By Donna Lindsay
Tucked behind a large wall of mangled tree limbs and tall grass hides Gabriel Davies Tavern, a two-floor house built in 1756. Its beautiful brick and wooden exterior brings a bit of haunted magic to the small quiet town of Glendora, N.J., about 12 miles from Philadelphia.
One night last October, the light of a bon fire, tended to by teenage boys in Boy Scout uniforms, beckoned arrivals to a large field where they could park their cars.
To the right of the field stood the tavern, framed by a dark sky and covered with shadows cast from the fire.
To the left was another building, once part of a barn, in which new-comers could purchase tickets for $10.
Hosting the 9th Annual Ghost Hunting Experience at the Gabriel Davies Tavern was the South Jersey Ghost Research (SJGR) organization, a practicing paranormal research group based in South Jersey supporting all of New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the New York City area since 1998.
SJGR bills itself as a professional research organization that investigates and documents suspected paranormal activity. The group has official non-profit status and provides its services for free.
Dave Juliano is SJGR's founder and director.
The October event at the tavern was a fundraiser for the Historic and Scenic Preservation Society that maintains the landmark.
The attic of the Gabriel Davis Tavern functioned as a hospital for wounded soldiers who served under George Washington during the Revolutionary War. According to Juliano's Web site, Shadowlands.net, people have been spotted wandering the upstairs in addition to "the strangest sounds of people suffering."
That night, members of SJGR offered guided walks to where the last owner of the property, William Schock lies buried, although many there that night claimed that even though Schock's grave is a few yards to the left of the house, he prefers to sit upstairs in his rocking chair, smoking his pipe to this day.
A family of avid ghost hunters exited the house with cameras and voice recorders clutched in their hands. "Did you smell the pipe smoke?" they asked one another. "I know I was smelling smoke." "I saw something in the rocking chair."
A member of the Historic and Scenic Preservation Society stood on the old stone walkway collecting tickets.
The house has a faint musty odor, not precisely bad or dirty, just the classic scent of an old building. We circled to the right and entered a room where old furniture clashed severely with the modern-day technology of a television set and computers, brought in by SJGR to share their research and history.
A demonstration of Electronic Voice Phenomenon began, with sounds displayed on a monitor.
Electronic Voice Phenomenon or EVPs are captured on hand-held voice recorders at the scene of an investigation. In order to keep the evidence from being tainted, anyone present must speak in clear voices, or remain silent.
The recordings are evaluated using computer software, then measured. If the recording of someone speaking falls below 300 Hz, it is determined that the sound was not made by a human voice.
Our group moved forward into another room where Maureen Carroll, a middle-aged business woman, and her sister Sharon, both members of SJGR, had littered a long table with materials. They began with a history lecture of ghost hunting, animatedly discussing the origins of ghost hunting, the famous swindlers and charlatans, and the very important role of the camera to capture visual proof of ghosts.
We circle to the left back room, where SJGR member Denise Jubb stood behind a table. Jubb discussed the equipment used in ghost hunting, demonstrating with a miniature version of a house, its back cut off so you could see inside.
With a smile she dangled plastic bugs attached to a string in front of a motion detector, illustrating how something 40 pounds or more are needed to set off the detector. Then, much to the amusement of the audience, Jubb dangled a smiling stuffed ghost, large enough that the sensor began to beep.
Later Jubb described an experience she had involving EVPs. At the Glen Ford Mansion, a 19th-century historical landmark along the Delaware River in Philadelphia, Jubb and SJGR trainee Marti Haines were in the tiny wine cellar in the basement of the house when she began to feel uneasy.
"It was a strong resistance, foreboding," she said.
While many people may have turned around at that point, based on her training, Jubb continued forward to investigate. The negative energy continued as she walked in front of a bench by a bathroom door. In her mind, she received the impression of an older gentleman with an old-fashioned bartender's shirt, unbuttoned at the top, with rolled sleeves and suspenders.
The gray-haired man looked mean, she said and announced: "There is an old man. He's looking at me."
The negative energy continued. Obviously, the man wanted Jubb and her team out of the wine cellar, she said.
About a week later, prior to submitting their evidence to SJGR for review, Jubb and Haines met at a lecture. There, Haines revealed an interesting discovery. After Jubb said the words "He's looking at me" Haines's recorded picked up a clear male voice that said "Looking at ya."
This EVP evidence was classified as Class A because the reading was loud and clear and interpreted the same by all listeners.
Back at Gabriel Davies Tavern, the group moved into the final room, climbing a set of narrow stairs in the dark to the second floor, the hub of the tavern's the ghost activity.
SJGR offers mock investigations at the sites of the fundraisers, letting individuals a chance to peak into their world of ghost hunting. At the top of the stairs, we are given Electronic Magnetic Field Detectors, or EMF detectors, a small plain rectangle with a glowing green light. If the light begins to flash yellow or red, that is a signal that there is a disturbance in the magnetic field, similar to a compass that suddenly begins to spin.
The two rooms we are allowed to explore are shrouded in darkness, with only the light from the moon and the soft green and yellow lights from the glow sticks that circle the wooden floor.
