Speaker 1: Welcome to Haunted Road, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm
Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky.
Speaker 2: Listener Discretion is advised. Florida's most haunted home has seen
Speaker 2: more than its fair share of tragedies. Inside the walls
Speaker 2: of the May Stringer House have been sickness and suffering,
Speaker 2: untimely deaths of spouses, the enslavement of more than fifty people,
Speaker 2: and the tragic loss of children who died so young
Speaker 2: they barely even knew their parents. Some say the spirit
Speaker 2: of a little girl wanders the house to this day,
Speaker 2: looking for the mother who died bringing her into the world.
Speaker 2: But Brooksville, Florida, has seen more tragic events than just
Speaker 2: at the May Stringer House. The city was founded largely
Speaker 2: by slaveholders, who established plantations there on land taken from
Speaker 2: the Native Seminole tribe under the Indian Removal Act. After
Speaker 2: the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, the county
Speaker 2: that Brooksville is a part of became known for its
Speaker 2: klu Klux Klan activity. A minister was killed by white
Speaker 2: supremacists for marrying an interracial couple, and the couple was
Speaker 2: run out of town after a woman testified against local
Speaker 2: men for the crimes. The courthouse was burned down. Today,
Speaker 2: the Queen Anne's style May Stringer House is a museum
Speaker 2: of the city and its residents, both the good people
Speaker 2: who lived happy lives there and those whose legacies are
Speaker 2: darkened with contemptible actions in the city block the house occupies.
Speaker 2: Its walls hold about eleven thousand artifacts representing local history,
Speaker 2: and those artifacts have stories to tell. Some it's even believed,
Speaker 2: have menacing spirits attached to them. One people say curses
Speaker 2: those with whom it comes in contact. I'm Amy Bruney,
Speaker 2: and this is haunted road. Before the pandemic, Brooksville, about
Speaker 2: forty five miles north of Tampa, was home to Florida's
Speaker 2: the largest Civil War reenactment for more than forty years.
Speaker 2: Fifteen hundred reenactors and their families traveled to the city
Speaker 2: to recreate the Brooksville Raid, when Union forces arrived in
Speaker 2: Brooksville to disrupt Confederate supply and communication lines. The city
Speaker 2: of nine thousand has strong Civil War ties. While white
Speaker 2: people began settling the area in the eighteen forties, building
Speaker 2: homes and establishing plantations with slave labor, Brooksville wasn't established
Speaker 2: officially until eighteen fifty six, in years marked by extreme
Speaker 2: tension over ownership of enslaved people leading up to the war.
Speaker 2: The city is named after Senator Preston Brooks, who was
Speaker 2: infamous for beating Charles Sumner with a cane on the
Speaker 2: Senate floor after the latter gave an anti slavery speech.
Speaker 2: According to Tampa Bay History, in the post Civil War years,
Speaker 2: Hernando County, which includes Brooksville, was known as a hotbed
Speaker 2: of clan activity. Richard Wiggins settled in the land where
Speaker 2: the Mainstreamer House now sits in eighteen forty two. He
Speaker 2: settled there under the Armed Occupation Act, which stated that
Speaker 2: any settler who came to Florida, lived on the land
Speaker 2: for five years, cultivated five acres, and built a dwelling
Speaker 2: would be granted one hundred sixty acres. The aim of
Speaker 2: the act was to populate Florida with men who could,
Speaker 2: if necessary, take up arms against the Seminole people who
Speaker 2: lived there. From eighteen thirty five to eighteen forty two,
Speaker 2: the Second Seminole War raged throughout the area, while President
Speaker 2: Andrew Jackson was demanding all the Native peoples leave Florida
Speaker 2: and relocate to Indian Territory. The Seminoles, having already lost
Speaker 2: much of their land in Florida, fought for what they
Speaker 2: had left. In eighteen fifty five, John May built a
Speaker 2: home on the land. The two story, four room wood
Speaker 2: frame house had a parlor and dining room on the
Speaker 2: first floor and two bedrooms on the second floor, connected
Speaker 2: by an outside staircase. It's believed May constructed the home
Speaker 2: in an unusual way to avoid taxes. A two story
Speaker 2: house was taxed more heavily than a one story home
Speaker 2: with a loft, which is what the house technically was,
Speaker 2: because the staircase was on the home's exterior. May lived
Speaker 2: on the family plantation with his wife, Marina, and daughters
Speaker 2: Matilda and Anne. According to the city, they're considered one
Speaker 2: of the four pioneer families of Brooksville. John May was
Speaker 2: the second largest slave owner in the Brooksville area. According
Speaker 2: to eighteen sixty tax records, there were fifty six enslaved
Speaker 2: people on that plantation that year. After the Emancipation Proclamation,
Speaker 2: many of the people enslaved by the family continued to
Speaker 2: work on the property as paid laborers. John L. May
Speaker 2: died of tuberculosis in the house in eighteen fifty eight,
Speaker 2: and his funeral took place in the parlor of the home.
Speaker 2: Marina May, then only twenty five, remained in the home
Speaker 2: with daughters Matilda and Anne, running the plantation by herself.
Speaker 2: Marina eventually remarried on Christmas Day of eighteen sixty six
Speaker 2: to Frank Saxon. They married in the parlor, the same
Speaker 2: room John May's funeral had been held eight years earlier.
Speaker 2: Saxon is described by the Hernando Historic Museum Association as
Speaker 2: a Confederate hero who fought in the Confederate Army's Florida
Speaker 2: Third Regiment, in a unit called the Hernando Wildcats. He
Speaker 2: was the first soldier wounded in the Battle of Honeymoon
Speaker 2: near Jacksonville. Altogether, he was wounded five times during the
Speaker 2: war and captured twice. According to saxon manners history, his
Speaker 2: major wound was received in the Battle of Terryville, where
Speaker 2: he was left for dead but recovered in a Union hospital.
