A Word From Beyond

News From David Raby and The Shadows WIthin

August 2023 - Vol. 3 Issue 6

 

View from within the parade field towards the northeast bastion of Fort Adams in Newport, Rhode Island. When the sun sets, unexplained shadows and light appear. Many soldiers still stand guard at this historic location. Come join us for our final summer investigation of the year at this amazing location!

AUGUST EVENT!

 

Our last event of the summer season is rapidly approaching. Why not take the day off from work and join us in beautiful Newport, Rhode Island for an amazing adventure?

  

A Spirited Evening at Fort Adams

Thursday, August 10, 2023 - 8:00 pm - midnight
Newport, Rhode Island

 

Join us behind the massive walls of Fort Adams on Thursday, August 10, 2023, for our third of four group paranormal investigations this year at Fort Adams! It's the perfect excuse to take a day off from work and visit beautiful Newport. Shop, dine, and explore downtown Newport or visit the beach before meeting the many spirits of Fort Adams with us.

 

Before the investigation, David Raby will give a brief history of a small portion of the lives that were tragically lost at the fort – and possibly still reside within. This event is perfect for everyone; from someone who has never been on a paranormal investigation to the seasoned investigator.

 

Non-refundable tickets for this exciting event are $40 per person, plus online ticketing fees (an additional $3.14 per ticket). All of the proceeds from ticket sales will go towards the preservation and restoration of Fort Adams. To purchase tickets, please click here.

 

Please note that if you are planning to investigate Fort Adams with us, we will be walking on uneven surfaces and exposed to the weather as we walk from location to location. Please dress comfortably with appropriate footwear (open-toe shoes or heels not recommended!) Please be sure to bring a water bottle and keep an eye on the forecast as we will not postpone due to rain, heat, etc. Unfortunately, this event is not handicapped accessible and involves many stairs and ramps requiring a full range of motion from participants.

 

If you can't join us in August, you can also use the ticket link above to purchase tickets for our Fort Adams event on Friday, October 20, 2023.

 

Please note that while the online ticketing states the end time at 11:30pm, we will be investigating until midnight.

JULY, 2023 EVENT RECAPS

 

VENTFORT HALL MANSION AND GILDED AGE MUSEUM

SATURDAY, JULY 8, 2023

 

Quite honestly, July's investigation at Ventfort Hall was a bit bizarre. The spirits were not that cooperative - that happens sometimes...but we did hear many interesting responses on the Phasmabox (recordings need to analyzed). Surprisingly, we had many salty responses, which we do not typically receive at Ventfort.

 

This is the first investigation that I had addressed Giraud Foster at Ventfort Hall. Giraud owned Bellefontaine in Lenox, Massachusetts. The tableware on display in Mr. Morgan's room was from Mr. Foster's collection. We had heard tales that Mr. Foster was upset that no one would attempt to communicate with him there. We also heard that Mrs. Morgan is not happy that he was in her home. Even the in the spirit world, there can be drama! Well, anyway, we believe we heard from Mr. Foster several times including hearing his name. Of course, we will be happy to share that evidence when we complete our review.

 

Another surprise from the evening is that we had heard "Elizabeth" and "Lizzie" several times during the night. While it is a common name, my first thought was Elizabeth Haggerty, the mother of Annie Haggerty Shaw, and the owner of the property before the Morgan family. When I called both her first and last name in Mrs. Morgan's room, our REM devices were being manipulated on request. The devices would sound each time we called out to her. It was noteworthy as this was the first investigation that we believed to have heard from her.

 

However, the mansion felt different from other investigations. There was an overall cranky mood to the mansion on this night. The spirits, while active through the Phasmabox, were not very cooperative otherwise. The lights in the dining room did not turn off - that's okay, sometimes they don't feel like doing tricks for our guests. But some of the rooms just had a cranky feel to them. The normally playful spirits that are typically there may not have been there at all due to the energy of the location. It turns out that we investigated close to the anniversary of Mrs. Morgan's death, so we may have felt residual energy from that.

 

One of my biggest surprises of the evening was the shadow figure I had seen move in Mrs. Morgan's room. I had set up the laser grid in the hallway between the two master bedrooms, and I had seen a dark mass passing through the laser grid.

 

One of our guests was surprised when her name was called out twice by the spirits during the evening. It is always a trip when that happens and we're glad to give such unique experiences to our guests. Another notable experience from the evening was that the replies from the Phasmabox were unusually salty throughout the night. I have never heard that many curses from the Phasmabox at Ventfort Hall.

Of course, we will share all evidence from this evening when all data has been analyzed. We'll provide updates at a later date.  

 

FORT ADAMS

THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2023 

 

We had two investigations in less than one week's time in July - talk about one heck of a paranormal hangover! Fort Adams was once again an amazing investigation. We started our evening in the tunnels as it was still light out when the investigation began. I had placed the Laser Grid by the entrance of one of the tunnels and a signficant cold spot was forming near the laser grid and moving around. The Phasmabox was active as usual, I heard my name a few times when I had turned it on.

