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 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 artistry, and he did a great amount of business with wagon trains plying the overland trails. His company was so successful that he had to enlarge his facilities and manufacture his products on a large scale. His company's wealth was invested in real estate in Atchison and nearby St. Joseph, MO. He also erected several business blocks in Atchison.  
The McInteer Villa is one of Atchison's most unique residences. It was built in 1889-1890 for John McInteer, a pioneer businessman from Atchison, KS. The large, impressive brick residence was constructed at an estimated cost of $14,000. The architect was not 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 died in 1902, Anna continued living in the home until she died in 1916. During her ownership, the house was home to many Conlon relatives, including many children. From 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/

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Investigator's Notes

Lead Investigator: Becky Ray

Equipment used: Motion-activated puck lights, Body Cameras, Hand-Held Cameras, a Quad-Cam System, REM pod, EMF Meters, Thermal Cameras, a Doorknob Vibration Alarm, Paranormal Tripwire, Motion Activated Cat Toys, Motion Detectors, Laser Grid, Tesla Coil

3:00 P.M. – Becky arrived at the Villa with Sarah. We entered and walked around after hearing sounds upstairs.

Sarah went to the second floor to put her lunch bag in the breakroom fridge and heard sounds that made her think Becky had also gone upstairs. Sarah started looking for her but heard the toilet flush and realized Becky was still downstairs.

3:30 P.M. – We meticulously unpacked and set up our equipment, ensuring everything was in perfect working order. Becky strategically placed two puck lights in the second-floor hallway outside the breakroom and the library while Sarah positioned her tripwire between the puck lights.

4:30 P.M. – Lindsey arrived, followed by Edward and Christina

5:00 P.M. – Jennifer arrived, and we began talking about dinner plans.

6:00 P.M. – Greg and Beckie arrived, and we had dinner shortly afterward.

7:00 P.M. – Members took location photos outside the house before sunset while Greg, Beckie, and Lindsey set up Greg's quad-cam on the second floor, focusing on the library.

7:45 P.M. – Becky led the team on a walk-through once the stationary equipment setup was done because three members had never been to this location before. Once we returned to the dining room, Becky did a quick run-through of the investigation plan. We split into two teams of four and rotated locations, keeping one floor between the two teams.

TEAM A – Becky, Edward, Lindsey, Sarah

TEAM B – Christina, Greg, Beckie, Jennifer

8:10 P.M. – 9:00 P.M. – Team A started in the basement, and Team B started on the second floor.

TEAM A

8:25 P.M. – We heard walking near the basement stairs and on the first floor above, where we sat in the boiler room.

8:26 P.M. – We heard the doorknob sensor on the library door, but Team B was on that floor, so we were not too concerned.

8:28 P.M. – Becky had placed a REM pod on the corner of the table when we sat in the boiler room; it triggered at this time.

8:30 P.M. – Becky's EMF detector was triggered to orange.

8:35 P.M. – Becky noticed that the hand-held video camera she had brought to the basement had turned off. Becky attempted to turn it back on, but it was turned off repeatedly. As she double-checked to ensure she did not have it on a timer, she realized it was switched over to still photos and would not allow her to reset it to video.

The entire time we were in the basement, we could hear what we thought was the other team talking and someone walking around with heavy feet. We were told they were not moving around as much as we were hearing.

TEAM B

According to Jennifer, Team B spread out on the second floor. Jennifer was in the library, and Christina was at the end of the hallway near the stairway. Greg was by the doll room, and Beckie was in the primary bedroom. We stood silent for about 10 minutes and listened to the house and the atmosphere. During this time, most of them reported firsthand experiences.

Christina thought she saw a shadow in the room to her right and felt uneasy in the hallway.

When Beckie entered the library, she felt very uneasy. She reported a bad headache and stated that her ears were ringing. Jennifer suggested that Beckie step out of the library for a minute, so she did, and the ringing in her ears immediately stopped. Beckie then reentered the room and sat on the floor. While there, she reported a tall, shadow-like figure in the bathroom attached to the library.

9:00 P.M. - Team A moved to the first floor, and Team B moved to the attic.

TEAM A

9:00 P.M. – We started our first-floor investigation in the Ladies Parlor, where the piano is located.

9:10 P.M. – Becky had a terrible headache hit her suddenly. She adjusted the headband holding her bodycam in case that was the cause, but it was not. Oddly, the headache went away as quickly as it started.

9:16 P.M. – We heard the motion detector on the second floor go off twice, although no one should have been on that floor.

9:30 P.M. – We moved into Goldie's room. Becky played a five-minute track of kittens meowing to get a reaction from Goldie or cat ghosts.

TEAM B

While in the attic, Greg and Christina reported seeing a low shadow movement by the attic door, like an animal or small child. Jennifer placed her motion detector in that area, but it was not triggered.

Overall, they reported that the attic felt much lighter as a group than the second floor, and their energy was lighthearted and fun.

10:00 P.M. – We took a mid-investigation break, and Lindsey left to drive home.

10:20 P.M. – Team A moved to the second floor, and Team B moved to the basement.

