By order of the Presidential Succession Act of 1792, this meant Atchison was next in line to serve as President of the United States, although he never took the Oath of Office. In honor of this quirky bit of history, the City of Atchison is home to the World’s Smallest Presidential Library for “President Atchison” in the historic Santa Fe Depot Museum.
Atchison is even home to many celebrities. One well known celebrity was Amelia Earhart who was born in her grandparents’ Atchison home in 1897. She lived there during her childhood years. Visitors to Atchison can tour her historical home located on a hill that overlooks the Missouri River.
Today, Atchison has over 20 sites that are on the National Register of Historical Places.
The historic McInteer Villa currently has eleven rooms, a full basement, five bedrooms, three full baths, two half baths, has a brick foundation, a detached garage and is 4,372 square feet. John McInteer was born in Ireland in 1827. He married his first wife, Alice Conley in 1857 in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was also born in Ireland and was 2 years younger than John. They moved to Atchison in 1861. Mr. McInteer made his fortune making harnesses and saddles. He opened a shop in Atchison in 1880 and kept the business until he retired a year before his death. He built his Victorian style home on the McInteer block at 8th and Commercial Streets in 1889 for $14,000 at the time.
John’s first wife, Alice, died of “intermittent fever” shortly after the home was built in 1891 at age 63. John married his second wife, Anna Conlon, in 1896. She was a 38-year-old widow with three sons.
John died in his home on July 17th, 1902, of “dropsy,” which is edema or swelling caused by a fluid buildup. It is usually a symptom of kidney disease or heart failure. The obituary states he was 75 years old, however his headstone states he was 73 years old.
Anna continued to live in the home until her death in 1916 from an embolism at about age 58. She had suffered from a stroke the week prior and was found by her nurse, Miss Cordie Goodwin. Anna had shared her home with many of her Conlon relatives, including several children.
Anna’s brother, Judge Charles J. Conlon, a prominent Atchison lawyer, inherited the home after 1916. He lived there with several family members including Anna’s sons and their wives and children. One of Anna’s sons, Charles Donovan, a veteran of the first World War, committed suicide in the home on October 10th, 1922, at the age of 34. A local newspaper article confirms this occurred in the home. It states he shot himself in the head with a 0.22 caliber rifle and it took him two hours to die. It was thought that he was suffering from illness and “despondency” or depression. He had been telling his family that he was not feeling well and had a headache. He went upstairs to his room and five minutes later, his family heard the gunshot. It was his uncle, Charles J. Conlon, who ran upstairs and found him.
The home became a rooming house between the year 1925 to about 1950. During this time, a young couple named Mr. and Mrs. William T. Wood had been expecting a child. Their daughter, Ramona Jane Wood, was born on September 16th, 1929, at a local hospital. She died just four days later. The following year, Judge Conlon died in the home on January 30th, 1930. He was 69 years old.
Ms. Isobel “Goldie” Altus purchased the home in 1952. She was a retired professional violinist and was known as being “an eccentric” or someone who is odd or strange. The local census records do not show her age, but that she is “over 21” year after year. Goldie was known to wear only black and children from the Franklin School across the street would see her walking and called her the witch who lived in the old mansion. Her plans were to restore the house, but she did not have the financial resources to do so. She sold it to George Lee Gerardy shortly before her death in December of 1969. She also in the home at age 75 years. Her death was said to be from natural causes.
George Gerardy was able to restore the home after purchasing it in 1969. He eventually died in the home on June 17, 2006, confirmed by his obituary. He was born on July 25, 1919, in Wathena, KS., and was a World War II U.S. Army veteran. Mr. Gerardy was a master carpenter, retiring in 1982, and was a member and past Master of the Active Masonic Lodge #158, and the Abdullah Shrine. He served on the Atchison Housing Authority Board, and the Northeast Kansas Vo-Technical School Board. He was a member of the Martha Washington Chapter #215 Order of the Eastern Star, Atchison, KS. He left behind his wife of 58 years, Thelma Wohlgemuth Gerardy, who remained in the home.
Thelma Louise Wohlgemuth was born November 10, 1926, in Atchison County, graduated from Atchison High School and had a career in many places in and around Atchison. Mrs. Gerardy was a member of the Atchison United Methodist Church, a long-time Girl Scout Leader, a member and Past Matron of the Martha Washington Chapter #215 of the Order of Eastern Star for 50 years, and former President of the Social Order of the Beauceant. Thelma enjoyed playing the piano, her peonies flower garden, feeding and watching her birds. Her obituary states, "Thelma truly loved living in a historical house and enjoyed sharing stories of living in one of Atchison’s Historic Homes. [She] was always delighted when the Atchison Trolley would stop outside her home on their Historic and Haunted Homes tours.” Thelma passed away in the home on September 10th, 2014.
Eight people in total are known to have passed away in the home. One infant, whose parents were boarding in the home during the depression, had died at the hospital just four days after her birth.
Investigation Report
Our team was very excited to investigate this location. We were able to spend 2.5 days at this location to thoroughly investigate it.
