(Cick on BOLD Text to hear EVP Clips)
Many legends surround "Jennie" and the house where she died. She was more likely called "Ginny", derived from Mary VIRGINIA Wade. Of course, some say she still haunts the place she died in. That is debateable, but there is no doubt that the old brick house is haunted!
In 1991 or 1992, I visited the Wade House for the first time since my childhood. Kelly was with me, and while this was before our "formal" forays into investigating haunted places began, we witnessed something that day which simply has no rational explanation. At the end of the self-guided tour through the house, we entered the basement, where a mannequin rests in the spot where Jennie's body lie, awaiting burial when the firing stopped. Though she "felt" nothing elsewhere in the house, Kelly immediately noted a "crazy" male presence here. We both noticed some curious cold spots, and after a few moments, decided to move on. As I followed Kelly up the steps, something made me look back, and to my amazement, the long chain protecting the "death mannequin display" was swaying vigorously! Uttering "Holy S*%$" got Kelly's attention in time for her to also see this. As it subsided, I wondered if somehow ascending the stairs had caused the movement, and tried in vain for several minutes to replicate it by stomping up and down the stairs. We also noted how, despite hearing several tractor trailers and busses rumble by on nearby Baltimore Street, the chain remained stationary. Soon after our own experience, Mark Nesbitt's second Ghosts of Gettysburg book was published and related a similar account of the mysterious chain.
Fast forward to April 23, 2004. Kelly and I were doing a thorough, updated investigation as part of several upcoming appearances she made for "Ghostly Images of Gettysburg" which offers haunted history tours of the house. A camcorder documented Kelly's complete walk-through, while another was running in the basement for the entire 1.5 hrs we were there. Since that day in the early 90s, Kelly has been here numerous times, and has felt much residual energy and sensed some "intelligent" spirits, but she still feels "Jennie" is not amongst them. On this visit, however, she encountered a presence who was not related to the house, which she described as a "young man, perhaps a soldier, covered with sores". EM fields were jumping crazily around Kelly when she first spoke of this presence and notes the chill felt as he approached her; it is documented on video. Later, in trying to guide him on, a voice saying "I'm ready" responds to her. Just prior to this, Kelly makes a strange jerking motion; this is perhaps the spirit passing through her.
Once again, the basement proved the most active area. Kelly still feels the presence of "crazy, confused male energy" here, and did not wish to stay too long. In fact, after concluding her walk-through of the home in the basement, I noted the battery of the camcorder I used to film her had suddenly lost nearly an hour of remaining time. While we were there together, the chain once again showed movement, although not nearly as pronounced as before. This was recorded on both the stationary camcorder and the one I was holding.
I returned to the basement and thought my own "strangeness" might prompt communication with the spirit in the basement, which some speculate is Jennie's father, who was said to have been ruled insane. The results of my attempted contact are rather compelling, as the chain again is recorded moving, EM fields jump about and a thermal anomaly is observed. Shortly after asking if there is anyone present a rather creepy "We're down in here" was captured on my audio recorder. Just before leaving, I made a comment about how its great to be weird because you can "Do (weird) things and not worry about it", and a chuckle, "Huh Huh" was recorded on the camcorder tape in appearant agreement. I don't claim to have the same abilities as Kelly, but this is one time I really think I connected with someone, and feel the evidence supports it.
Some interesting things happened during several appearances we made at the Wade house "Midnight in a Haunted House" tours during the summer of 2004. One night, as we were sharing stories, video and EVP in the parlor, an unexplained and very intense cold spot was felt by numerous members of the audience as it passed through different parts of the room. It hit me and seconds later, Kelly, who was to my left. I tried to track it with my thermal scanner without success. Its intensity and the speed it moved at were profound, and understandably left several people quite "spooked". On another night, an SSP member was in attendance with her grandson and reported that when visiting the basement after seeing our presentation, his leg was grabbed by an unseen hand and something shook up the tour guide so much she claimed she never wanted to return to the basement again! We'll have more reports on this very active haunted house coming in the future!.