Rumor has it that the spirits of Confederate soldiers still haunt a house near Glendale Mill. Staff writer Kim Kimzey recently went with paranormal investigators to see if there?s anything still worth fighting about.
By Kim Kimzey
At one time, it was a grand house.
Even in its neglected and dilapidated state, there is still some regality to the home Dr. James Bivings built in the 1830s. It sits on a hill that once overlooked Glendale Mill.
Fire claimed most of the mill four years ago, but the columned house still stands as a landmark in the once-bustling mill village.
The mill was eventually sold by Bivings in bankruptcy proceedings. Dexter Edgar Converse, founder of Converse College, became manager of the mill and moved into the house in 1855. Superintendents of the Glendale Mill would follow.
The house hasn't been inhabited for many years. Or has it?
Do apparitions, including soldiers, wander its large rooms and grounds? Team members of Upstate Paranormal Investigations recently spent a night there gathering audio, video and other data to determine whether paranormal activity is indeed taking place.
Some think the house was used as a hospital for Confederate soldiers. The basement supposedly served as a morgue.
'From local people that we've talked to, they say that Confederate soldiers have been seen,' said Annette Sepulveda, founder of UPI.
Some people have told UPI team members they've seen Confederate soldiers around the basement. Some claim to have seen a woman on the porch, Sepulveda said.
Going inside
During UPI's recent investigation, Sepulveda carefully steps through weeds and over wires running across the overgrown lawn from the house to a pitched tent. The tent is where the team has set up equipment powered by car batteries.
The house has no electricity, and it's very dark this overcast night. The amber glow from a streetlight illuminates the house and chain link fence surrounding the property.
It's about 9:30 p.m. and the neighborhood is quiet, but the crickets are loud. The air is thick with their chirping, as well as the humidity.
Beams from flashlights cut into the dark and guide investigators into the house.
Light from Sepulveda's flashlight bounces across floors and walls. Some places show water damage and graffiti.
'It's a crying shame, what's been done to it,' Sepulveda says. 'It's absolutely gorgeous, even though it's neglected.'
She reflects on the house's former significance for Glendale residents. Think of the planning that must have gone on there for the whole community, she says.
'If you believe, like a lot of people, believe that life doesn't end, that the human body is full of energy and energy cannot be destroyed, it only changes to something different, then when a person dies their energy could be absorbed into these walls, you know ? the energy of everyday life being absorbed into the walls and becoming a part of the building,' she says.
'A lot of people believe that. Do I know scientifically? Can I prove that that's true? That's what we're trying to do.'
UPI, which formed in February, has 10 active members and a technical adviser.
A few team members are from North Carolina; one is from Greenville. The rest are from Spartanburg.
All of them have regular jobs. They do paranormal investigation in their spare time.
Amber Patton, a team leader from Spartanburg, said members are serious about investigating the paranormal and include believers and skeptics.
'I think we're greatly misunderstood,' she said.
She said a lot of people think of them as 'ghost busters.'
Patton said the group's goal is helping people. She said paranormal activity is terrifying to some, and that the group might serve to help ease their minds.
Investigations are free
UPI has investigated four cases. Two more are pending.
Sepulveda says they never ask clients for a fee. 'To us, it's an honor and a privilege to have an opportunity to investigate the paranormal,' she says.
Team members use their own equipment. On their most recent investigation of the Bivings house, they set up equipment, including a motion sensor and cameras, all over the house. A couple of team members watch the video live out in a tent.
They also have audio equipment to record 'electronic voice phenomena.'
But the most important investigative tool, Sepulveda says, is intuition. 'It will tell you when something's there. It will tell you when to get out. It will tell you when it's safe.'
Before an EVP session in the basement, team members gather in a circle, join hands and pray for protection.
After the prayer, Rick Huffman and Sepulveda head back into the house and descend the stairs to the basement.
Huffman, co-founder of the group and a lead investigator, sits down on one side of the basement, and Sepulveda sits on the other side. They're settling in, preparing for the EVP session.
'All right guys, we are going silent for EVP sessions,' Huffman radios to team members upstairs.
They switch off their flashlights, and the basement goes black.
'Is there anyone in this basement who would like to communicate with us?' Sepulveda asks. 'We're not here to harm you. We're only curious.'
'Are you a Confederate soldier?'
Huffman introduces himself and the team and explains what they're doing.
More questions follow.
The session lasts about 13 minutes.
Huffman thanks anyone who might be present for any attempts they might have made to contact the team.
Not always exciting
Sepulveda says paranormal investigating is actually very boring. 'It's a lot of long hours sitting and waiting,' she says.
She says their ultimate goal is to help people determine whether they're experiencing paranormal activity.
They first search for natural explanations of suspected paranormal activity.
'I'm a very analytical person,' Huffman says. 'I will drive it into the ground if I have to, you know. I'm like a bulldog. They have to keep me on a leash sometimes because I want to find out the truth.'
It will take hours to review the data the team members have collected, including audio.
Sepulveda says she hears something while playing back the EVP session from the basement. When she asked, 'Are you a Confederate soldier?' she heard a whispered 'yes.'
Thursday, they were still reviewing what they gathered. Sepulveda said more than half the group will scrutinize the recording to decide whether it's legitimate, man-made or mechanical. If they can't agree, they will 'throw it out.'
History up to question
B.G. Stephens, the self-described 'unofficial mayor' of Glendale, grew up there. He said a strong rumor is that the basement might have been a Confederate morgue, but no one has substantiated that. He points out that there wasn't much Civil War combat here.
'Glendale mill workers and owners contributed to the Southern cause in the Civil War with the assignment of one-third of the plant's production to Confederate use,' Michael Leonard wrote in 'Our Heritage: A Community History of Spartanburg County, S.C.'
Brad Steinecke, collections and research manager for the Spartanburg County Historical Association, said it's 'perfectly conceivable' that the house could have been used as a hospital. Nothing in the historical records supports that, however.
Steinecke said the Glendale Mill produced wooden shoe soles during the war.
Maybe, if the crickets quiet down long enough, you can hear them echoing in the hallways or shuffling across the basement's dirt floor.
http://www.goupstate.com/article/200808 ... 01/living#
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