Written by: Jeff Rent
Case Filed: 4/23/2003 - Vicksburg, Mississippi
Executive Producer: Rick Garner
Have you ever wondered when buying a home do you pick the house or is it possible the house picks you? For transplanted Californians Bruce Baldwin and his wife, Marion, the question doesn't have an easy answer. Their house and restaurant at the intersection of Crawford and Adams Streets is a turn-of-the-century Victorian - practically new by Vicksburg standards. From the moment they stepped inside the dwelling, they knew it was a unique home.
"When we first came out here just to view it, my wife felt something like brush up against her head."
"I thought it was a pigeon or a bird or something," recalls Marion. "It pushed my hair and scared me. There were no birds in the house."
For most people an encounter such as this might scare them into leaving and not coming back. Not the Baldwins. You see, Bruce is a paranormal investigator, possessing psychic abilities. You may remember him from a previous "Unexplained" investigation at the Priestly House in Canton. Bruce says they live with about seven spirits, many of which they've seen and heard.
"On the stair case over here we would see these long flowing skirts with a black, with a kind of white trim down on the bottom coming down the stairs every once in a while. And later we learned about Aunt Gertrude. Well, we figured that was probably Aunt Gertrude coming down here."
Marion recalls, "One fellow was, I don't want to say in a black shroud, but in a black suit with a hat. I've seen him on the stair case more than once."
"We'll be sitting in here and in that room which is the bedroom we'll hear like murmuring. Just mumbling...murmuring...and it'll get louder and then we'll go in there and it will stop."
"The voices, the mumbling sounds that I hear at night, that wakes me up...I've gotten used to (them) now."
Baldwin says they've named at least three of their resident spirits. All of which they claim are non-threatening and in some cases polite. "I started to go out the back door and I reached down for the knob...and the knob turned by itself and the door opened."
And it's these claims of sightings and encounters which has led the "Unexplained" investigative team, assisted by Bruce, to see if we could collect any evidence of paranormal activity. We first set up a camera in the back room of the house. I took the first watch followed by Executive Producer Rick Garner. Nothing noteworthy happened while either of us were in the room, and after reviewing the tape we decided no conclusive evidence could be found due to the room being over a very busy kitchen.
Baldwin also walked through the house trying to collect Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP), which paranormal investigators believe are the recorded voices of ghosts. The tape contained one intriguing sound or voice, but we couldn't tell what it said. It actually sounded like it was spoken backwards, so we played it in reverse. It sounds like a voice saying "Hey, have a nice day."
The Baldwins also have a small collection of photos containing what appears to be ectoplasm. Like orbs, some investigators believe this is photographic evidence of spirit activity.
This is an image not shown in our piece, which Marion claims she took in Vicksburg. She was taking pictures of homes across the street. This picture was in her stack of pictures. The Baldwins claim that no statue or person was visible that could have produced this image:
For the Baldwins, this evidence only adds to the charm of their business and new life in Vicksburg. "Always wanted a haunted house...and I ended up getting one. It's just great!" If you would like to visit the Baldwin House Restaurant, you can contact them at 601-638-8130
Watch Marion Baldwin Full Interview
Bruce's Journal
1022 Crawford Street
Vicksburg, MS
(We flew out to see the house)
6-13-98 approx 10:00am
I felt a slight presence but it only lasted momentarily.
6-14-98 Early PM
Marion felt something brush up against her hair and she heard what she thought was a bird but nothing was there. She also took some pictures and when they were developed, there was ectoplasm in one shot and a woman's head in another.
(Back to Calif. To see our house)
8-20-98 Mid-afternoon
We are busy working on the house. We have electricians doing some wiring and they don't want to go under the house because there are noises in the walls. They say it sounds like rattles. They finished the wiring.
8-27-98 Midday & afternoon
We both heard very loud footsteps upstairs - nobody was there. Marion also heard bells (not the bells from the church down the street but bells you might use to call servants)
8-28-98 Late afternoon
Marion came over and said something was on her back and would I get it off - there was nothing there.
8-29-98
I have been noticing what appear to be lights flickering for the last couple of days. Today, some were almost like sparks. Marion and I have both been feeling presences from time to time.
