It should be of no surprise to anyone that I wanted to visit Gettysburg, PA. It is said to be the most haunted city in all of America and my data collected from the Jennie Wade House at 548 Baltimore Street proves that the spirits that haunt the city are all over.
Jennie Wade’s Brief Story
I took the suggestion from staff in the Jennie Wade Museum Gift Shop for a few books. One them being “Jennie Wade of Gettysburg” by Cindy L. Small, I found it a quick, detailed account of what happened that fateful day for Jennie and some of the contacts she had.
For starters, let’s start with her name. Jennie was a nickname that derived from Ginnie which derived from Virginia. And Virginia was her middle name with her first being Mary. Interesting enough, her nickname provides us with a bit of her personality and gives the museum a bit more flare. The name Jennie sounds and looks a bit more wholesome than Virginia, and endearing and comforting to Union soldiers is exactly what she was. I’m an onlooker for people’s actions, and Jennie’s actions tell me she had a kind soul and big heart.
Although she could’ve avoided and ignored the constant door knocking from Union soldiers for food and water, she instead gave them what she could in fresh baked bread and pails of water. When she ran out and was preparing more yeast, she would tell the soldiers when they could expect their next meal. Bringing pails of water to these soldiers was a risk all on its own as she took the pails of water out to them, a brave act indeed with the wages of war nearby.
Jennie was only 20 years old in 1863 showing enough courage to help take care of family and serve soldiers in their time of need.
Ironically enough, the house in which Jennie was shot and killed wasn’t even her own. Her sister, Georgia, had a baby a few days prior and their mother was already helping to tend to the baby at Georgia’s home. Jennie and her brothers joined them soon after the battle began. The Jennie Wade House is named after Jennie, but it was her sister’s home.
Jennie was preparing yeast when a Confederate soldier missed his target and the bullet went through two doors to strike Jennie in the back forcing its way to her heart, killing her instantly.
I also want to point out that the house was what we know as a duplex: Georgia and her family on one side and the McClain family on the other. The McClains, Mr. John Isaac McClain and Mrs. Catherine McClain had four children.
Upstairs, there is an opening in the wall that was broadened by Union soldiers. The original hole in the wall was caused by an artillery shell that passed through the roof and into the wall the day before Jennie was shot. Through this enlarged opening, Jennie’s body was carried through to get to the other side of the home (the McClain side) and then down to the basement.
There are plenty more details that go into this story, like an alleged lover/fiance and a message that was never delivered to Jennie. If these details were partial to my investigation here, I would certainly lay them out for you. However, nothing of consequence in my investigation told me anything about this fiance or any message detail.
I urge you to read Small’s book before conducting your own investigation and/or just visiting the museum. “Jennie Wade of Gettysburg”
Other Investigations of the Jennie Wade House
I am sure there are countless investigations of the Jennie Wade House, but popularity of TV shows such as Ghost Adventures and Ghost Labs have documented their findings. Such claims that accompany those of the popular television documentaries are that of orbs floating, people getting touched, a full apparition of a boy, and countless EVP’s.
My Investigation of the Jennie Wade House
Much like my investigation of the Flight 93 Memorial near Shanksville, PA, I used the same equipment:
- Thermal imaging camera in my side cargo pocket.
- SBox Ghost Scanner by GhostStop on silent.
- Digital spirit box on my cell phone.
- K-II EMF Meter
Word of note: The thermal imaging video taken inside the actual home has been lost. Upon review directly after our departure, I did happen to capture a very cold figure crouching in the upstairs bedrooms by the wall opening.
As always, when reviewing the SBox Ghost Scanner file, I write down everything I hear with a timestamp. You can find the entire audio and my list of findings below. But I do want to point out the terms heard that make the most sense.
- 00:23 “Killed me”
- 02:10 (disembodied)
- 02:13 (disembodied)
- 03:13 “I want”
- 03:16 “to talk to your kids”
- 06:22 “the Nation”
- 07:25 “Nancy”
- 08:29 “Central”
- 09:31 “Open one”
- 13:42 “Who is that?”
- 17:22 (odd sounds)
- 22:42 “I hear you”
Most of these terms are pretty obvious, but I want to focus on two in particular: “Nancy” and “Central”.
Nancy Weikart ran a boarding house in the “heart” (or central) of downtown Gettysburg. The following article tells of another gunshot wound from Amos Whetstone. He ended up on the porch of Weikart where his wound was bandaged. At the wrong place during this battle, I find that it’s no coincidence that “Nancy” and “Central” were clues for me to dive into this Gettysburg Battle story as well. “Remembering Gettysburg”
From the Digital Spirit Box
The following list is from the digital spirit box used on my cell phone.
08/19/2020 – 17:32: CHILDREN (.49) Another reference to kids, see marker 03:16 from SBox above.
