Investigation at Rindge Historical Society Museum 
May 17, 2008

Investigation: The Souhegan Paranormal Investigators (SPI) drove to Rindge, NH, on May 17, 2008, to conduct their investigation of the Rindge Historical Society Museum. The group consisted of Bill, Chris Susan, Irene, Mario, Rita, and guest, Mary Lou Marion (a Medium). We arrived at approximately 6:30 p.m. Directly across from the museum is the town cemetery. We explored the cemetery first to take pictures and read tombstones to try to get a feel for the history of the town and to see if we could find any paranormal activity. However, the cemetery was very quiet, and we were not able to find any information that would help us with our investigation of the Museum. Upon completing our exploration of the cemetery, we crossed the street to the museum to prepare setting up for our investigation. Bob Cleland (a member of the Historical Society Museum) and Linda Bussiere (the Curator of the Museum) met us there. After a brief meeting, Linda went home and Bob remained with us so that he could participate in the investigation.

Chris and Bill set up the equipment, and when completed we began investigating at approximately 8:30 p.m. Linda and Bob had told us that it has been said that there appeared to be paranormal activity mainly in the “cradle room”, the “doctor’s office”, the “chandelier room”, and in the offices toward the back of the museum. At one time, the Museum was the home of Mr. and Mrs. "Pop" Allen. It is said that from time to time you can smell tobacco and it is thought that the smell may be coming from "Pop" Allen who use to smoke a pipe. We broke up into groups and explored all the rooms with the exception of the attic and the basement. Our main concentration was on the rooms that we had been told held most of the paranormal activity that others had experienced.

Personal Experiences in the Cradle Room: 
Mario and Sue each experienced feeling very cold and while they were discussing being cold, the EVP recorder picked up a “clapping” sound. Bill felt that his hair was being played with and said it felt like bugs crawling around the top of his head. Mary Lou (the Medium) and Rita both felt a cold draft come in and said it came in from the Rindge room. The air became colder and Rita eventually began to shake because she was so chilled. Mary Lou and Rita were asking spirit to rock the cradle and rather than the cradle rocking their chairs began to rock. They were both sitting in straight chairs and Mary Lou’s chair began to rock back and forth while Rita’s chair began to rock side to side. Mary Lou’s chair was on a level part of the floor, but Rita’s was on uneven flooring. Rita planted her feet firmly on the floor to try to stop the rocking, but that didn’t seem to help. The rocking continued. Mary Lou said a female spirit appeared that said she was the lady of the house and that she could not rock the cradle because the cradle was not hers. The female spirit also told Mary Lou that her picture was downstairs and Mary Lou later identified the female as that of Hazel Allen. Mary Lou felt a jab on her right side and Rita felt a gentle touch on her arm and a second gentle touch on her face.

Note: Using headphones will help enhance the audio for your listening pleasure.

Condensed Version of Recorded Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP’s) From the Cradle Room:
When questions were asked such as “Can you tap one of us on the shoulder or the head?” or, “If anyone is here with us, we would love to have you communicate with us” there was a LOT of tapping/clapping throughout the entire time we were recording in the cradle room. There were times when nothing was being said and the EVP picked up tapping/clapping sounds. Mario was asking spirit “Can you untie my sneaker?” and a female voice can be heard saying “no” and then a male voice can be heard making a “giggling” sound.    Sue was saying, “Sometime the power of suggestion can be…”, and two “forced grunts” can be heard.   More often than not, EVP's cannot be heard with the naked ear, but are heard when reviewing the EVP recorder.

Personal Experiences in the Chandelier Room:
None of us had any personal experiences.

Condensed Version of Recorded EVP’s in the Chandelier Room:
As experienced in the cradle room, we had a LOT of tapping/clapping in the chandelier room. Mario was saying, “Can you make a sound for us please?” and heavy footsteps can be heard that came to a stop. Right after the footsteps stop can be heard a whispered "get out", and then a sound can be heard like something hitting against a metal radiator followed by one tap/clap.   During a silent moment when there was no conversation, a short forced exhale of breath followed by two taps/claps and then another short forced exhale of breath followed by a bang and then a second bang was heard.   Mario was saying, “If it’s you Mr. Allen that’s here, please give us a sign” and a sound like two coughs was heard (male voice).

Personal Experiences in the Pots and Pans Room:
Both Sue and Rita smelled the odor of pipe tobacco. Rita smelled it more strongly than did Sue.

Condensed Version of Recorded EVP’s in the Pots and Pans Room:
Sue said, “We come as friends.” A voice was heard saying, “yeah”. Sue and Rita were talking and Sue was saying, “…who in turn made medicine for his patients” and then a “forced grunt” can be heard. During Sue and Rita's conversation, a high pitched voice can be heard singing 7-8 syllables of a tune. The same voice repeats additional syllables 1 minute and 51 seconds later. 

Personal Experience’s in the Doctor’s Office:
Rita and Mary Lou were in the doctor’s office and they felt a presence standing behind their chairs. Mary Lou said that was the presence of a doctor. They felt cold air coming in from the Military/Uniform room. Rita saw a moving shadow on the wall toward the upper left hand corner of the ceiling. They looked around to see where the shadow could be coming from but was unable to find the source. Rita felt a soft touch on her neck.

We did not get any EVP's in the Doctor's Office.

We had an eventful evening and want to thank the Historical Society Board Members for approving our visit to investigate the museum. A very special thank you goes to Linda Bussiere and Bob Cleland for their assistance in this matter.

Note: To view pictures from this investigation, please click on this link.  Pictures From Rindge Historical Society Museum Investigation, Rindge, NH May 17, 2008