9-1-98 Late afternoon
I seem to be catching a glimpse of something on the staircase (out of the corner of my eye). This is happening more often now. Marion was in the kitchen and heard what she thought was a woman weeping. It was loud enough for out door to come running in to check it out.
9-4-98 1:30 am
Marion woke up to the sound of a thump. She woke me and I went through the house to see what I could find. There was a sound like large critters scurrying around everywhere. There was a heavy presence in the whole house but I got no impressions. I back to bed and all was quiet the rest of the night.
9-5-98 6am
Marion and I both woke up at 6am and heard someone talking. Marion got up to see if the radio in the other room had come on - it had not. She checked to see if it was the neighbor or some one on the street - nobody. She no longer heard the talking until she came back in the bedroom, which was the only place it could be heard.
9-9-98 10:30 pm
I felt heavy presence that seemed to be following me around
9-10-98 12:30 am
We both heard the voices again. This time it sounded to me like only a man's voice. Also I got up to go to the bathroom and there was an animal upstairs. It was black and looked like a cat but had no tail. It had kind of a long heavy looking head. (It was dark though). After 8am we heard crashing noises downstairs twice. Both times we found nothing.
9-11-98 12:45pm
A friend of ours was over for coffee and we were sitting at the upstairs table. Where he was sitting, he had a view of the stairs. He was telling a story and he used profanity. He suddenly covered his mouth and started to apologize to someone coming up the stairs - no one was there.
10-5-98 Mid-afternoon
I was working in the attic when I heard footsteps run up the stairs and then right back down. They sounded like a small person or a child. By the time I could get down from the attic and check, no one was in the house.
10-16-98 2:15 am
I got up to go to the bathroom and felt a very strong presence in the whole 2nd floor of the house. Earlier in the evening, a sheet of plywood that was leaning against the wall came crashing down and Marion heard someone in the other room. When I checked, no one was there.
10-19-98 7:00 pm
Our dog went to the upstairs door and started to bark at something downstairs. I went down to check it out. No one was there. When I got back upstairs a friend of ours who is staying here said he heard something on the stairs, too.
10-22-98 7:30 pm
Marion went downstairs and she heard the same bird sound she heard on 6-14-98. No birds were there.
10-25-98
Last night I felt a very strong presence in the house and I sensed that someone was sitting in my chair as if to say, "What are you going to do about it?"
10-27-98 9:00pm
I was going downstairs to get some ice cream (for now our main refrigerator is downstairs). As I started down I felt a presence. Right away, I got a sense that it was saying, "Oh, it's you." Then, I got a feeling of meeting an old friend - and I was happy. Later that night, as I was going to bed, my back got icy cold - the front was warm. I told Marion to come and feel it but it was too late. Early the next morning, my dog was growling at something in the Grand Room - nothing was there.
10-28-98
Our friend Larry from Calif. Said that he had more than once felt the house moving slowly back and forth.
11-5-98
My wife had gone to the store and I was watching TV. The dog stood up and looked toward the door that leads to the stairs. When I opened the door, I got a glimpse of what I thought was Marion. I said, "I bet you have a lot of groceries to bring up." No one was there.
1-14-99
My dog has been acting very strange and nervous all night for no apparent reason.
1-15-99
I felt a presence today. I told my wife about it. The dog acted strange again tonight and I felt a very strong presence a couple of times.
1-16 thru 1-20-99
I keep feeling a presence but can't get a sense of who it is. My dog is still acting strange at night.
1-21-99 4:00 pm
My dog is acting strange, again. It is the first time this has happened in the daytime.
4-24-199 5pm & 5:45pm
We are just about to complete our kitchen and this afternoon I felt a pretty strong presence in the kitchen. It is about 6:15 and I just felt a weak presence upstairs. Our friend, Larry, said that yesterday he kept hearing something downstairs but every time he checked it out he found nothing.
4-29-99 evening
I haven't felt anything today but I would swear someone called my name (male voice). However, the radio was on and it could have been anything. All week until today I have been feeling them, though, upstairs and outside. My poor dog has been acting weird at night.
5-9-99
I am still feeling the presence almost everyday.
5-10-99
We got some pictures of the house back today. One of them appears to have ectoplasm in it.