Speaker 2: At the war's surrender, he secretly carried his unit's battle
Speaker 2: flag back to Brooksville, walking the seven hundred eighty seven
Speaker 2: miles from the hospital to Brooksville. He later donated the
Speaker 2: flag to the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia,
Speaker 2: where it is conserved and on displace. Frank and Marina's
Speaker 2: infant son, Franklin Schmid Saxon, died at the age of
Speaker 2: five weeks in eighteen sixty seven. Two years later, Marina
Speaker 2: died shortly after giving birth to a daughter named jesse May.
Speaker 2: The cause was given as child bed fever, a post
Speaker 2: birth infection. The Saxon family wasn't done with its string
Speaker 2: of terrible losses. Jesse May died at only three years old,
Speaker 2: in the same room where her mother and her brother
Speaker 2: had passed away. In eighteen seventy seven, Frank was implicated,
Speaker 2: although never charged, in the murder of a local reverend,
Speaker 2: a man who was formerly enslaved by the May family.
Speaker 2: Reverend Arthur Saint Clair, rose to local prominence in his freedom.
Speaker 2: According to the Tampa Bay Times, he was a Baptist minister,
Speaker 2: community activist, and three time Republican candidate for the state legislature.
Speaker 2: He also served as a voter registrar, deputy sheriff, county commissioner,
Speaker 2: captain in the state militia, and delegate to the eighteen
Speaker 2: seventy six Republican State Conveyed on May sixth, eighteen seventy seven,
Speaker 2: Saint Clair officiated a marriage between an interracial couple, David James,
Speaker 2: who was black, and Lizzie Day, who was white. The
Speaker 2: next day, The Tampa Bay Times reported a group of
Speaker 2: white men that included Frank Saxon and the county judge
Speaker 2: went to the home of the couple to warn them
Speaker 2: of impending danger. Believing the visitors intended to harm the couple,
Speaker 2: neighbors opened fire. As a result, James was wounded and
Speaker 2: neighbor Coles Feaster was killed. Three of the four white
Speaker 2: men were wounded. The social climate of the day has
Speaker 2: been characterized by the newspaper as lawless because of actions
Speaker 2: like city Judge William Center reinforcing the message of what
Speaker 2: was almost certainly not intended as a harmless visit when
Speaker 2: he returned to the couple the next day, telling them
Speaker 2: that the visit of the previous evening had been strictly
Speaker 2: out of concern for their safety. Center also told them
Speaker 2: that they would be safe until James's wounds healed and
Speaker 2: they could leave town. They moved to Tampa about six
Speaker 2: weeks later. On June twenty sixth, eighteen seventy seven, Reverend
Speaker 2: Saint Clair and several others were returning from a political
Speaker 2: meeting when they were surrounded by a group of twenty men,
Speaker 2: which included Saxon. The men shot and killed Saint Clair
Speaker 2: along with another man a woman who was traveling with them.
Speaker 2: Mary Turner, afraid for her safety, initially told an inquest
Speaker 2: that she could not identify any of the twenty men
Speaker 2: who accosted them. However, she later recanted this testimony, stating
Speaker 2: that she had feared for her life at the inquest
Speaker 2: because many of those on the jury had been perpetrators
Speaker 2: of the crime. At that time, she did identify many
Speaker 2: of the men at the murder and testified that George
Speaker 2: Cross was the shooter. Among the men she named was
Speaker 2: Frank Saxon. As The Tampa Bay Times wrote, a resolution
Speaker 2: passed later at a meeting in Brooksville chiding the editors
Speaker 2: of the Sunland Tribune and the Ocala Banner for p
Speaker 2: hnting the false statements of Mary Turner. The Tampa Guardian,
Speaker 2: edited by James T. Magbie, had refused to publish the resolution,
Speaker 2: claiming that it was full of damn lies. Many of
Speaker 2: the signers of the resolution were either related to or
Speaker 2: business partners of those thought to be implicated in the shooting.
Speaker 2: Early in the morning of September twenty ninth, eighteen seventy seven,
Speaker 2: the courthouse, containing Mary Turner's sworn statements and other documents
Speaker 2: relating to the trial, burned down. One contemporary newspaper reported
Speaker 2: that the walls of the building had been doused in kerosene,
Speaker 2: as The Hernando Sun reported, there were at least ten
Speaker 2: Florida courthouse fires around the time of the Hernando Courthouse fire,
Speaker 2: most of these fires directly attributable to arson. Because of
Speaker 2: the fire, no one was ever indicted for the murder
Speaker 2: of Arthur Saint Clair. This fire, which incinerated most of
Speaker 2: the county records, also destroyed many records related to the
Speaker 2: May Stringer House, including any record of why Jesse May
Speaker 2: Saxon died. Saxon sold the house, and in eighteen eighty
Speaker 2: five it was purchased by doctor Sheldon Stringer Senior. He
Speaker 2: turned the home into the Grand manner it is today,
Speaker 2: adding ten rooms across four stories and a tower and
Speaker 2: wrap around porch. The house is gray with white trim
Speaker 2: and green and white accents on gingerbread trim. An example
Speaker 2: of late eighteen hundred s painted lady Victorian architecture. Stringer
Speaker 2: was a fan of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel House of the
Speaker 2: Seven Gables, adding four more to the home to give
Speaker 2: it a total of seven. The doctor lived in the
Speaker 2: home and also used it for his medical practice. During
Speaker 2: this time. Some say that it functioned as something of
Speaker 2: a sanatorium to patients suffering yellow fever and smallpox, although
Speaker 2: this claim appears to be unsubstantiated by the historical records.
