William Vicary Mansion in Freedom, PA, following a conference
that we were attending nearby. The mansion itself has an
interesting history dating all the way back to 1826 when Captain
Vicary, a retired Philadelphia sea merchant, purchased 604
acres of land overlooking the Ohio River. It took well over
three years for the construction to be finished, due to several
contract changes and disputes. Once complete, The Captain
lived there until he passed away in 1842. His wife, Mary,
remained there with their children until she passed in 1853.
The home remained in the family until 1912, and has changed
hands a few times since. In 1999, it became home to the
Beaver County Historical Research & Landmarks Foundation.
And, they are currently restoring it to it's once former stature.
It was through the B.C.H.R.&L.F. that we were giving permission
to investigate and learned much of the history of this place.
There are many rumors and legends about the Vicary Mansion,
including the one about it being haunted by Captain Vicary.
They say people have seen chandeliers swinging back and
forth as well as turning off and on, have heard voices, and
even felt a "presence" near a secret room. Now, according to
the wonderful people of the B.C.H.R.&L.F, they have heard the
stories of the house being haunted. However, according to
them "There is no evidence to suggest that the mansion was
ever haunted, and no credible witness has ever come forward
to say that they had seen any ghosts. Many volunteers have
spent numerous hours in the mansion both during the day and
night, and none has reported having a supernatural
experience."* Even though they had never personally
experienced anything there, they were eager to have us come
in and do an investigation. Perhaps to see if there is any truth
to the story, or to lay to rest any haunting claims.
We arrived at the mansion for our investigation along with a
few guest investigators. Our friend Rosemary Ellen Guiley,
along with Tim Frick and John Frick. This was prearranged,
since we would all be in attendance at the conference
together. Once we arrived, we were given a tour of the
mansion and introduced to it's history. We began the
investigation in several areas. TJ and Rosemary began in the
basement, while Bryan, Paula, Tiffany, John, and Tim began on
took to the upper floors. Quite a good bit of audio work was
done here, however we did not come up with any EVP. Our
EMF and temperature scans did not indicate any anomalous
fluctuations, either. Upon reviewing the video and
photographic evidence, we came up empty handed. Not
surprisingly, though.
We do have a follow-up investigation pending for the William
Vicary Mansion, before we finalize our results. Hopefully, if all
goes as planned we will return soon. For more information on
this location please visit www.bchrlf.org.
* Source: http://www.freedom.k12.pa.us/district/Vicary.htm
from the foyer
the area of the basement that now
serves as the kitchen
for any "unusual" activity
models our new
investigator t-shirt for us
near a piano that the Captain's wife
use to play
in wooden cabinets are a nice touch,
but not original.
carefully inspects
Captain Vicary's journal
the mansion once was located
floor
Vicary Mansion
basement