9-7-99
There have been sightings out of the corner of our eyes, some sounds of what appear to be footsteps and other strange sounds and the dog acts weird from time to time. This has been going on now since my last entry but tonight a friend of ours (Bob) who is staying in the back bedroom has been hearing strange sounds in the wall. He says it sounds like debris or something falling down the wall. I placed my hand on the wall and felt something but it wasn't very strong. I think it was just what is normally in the wall.
10-10-99
For the last 4 or 5 days, my dog w3ould not come down the stairs. She would bark for one of us to come and get her. She seemed to be afraid of the stair's landing where the spirit has been glimpsed. I thought it was just my imagination, because it has been so quiet around here, but that changed about 6pm this evening. I was walking toward the backdoor to go outside when the damn doorknob turned and the door opened. It only open a couple of inches and I probably would have assumed it has not been shut properly if I hadn't watched the knob turn. Then for about 5 seconds, I felt a very strong presence.
10-11-99 9:00pm
The dog was in the bedroom barking and I wondered what she was barking at. Marion said, "I heard it, too!" I started to go downstairs and as soon as I opened the door, I was hit by a strong presence. All the way down the stairs and the whole bottom floor was full of a very strong presence. I felt almost as though I was floating in it.
10-21-99 pm
I was taking my dog downstairs and I was thinking how apprehensive I was about going down. I got to thinking that I had stumbled a couple times going down the stairs, as had my friend, Bob, and my dog. It was so bad that now when my dog wants to go downstairs, she barks for someone to come and get her. We also have a second picture of ectoplasm around the stairs. It is much thicker than the first one. This has all happened since we brought home some antiques home from storage.
11-22-99
This afternoon, a friend of ours, Ray, saw a woman in a black, full-length dress almost to the bottom landing of the stairs. She immediately disappeared.
12-1-99
Ray, our friend & server, saw a woman in a black skirt coming down the stairs, again.
12-3-99
Ray heard someone say a name (Levinia) - no one was there.
12-4-99
Bob saw someone coming down the stairs three times today - no one was there.
12-20-99
I was telling my wife of a 3-wick candle we have downstairs. The wicks were flickering but only 2 of the 3. It just struck me odd that they weren't all flickering. I also told her that I had seen something pass by that I thought was Muffin. I saw this quiet a few times but nothing was there. She said she had been seeing it, too.
1-11-00
I was talking to Ray today and I told him that yesterday I had heard a woman's voice call my name. I looked but no one was there. He said the same thing happened to him that morning only she had called his name.
1-15-00
I was in one room and Marion was in another. I thought I heard her say something, so I went in to ask her what she had said. She told me that she hadn't said anything. In fact, she thought I was talking to a woman in the other room - there was nobdy there but the two of us.
2-10-00
Today I was walking past the door to the back parlor. I saw a short petite woman leaning over one of tables. I feel she was about 5 foot. When I backed up for another look she was gone.
2-11-00
Ray came up to me and said he had just seen a woman and then she was gone. We talked about her and she matched the woman I saw yesterday.
2-12-00
I was behind the coffee bar and I forget what we were talking about but she was there and it made her made. I came out from behind the bar and went almost all the way to the front door before she quit following me.
4-19-00
For the last couple of months, Ray and I have had many glimpses of ghosts in the house. Today, we saw a man coming up the front steps. Ray saw him twice and I saw him once. I have also heard my named called often by a woman - no one is ever there. She also calls Ray's name and she called Taylor's name. Taylor is a young man who works for us.
4-26-00
Today, I got a glimpse of a new ghost. It was a man standing in the room by the coffee bar. He was very tall about 6'5" or 6'4" and about 45 years old. I think that may be Uncle Charley.
5-7-00
Today, a spoon that was on the table, on a plate, fell on the floor. No one was near the table. Maybe the ghosts are getting playful.
5-19-00
This morning, I heard the front door open and close. I saw Ray looking for someone and I said I had heard the door open and close, too. He said he had seen her and that she was solid. She was wearing a black wool suit and Ray thought it was too hot today for wool. Anyway, by the time he hot back to sear her, she was gone. He said the suit look like it was from the 20's and she was wearing a veil, which made him think she had come from a funeral. He has also seen a woman in a flapper outfit a couple of times.