Speaker 2: Doctor Stringer died in April nineteen o three at age
Speaker 2: six after an unidentified illness. His son, doctor Sheldon Stringer, Junior,
Speaker 2: took over and ran the practice for several years. Frank
Speaker 2: Saxon died in February nineteen twenty two at the age
Speaker 2: of eighty one. Saxon isn't buried on the property of
Speaker 2: the May Stringer House, but many other members of the
Speaker 2: May and Saxon families are, including John el May, Marina
Speaker 2: Jesse May, and an infant son of John and Marina.
Speaker 2: There are also an unknown number of enslaved people buried
Speaker 2: on the property. In nineteen fifty, doctor Stringer's granddaughter Betty,
Speaker 2: sold the home and it became a rental property that,
Speaker 2: as David Lapam wrote in Ghost Hunting Florida, then was
Speaker 2: abandoned and suffered heavy damage from vagrants. The house became
Speaker 2: a museum in the early nineteen eighties. After it was condemned,
Speaker 2: the community raised money to restore it. The May Stringer
Speaker 2: House was added to the National Register of Historic Places
Speaker 2: in nineteen ninety seven. The first of the home has
Speaker 2: doctor Stringer's office, as well as the parlor, dining room,
Speaker 2: and kitchen. A post mortem photograph of Jesse May Saxon
Speaker 2: hangs on the wall in the parlor, the only known
Speaker 2: photograph of the child, showing her in a crib surrounded
Speaker 2: by a floral wreath. On the second floor, there are
Speaker 2: bedrooms on either side of a central hallway and another
Speaker 2: wraparound porch. The museum also has an attic, which is
Speaker 2: currently used as storage for items not on display in
Speaker 2: the museum. According to the Hernando Historic Museum Association, the
Speaker 2: museum comprises exhibit rooms with a Victorian look, with rooms
Speaker 2: devoted to specific themes such as elegant dining room, Victorian bedrooms,
Speaker 2: military room, an eighteen eighties doctor's office, and a nineteen
Speaker 2: hundreds communication room which features some of Florida's earliest telephones.
Speaker 2: A lot of decommunication people report experiencing, though is from
Speaker 2: spirits of the departed. Diev Obbay Times says the May
Speaker 2: Stringer House is said to be floored as most haunted home.
Speaker 2: Over eighty ghost hunting groups have investigated the house over
Speaker 2: the years. One museum Dosn't Bonnie Litorno describes the house
Speaker 2: as being like grand central station for ghosts. Footsteps, cold spots,
Speaker 2: and voices, including children's laughter, have been reported throughout the house.
Speaker 2: People say they've seen a mysterious black mist at the home,
Speaker 2: and shadows have been said to move. Some say they
Speaker 2: smell the scent of phantom food in the dining room
Speaker 2: after the house is locked up for the night. Staffs
Speaker 2: say they've seen lights go back on inside. Others have
Speaker 2: seen what they describe as glowing orbs of light in
Speaker 2: the home. According to reports, there are at least eleven
Speaker 2: separate spirits who have been reported at the May Stringer House.
Speaker 2: Some say they've experienced the ghosts of Marina May Saxon.
Speaker 2: Others believe they've heard Jesse May crying for her long
Speaker 2: lost mother. As Greg Jenkins wrote in Florida's ghostly legends
Speaker 2: and haunted folklore. Although she never knew her mother, jesse
Speaker 2: May was said to have missed her so terribly that
Speaker 2: she would wake up in the middle of the night
Speaker 2: and walk around the house crying out for her. Some
Speaker 2: believe that when she got sick, she willed herself to
Speaker 2: die in order to find her lost mom. Many people
Speaker 2: have reported a disembodied voice saying Mama, Mama. Jesse May
Speaker 2: is said to be protective of her toys and dolls.
Speaker 2: People say that if they've been moved by the Docins,
Speaker 2: her toys will show up in odd places, especially a
Speaker 2: baby doll in a crib, possibly jesse May or the
Speaker 2: ghost of another little girl. Has been known to rearrange teacups.
Speaker 2: One year, Docins were setting up for a Mother's Day
Speaker 2: celebration and set out several teacups. When they returned to
Speaker 2: the house the following day, another tea cup had been
Speaker 2: added to the table. As TC. Cottrell described in Ghostly Encounters,
Speaker 2: This is happened for several days before it was discovered
Speaker 2: that the cups were being moved from the china cabinet
Speaker 2: by unexplained hands each night. Some believe Jesse wanted to
Speaker 2: add extra tea cups so perhaps her own mother would
Speaker 2: have a place at the table. Another spirit, known as
Speaker 2: mister Nasty, for his angry demeanor and bad behavior, is
Speaker 2: said to curse visitors. He sometimes said to have been
Speaker 2: a patient of doctor Stringer's who suffered a gunshot wound,
Speaker 2: but some claim he hung himself in the attic of
Speaker 2: the house after his wife was unfaithful. Mister Nasty is
Speaker 2: most commonly reported in the attic and is said to
Speaker 2: be especially hostile to women who enter the house. Women
Speaker 2: report being touched and hit by him. Others say that
Speaker 2: his spirit is attached to an old actor's trunk that
Speaker 2: was donated to the museum and is located in the attic.
Speaker 2: Another spirit, described as playful and protective, a World War
Speaker 2: One soldier named James, is said to haunt the property.