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Client Interview/Tour
The team arrived around 3:00 p.m. and was greeted by the owner of the location who gave the team a tour of the mansion. Christy waited outside and took photographic and video sweeps of the building. After the walk-thru with the owner, our team began bringing in our equipment and overnight bags. Christy’s audio recorder was sitting on the counter in the kitchen area downstairs for the first hour and twenty minutes of our arrival to the mansion. At approximately 3:50 p.m., Christy’s audio recorder recorded an evp of a deep male voice saying what appears to sound like, “garage.” We don’t know what this was in reference to because we weren’t talking about a garage.
At 4:29 p.m., Curtis, Jim and Eric were exploring the basement area. After they were finished, they began turning off the lights. Curtis and Eric were the last ones coming out of the basement. Curtis noticed the light had turned itself back on. He verified with Jim and Becky if they had turned off all the lights, to include the one that Curtis discovered had come back on. Becky and Jim verified they had turned off the light.
One of our team members, Eric, decided he wanted to go upstairs and set up an audio recorder to start monitoring one of the rooms on the second floor. At 4:51 p.m., he had a personal experience that left him a bit shaken. The lights were all off upstairs and only a bit of daylight streamed inward from limited window and door entrances.
Eric opened the bathroom door and suddenly heard shuffling of feet. He then felt a light push on his chest as if something were pushing him out of the way to quickly pass by. Caught off guard, he quickly shut the door and came back downstairs and joined the team outside to tell them about his experience. (Insert video for this). After informing the team about his experience, we went up to the spot and made a video of his experience. The team then continued discussing a plan for the evening.
Walk-Thru (Night one)
Our initial walk-thru started at 5:00 p.m. Since this location was very large, our team decided to do a walk-thru of the location together before getting started on our investigation. We wanted to discuss certain areas that would be best suited to place stationary cameras and equipment. While going down into the basement to conduct a group walk-through, Christy’s audio recorder picked up a low deep male’s voice that said, “hey.” This was heard right at the beginning of the clip, right before Becky started talking.
At 5:32 p.m. our team conducted a small sit-down in one of the bedrooms up on the 2nd floor. This bedroom was decorated up to look like a child’s playroom. While monitoring the room, Christy thought she saw the closet door open a bit. Right after that, all the team except for 1 member, heard loud thud type sounds up on the attic floor directly above us. No one was in the attic at that time. These thud sounds were captured on audio.
A short time later at 5:58 p.m., our team went up to the 3rd floor (attic) and while walking up the stairs, Christy got the name James and heard a male voice say, “no.” Eric and Becky then heard a deep male’s voice audibly say, “No.” This incident was captured on video camera.
Set Up
Our team set up equipment throughout the home to monitor for any paranormal activity. Equipment was set up in areas where claims of paranormal activity had been reported. Additional equipment was also set up in areas where Christy felt additional energy. Stationary audio recorders and emf meters were placed throughout the home to ensure audio coverage. During set-up, Becky, Jim, Eric and Kim were in the basement where a skeleton was set up sitting in a wheelchair. Since the claim was that people can record evps when someone tells a joke, Becky told a joke. It was right after this that Becky’s audio recorder captured a voice saying, “it’s not funny.” After the set-up, we took a dinner break and then came back to start our sweeps of the mansion.
Sweeps
Our team decided to conduct an audio-baiting experiment in the parlor room, playing music that was violin-based to see if there would be any reaction. Our team decided to split up into 2 different teams for the sweeps. Since we could keep 1 floor in between us, one team (Christy, Curtis & Kathy) started on the 2nd floor and the 2nd team (Becky, Jim, Eric & Kim) started in the basement.
Right before starting the sweep around 11:00 p.m., Kathy went up to the 2nd floor to place a geophone and ball in front of the camera view. It was at this time she heard footsteps coming up from the servant’s staircase. She called out to Christy to see if Christy and Curtis were on the stairs yet coming up. Christy and Curtis were still downstairs on the first floor gathering some equipment to take up to the 2nd floor. Kathy’s audio recorder picked up the “loud footsteps.” Our group documented her experience on video.
While taking baseline readings in the library, Christy’s audio recorder picked up a male’s voice saying, “Shh, shh.” Later a sit-down would be conducted in this room with the entire room. After all baseline readings on the 2nd floor was done, Christy, Curtis and Kathy decided to do a sit-down in the hallway to monitor for activity and see if any of the paranormal claims could be validated by our team.
At 11:18 p.m. while investigating in the library, Curtis thought he heard a woman’s voice right beside him in his left ear that said, “Are you okay?” We reviewed back the video and audio to see if the woman’s voice was recorded, however, it was not captured.
At 11:43 p.m., while sitting in the hallway, Christy, Curtis and Kathy smelled cigarette smoke. It was first smelt by Kathy and Curtis and then later by Christy. The smell would become strong like a new cigarette was lit and then it would fade out, then come back strong again. The smell of cigarettes was one of the paranormal claims for this location.
At 11:45 p.m., 3 knocks were heard in the hallway by Christy, Curtis and Kathy. These knocks were captured on audio and video. At 11:54 p.m., 5 knocks were heard in the hallway during this same sit-down. These knocks were also captured on audio and video. See video for all 3 incidents.