Case Filed: 4/23/2003 - Vicksburg, Mississippi
Executive Producer: Rick Garner
Have you ever wondered when buying a home do you pick the house or is it possible the house picks you? For transplanted Californians Bruce Baldwin and his wife, Marion, the question doesn't have an easy answer. Their house and restaurant at the intersection of Crawford and Adams Streets is a turn-of-the-century Victorian - practically new by Vicksburg standards. From the moment they stepped inside the dwelling, they knew it was a unique home.
"When we first came out here just to view it, my wife felt something like brush up against her head."
"I thought it was a pigeon or a bird or something," recalls Marion. "It pushed my hair and scared me. There were no birds in the house."
For most people an encounter such as this might scare them into leaving and not coming back. Not the Baldwins. You see, Bruce is a paranormal investigator, possessing psychic abilities. You may remember him from a previous "Unexplained" investigation at the Priestly House in Canton. Bruce says they live with about seven spirits, many of which they've seen and heard.
"On the stair case over here we would see these long flowing skirts with a black, with a kind of white trim down on the bottom coming down the stairs every once in a while. And later we learned about Aunt Gertrude. Well, we figured that was probably Aunt Gertrude coming down here."
Marion recalls, "One fellow was, I don't want to say in a black shroud, but in a black suit with a hat. I've seen him on the stair case more than once."
"We'll be sitting in here and in that room which is the bedroom we'll hear like murmuring. Just mumbling...murmuring...and it'll get louder and then we'll go in there and it will stop."
"The voices, the mumbling sounds that I hear at night, that wakes me up...I've gotten used to (them) now."
Baldwin says they've named at least three of their resident spirits. All of which they claim are non-threatening and in some cases polite. "I started to go out the back door and I reached down for the knob...and the knob turned by itself and the door opened."
And it's these claims of sightings and encounters which has led the "Unexplained" investigative team, assisted by Bruce, to see if we could collect any evidence of paranormal activity. We first set up a camera in the back room of the house. I took the first watch followed by Executive Producer Rick Garner. Nothing noteworthy happened while either of us were in the room, and after reviewing the tape we decided no conclusive evidence could be found due to the room being over a very busy kitchen.
Baldwin also walked through the house trying to collect Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP), which paranormal investigators believe are the recorded voices of ghosts. The tape contained one intriguing sound or voice, but we couldn't tell what it said. It actually sounded like it was spoken backwards, so we played it in reverse. It sounds like a voice saying "Hey, have a nice day."
The Baldwins also have a small collection of photos containing what appears to be ectoplasm. Like orbs, some investigators believe this is photographic evidence of spirit activity.
This is an image not shown in our piece, which Marion claims she took in Vicksburg. She was taking pictures of homes across the street. This picture was in her stack of pictures. The Baldwins claim that no statue or person was visible that could have produced this image:
For the Baldwins, this evidence only adds to the charm of their business and new life in Vicksburg. "Always wanted a haunted house...and I ended up getting one. It's just great!" If you would like to visit the Baldwin House Restaurant, you can contact them at 601-638-8130
.
Watch Bruce Baldwin Full Interview
Watch Bruce Baldwin Full Interview
Watch Marion Baldwin Full Interview
Bruce's Journal
1022 Crawford Street
Vicksburg, MS
(We flew out to see the house)
6-13-98 approx 10:00am
I felt a slight presence but it only lasted momentarily.
6-14-98 Early PM
Marion felt something brush up against her hair and she heard what she thought was a bird but nothing was there. She also took some pictures and when they were developed, there was ectoplasm in one shot and a woman's head in another.
(Back to Calif. To see our house)
8-20-98 Mid-afternoon
We are busy working on the house. We have electricians doing some wiring and they don't want to go under the house because there are noises in the walls. They say it sounds like rattles. They finished the wiring.
8-27-98 Midday & afternoon
We both heard very loud footsteps upstairs - nobody was there. Marion also heard bells (not the bells from the church down the street but bells you might use to call servants)
8-28-98 Late afternoon
Marion came over and said something was on her back and would I get it off - there was nothing there.
8-29-98
I have been noticing what appear to be lights flickering for the last couple of days. Today, some were almost like sparks. Marion and I have both been feeling presences from time to time.
