The Gettysburg Files
INTRODUCTION
It seems I was destined to be involved in the world of the paranormal since birth. I base that on the fact that the building in which I grew up had a resident spirit. She was, however, a nice one. When my family and I moved into a new building that would change. The spirits in the new building, some of them anyway, were anything but nice. Some were malicious; at least one was pure evil. At the age of 15, in an attempt to figure out what was tormenting us and more importantly, how to stop it, I began studying the subject of ghosts and hauntings. The former question was answered. As for the latter, well, it never happened.
After leaving the building and the horrors it held, I kept the desire and for that matter, the need to understand what had happened. I turned to the field of parapsychology in the hopes of making sense of what had happened to us. It offered many answers and it was safe. After all, according to parapsychologists, levitating tables, pounding in the walls and several apparitions were all caused by our own minds. Well, maybe not the apparitions; parapsychology had trouble explaining them. The only explanation parapsychology offered was that the apparitions were a form of residual haunting. In other words, the apparitions were not really there; they were just a sort of tape being played over and over. However, these tapes reacted to us and for that matter, interacted with us so there goes the idea of a place memory. Once it was clear to me that parapsychology could not answer anywhere near all of the questions or explain more than a fraction of what took place, I began studying demonology. There at least I found some answers, although I must admit, I did not like them. They were anything but warm and fuzzy, if you know what I mean.
My studies continued and after several years, I began trying to help others who found themselves being plagued by seemingly unnatural forces. Many of the people who have contacted me believed they were being haunted. In some cases, they were right. In those cases, my job was to determine whether something was there, stop it if possible or at least help them to understand it and cope with the situation. I will state right off the bat that I love doing casework. It has its pitfalls, to be sure. It can be terribly frustrating at times. At its worst, it can leave you feeling a sense of impotence as you watch good people being tormented and terrorized and you seem unable to stop it. However, it is also truly rewarding for once the terror is stopped there is a sense of joy that is almost indescribable. It can also be a lot of fun.
Okay, so why am I boring you with all of this? Well, the point is that in all of my years of working with the paranormal, I never actually did anything just for fun. My encounters with the paranormal were always goal oriented: stop a haunting, do research, help a spirit cross over, educate people. It was all fun but there were set goals with intended and sometimes necessary outcomes. So when my wife Pat and my partner Amy suggested that I go on a haunted vacation, the idea never really appealed to me. Thus, I would brush off their suggestions by saying: “someday.” It was not that I felt it was beneath me, God no; it was just that I felt that a trip like that was not for a serious caseworker. After all, the paranormal is a serious business.
Well, things have a way of changing. Between overcoming my fear of starting this site, a rough period at work and the fact that I had not taken any time off in quite some time, I realized that “someday” had finally arrived. I justified the trip by saying that I needed material for this website. Having made the decision to go, the next question was where? Several years ago, Amy took a trip to Gettysburg and loved it. She vowed that she would go back again. When she suggested it to me, I thought why not? It is reputed to be haunted and with a little luck, I figured I might be able to get some material for the site. What surprised me was how much I found myself looking forward to the trip. So, long on ghost lore and short on historical lore, I set off to Gettysburg.
In my mind, I was going strictly for the ghostly aspects of it. However, you cannot go to a place like Gettysburg and not be affected by what happened there in July of 1863. I found myself fascinated by the historical aspects and I developed a deep appreciation for the sacrifices made there. It would turn out to be an eye opening trip and easily one of the best times of my life. I have become a Civil War buff to some extent and I got far more than my monies worth in terms of material for the site. We experienced far more than I could have dreamed or hoped for. I had hoped to get a few good pictures. I would have been thrilled with ten good ones. Between Amy and I, we came back with close to seventy. On top of that, we had some wild experiences in terms of paranormal activity. Everywhere we went it seems we got something.
Right from the start, although we did not know it at the time, the ghosts of Gettysburg reached out to us. It was only after we had returned home and were discussing our trip that Pat pointed out something that should have been obvious to Amy and I. So much for “trained professionals.” I do not want to tease you but you will see what I mean later. In order to make this easy to follow, this section will be based on out itinerary. It went as follows:
April 21- 22, 2003 Cashtown Inn
April 21, 22, 23, 2003 The Battlefield
April 23, 2003 Jenny Wade House
April 23, 2003 Farnsworth Inn
April 24, 2003 Return home.
You will note that I listed the Jenny Wade house separately. The reason for that was two fold: We got some amazing pictures in the basement of the house in which she was killed. The second reason is because Jenny Wade was more than just the only civilian killed in the battle of Gettysburg; in many ways, she was a hero. You see, she was killed while baking bread for the soldiers. Of course, she was not a target. The bullet that killed her passed through two doors so the shooter had no idea where she was when he fired. Poor Jenny just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I will try to give you a little history on the places we visited but I will keep that to a minimum. You will find far better stories on these places than I could ever dream of writing. My interest in the Civil War is new; there are those who have studied it all their lives. Therefore, I could never do justice to those who made the ultimate sacrifice on those three, hot days. Besides, being a website devoted to the paranormal, I imagine you are more interested in that aspect of the trip. So, settle down and take a trip with me to Gettysburg. I have a great story to tell.