Speaker 2: Some say James was a guest at the hall at
Speaker 2: some point in the past. He's most often encountered in
Speaker 2: the bedroom above the doctor's office, where it's said that
Speaker 2: he was staying. One woman who lived in that bedroom
Speaker 2: when the main Stringer house was a rental property, is
Speaker 2: said that she and her sister awoke one night and
Speaker 2: saw a soldier in a World War One uniform standing
Speaker 2: at the foot of their bed. James is believed to
Speaker 2: have been distraught over his love marrying another man, and
Speaker 2: because of this he gravitates towards younger women, sometimes even
Speaker 2: pinching their behinds. It is said that a World War
Speaker 2: Two soldier ghost is also present in the house. He
Speaker 2: is believed to have been killed in action and is
Speaker 2: looking for his dog, who survived. This man doesn't have
Speaker 2: any particular connection to the house itself, but some of
Speaker 2: his belongings are in the museum today, including his diary
Speaker 2: of his time in the Canine Corps. A Confederate soldier
Speaker 2: has also been seen sitting in the old wooden wheelchair
Speaker 2: in the restored doctor's office. The ghosts of several of
Speaker 2: doctor Stringer's patients, believed to have died of smallpox and
Speaker 2: yellow fever, are also said to be present in the house.
Speaker 2: Another man is rumored to linger at the house, having
Speaker 2: been shot and died on the porch before he could
Speaker 2: reach the doctor. According to ghost encounters. Some say that
Speaker 2: this was a drive by shooting that was committed on horseback,
Speaker 2: and some say they have seen doctor Stringer himself in
Speaker 2: the home who appears on the front stairs of the
Speaker 2: house wearing a black coat. As ghost Hunting Florida describes,
Speaker 2: he doesn't do anything, just stands right below the landing
Speaker 2: like he was shocked seeing a badly injured patient down
Speaker 2: in the waiting room. Now, if you watch the episode
Speaker 2: of Kindred Spirits filmed the May Stringer House, you're very
Speaker 2: familiar with our upcoming guest, Autumn Rush. She was visibly
Speaker 2: emotional due to the paranormal activities she's encountered there over
Speaker 2: the years, and now is a great chance for an
Speaker 2: update and to see what activity is going on there today.
Speaker 2: So that is coming up after the break. I am
Speaker 2: now joined by the lovely Autumn Resh, who is the
Speaker 2: curator for the May Stringer House. And if you watched
Speaker 2: the episode of my TV show Kindred Spirits that we
Speaker 2: filmed there, you are familiar with Autumn. So thank you
Speaker 2: for joining me. It's so nice to hear your voice.
Speaker 2: Thank you for having me my pleasure. You know, it's
Speaker 2: funny I would say that there are certain people that
Speaker 2: have been featured on Kindred Spirits, so we get asked
Speaker 2: about a lot, and you are one of them because
Speaker 2: you were very emotional during the investigation. Definitely very scared
Speaker 2: to be there, which is hard to do when you're
Speaker 2: at work, so everyone wants to know, how are you, Autumn.
Speaker 2: I am doing really well. Probably one of the more
Speaker 2: well known haunts there is that there is a gentleman
Speaker 2: in the attic who is definitely grumpy, and it's seems
Speaker 2: like he might be associated with a trunk that is there,
Speaker 2: and I think our ultimate plan was to kind of
Speaker 2: infuse the trunk with more positive things, so people would
Speaker 2: write positive letters and happy things and put them in
Speaker 2: the trunk. Do you think that's kind of alleviated it
Speaker 2: at all? I think so they do it every so often.
Speaker 1: They'll come and they'll leave a note. He I believe
Speaker 1: likes the attention. So I think he's much more much
Speaker 1: less aggressive. Can we say, yeah, that's good?
Speaker 2: Yeah he was. I investigated up there and he was
Speaker 2: very touchy. There was a lot of like pinching, you know.
Speaker 2: I was doing the Esta's method with the blindfold, and
Speaker 2: I remember Adam getting all like defensive, like he was
Speaker 2: going to beat up this ghost fors for pinching us.
Speaker 2: But now is that just kind of going back. I
Speaker 2: actually learned a lot going through the history for this podcast.
Speaker 2: Like I learned a lot about the history of the
Speaker 2: house when we did the investigation, but I learned just
Speaker 2: some other additional things, just like how heavily investigated the
Speaker 2: house is I didn't realize that like eighty plus groups
Speaker 2: have been in there investigating, which I think is super impressive.
Speaker 2: How do you think that's affected the activity there?
Speaker 1: That's actually a great question. I have noticed that the
Speaker 1: activity ramps up when we have a lot of people
Speaker 1: at the house. We call him Dary, the one in
Speaker 1: the attic that's associated with the trunk Gary. He gets
Speaker 1: he gets a little show Offrey if a lot of
Speaker 1: people are there, he believes if not a dog and
Speaker 1: pony show. So sometimes sometimes he won't, but most of
Speaker 1: the time he will.
Speaker 2: I think that.
Speaker 1: Multiple groups investigating the house for as long as they
Speaker 1: have been kind of intrigues our residents, so they'll they'll
Speaker 1: come out and kind of interact, if you will. So
Speaker 1: I think it really supports spiritual environment with all of
Speaker 1: the investigation.
Speaker 2: Right, And I feel like you guys are really good
Speaker 2: about making sure people are super respectful as well as
Speaker 2: they investigate, which I think kind of lends to.
Speaker 1: The vibe there overall. Oh, absolutely absolutely, And we remember
Speaker 1: that it's a museum first and foremost, so everybody who
Speaker 1: comes in is really expected to maintain certain standards. They
Speaker 1: have to be respectful to the spirits and they also
Speaker 1: have to be respectful to the artifacts.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and there are a lot of artifacts, something like
Speaker 2: eleven thousand if I remember. Yes, Yes, we have a
Speaker 2: lot of artifacts. So one of the neat things when
Speaker 2: we're investigating is sometimes we're in these locations that are
Speaker 2: just filled with really cool things, and it's very easy
Speaker 2: to get distracted in the main streamer house because everywhere
Speaker 2: you go there's something else really cool that you want
Speaker 2: to look at and you want to tinker with.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 2: But I also thought it kind of made it hard
Speaker 2: to investigate because you're like, any one of these items
Speaker 2: could be associated with a haunting. Do you think there's
Speaker 2: any anything else in the house besides the trunk that
Speaker 2: seems to be that seems to have any energy attached
Speaker 2: to it?