SJGR members blend into the dark with their black shirts, but make their presence known in each room.
I walked through each room, around the other members of the group, and searched for signs that I had recently learned from the SJGR lectures.
Is this spot colder then where I just was? I wondered.
My eye constantly strayed back to the shining green light. I took my camera out and aimed for a photo, forgetting the policy of announcing, "I'm taking a photo."
My camera flashed through the bedroom, startling a scream from a woman nearby.
SJGR completes its investigations using multiple techniques and resources. Not only are the members trained to open the senses and mind to the environment in communicating with the spirits, but also to use technology to sometimes see what can't been seen or heard. Contrary to the melodramatic theories shown on TV and in the movies like "Ghostbusters," an actual investigation consists mainly of observations and record keeping and the use of advance equipment to monitor, not trap, spirits in a small yellow rectangular box.
In November, at Laurel Hill Cemetery, a 78-acre historic cemetery in the East Falls section of Philadelphia, the group quickly sets up inside the cemetery's office buildings, utilizing two rooms in one part and the main office in another part.
The seminar is open to the public for a fee, with all money going to help in the preservation of the cemetery, the resting place for many of Philadelphia's prominent citizens. Demonstrations that night include the history of ghost hunting, a dowsing rod demonstration, sample EVPs and a quick tour down millionaire's row.
Equipped with our own electromagnetic field detectors, my group of adventurous curiosity seekers followed Juliano, Haines, who later that night would pass her written exam to become an official member, and Jubb through the paths in the dark.
Photography plays an important role in ghost hunting, although it is also often used to fool people into giving up their money or to frighten people with the unknown. Since the evolution of the film to digital cameras, the ghost research field has been able to obtain an increased amount of activity and in less time.
What SJGR looks for in photos are orbs of light that are solid, and not reflections of dust, sometimes a transparent mist, or in rare cases, actual apparitions. The orbs are forms of energy that are manipulated by spirits.
As we walk past huge, uninviting mausoleums with cold façades, I occasionally take photos, exploring the possibility of capturing something other than the eerie beauty of an old cemetery.
Perfectly round circles turn up in several of my photos, but this is not proof alone of paranormal activity. In an actual investigation, SJGR would detail if someone received an impression when I was taking a photo, if the temperature changed, or if there was a disturbance in the electromagnetic field.
At the dowsing rod demonstration, SJGR member Kathy Smith, 67, who is a retired police officer, stood with her feet braced apart, arms crossed.
Smith explained to the audience how dowsing rods are used as a communication tool with spirits. Thin copper rods, formed into an "L" shape with plastic coverings over the smaller end are a common tool for many ghost investigators. The rods allows investigators to ask questions. Spirits can then manipulate energy into moving the answers.
Smith is no stranger to paranormal activity herself.
One afternoon in her bedroom, Smith had a strong feeling that her husband, who had passed away eight years ago, was present. Her dowsing rods were lying out on her bureau, so she picked them up. Holding one in each hand, she extended her arms. Since these were her rods, and no one else used them, she said she had developed a relationship with the rods. When the rods crossed, that indicated a yes. When the rods opened, that indicated a no.
Smith asked a series of questions into the seemingly empty room.
Are you there? The rods crossed. "Yes."
Is everything ok? The rods crossed. "Yes."
Are you going to continue to watch over me and our children? The rods crossed. "Yes."
Do you know I miss you? The rods crossed. "Yes."
Do you know how much I love you? The rods crossed. "Yes. "
SJGR members take part in comprehensive training that requires three months of field work, classroom, and a practical exam. They are taught how to use the equipment, the importance of grounding themselves using the St. Michael prayer, the history of SJGR and ghost hunting, and how to be a team player, a key component to being a member.
At different points during the year, SJGR will announce on its Web site the groups is accepting applications.
Dave Hewitt, 22, sent his application in online. After a week, Hewitt received a reply with follow-up questions, then an invitation for an interview at Burlington Rotary Library in Burlington, N.J.
Along with about 30 others, Hewitt, who by day is a mechanic for BMW, entered into a large conference room. Videos were playing and Maureen Caroll, SJGR's volunteer Public Relations representative, greeted the hopefuls and answered questions.
Do you have a problem being in a dark room?
"No," Hewitt responded.
Would you have a problem being in a dark room up against a wall something tapping you on your back?
"That's what I'm here for," he replied.
Hewitt returned to his seat five minutes later and was called again, this time to another table where Juliano sat with the answers Hewitt had sent in over the past few weeks. After another short interview Hewitt left.
The next day Hewitt received an email informing him he had been selected.
Three months of intensive training culminated in the night of the Laurel Hill Cemetery Seminar, when he would take his final test.
After hosting the seminar at the Laurel Hill Cemetery, the SJGR team drove to the Manayunk Diner.
The diner is part of the group's ritual, as integral to the team as grounding themselves before an investigation.
There, amongst the neon lights and noise of the diner, Juliano gave Hewitt his exam.
The team teased Hewitt as he sat at the head of the table: "That's the wrong answer." "I can't believe you got that wrong!"
By the end of the night, there was one fewer trainee sitting at the table and one more ghost buster to call.
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