 

We then moved to the former bowling alley and the former soldiers were not using any filters that night as they were dropping their fair share of vulgarities - including one that cannot be shared. A young man who identified himself as Harry came through to us and let us know that he was one of the pin setters at the bowling lanes at the Fort. When talking with Harry, he kept using our equipment to confirm his identity and presence. While most of the guests were enthralled by the Phasmabox responses, a couple of us were noticing a very defined shadow figure moving at the end of the bowling lanes.

 

The former medical dispensary area was active, as usual. The Phasmabox was once again very active with many possible intelligent replies - of course a full review is needed to verify what had been said. The laser grid was very active on the stairs and some of us sensed a spirit who was just hanging out at the landing of the second floor. A bit later, two people were surprised when a shadow leaned out of the second-floor window in what looked like an attempt to check in on us.


In keeping with the theme of the night, the Phasmabox replies in the former bakery were a tad salty - including a surprising response when I innocently asked why the spirits in that spot seemed timid that evening. There was a very clear response of "F*** you, Dave" from the Phasmabox. Lesson learned - I guess they don't like to be called timid even if they do not want to enter the room that we are in.

 

The most surprising response of the night occurred in the powder magazine when I had been talking about Mary Gleason, a young woman found dead at the fort. While her death was ruled an accident, there were some inconsistencies to that conclusion to suggest it may not have been an accident. When I mentioned her name our REM devices began to get very active. When I asked if the spirit had seen how Mary died, a very terse response of "I enjoyed it," was given to us. I suspect that this spirit was just trying to get a reaction out of us. It will be something we will inquire about in August's investigation, so stay tuned.


Another interesting experience while we were in the powder magazine was that a couple people were hearing small rocks being thrown against the wall in the space next to us. When they went to investigate, they heard it again. This was happening while we were getting responses to the Mary Gleason questions. Rock throwing is a common claim at the Fort and during one of our events last year, two guests were hit by small pebbles. This is significant as one of the murders that occurred at the fort was when one soldier shot another point-blank after he had pebbles thrown at him.

 

As always, these recaps only covered a fraction of what occurred during the investigation. We have all experiences from this investigation documented on our equipment and will be sharing all data when review is complete.

A TRAGIC DAY 

 

I will admit, I was struggling thinking about what story from "our vault" to write about. I went for a hike and separated myself from work and from all of the paranormal topics. I then remembered today's date - and immediately thought of the Houghton, Cady/Hutton and Winters families. On August 1, 1914, a road trip shattered the lives of so many people and devastated a community.

 

Albert C. Houghton, his daughter Mary went on a road trip with Sybil (Cady) Hutton - a family friend - and her husband Dr. Robert Hutton. Their 1914 Pierce Arrow was driven by John Winters (a.k.a. Widders). While in Pownal, Vermont the car came across a work team in the road, sadly for work to make a dangerous road safer. John attempted to drive around the work team, however, either the tires left the pavement, or he accidentally pressed the gas pedal instead of the brake - or a combination of both - the car rolled down the embankment.

 

Sybil Hutton was thrown from the car and crushed by the car. Most of the other passengers were also thrown from the car but escaped serious injury. Mary Houghton was the only passenger not thrown from the car, but she took the brunt of the impact from the car rolling over numerous times down the steep embankment. Her face was badly injured, her spine was most likely broken, and she had massive internal injuries. Sibyl's husband - a doctor - could not help as he was in shock and devastated holding his wife's dead body and refusing medical treatment as he did not want to leave her side. The couple had left their toddler son with his grandparents across the street from the Houghton home. Mr. Houghton suffered a broken shoulder - but he knew his youngest daughter would more than likely die from her injuries. John Winters escaped injury but had the burden of the accident on his conscious.

 

Mary was brought to the hospital but died from her injuries at three in the afternoon on August 1, 1914. John Winters, distraught, committed suicide in the stables on the Houghton property early in the morning on August 2, 1914. Albert Houghton would pass away on August 11, 1914, at three in the afternoon at his home on Church Street in North Adams, Massachusetts.

 

The Houghton Mansion in North Adams, Massachusetts had held onto the memories of that horrible day. It was a place that was near and dear to me as it was there - and the spirits within - that gave me the purpose of helping historic locations with their preservation and restoration efforts. I have an odd connection to the Houghton family - a spiritual one. It was Mr. Houghton's wife, Cordelia, that pointed me to write books and to help these amazing locations. I had many profound experiences within the mansion, and it helped mature me as a paranormal investigator and it gave me a new purpose. It's a location that I miss terribly and often think about. I never imagined I would write books, and it was because of Cordelia that I have already written four with several more in various stages of development.

 

So, on this anniversary, I look back on all those memories and think of the Houghton family, as well as the Cady, Hutton and Winters families. Next year we will celebrate ten years of helping historic properties. While we have many more years of experience as investigators, I would have never imagined that we'd be celebrating ten years of group investigations. I am also confident that we're just hitting our groove and I don't want this crazy ride to end. None of this would have been possible without the magic of Houghton Mansion and, of course, none of this would happen without all of our guests and the amazing hosts we have.

 

Houghton Mansion in North Adams, Massachusetts

2023 EVENT CALENDAR

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