Speaker 1: Oh? Absolutely absolutely. We have a handful of named spirits
Speaker 1: and we occasionally get we call them the transient spirits
Speaker 1: that come in and out, and we also get new
Speaker 1: artifacts all the time, and with those artifacts, activity will
Speaker 1: ramp up. So our theory is that sometimes these artifacts
Speaker 1: have attachments. The tank is a great example of that.
Speaker 1: So we didn't have the issues when the issues in
Speaker 1: the attic rather prior to having the trunk, and then
Speaker 1: once we got the trunk, we really really had some
Speaker 1: ramped up activity.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that was the way that kind of we
Speaker 2: wanted to make sure it was actually the trunk, and
Speaker 2: we actually dragged the trunk down stairs to see if
Speaker 2: the activity followed it, and it did. And we've used
Speaker 2: that quite a few times since, Like, it's seems so
Speaker 2: obvious and I don't know why we didn't think of
Speaker 2: it before, to just if you want to see if
Speaker 2: an object has some sort of haunting attached to it,
Speaker 2: just move it somewhere else and see if that same
Speaker 2: activity happens, which it did. They started When people come visit,
Speaker 2: even during the day, what kind of activity do they encounter?
Speaker 1: Most often, well, we do history tours during the day
Speaker 1: and sometimes had some unanticipated bonuses. Should we say, some
Speaker 1: people are more receptive to it, some people don't want
Speaker 1: anything to do with it, Various things from footsteps to
Speaker 1: knocking to people being touched. More recently, we have had
Speaker 1: a phantom smell that seems to migrate all over the house.
Speaker 2: It smells like a dead critter.
Speaker 1: So yeah, so we had assumed that perhaps maybe a
Speaker 1: squirrel had gotten into some part of the house and
Speaker 1: passed away. However, it has been months and it is
Speaker 1: moving around the house. So we really don't have an explanation.
Speaker 1: But the day, the day shift, and a lot of
Speaker 1: our daytime yests do get to experience that phenomenon.
Speaker 2: That's unpleasant. Yes, Now, speaking of unpleasant phenomena, you sent
Speaker 2: me an EVP that you captured recently. Now I listened
Speaker 2: to it and I hear the word bitch. Is someone
Speaker 2: calling you a bitch? That?
Speaker 1: Yes, we're not sure who it is.
Speaker 2: Some think it might be.
Speaker 1: The gentleman associated with the trunk. Others things it might
Speaker 1: be one of our other spirits.
Speaker 2: But yes, I was in the house moving.
Speaker 1: Some artifacts for a plaster job that we were having done,
Speaker 1: and I heard the door of the bathroom jiggling. I
Speaker 1: was the only person in the house, and for some
Speaker 1: reason I got brave and I went to film it,
Speaker 1: and at the time I did not hear anything.
Speaker 2: So the door stopped jiggling.
Speaker 1: Everything stopped and I went back to my work. Well
Speaker 1: that evening, I just happened to watch the video and
Speaker 1: I had my headphones on and I heard it day
Speaker 1: and I couldn't hear it a person, but he was
Speaker 1: very prominent afterwards.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I heard it, and so I'll go ahead and
Speaker 2: play that for everyone.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: It's interesting that, Yeah, you were alone in the house,
Speaker 2: he said, yep, okay, And so I'm very proud of
Speaker 2: you for being alone in the house. You know that
Speaker 2: was hard for you for a long time. Yeah, uh uh.
Speaker 2: And so that's and you were you actually were experiencing phenomenon.
Speaker 2: So then you picked up and started recording, which I
Speaker 2: tell people to do this a lot, because sometimes you
Speaker 2: will capture a voice. And like, you didn't hear this
Speaker 2: at the time. So that's super interesting. And now, how
Speaker 2: do you feel like now that when you heard that,
Speaker 2: were you okay going back to the house after that?
Speaker 2: Or you know, this seems like kind of could be
Speaker 2: a new spirit of some sort because the other guy's
Speaker 2: up in the attic and this is like broad daylight. Yes,
Speaker 2: I don't know where you were, yeah, but downstairs.
Speaker 1: And the doctor's office.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah.
Speaker 1: So afterwards, after I heard it, I was a little sketchy.
Speaker 1: I didn't want to go in by myself, so I
Speaker 1: did have co workers and my husband and you know,
Speaker 1: various friends. They usually come and set with me while
Speaker 1: I'm doing my work. We're we're not sure if this
Speaker 1: entity is affiliated with a shadow person that we've been
Speaker 1: saying frequently downstairs, so we're kind of just keeping our
Speaker 1: eyes opening. But I don't, you know, I'm not in
Speaker 1: any danger. I don't feel like I would be in
Speaker 1: any danger. It's just more or less like somebody's watching
Speaker 1: me and it's a little freaky, So I just want
Speaker 1: somebody with me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, that makes sense. So the shadow figure, how
Speaker 2: often are you experiencing this? Now?
Speaker 1: I have seen him personally twice, and other people other
Speaker 1: dozents have also seen him around, and he's usually in
Speaker 1: the evening time. When I saw him, he was after
Speaker 1: aboard me and I had walked to the front door
Speaker 1: to make sure it was locked, and I had my
Speaker 1: cell phone light because we had already shut everything down.
Speaker 1: And when I got to the foyer, I shined my
Speaker 1: light towards the door and he was standing between myself
Speaker 1: and the door, and immediate immediate shock, and of course
Speaker 1: I turn around and go straight back to the gift shop.
Speaker 1: And I got one of my co workers and we
Speaker 1: both returned to the front door, and now he was
Speaker 1: on the stairs. He was not standing between us anymore,
Speaker 1: so he had moved.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: Yes, and we both left. And it's very unusual that
Speaker 1: this particular coworker that I was with gets unnerved like that.
