Farnsworth House Inn, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania July, 2015
Having always been an avid (albeit amateur) historian, fifteen years ago I decided to take my young boys to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This location marks one of the most horrific and heroic civil war battles, a three-day encounter in July of 1863 that ultimately became a turning point for a young country that strove to be known as the United States of America.
The park was established by Roosevelt in 1933 and covers such places as Barlow’s Knoll, Devil’s Den, the Wheatfield, Little Round Top, Peach Orchard, and site that was aptly named Cemetery Hill. Standing on those grounds overlooking the silent rolling green hills is somber and sobering, an experience I believe every citizen of this great country needs.
This summer I had the opportunity to return to this legendary site with my youngest son Zach. Being older and more mature this time around we decided to spend one night doing a little ghost hunting. We chose to stay at the famous Farnsworth House Bed and Breakfast, just blocks away from the famous cemeteries and battlefields.
Construction of this home dates back to 1810, but it was John McFarland who added the sturdy brick addition to the home that is now pockmarked with over 100 bullet holes from the battle. Located on Baltimore Street in the historic section of Gettysburg, it was taken by the confederate soldiers after being vacated by the Sweney Family during the first day of the battle.
The fortress-like construction and prime location overlooking Cemetery Hill, made it ideal as a make-shift hospital as well as a snippers roost. It is thought that this is where the shot was fired that killed Jennie Wade, the only civilian casualty of the epic battle.
We chose to stay in the Sweney Room since it was in the original part of the home. The Hotel, Bar, Dining Room, and Outside Garden were all beautifully maintained. The establishment was busy, as you would expect in July, and between trying to take in the battlefields and other historic sites we only managed to squeeze in a couple of spirit box and EVP sessions. Results were still quite interesting including some very loud noises coming from our room while we were enjoying the delicious complimentary breakfast!
We had no personal experiences or EMF hits to report during our short stay at the Inn. We did attempt a few recordings on the battlefields but with the large number of tourists we were unable to garner any clean recordings.
It was an amazing trip however and I would recommend the experience to everyone. I’m hoping it won’t take me another fifteen years before I get back.
Photos
Unfortunately I had issues with my camera and what survived simply didn't do justice to the Farnsworth Inn.
Above is a view of the Sweney Tavern, and the others are from the B&B Sweney Room where we stayed.
Special Thanks to www.farnsworthhouseinn.com
EVPs
Around 4 seconds into clip there is a male whispering, "Sam".
This is an interesting voice that came across the Spirit Box, "Grant".
Around the 2 second mark there is a female voice speaking.
During a Spirit box session, about 3 seconds, into the clip a creepy male voice is heard saying "Dave".
We have this voice come through on the Spirit Box, "Come read it".
We left the recorder running in the room while we went downstairs for breakfast. Some very loud noise occurs!
When asked if anything was going to happen in the room that night, a voice responds. We think it says "What?".