Date: August 27, 1998
Time: Began at 8:00pm and ended at approx. 10:45pm.
Location: Bolton Mansion in Levittown, Pa. Bolton Mansion is one of the oldest stone houses in Pennsylvania; it is a registered National Historic Site located in the Holly Hill section of Levittown.
Equipment: Sony cassette recorder with external microphone; TDK 110 min CD power tapes Panasonic Palmcorder with TDK EHG TC-30 tapes
Weather: Hot muggy night, low 80's, minimal breeze.
History: Aside from it being one of the oldest stone houses in Pa, the Bolton Mansion is also the site of much documented haunting activity.
Those Present: Nancy & Danny S., Lew & Sharon G., Bob & Ilene R., Kenny & Donna B., Joani S., Andy K., Debbie D., Damarys L., Jen J., and Barb.
Report: We gathered around 8pm outside of Bolton mansion; it was breathtaking to look at this place as we walked around on the porch, and imagine open fields as far as the eye could see - now there are just houses as far as the eye can see. When we entered the mansion I went to set up the camcorder at the foot of the stairs where "Mary" supposedly hung herself for her forbidden love. I hoped I could catch something on tape. I decided to explore some of the rooms before deciding where to set up the tape recorder.
I went into the back room where there was a large beehive oven; it smelled nice in there, and I felt a little something in here but decided not to leave the tape recorder. I went to the two smaller basements, but had no unusual feelings there. I felt some chills in one of the rooms on the first floor, and then decided to go down to the largest basement. This basement consisted of two rooms; one room had a dirt floor with a large heater in the center, and the other had a concrete floor. I felt a strong presence here, and this was where I set up the tape recorder. Nancy was down there also, and we went into the smaller room. I felt off balance while we stood there quietly, but I brushed it off thinking it was the uneven dirt floor. Nancy left, and so did I a few minutes later.
I spent some time in the rooms on the first floor, and then went back to the larger basement to check the tape recorder. Nancy was down there and had just flipped the tape. We went back to the smaller room and stood there quietly again. I felt off balance this time also (now I might be clumsy, but not twice!); we then heard the voice of a small child saying "ya ya ya ya ya". I looked at Nancy, and she said she had heard it too (unfortunately we did not get this on tape). Lew came down, and we told him about the voice. Nancy left the basement, and I told Lew about the off balance feeling I had been having. We turned off the lights in the basement, and he was looking through his night vision lens (a cool toy); I told him I felt like I was being pushed from behind, and when he looked at me he could see the tail of my shirt being lifted each time I was gently pushed forward!!! Several other members of the group came down, and witnessed this also. Another strange thing that happened was a trash can that was by the doorway between the rooms kept moving in front of the doorway, although no one in the group had touched it. I was the only one in the smaller room at the time, and everyone else was in the larger room. Bob finally moved it across the room. My buddy Kenny came into the smaller room with me because I couldn't understand why I was the only one feeling this, and he put his hand behind my back when I said I could feel something pushing me again; he said "ouch!", and said he had felt a tingle like a shock in his hand. Several people in the other room also said they felt something touch them. I then left the basement to find Nancy on the third floor, and tell her about what had happened. I also asked Mr. Snow if he knew of a child dying in the house; he said he was not aware of any.
We then decided to turn off all of the lights in the house to use the night vision. Of course I headed back to that basement with Kenny; Joni and Andy were in the larger room. We decided to try to talk to the spirit; we asked if it was a boy or a girl - I told it to touch my hand once for a boy and twice for a girl. I then felt two gusts of air on my hand!! I asked her to hold my hand, and when Kenny looked with his night vision he was able to see a tiny hand that ended at the wrist!! We the. turned the lights back on, and prepared to leave. We thanked Jim Snow, president of the Friends of Bolton Mansion, and left with a lot to talk about!!!
Impression: There is a lot of history and haunting activity at Bolton, and I would like to go back for another investigation. I would like to thank Jim Snow for a great evening, and if you ever get a chance to surf the web take a look at their website!
Danny S.
9/12/98