Speaker 1: But the minute she saw him and I saw him
Speaker 1: at the same time, she said, let's get out of here.
Speaker 1: And as we were heading back to the door, she
Speaker 1: did turn around and said that he was standing in
Speaker 1: front of the stairs at that point, so he was moving.
Speaker 2: That is very creepy, yes, to say the least, you know,
Speaker 2: and it's not often that you, you know, someone sees
Speaker 2: his shadow and goes to get someone else and says,
Speaker 2: this is what I saw, and then you both see
Speaker 2: it again, you know, many times it's kind of like
Speaker 2: it's gone at that point. Yeah, but not only did
Speaker 2: you both see it at the same time, but he
Speaker 2: definitely was trying to make himself known, Like as you
Speaker 2: were leaving, he was coming down the stairs. So I
Speaker 2: what was the energy like in the room at that time?
Speaker 2: I obviously you feel kind of scared, like somebody's watching you.
Speaker 2: What was the vibe overall?
Speaker 1: Very heavy? He's when he's around, We find that it's
Speaker 1: it's a little more heavy than usual. I have not
Speaker 1: seen him upstairs, he's usually downstairs, but definitely a heavy
Speaker 1: vibe to him.
Speaker 2: That kind of activity almost seems like he really wants
Speaker 2: you to know that he's there for some reason.
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: Now, I was reading, and I don't remember if we
Speaker 2: encountered this there or if we talked about it while
Speaker 2: you were there. I was reading that sometimes people experience
Speaker 2: a little girl in the house has Is that something
Speaker 2: you're familiar with?
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, I have heard several guests tell me about
Speaker 1: the little girl.
Speaker 2: We think it could be Jesse May.
Speaker 1: She was an infant at the time she passed, and
Speaker 1: she would have passed in the late eighteen hundreds from.
Speaker 2: An unknown cause.
Speaker 1: That being said, there are several children in the house,
Speaker 1: so it's hard to tell when the little girl is
Speaker 1: speaking or if one of the other girls are speaking.
Speaker 1: There's also a little boy so and he sounds very
Speaker 1: much like a little girl when he is audible when
Speaker 1: you hear him. So the only time I have encountered
Speaker 1: one of the little ones was again in the doctor's
Speaker 1: office and I heard him laugh, and I thought it
Speaker 1: was potentially a guest who had, you know, come in
Speaker 1: the back door. But there was nobody besides myself and
Speaker 1: my coworker who was another touring docent, and she also
Speaker 1: heard it. So we looked around. We didn't find anything
Speaker 1: out of place, but it was it was very clear
Speaker 1: like he was standing probably a couple of feet away,
Speaker 1: he or she. I wasn't sure if we could if
Speaker 1: it was a little boy or little girl.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I know, kids kind of tend to sound
Speaker 2: the same at that age, and it's hard to discern.
Speaker 2: You know, if you're talking to now, what would you say,
Speaker 2: is are the hot spots in the house like obviously
Speaker 2: the attic, but it sounds like the doctor's office is well.
Speaker 2: Are there certain areas that seem to have more activity?
Speaker 1: Absolutely, there is the second floor landing that is by far,
Speaker 1: I'd have to say the second most active area in
Speaker 1: the house, attic being the first. Jesse Maine's room is
Speaker 1: right there, so we have a lot of activity there
Speaker 1: in jesse May's room and next door in the communications room.
Speaker 1: There are several different entities in some of the jocents
Speaker 1: who have been there a longer time than me can
Speaker 1: kind of shoell them apart when they make themselves known.
Speaker 1: I'm only able to do it with a couple of them,
Speaker 1: you know, of course, the spirit with the chunk Gary
Speaker 1: and I can tell if there is another one James,
Speaker 1: I can tell if he's there. But that's a very
Speaker 1: active area. The doctor's office has actually been more active
Speaker 1: as of late, and were not sure why. And it
Speaker 1: was right after the time when I was called a rich.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, did you guys get any new artifacts in there? Surprisingly? No,
Speaker 2: because I was thinking he was maybe a tribute.
Speaker 1: To an artifact. But we did not have any new
Speaker 1: artifacts in the doctor's office at that time. We did
Speaker 1: get a victrolla, okay victrolla around that time, but that
Speaker 1: was I did place that in the parlor, so he
Speaker 1: could possibly be associated with that, or it could just
Speaker 1: be one of the grumpy ones upstairs that's coming down,
Speaker 1: but we're not one hundred percent sure.
Speaker 2: Now, is this the same victrola that you had before,
Speaker 2: or did you get another one in addition to that?
Speaker 1: It was it's another one in addition to that one.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, I do remember that that caused activity when
Speaker 2: we played that, that definitely changed the kind of feeling
Speaker 2: of the house overall. There was something about that first
Speaker 2: Victrola that just really triggered something. I think that just
Speaker 2: goes for music overall, and a lot of investment stigations.
Speaker 2: But we, uh, I think we were allowed to touch it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: of course, I'm like, wait a minute, did we were
Speaker 2: we not supposed to mess with that? You're just fine?
Speaker 2: Uh Yeah. So that definitely did kind of spike some activity.
Speaker 2: I mean, that was one of those cases like if
Speaker 2: people watch it on TV, that's great, but I don't
Speaker 2: know that they we were able to kind of convey
Speaker 2: just how much happened in forty three minutes on television.
Speaker 2: That's one of the harder parts of being like doing
Speaker 2: a televised investigation is you can't really get into it.
Speaker 2: Like one of the most shocking moments for me was
Speaker 2: when we arrived. You had a lot of trouble with
Speaker 2: this attic entity you personally, and you were utterly terrified,
Speaker 2: and we were going up the second floor to talk
Speaker 2: about it, and I think we were trying to avoid
Speaker 2: going in, but as soon as we got up there,
Speaker 2: you were like visibly like nope, nope, I can feel him.