TEAM A

10:20 P.M. – We decided to start in the library since most of the activity seems to be there this evening.

10:26 P.M. – The library doorknob motion detector repeatedly was triggered. It was happening so much that we thought it might be a timed repeat, but there was no pattern. Sarah lowered the sensitivity of the alarm.

10:28 P.M. – Becky's EMF meter was next to her on the couch and triggered, followed quickly by the doorknob alarm.

10:30 P.M. – We talked about where we would sleep that night to try to trigger something in the room. Sarah mentioned she would be sleeping in the library, and we jokingly asked if whoever was there wanted to be her "big spoon" while she slept, which seemed to make the doorknob alarm go off.

10:39 P.M. – Sarah mentioned how she attempted automatic writing in the library the last time she was there, and the word "lies" kept coming up. She said she also had a feeling about Charles Donovan, who committed suicide in that room, and wondered if anyone else thought that. Becky noted that she has a hypothesis that Donovan may have been gay, as that fits with her research into him. As we discussed this, the cat toy on the table before us went off for the first time since we had been in the room.

10:45 P.M. – The hallway puck light beside the library door turned on.

10:50 P.M. – We moved from the library into the bedrooms across the hallway.

10:57 P.M. – The hallway puck light next to the library door lit up again, and the tripwire was activated in the area outside the library door. Edward mentioned that while we had the door closed, and he noticed the tripwire light up red under the door.

11:03 P.M. – The tripwire triggered green outside the library door.

TEAM B

According to Jennifer, they did not experience anything collectively while in the basement, but they had one motion-activated object go off.

11:05 P.M. – Team A moved to the attic, and Team B moved to the first floor.

TEAM A

11:05 P.M. – We triggered a motion detector when we first got to the attic. We were unaware it had been placed there, so we moved away from it to the center couches and sat down to see what might happen.

11:15 P.M. – We heard the library doorknob alarm trigger twice while we were in the attic. No one should have been on the second floor.

11:17 P.M. – The library doorknob alarm triggered again.

11:19 P.M. – The library doorknob alarm triggered twice.

11:20 P.M. – The library doorknob alarm was triggered once. Sarah decided to start a timer to see if there was a pattern to the alarm, as maybe it was a setting rather than an actual alarm. We did not hear it again while we were in the attic.

11:44 P.M. – Becky and Edward heard a strange sound or voice from the corner of the attic.

TEAM B

11:17 P.M.:  They heard the library doorknob alarm go off multiple times while nobody was on the second floor. They did not experience anything of note on the first floor as a group.

MIDNIGHT – We met in the dining room to discuss the evening's events and plans.

12:15 A.M. – Christina and Edward left to drive home.

12:30 A.M. – Becky started her basement sound experiment.

Beckie, Christina, and Jennifer decided to watch the DVR cam during this time. They observed some moments of interest, which are 11:15 P.M. to 11:20 P.M.

Jennifer also placed a mini-Tesla coil in the library and let it run for about five minutes. They then turned it off and observed the room. During this time, they reported a shift in the energy in the room. The door alarm sounded multiple times while closed. We have yet to determine the cause.

12:41 A.M. – Sarah reported hearing a loud noise.

12:42 AM – The doorknob alarm triggered.

12:58 A.M. – There was a spike from Sarah's tripwire outside the library door.

12:59 AM – The doorknob alarm triggered again.

1:10 A.M. – After Becky's Experiment, everyone gathered in the library, where we tried different things to see if we could accidentally trigger the doorknob alarm. We moved it from the hallway door to the door to the bathroom, and it continued to trigger there while we were looking at it, and we could not find a logical cause. Becky looked up reviews of the device to see if it was known to be overly sensitive, but the reviews stated the opposite – that it does not trigger easily.  

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BECKY'S CONTINUING SOUND EXPERIMENT:

I hypothesize that exposure to binaural sounds may increase the likelihood of experiencing paranormal hallucinations, as the complex auditory stimuli could potentially alter brainwave activity and perception in such a way that makes individuals more prone to interpreting everyday sensory input as supernatural phenomena.

I did not have time to prepare her sounds for this experiment, so Becky used a YouTube video. "1000 Spirits - Awaken All (Warning - NOT for the novice) Hypnotic Meditation." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIUAOViBUrw

I sat each participant down in the same basement room, gave them a blackout eye mask, and then had them put on headphones to listen to the recording. When each was done, Becky asked them about their experiences.

Greg – Felt very disoriented.

Sarah – Said she could feel the sound in her entire body and felt like her legs were touched toward the end. She also mentioned that she could see music and thought she heard voices near the end. She said she felt like something was happening upstairs, which may have been because the doorknob alarm went off a few times during her session.

Jennifer – Said it made her feel calm, but she consciously tried to send out love as she listened. She wanted to do that, and she was never uneasy while listening. She said she closed her eyes under the mask, and while her eyes were closed, she saw a red dot on her right side. Also, as she listened, she envisioned herself outside of this room, thinking about animals, friends, family, and former pets.

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Previous Investigations at this Location:
McInteer Villa - Atchison, KS

McInteer Villa, Visit 2 - Atchison, KS