The Historic eufaula national bank
1 1/13/2021
General Information
Investigators: Christy, Becky, Curtis, Kathy & Eric
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Equipment used: DVR, 6 IR video cameras, 1 full spectrum video camera, personal audio recorders, digital camera, geophone, Mel Meter, surface temperature thermometer and 2 KII EMF meters, Rem Pod and other person emf and recording equipment.
Atmospheric Conditions:
Moon: Waxing Gibbous
Temp: 47°
Humidity: 53%
Barometric Pressure: 30.02
Wind: S at 10MPH
Client Claims:
The lower part of this building is currently a business and the upper part of this building is currently being used as a private residence and loft.
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• Footsteps are heard in the hallway area of the upstairs area by guests.
• Guests who stay upstairs have heard the sound of laughing and talking, dishing rattling/clanging like a party going on.
• Pictures have come off of the wall in one of the back rooms.
• Voices have been heard throughout the upstairs area.
• Guests have reported having the feeling watched.
Historical/Factual/Relevant Info:
Photo taken by Rick Mattioni in July 2009.
Eufaula National Bank Building when post office was at the location, early 1900’s. –“Eufaula: A Pictoral Hitory 1833-1993” Ed. Connie Morris.
The building investigated was built in 1901 as the Eufaula National Bank. A fire in Eufaula in 1898 and the passing of the Curtis Act resulted in a boom of new businesses and the rebuild of better buildings making the historic main street what it is today. It was one of three banks in the area by 1911 and is currently on the National Register of Historic Places.
John Courtney Smock was President of Eufaula National Bank in its early years. County records reveal ownership was moved to his wife, Eloise Grayson Smock, in 1919. Further research revealed that Mr. Smock had died August 26, 1919, just days before the ownership transfer. He died in his home of ptomaine poisoning (food poisoning) at the age of 45. He left behind three children, Anna Louise, 16, John C. Jr., 12, and Helen, 5. His wife was the daughter of Captain George Washington Grayson who was chief of Creek Nation at the time. They were a well-known family during the early state-hood years.
The following was printed in The Harrodsburg Herald, Harrodsburg, Mercer Co, KY, Fri. Aug 29, 1919:
Much regret is expressed here over news of the death of Mr. Campbell Smock at 6:30 Tuesday evening at his home in Eufaula, Oklahoma. Mr. Smock was a native of this city and grew to young manhood here. He was the son of the late Mr. John Smock and Mrs. Kittie Campbell Smock, and was about 45 years of age. He went west some years ago and settled in Eufaula, where he married Miss Eloise Grayson. He was very successful in business and became identified with some of the largest enterprises of that city, and was especially prominent in banking circles. For a year or two past his health had not been good, and last summer he spent here at Graham Springs Hotel. He is a man who will not be remembered for his success in life, but for his many good charitable acts and his right stand on every public cause. His numerous friends here will regret sincerely the passing of such a splendid man. He is survived by his wife and three children. Mrs. Smock died on December 21, 1954, at McAlester General Hospital after an extended illness. She was 74 years old. She and Mr. Smock are buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Eufaula, Oklahoma.
The Eufaula National Bank opened in 1901 and stopped printing money in 1922, which equals a 22 year printing period. That is a fairly normal time-period of printing brown-backs for a national bank. During its time, The Eufaula National Bank issued 9 different types and denominations of national currency and printed $476,500 dollars’ worth of national currency. (antiquemoney.com)
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Historical photos of The Eufaula National Bank reveal a post office and a postmaster that was located in the Eufaula National Bank. It is highly likely this was part of the postal banking system of the time. The postal banking period in the United States lasted from 1911 to 1966. According to the USPS website, postal banking was established by a 1910 act of congress where a postal savings system could provide depositors who did not have access to typical banking because of high cost/fees. It was a safe and convenient method to save money. People could deposit money in certain increments. The Postal Savings System deposits earned 2.5 percent from July 1, 1911 to July 1, 1935. U.S. savings bonds took the place of postal savings bonds in 1935. This system performed central banking functions before the Federal Reserve was capable of supporting such tasks. Postal banking helped fund two world wars and reduced a massive government deficit after the Great Depression.
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​The Eufaula National Bank was eventually purchased and acquired by the State National Bank of Eufaula on December 16, 1922.
Postmaster Hammer in the post office locate within the Eufaula National Bank, early 1900’s. –“Eufaula: A Pictorial History 1833-1993” Ed. Connie Morris.
Postmaster Hammer in the post office locate within the Eufaula National Bank, early 1900’s. –“Eufaula: A Pictorial History 1833-1993” Ed. Connie Morris.