Speaker 2: I can feel him, and like you knew he was there,
Speaker 2: and we were like, how is this possible? And we
Speaker 2: looked and someone like the crew or someone had left
Speaker 2: the attic door open and you didn't know that, you
Speaker 2: just felt him, which to me is one of the
Speaker 2: most kind of wild moments that I've had during an
Speaker 2: investigation that you were so in tune to this presence
Speaker 2: you knew he was not in the attic at that point.
Speaker 2: And so does do you think he moves around? Like
Speaker 2: It's funny because when we close the door, he would,
Speaker 2: but if you leave the door open, I felt like
Speaker 2: he was kind of brave. Does he move around the house?
Speaker 2: He does?
Speaker 1: He does move around the house. There is something additional
Speaker 1: up there. We're not exactly sure who he is, so
Speaker 1: it's hard to tell when either one of them came
Speaker 1: down which one it is. But yes, we do believe
Speaker 1: that he does move around the house. And when he
Speaker 1: does come down, he gets very close and I could
Speaker 1: feel him because he almost.
Speaker 2: He touches me.
Speaker 1: He's very touchy, very touchy feely.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think he enjoys that a little bit. And
Speaker 2: you know, and I is it's hard because you know
Speaker 2: That's one of those things people ask, like, how do
Speaker 2: you make someone like that move on? And how do
Speaker 2: you make them leave? And uh, I wish, yeah, I
Speaker 2: wish it was as simple as waving some sage and
Speaker 2: being like be gone. You know, Yeah, it doesn't work
Speaker 2: that way. You just kind of have to stand your
Speaker 2: ground and try to kind of counteract them with different energy,
Speaker 2: which it sounds like you guys are. But so do
Speaker 2: you think that was who that shadow was that you
Speaker 2: saw that night?
Speaker 1: You know, I don't think so. And the only reason
Speaker 1: being is I have never seen Gary. I've never seen
Speaker 1: him with my eyes. This one was very, very, very prominent.
Speaker 1: So he made me weaken the knees. That's how much
Speaker 1: you've garried me, right, I did not get the Gary feeling.
Speaker 1: Gary's almost I don't say that he's mischievous.
Speaker 2: I don't think he's evil. I think he I think
Speaker 2: him scaring me like.
Speaker 1: He is entertained with that, right, And that's we're growing together,
Speaker 1: him and I because he knows now at this point
Speaker 1: that you know, he can be softy and I won't
Speaker 1: get one hundred percent scared. But yeah, this shadow entity
Speaker 1: that was down there, he he definitely scared me to
Speaker 1: the point of knowing that I think it would be
Speaker 1: a little step further than what Gary would.
Speaker 2: Do, right, I mean, there's just something to be said
Speaker 2: for the unknown in general. Like if you even saw
Speaker 2: just a stranger, a live person, that would probably be scarier.
Speaker 2: But like any like stranger standing there staring you down
Speaker 2: in a dark foyer, Like, that's a scary moment, absolutely
Speaker 2: you know, a shadow figure or not?
Speaker 1: Absolutely?
Speaker 2: So, Now what about other just kind of things that
Speaker 2: go on. I read a lot about lights going on
Speaker 2: and off and doors opening and closing, Like are these
Speaker 2: things you guys just deal with on the daily?
Speaker 1: Oh? Yeah, yes. Sometimes we come in to open up
Speaker 1: and we will find that artifacts have been moved. We
Speaker 1: have an extensive alarm system, so it gets triggered from
Speaker 1: the inside all the time. Oh and there's nobody inside,
Speaker 1: so we will find. A big one is jesse May's ball.
Speaker 1: We have a plastic ball that lives under her bed
Speaker 1: and we use it for people who come to investigate
Speaker 1: so they can bring it out. Sometimes we'll find that
Speaker 1: out in the room. Sometimes we'll find the shoes that
Speaker 1: are in the master's bedroom. They'll be moved to the
Speaker 1: middle of the room or move to a different area.
Speaker 1: So they're very they're very prominent there. They know that
Speaker 1: they are the residents and it is their house, and
Speaker 1: they pretty much do what they want. But yes, we'll
Speaker 1: find lights on all the time, doors shut that weren't
Speaker 1: shut before, things like that almost daily.
Speaker 2: And now do you think that so I know that
Speaker 2: the house kind of sat vacant for a while, and
Speaker 2: do you think that coming in and kind of renovating
Speaker 2: it and bringing all these things in, do you think
Speaker 2: that that made them happy? Or I mean, I don't
Speaker 2: know if you could even answer that question, but do
Speaker 2: you think that that was kind of for the good
Speaker 2: of them? Do you think they enjoy that? Yeah, if
Speaker 2: I had to.
Speaker 1: Speculate, I would think that there are a good amount
Speaker 1: of them that enjoyed that, because there are a handful
Speaker 1: that seemed to enjoy just having people in the house.
Speaker 1: I think the children are probably a big one on that.
Speaker 1: They really seem to enjoy having a few of our
Speaker 1: investigators in their one in particular, her name is Brooke.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I feel like some of them it was
Speaker 1: for the better for them, and some of them are
Speaker 1: just grumpy altogether.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean there's also a lot of speculation about
Speaker 2: kind of unmarked graves on the property. Have you been
Speaker 2: able to kind of narrow down where those could be
Speaker 2: or have you guys tried to find them in any way,
Speaker 2: we have tried to find them.
Speaker 1: At the time that they would have been buried, it
Speaker 1: would have been one hundred and sixty acre parcel. So
Speaker 1: there's a very good chance that those graves, it would
Speaker 1: have been the little family plot for the May family.
