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McInteer Villa

Location Information

Date: 08 August 2020     Type: Residential

Location Title: McInteer Villa

City/State: Atchison, KS

Investigation Times: 8:30 PM - 2:00 AM

Status: Analysis

 

Weather Information

Sunrise: 06:27 AM   Sunset: 08:24 PM

High Temperature: 87°F   Low Temperature: 71°F

Sky Condition: Fair  Wind: SE at 10 mph

Humidity: 80%   Precipitation: 0%

Lunar Phase: Waning Gibbous   % disk visible: 82%

Pressure: 28.98 mmHg  

 

Investigators Present

Jennifer Sprague

Becky Ray
Tania Rounds
Neshela Duke
Lindsey Kadri

Investigators Notes

Jennifer Sprague, Lead Investigator: On this investigation, we used many different types of documentation equipment including a Quad Cam DVR, three motion-activated video cameras, one full spectrum video camera, digital audio recorders, motion sensors, motion sensor objects, EMF meters, red and green grid lights, and various other items, including a plasma globe and motion-triggered objects. 

We did a number of experiments during this investigation including a red-light room experiment to see if color enhances activity; an audio recorder faraday experiment involving EVPs to see if an EVP could be recorded while in a faraday pouch; an era time audio session before an EVP session to see if audio relating to time periods and people who have lived in the house affected EVPS; a video experiment involving sensory and fear to experiment with how fear affects investigations and investigators; an experiment which involved the owner placing a specific object in the house to see if we could get specific answers to its location in an EVP; and lastly a sidereal time experiment combined with a remote viewing experiment to see if we could document heightened senses during a specific time of the evening, as some parapsychologists suggest.

None of the experiments produced any significant findings, except the remote viewing/sidereal time experiment. We had two investigators - Tania who was present and Lisa who was not - hit on a few interesting things. Tania drew some furniture she saw in the attic, which was correct, without having been there. Lisa experienced the taste of gunpowder in her mouth, she also saw a shadow viewing us from the second floor as we pulled up, and she stated she saw Tania get touched by something. All of which happened without her having previous knowledge. There were shadow figures reported, Tania reported getting touched, and there had been a suicide by gunshot on the second floor.
Times of interest and experiences: 

Pre-investigation/Tour: Tania stated that her phone played a random podcast when she was by the suicide room and that she felt sick in the basement. She also reported hearing things while sleeping on the main floor between 3:00 AM and 5:00 AM, and could not sleep. Once home she felt the need to do Reiki on herself from feeling so drained. 

9:25 PM All but Tania heard a huge thud from the 2nd Floor.

9:35 PM Becky heard footsteps coming down the stairs to the basement. She thought it was me, but I had already left, and she noticed the door ajar. Around this same time, Tania Rose Round was in the Doll Room and her EMF blipped. She noted her phone was in airplane mode while in the Doll Room. 

9:44 PM Becky and I saw an odd light behind Tania as she was standing in the kitchen. Shortly after this, I heard another slight thud upstairs. 

10:00 PM Tania reported smelling tobacco in the basement. I noticed a blip/slight blackout on the suicide room cam. Becky felt the floor slightly shake in the suicide room and noticed a blink of light on the mannequin's face.

10:13 to 10:18 PM Becky heard a door handle jiggle near the suicide room. Lindsey heard another slight thud around that same time outside the door to the suicide room. I thought I heard somebody walking around on the second floor.

10:26 to 10:32 PM  Tania started to feel slightly sick in the suicide room and felt worse around 10:32. This is the same time Becky reported her audio shut off for no reason. 

11:15 PM On the main floor during an EVP session Neshela had an emotional reaction. Immediately before this at 11:14 PM, Becky reported a possible shadow on the second-floor hallway. During this time Tania and I thought we saw a shadow, but nothing was documented. Lindsey and I tried to figure out what could make the rocking chair move as reports stated. We placed a level on the floor to see if it was slanted, it wasn't. We then walked by the chair in different ways and made noises in various rooms to see if that could make the chair rock back and forth. None of the trials made the chair move.

Between 10:00 PM and 11:00 PM is the time one of the people who used to live in the home committed suicide. It is interesting that at 9:25 PM the majority of investigators present heard a thud sound. The hour difference may be due to Daylight Savings Time, or the thud could have been a coincidence. 

For the first part of the investigation, we rotated individually in different locations. After this, we did a group investigation of the main floor. 

We then moved to the downstairs men's area and had another EVP session where we may have recorded an EVP.  

Location History

John McInteer was born in Ireland in 1827 and came to the United States alone as a boy.  He settled first in Philadelphia and later in Indiana, where he learned the trade of harness making.  Hearing of the opportunities existing in the West, he moved to Kansas in the early 1860s.  First setting up home in Doniphan County, John McInteer started a small shop in Atchison where he manufactured harnesses and saddles.  His products became known for their workmanship, and he did a great amount of business with wagon trains plying the overland trails.  His business was so successful that he had to enlarge his facilities and manufacture his products on a large scale.  The wealth he accumulated from his business was invested in real estate in Atchison and nearby St. Joseph, MO.  He also erected a number of business blocks in Atchison.  
The McInteer Villa is one of Atchison's most unique residences.  Built in 1889-1890 for John McInteer, a pioneer businessman of Atchison, KS.  The large, impressive brick residence was constructed at an estimated cost of $14,000. The architect has not been identified, but the builder was Owen E. Seip, a long-time Atchison contractor.  
John McInteer's first wife, Alice died in 1892.  He married his second wife, Anna Conlon, a widow with three sons, in 1895.  After McInteer's death in 1902, Anna continued living in the home until her death in 1916.  During her ownership, the house was home to large numbers of her Conlon relatives, including many children.  After 1916 until about 1925, her brother, Judge Charles J. Conlon, a prominent Atchison lawyer, and his family made it their home.  
For the next 25 years, it was a rooming house.  In 1952 the McInteer Villa was purchased by Ms. Isobel Altus, a retired professional violinist and an eccentric, according to her Atchison neighbors.  She lacked the financial resources to follow through on her desire to restore the house and in 1969, shortly before her death, she sold it to George Gerardy, who had started to rehabilitate it.  The McInteer Villa is still one of the most unusual and picturesque houses built in Atchison. 
From https://www.1889mcinteervilla.com/

EVPs
McInteer Villa 08/08/2020
00:00 / 00:12

During an EVP session in the downstairs "men's lounge," we recorded a possible answer to the question,  “Anybody else want to ask any questions?" There is a pause and then a possible response.

Submitted by Jennifer

PHOTOS
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