Ownership is unknown between the 1920’s through the 1970’s. County records were not available online for those decades.
Appendix:
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Warranty Deed 1919 for 201 N. Main Street, Eufaula, McIntosh Co, OK
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National Register of Historic Places Inventory form incl. 201 N Main Eufaula
Investigation Report
Our team had previously conducted another investigation at a different location this same evening and came over to this location to do a preliminary investigation. We decided to stay overnight in this location after our investigation and continue to monitor the location for paranormal activity through the remainder of the evening and into the morning with all of our recording equipment still running. The log below will show activity that took place while our team was active.
12:57 a.m. – Our investigation began. Our team decided to do a walk-through of the building checking for emf, taking photographs, video, and recorded audio. Nothing out of the ordinary occurred during the walk-through investigation. Our team then decided to go upstairs to conduct a sit-down in the living room.
1:43 a.m. – We started our sit-down in living room.
2:14 a.m. – Kathy caught a very faint (need headphones) female or "child voice" in the living room about 3 seconds into the clip.
2:15 a.m. – Becky asked Kathy if she had ever experienced anything really crazy on an investigation when Kathy’s audio recorder caught what sounds like a male or female voice repeating the word "crazy" (4 seconds into the clip right after Kathy said, "kind of").
2:25 a.m. – Kathy was in the kitchen cleaning the coffee filter (the banging was her cleaning out the old grounds into the trash before washing it for the morning). She caught what sounds like, "say it just like this" on her recorder, but she was in the kitchen alone and didn't hear it at the time.
2:32 a.m. – When the team was in the stairwell, Kathy was asking if there is a boy spirit and if he liked to go up the stairs. She said the team couldn't hear him and shortly afterward you can hear a "sliding on the staircase" (at 4-6 sec) noise as if it was on the stairs with the team. The noise repeats again, but louder (at 11-12 sec). It sounded like it was in the second floor hallway by the door at the top of the stairs the second time it was heard.
2:39 a.m. – The team went downstairs to real estate office. Kathy, Curtis, Eric and Becky were in the downstairs real Estate office. Kathy was talking about the crown molding. Becky recorded what sounds like a child or a high pitched woman’s voice say “Ohhhh” (at 5-6 seconds).
3:30 a.m. – Active investigation ended for team and the team went to bed but left the equipment running.
Audio Clips from Recorded Audio that was left running:
Christy’s audio recorder was left on the wooden bedroom dresser of the master suite in the back of the upstairs bedroom. It sounded like someone/something had moved her audio recorder on the dresser. Her audio recorder picked up the scooting movement of her audio recorder.
No events were experienced in the photography room or adjacent bedroom overnight.
Conclusion
Our team feels like this location is active with a few different spirits, however, we do not feel like any of the spirits present are harmful or malicious in nature. We feel like the spirits present are a possible result of its past history. We do feel like this location can be a location for spirits to come and go as well because of events that have occurred here.
Psychic Investigator’s Comments
I know this building had many uses from when it was first erected, up until its current use today. I felt the spirits here in the building were connected from its past and some from the present due to the many uses of the building.
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​I did feel a strong male presence in the building. This male felt like he had some sort
of ownership or caretaking of the building from long ago. He seemed to prefer roaming all areas of the building, especially the downstairs area. He wasn’t to friendly and wasn’t to sure as to why we were there or what exactly what were doing. At one point I was by myself and walking in the hallway upstairs and I felt his presence upstairs towards the end of the hallway. I got the overwhelming feeling of not being welcomed and a strong presence that I needed to turn around and leave.
There was also a female presence in the building who appeared more strongly in the upstairs area. She was not as overwhelming as the male spirit, but nonetheless, not shy about letting me know she was there. She was very curious about why we were there and seemed to interact with the team during our investigation.
Our team had heard rumors that there could have been the spirit of a little boy there in the building, so when our team did a sit-down in the stairwell area, they set up a little experiment with a ball in hopes that the little boy would come and play. The team did hear movement and shuffling in the hallway area, and this was captured on our audio recorders. While we don’t know for sure if this was a child’s spirit, Kathy was able to capture the faint voice of what could have been a child’s voice on her audio recorder earlier in the evening. I was not unfortunately able to
connect with any spirit(s) of a child during my time here. Sometimes that can occur because another
spirit’s energy can overpower another’s who is weaker than theirs, or also because I may not have been on the right frequency channel to pick up on the child’s energy while I was there.
evidence collected
There were 4 evps, 2 sound clips, 0 photos and 0 video clips.
EVPS
Child's voice
"Say it just like this"
"Crazy"
"Ohhhhh"
Sound clips
Sliding on the staircase
Movement of the audio recorder