Speaker 1: There's a very good chance that those graves are under
Speaker 1: the street or under a local business, but we have
Speaker 1: not been able to locate them yet.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a tough one, you know. It's I live
Speaker 2: in a very old house, a three hundred year old house,
Speaker 2: and there's a graveyard, a little cemetery family plot like
Speaker 2: kind of up in the front yard. And I imagine
Speaker 2: that if this place had not been saved by a
Speaker 2: local nonprofit, that entire family would probably be under someone's
Speaker 2: house at this point.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's hard to imagine, but you know, that's just
Speaker 2: how they did things. Then there's I mean, especially where
Speaker 2: we where you are is very historic. Where I am
Speaker 2: in New England's very historic, and it's so I grew
Speaker 2: up in California, where this didn't really happen. I mean,
Speaker 2: obviously we had some like gold Rush era graves here
Speaker 2: and there, but like the fact that there were so
Speaker 2: many family plots back then, it didn't really occur to
Speaker 2: me how common that was until I started coming to
Speaker 2: New England and going to the South a lot. Oh yes, definitely.
Speaker 2: Now have you has anyone ever just kind of had
Speaker 2: enough of the house and had to leave other than you,
Speaker 2: which you are destly a success story. That's why I
Speaker 2: love that you're like comfortable in the space because I
Speaker 2: felt so bad for you when I first met you.
Speaker 2: And I've met a few people like that where I'm like,
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, this is I need them to be
Speaker 2: able to go to work or be in their house
Speaker 2: and not be afraid. So yeah, but anyway, has anyone
Speaker 2: kind of just had had to leave, had enough, never
Speaker 2: coming back.
Speaker 1: We have not had jocents per se that will do that.
Speaker 1: But I have had two separate touring groups who who
Speaker 1: did leave.
Speaker 2: They didn't finish the tour.
Speaker 3: One of them was present with me in the attic
Speaker 3: when my picked up, and I couldn't feel it because
Speaker 3: it was an a bonytail that freaked them out to
Speaker 3: the point where they did not finish the tour.
Speaker 2: And then a second guest.
Speaker 1: It was just her and I, and she was very
Speaker 1: gung ho about hearing the spirits, and it was a
Speaker 1: history tour, so I was like, hey, listen, sister, let's
Speaker 1: not just it's just you and me, so let's yeah,
Speaker 1: let's not call THEEF guys up. But we were up
Speaker 1: on the step and floor landing and she was a
Speaker 1: little disappointed that she had not had an experience. And
Speaker 1: as she was telling me this, we heard a whistle
Speaker 1: plan as day, right behind her. Both of us jumped
Speaker 1: and she took off towards the stairs. So of course
Speaker 1: I went behind her because we don't want to fall
Speaker 1: down those old stairs. No, and she did end up
Speaker 1: leaving that day as well.
Speaker 2: I always wonder why they choose to whistle, like I
Speaker 2: have encountered many a whistling ghost, and I, first of all,
Speaker 2: I can barely understand how they can make voice like
Speaker 2: a disembodied voice. How that can happen. Whistle is especially
Speaker 2: kind of uh. It makes no sense to me how
Speaker 2: they do it, but they do, and so that's that's interesting. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I think sometimes say people that you know, be careful
Speaker 2: what you wish for, ye know exactly. She's just kind
Speaker 2: of the perfect example of that. So well, I mean,
Speaker 2: as always, I'm sorry I slag my Dower as always. Uh,
Speaker 2: I mean, you guys have just a ton of activity.
Speaker 2: It's it's kind of out of the way Brooksville, Florida.
Speaker 2: You know, it's not a place that I think a
Speaker 2: lot of people were familiar with until they saw this house,
Speaker 2: this gorgeous home with all this crazy history. So if
Speaker 2: people do want to visit, like, what do they have
Speaker 2: to do?
Speaker 1: Well, there are no reservations needed during the day for
Speaker 1: the history tour right now. For the ghost tour, we're
Speaker 1: booked out well into next year, so that takes a
Speaker 1: little bit. But just come on down during our open
Speaker 1: hours and we will give you a tour. The day
Speaker 1: tour is totally totally guided by one of our docents,
Speaker 1: and it's a really good time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, there's a lot to see. I really
Speaker 2: enjoyed my time there, and you guys are all lovely.
Speaker 2: I love the care that you all have for that
Speaker 2: house and how well you kind of look over your
Speaker 2: ghosts and your artifacts and make sure the history is
Speaker 2: told so well done. Thank you so much. We just
Speaker 2: love it. Well. Thank you for chatting, and hopefully I
Speaker 2: will come visit you guys again soon. It's definitely on
Speaker 2: the list of one of my places I want to
Speaker 2: return to sooner rather than later. So a film, yeah,
Speaker 2: just let me know. On there all the time, all right,
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Autumn. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Oh, you are welcome.
Speaker 2: The main Stringer House is such a complicated haunting, one
Speaker 2: that has to be handled delicately and with utmost respect.
Speaker 2: It's strange to look at a beautiful mansion and think
Speaker 2: about all the darkness it has seen. Everything that happened
Speaker 2: inside its walls wonderful and terrible. But how fortunate are we,
Speaker 2: as lovers of history and those with the longing to
Speaker 2: never repeat it that those walls quite literally talk. I
Speaker 2: suppose it's up to us to listen and learn. I
Speaker 2: Amy Bruney and this was Haunted Road.
Speaker 4: Haunted Road is hosted and written by me Amy Bruney,
Speaker 4: with additional research by Taylor Haggerdorn and Cassandra de Alba.
Speaker 4: This show is edited and produced by rema El Kali,
Speaker 4: with supervising producer Josh Thain and executive producers Aaron Manke,
Speaker 4: Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. Haunted Road is a production
Speaker 4: of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Learn
Speaker 4: more about this show over at Grimandmild dot com, and
Speaker 4: for more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 4: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.