08/19/2020 – 17:34: RESULT (.48)
08/19/2020 – 17:36: RECALL (.47)
08/19/2020 – 17:37: GRACE (.47)
08/19/2020 – 17:39: POLICY (.46)
08/19/2020 – 17:39: MR (.53)
08/19/2020 – 17:39: BARN (.54)
08/19/2020 – 17:40: CLUSTER (.49)
08/19/2020 – 17:42: BOIL (.46)
08/19/2020 – 17:44: BLOW (.47)
08/19/2020 – 17:46: DIAGNOSIS (.46)
08/19/2020 – 17:46: RECESSION (.59)
08/19/2020 – 17:48: ASLEEP (.48) I was near the bed in the McClain bedroom where I also had strong EMF spikes.
08/19/2020 – 17:50: SOLSTICE (.47)
08/19/2020 – 17:50: DIVINE (.53)
08/19/2020 – 17:51: LET ME OUT (.51) Near the opening in the wall.
08/19/2020 – 17:53: POLITICAL (.47)
08/19/2020 – 17:54: CELEBRATION (.55) “Political” & “Celebration” could be one phrase describing the battle.
08/19/2020 – 17:56: HAIR (.46) There are accounts from tour guides that there are hair tugs while in the Jennie Wade House.
08/19/2020 – 17:57: ANNOUNCEMENT (.46)
08/19/2020 – 18:00: NATURAL (.45)
08/19/2020 – 18:01: BEFORE (.45)
I also took a thermal imaging video while I was in the gift shop of the museum, but found no abnormalities in the video.
Moving forward, I plan on giving you, the reader the entire audio files of data to verify my findings. In the event you hear/see something that was not notated, please feel free to email me your findings/interpretations to storiesinthecemetery@gmail.com, and put the case in the subject line. I will be more than happy to correct or add any of the evidence.
Here is the full SBox Ghost Scanner Audio for your review with my full findings below it.
- 00:08 “Today”
- 00:23 “Killed Me”
- 00:38 “the condition”
- 01:26 “twenty percent”
- 01:37 “the body”
- 01:42 “admit”
- 02:10 (disembodied)
- 02:13 (disembodied)
- 02:28 “let me start it”
- 02:42 “I want”
- 02:44 “it was when”
- 03:06 “what I knew”
- 03:13 “I want”
- 03:16 “to talk to your kids”
- 04:05 “let me show”
- 04:21 “feel like”
- 06:22 “the Nation”
- 07:25 “Nancy”
- 08:29 “central”
- 09:00 “here”
- 09:31 “open one”
- 10:04 “already”
- 12:11 “I saw”
- 12:39 “ready ID”
- 13:11 “Justine”
- 13:42 “Who is that?”
- 14:17 “walk on”
- 14:49 “Don’t”
- 15:17 “let us”
- 16:19 “recognize”
- 17:11 “tell you”
- 17:22 (odd sounds)
- 22:02 “behind you”
- 22:42 “I hear you”
More Than a Blog
If you’d like to check out the podcast episode for this post, you can listen below. This will be Episode 38 of the Stories in the Cemetery podcast.
E42: The Stone Tape Theory and Lodge Alley – Stories in the Cemetery
You can also take a ghost hunting tour with me if you are ever in the Charleston, SC area. My guests use my tools: thermal imaging camera, spirit boxes, laser grids and more. What’s even better is you get the data back the next morning for your review.
References Used for This Blog Post and Podcast Episode
This is a very short list of references only to verify data taken while visiting the Jennie Wade House. I encourage you to further investigate with the plentiful resources that can be found both online and in print.
- Find A Grave. (n.d.). Jennie Wade. Retrieved from Find a Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1064/jennie-wade
- Joe’s Ghost. (2011). Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/1-3govRv8nE
- Serfass, D. R. (2014, June 27). Remembering Gettysburg. Retrieved from Time News Online: https://www.tnonline.com/20140627/remembering-gettysburg/
- Small, C. L. (2018). Jennie Wade of Gettysburg. Gettysburg: Gettysburg Publishing.
- Svehla, J. (2010, September 17). Ghost Adventures. (Z. Bagan, Interviewer) Retrieved from https://youtu.be/vq3R_x_moCs
- The Jennie Wade House Museum. (n.d.). The Jennie Wade House Self-Guided Tour Pamphlet. The Jennie Wade House.
- Women Behind These Walls. (n.d.). Women Behind These Walls Pamphlet. Retrieved from YWCA Gettysburg: https://www.ywcagettysburg.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/WBTW-brochure-2015.pdf
Hi Nicholas,
My name is Ann Dohl, my daughter Tierney and I did one of your tours in July and I have photos to send to you and we never received anything from our tour as to the results from that evening. Were you able to get them done? I know that you stated that your were several months behind. I still have the photos to send to you to defunct. I also have some video that I took at my home with me petting my cat and I have all kinds of orbs in the video. If you could please look at it and let me know what you think?
If you could please advise me as to where to send the photos that I have taken on our tour, I would greatly appreciate a follow up. Plus, if you could send the result from our tour from July.
Happy to see you finally made it to Gettysburg PA. A great place full of history and spirits.
Thank you, Ann & Tierney
Sent from my iPad
Sent from my iPad
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