9-1-98 Late afternoon
I seem to be catching a glimpse of something on the staircase (out of the corner of my eye). This is happening more often now. Marion was in the kitchen and heard what she thought was a woman weeping. It was loud enough for out door to come running in to check it out.
9-4-98 1:30 am
Marion woke up to the sound of a thump. She woke me and I went through the house to see what I could find. There was a sound like large critters scurrying around everywhere. There was a heavy presence in the whole house but I got no impressions. I back to bed and all was quiet the rest of the night.
9-5-98 6am
Marion and I both woke up at 6am and heard someone talking. Marion got up to see if the radio in the other room had come on - it had not. She checked to see if it was the neighbor or some one on the street - nobody. She no longer heard the talking until she came back in the bedroom, which was the only place it could be heard.
9-9-98 10:30 pm
I felt heavy presence that seemed to be following me around
9-10-98 12:30 am
We both heard the voices again. This time it sounded to me like only a man's voice. Also I got up to go to the bathroom and there was an animal upstairs. It was black and looked like a cat but had no tail. It had kind of a long heavy looking head. (It was dark though). After 8am we heard crashing noises downstairs twice. Both times we found nothing.
9-11-98 12:45pm
A friend of ours was over for coffee and we were sitting at the upstairs table. Where he was sitting, he had a view of the stairs. He was telling a story and he used profanity. He suddenly covered his mouth and started to apologize to someone coming up the stairs - no one was there.
10-5-98 Mid-afternoon
I was working in the attic when I heard footsteps run up the stairs and then right back down. They sounded like a small person or a child. By the time I could get down from the attic and check, no one was in the house.
10-16-98 2:15 am
I got up to go to the bathroom and felt a very strong presence in the whole 2nd floor of the house. Earlier in the evening, a sheet of plywood that was leaning against the wall came crashing down and Marion heard someone in the other room. When I checked, no one was there.
10-19-98 7:00 pm
Our dog went to the upstairs door and started to bark at something downstairs. I went down to check it out. No one was there. When I got back upstairs a friend of ours who is staying here said he heard something on the stairs, too.
10-22-98 7:30 pm
Marion went downstairs and she heard the same bird sound she heard on 6-14-98. No birds were there.
10-25-98
Last night I felt a very strong presence in the house and I sensed that someone was sitting in my chair as if to say, "What are you going to do about it?"
10-27-98 9:00pm
I was going downstairs to get some ice cream (for now our main refrigerator is downstairs). As I started down I felt a presence. Right away, I got a sense that it was saying, "Oh, it's you." Then, I got a feeling of meeting an old friend - and I was happy. Later that night, as I was going to bed, my back got icy cold - the front was warm. I told Marion to come and feel it but it was too late. Early the next morning, my dog was growling at something in the Grand Room - nothing was there.
10-28-98
Our friend Larry from Calif. Said that he had more than once felt the house moving slowly back and forth.
11-5-98
My wife had gone to the store and I was watching TV. The dog stood up and looked toward the door that leads to the stairs. When I opened the door, I got a glimpse of what I thought was Marion. I said, "I bet you have a lot of groceries to bring up." No one was there.
My dog has been acting very strange and nervous all night for no apparent reason.
1-15-99
I felt a presence today. I told my wife about it. The dog acted strange again tonight and I felt a very strong presence a couple of times.
1-16 thru 1-20-99
I keep feeling a presence but can't get a sense of who it is. My dog is still acting strange at night.
1-21-99 4:00 pm
My dog is acting strange, again. It is the first time this has happened in the daytime.
4-24-199 5pm & 5:45pm
We are just about to complete our kitchen and this afternoon I felt a pretty strong presence in the kitchen. It is about 6:15 and I just felt a weak presence upstairs. Our friend, Larry, said that yesterday he kept hearing something downstairs but every time he checked it out he found nothing.
4-29-99 evening
I haven't felt anything today but I would swear someone called my name (male voice). However, the radio was on and it could have been anything. All week until today I have been feeling them, though, upstairs and outside. My poor dog has been acting weird at night.
I am still feeling the presence almost everyday.
5-10-99
We got some pictures of the house back today. One of them appears to have ectoplasm in it.
