Enfield Shaker Museum
 August 19, 2011 

History:

The Enfield Shaker Museum/Inn, also known as The Great Stone Dwelling  is located in a valley between Mt. Assurance and Mascoma Lake, in Enfield, New Hampshire.  The Inn/Museum is housed in a building built over 150 years ago and contains six floors.  At its peak in the mid 19th century, the community was home to three "Families" of Shakers. They practiced equality of the sexes and races, celibacy, pacifism and communal ownership of property. The Shakers farmed over 3,000 acres of land, educated children in model schools and worshipped in the "Shaker Way."

The Great Stone Dwelling, completed in 1841, was the Church family's primary residence and the greatest architectural achievement of the Enfield Shakers. Its presence was imposing, as seen in this historic photo taken from the Stone Mill Building.

The first floor is primarily dedicated to preparing and eating the community's meals. The second floor housed the Meeting Room as well as 4 dwelling rooms. The third and fourth floors contained 8 dwelling rooms per floor, each room measuring approximately 20' x 20'. The fifth and sixth floor attic spaces were storage and work space.

In addition to the above mentioned rooms, a stunning array of built in drawers and cupboards, closets, and pegrails are found throughout the building. In short, it contained all the innovations the Shakers could conceive of to make their temporal home the reflection of the spiritual perfection they pursued in their communal lives in Enfield.

The Enfield Shaker Museum/The Great Stone Dwelling

Some of the Claims: 

The Museum/Inn is said to be haunted by the spirit of Caleb Dyer, a businessman who was the only outsider the Shakers allowed into their community.  One of the local townsman left his 2 young daughters in Mr. Dyer’s care while he went out of town.  Six months later the local townsman returned and tried to regain custody of his daughters, but Mr. Dyer thought the townsman was unstable and incompetent to care for them.  The townsman shot and killed Caleb Dyer.  It is Caleb Dyers spirit that is thought to be still wandering the building.

Third and Fourth Floors – If you happen to be staying overnight at the Inn in Room #11, you are apt to hear footsteps outside the door.  One night, Sara, the Manager of the Museum/Inn stayed in Room #11 and heard these footsteps approaching the door.  She opened the door only to find no one was there.  As you walk by Room #15, you are apt to see the rocking chair rocking; yet no one is sitting in the chair.

Kitchen:  Sara had locked up and left for the evening, and upon her return the following day she found the kitchen lights had been turned on.   One morning as Sara was walking toward the kitchen at 6:30 a.m., she heard a loud racket of noise such as the handle of a pan being slammed on the counter.  She also heard a door slam.  When she arrived in the kitchen, no one was there.

Across the street from the Museum/Inn is The Stone Mill Building.  Although there have not been any claims of paranormal activity, we decided to investigate this building as well as the Museum/Inn.

The Walkthrough:    On, August 19, 2011, SPI (Souhegan Paranormal Investigators) had the privilege of investigating this beautiful structure.  In attendance were Sue, Eric, Michelle (our Sensitive), Debbie, John, and our dear friend Frank who is an EVP specialist and a Sensitive.

When we were walking down one of the corridors, and as we reached the bottom of the stairs, Frank felt an entity vie for his attention.  All of us with the exception of Frank continued walking.  Frank immediately stopped moving so that he could focus on the entity.  The entity seemed to be walking up the stairs, turned and made eye contact with Frank.  The entity then began walking back down the stairs and when it reached the bottom, turned and took a left and went through a door.  Eric immediately walked to the doorway where the being was seen passing through and found the door to be locked.  Obviously, finding the door to be locked and the fact that none of us heard a door open or close we concluded that this being was not physical.   

Continuing our walkthrough, Frank had a second experience similar to the first experience.  We were on the first floor and Sue opened a door leading into a room that houses a TV and chairs that are formed in a semicircle.  Though the room was dark, Frank sensed a strong energy coming from the far side of the room.  Frank moved toward the entity and asked the entity to speak with us.  However, there was no further interaction with this entity at that point.

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