Private Residence in Edgar, Wisconsin

 

 

Background

The client has lived in the home for 9 years, and have been experiencing paranormal activity off and on for the entire time.

 

History

The land was originally owned by Bartholomew Ringle, who sold the land to Heinrich and Alvina Hanenkrat in April of 1881 for $275. Prior to that time, the land was vacant and held for brief periods of time by various speculators.

Heinrich and Alvina built a house on the property and lived there with several children. The location of this house is unknown. In June of 1900, the family still lived there. On August 31, 1900, Heinrich and Alvina divorced and Heinrich sold the property to Alvina for $1,500.

The client's current home was built by Alvina Hanenkrat in 1901. At that time, Alvina etched her name into the basement wall, and her son Rudolph etched his initials and age. Alvina remained in the home for the rest of her life, passing away at St. Mary’s Hospital on August 31, 1929 after a four-month illness. Her funeral services were held in the family home on September 6, 1929 at 2:00pm. The home was passed down to one of Alvina’s daughters.

Part of a head stone lies on the property, possibly that of Alvina and Heinrich’s daughter, Elenore Erenstine Alvine, who died of diphtheria at age 6 in 1884.

In 1950, the home was purchased by Franklin and Irene Schulz. In April of 1981, Mr. Schulz had a heart attack on the upper staircase landing. His death record lists two occurrences of death. The first at home, and the second at Wausau Hospital Center. It is believed that he was revived for a time in between. Mrs. Schulz owned the home until after her death in a nursing home in 1986.

Although Mr. Schulz is the only known death in the Jansen’s home, it is probable that the following Hanenkrat family members passed away on the property, possibly in the original home:

1.  Elenore Ernestine Alvine Hanenkrat, 3/23/1878 - 3/9/1884 (6 yrs)

2.  Anthony Emil Hanenkrat, 5/2/1881 - before 1895 (<13 yrs)

3.  Olga Ida Clara Hanenkrat, 2/3/1884 - 2/10/1885 (1 yr)

4.  Carl H Hanenkrat, 2/18/1896 - 2/26/1896 (8 days)

 

Activity

·         Pictures have been knocked down off of walls.

·         Unexplained booming and banging noises are heard, often coming from the basement.

·         A strong feeling of being watched or not being alone occurs when in the basement.

·         A door in the basement that is typically kept shut has been found open on occasion.

·         Music can be heard coming from an upstairs room when no one is there.

·         The cat (and a previous dog) reacts oddly to the area at the top of the stairs where Mr. Schulz is believed to have passed away.

·         A long forgotten music box began playing on its own one day, the drawer having been pulled out when no one was around.

·         The client has experienced loud banging on the opposite wall while in the shower.

·         The client often has the feeling that someone (possibly a child or someone seated) is watching her out of an upstairs office window when she is walking to her car.

 

Investigation

The investigation took place on Saturday, May 18, 2013 from approximately 7:00pm to 12:00am. Investigators Blaschka, Williams, Coates and Spialek were present. Equipment used during the investigation included digital cameras, digital voice recorders, Tri Field Electro Magnetic Field (EMF) meter, an ovilus, infrared and full-spectrum cameras, four infrared video cameras, a REM-pod, and an infrared thermal probe.

The client's gave investigators a tour of the home, including the first and second floors and the basement. They pointed out the area in which Mr. Schultz was thought to have died of a heart attack. In the basement, investigators were able to observe Alvina’s signature and the initials and age of her son, both of which were etched in a wall. During the tour of the basement, Blaschka felt something touch him quite distinctly on the side of his forehead. A search for cobwebs or something hanging down which could have caused the feeling came up empty. While this was a personal experience rather than scientific evidence of a haunting, it was a notable event.

After the tour, temperature and EMF readings were taken. The first and second floors had temperatures between 70 and 75 degrees F. The basement was 56 degrees F. The electro-magnetic field was very low throughout the entire home. There were no anomalous readings taken through the course of the investigation.

Investigators Blaschka and Spialek spent some time in the basement attempting to recreate the door between the furnace and the utility room opening on its own. They were unable to debunk the activity, as the door closes very tightly and is not likely to swing open.

Coates, Blaschka and Spialek conducted an evp session in the upstairs hallway at 10:00pm, which the client had indicated was an active time. During an evp session, investigators try to obtain audio evidence of the paranormal on electronic voice recorders by asking questions in an attempt to communicate with any spirits that may be present. While conducting the evp session, Blaschka felt a cold breeze cross the hallway from the bathroom to the guest bedroom. Shortly after that, while trying to communicate with Mr. Schulz, the three investigators heard a loud popping noise from the location of the guest bedroom. It sounded like a balloon popping, or someone clapping their hands. No similar noise was experienced for the remainder of the investigation.

Coates, Williams and Blaschka then took pictures of the inside of the home on digital, infrared and full-spectrum cameras. No anomalies were captured.

All investigators then spent some time sitting silently in different parts of the house, to listen for any activity that might take place. During this time, Spialek, who was sitting in the upstairs office, heard the distinct sound of a man whistling. It was faint, but clear enough for her to repeat the tune to herself. The whistling lasted approximately five seconds. Afterwards, Spialek remained in the office while Blaschka went to the basement and whistled, to see if it sounded like the original whistling was coming from that location. The faintness Blaschka’s whistling resembled that which Spialek had heard previously. Neither the original nor Blaschka’s whistling showed up on Spialek’s audio recorder.

Blaschka, Spialek and Coates performed a quick evp session in the basement. No anomalous audio was recorded.

 

Evidence

While not necessarily paranormal, the popping noise heard by investigators in the upstairs guest room was caught on audio.

In another piece of audio caught during the same evp session, Spialek asks "Mr. Schulz, are you here?" After this, directly before Blaschka starts talking, there is a tapping noise and a male voice, perhaps moaning or saying something unintelligible.

 

Conclusion

While investigators were not able to capture much in the way of hard evidence, the personal experiences they had were unusual and not to be taken lightly.

Because of this, the rich history of the property, and the client's history of experiencing paranormal activity in the home, it is likely that the home is haunted.

 

 

*Any use or reproduction of this documentation is prohibited without the sole permission of Anji Spialek or the WPRS.