There have been sightings out of the corner of our eyes, some sounds of what appear to be footsteps and other strange sounds and the dog acts weird from time to time. This has been going on now since my last entry but tonight a friend of ours (Bob) who is staying in the back bedroom has been hearing strange sounds in the wall. He says it sounds like debris or something falling down the wall. I placed my hand on the wall and felt something but it wasn't very strong. I think it was just what is normally in the wall.
10-10-99
For the last 4 or 5 days, my dog w3ould not come down the stairs. She would bark for one of us to come and get her. She seemed to be afraid of the stair's landing where the spirit has been glimpsed. I thought it was just my imagination, because it has been so quiet around here, but that changed about 6pm this evening. I was walking toward the backdoor to go outside when the damn doorknob turned and the door opened. It only open a couple of inches and I probably would have assumed it has not been shut properly if I hadn't watched the knob turn. Then for about 5 seconds, I felt a very strong presence.
10-11-99 9:00pm
The dog was in the bedroom barking and I wondered what she was barking at. Marion said, "I heard it, too!" I started to go downstairs and as soon as I opened the door, I was hit by a strong presence. All the way down the stairs and the whole bottom floor was full of a very strong presence. I felt almost as though I was floating in it.
10-21-99 pm
I was taking my dog downstairs and I was thinking how apprehensive I was about going down. I got to thinking that I had stumbled a couple times going down the stairs, as had my friend, Bob, and my dog. It was so bad that now when my dog wants to go downstairs, she barks for someone to come and get her. We also have a second picture of ectoplasm around the stairs. It is much thicker than the first one. This has all happened since we brought home some antiques home from storage.
11-22-99
This afternoon, a friend of ours, Ray, saw a woman in a black, full-length dress almost to the bottom landing of the stairs. She immediately disappeared.
12-1-99
Ray, our friend & server, saw a woman in a black skirt coming down the stairs, again.
12-3-99
Ray heard someone say a name (Levinia) - no one was there.
12-4-99
Bob saw someone coming down the stairs three times today - no one was there.
12-20-99
I was telling my wife of a 3-wick candle we have downstairs. The wicks were flickering but only 2 of the 3. It just struck me odd that they weren't all flickering. I also told her that I had seen something pass by that I thought was Muffin. I saw this quiet a few times but nothing was there. She said she had been seeing it, too.
1-11-00
I was talking to Ray today and I told him that yesterday I had heard a woman's voice call my name. I looked but no one was there. He said the same thing happened to him that morning only she had called his name.
1-15-00
I was in one room and Marion was in another. I thought I heard her say something, so I went in to ask her what she had said. She told me that she hadn't said anything. In fact, she thought I was talking to a woman in the other room - there was nobdy there but the two of us.
2-10-00
Today I was walking past the door to the back parlor. I saw a short petite woman leaning over one of tables. I feel she was about 5 foot. When I backed up for another look she was gone.
2-11-00
Ray came up to me and said he had just seen a woman and then she was gone. We talked about her and she matched the woman I saw yesterday.
2-12-00
I was behind the coffee bar and I forget what we were talking about but she was there and it made her made. I came out from behind the bar and went almost all the way to the front door before she quit following me.
4-19-00
For the last couple of months, Ray and I have had many glimpses of ghosts in the house. Today, we saw a man coming up the front steps. Ray saw him twice and I saw him once. I have also heard my named called often by a woman - no one is ever there. She also calls Ray's name and she called Taylor's name. Taylor is a young man who works for us.
4-26-00
Today, I got a glimpse of a new ghost. It was a man standing in the room by the coffee bar. He was very tall about 6'5" or 6'4" and about 45 years old. I think that may be Uncle Charley.
5-7-00
Today, a spoon that was on the table, on a plate, fell on the floor. No one was near the table. Maybe the ghosts are getting playful.
5-19-00
This morning, I heard the front door open and close. I saw Ray looking for someone and I said I had heard the door open and close, too. He said he had seen her and that she was solid. She was wearing a black wool suit and Ray thought it was too hot today for wool. Anyway, by the time he hot back to sear her, she was gone. He said the suit look like it was from the 20's and she was wearing a veil, which made him think she had come from a funeral. He has also seen a woman in a flapper outfit a couple of times.
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