Team two reported no activity in the basement area during their investigative sweep. Team 1 and team 2 swapped places and began investigating. We covered the attic and first floor as well with no other notable activity. Since the activity seemed to dwindle, our team decided to wrap up for the evening and head off to bed. We left video and audio recording equipment running overnight while we slept. After review of the video, it did not produce any recorded paranormal evidence. We were able to record some audio evidence. Christy’s audio recorder was sitting on the small table by the servant’s staircase and recorded several knocks, taps, bangs and weird sounds.
Day 2
We got up the next morning, and Becky and Kim headed downstairs to look around. Becky went over to the piano and played a few of the keys. Kim was in the parlor and called Becky over to see if she smelled the powdery smell she was smelling. Becky said she smelt the same smell as well.
After getting ready, we all left to go have some breakfast. We then headed over to the local cemetery to find the graves of the McInteer family. We were at the cemetery for a while and towards the end, interestingly enough, Christy’s audio recorder captured an evp of a male’s voice saying, “go.”
Since Becky and Kim had their experience with smelling the powdery smell (also a claim,) the team decided to do a little audio baiting with Christy playing some songs on the piano present in the living room. After a short time of Christy playing the piano, Becky and Kim noticed a powdery smell coming from the small adjacent parlor room again like they had earlier that morning.
Once we got back to the mansion, we took some time to review over some evidence that we had recorded the previous day. We also transferred over our audio recordings to our laptops to clear room for the upcoming investigation.
For our 2nd day/night investigation, several interesting things took place. We did a sit-down in the library room on the 2nd floor. Christy’s audio recorder captured an evp of what sounds like a male’s voice saying, “I’m sad.”
We conducted a sit-down in the attic area of the home where we did an hour-long Estes Method session. We did have some success connecting to a man (nicked-name the basement man.) Information was gathered during this session and the session was recorded on video. No evps were captured during this time.
Our team then did a little book reading to the children in the room decorated up childlike. We then did a little sit-down in the room and set up a rocking horse with a light ball under it to see if it would be moved on its own. We had a Big Bird stuffed animal that played music whenever it was wound up. We set that on top the rocking horse with the music playing in hopes that it would draw in some activity with some children spirits that were claimed to be in the home.
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Towards the end of the evening, the activity appeared to dwindle down again, so our team decided to wrap up for the night. We again left video and audio equipment running through the evening. Christy’s audio recorder picked up several interesting sounds throughout the night. These sounds included clicks, pops, strange sounds, footsteps on the back servant’s staircase, taps, and loud bangs. These sounds will be included below under our evidence section.
I really loved this historical mansion and found myself especially drawn to the 2nd floor. It was on the 2nd floor in the room decorated up to be a library, that I picked up on a man who had committed suicide, but felt remorseful and trapped in the distressing state of emotions he was in. He felt an obligation to his mother who still looked after him there.
I also felt the death of a baby who was connected to the house. Later through historical evidence presented, I learned a baby girl was born to parents who lived in the home, but she died at the hospital 4 days later.
I also picked up on a woman who once lived there and strong family ties to many other family members that resided in the home. I believe this was Mr. McInteer’s second wife named Anna. She felt she still needed to be there in the home to help with things. She also remained there because of her son Charles, who had committed suicide there in the house.
The other main spirit that I felt in the home was that of a man who many have called, “Basement man.” Through our Estes session up in the attic, I heard the name Danny and assumed this might be his name. During this session, I had the headphones on. At one point, I smelled smoke as if something were burning. I also got the image of a large fire. It was “Danny” who was telling me that he had died in a fire. He didn’t know who had set the fire, but it was large, and it led to his death. He admitted to being angry about it, but said he was trying to forget it. He told me that during an investigation there at the mansion, another paranormal team had opened a portal into the mansion. He walked through it and after exploring the mansion, liked it and decided to stay. During this attic sit-down and Estes
Method session, “Danny” also gave me additional information about Charles, who committed suicide in the home.
evidence collected
There were 5 EVPs that were recorded during this investigation, 32 sound clips, and 1 video clip.
There were 0 positive photos
EVPS
"Hey"
"Shh, shh"
"It's not funny"
"garage"
"I'm sad."
sounds
3 footsteps
4 knocks
5 knocks
4 thuds in attic
footsteps - Kathy's exp.
loud knock 1
loud knock 2
loud knock 3
loud knock 4
loud knock 5
loud knock 6
loud knock 7
strange sound 1
strange sound 2
strange sound 3
footsteps on stairs 1
footsteps on stairs 2
footsteps on stairs 3
footsteps on stairs 4
shuffling 1
shuffling 2
shuffling 3
tap sound 1
tap sound 2
tap sound 3
tap sound 6
taps and footsteps
tap sound 4
tap sound 5
tap, knock & footsteps
2 taps
movement & electronic beep
Videos
There were 3 video clips that were combined into one of our sit-down in the hallway. This clip reveals several footsteps and knocking sounds.