Investigation uncovers evidence of paranormal activity in Cape Girardeau home

Paranormal investigators said they found evidence that suggests the Sherwood-Minton house has a couple of resident spirits.

Rich Newman and Mike Uelsmann of Memphis, Tenn.-based Paranormal Inc. came to the house at 444 Washington on Oct. 17 to conduct an investigation.

Newman and Uelsmann, both originally from Scott City, are finishing up a movie about haunted Civil War sites called "Ghosts of War." He said he wants to include the Sherman-Minton House in the final edit, based on the results of the investigation. He said the movie will be complete in November and it will be on DVD by June.

Since the nighttime investigation, the two have been reviewing more than 20 hours of video and audio recordings. Newman said he collected 52 electronic voice phenomena, audio recordings that included faint moans or words. He said he also got readings on electromagnetic field detectors. There is no electricity in the vacant house, making the detector readings more reliable, Newman said.

"You could feel the electric charge in the air," he said.

Many batteries were also drained during the process.

"The spirits were scrounging for all the juice they could get or something," he said.

He said he communicated with two spirits, which he believes to be a man and a girl. He said he will continue to research the house for the movie project and plans to return to Cape Girardeau in November to conduct interviews.

According to a 1986 study by historical preservation students at Southeast Missouri State University, the house was built in 1846 for Adriel Sherwood, a Baptist minister. In more than 160 years, the property changed hands more than 25 times. The Minton family, who lived there from 1883 to 1923, has the longest tenure of ownership.

During the Civil War the home was used as a military hospital. During the 1960s it was used as off-campus female housing for Southeast Missouri State University.

Newman said he is interested in pre-Civil War owner Matthew Moore. Moore, who bought the house in 1859, was a lawyer and the publisher of the Cape Girardeau Eagle, a weekly newspaper. After his daughter was insulted by Union soldiers, the family left town.

Real estate agent Laura Ritter participated in the investigation and has been researching the home's history.

"I never felt scared or anything," she said. "I went in there with an open mind."

Since the investigation, she said people with past connections to the house have contacted her with information.

"People have called who swear there's tunnels," she said.

According to local legend, there were once tunnels coming from the Sherwood-Minton house to transport soldiers who died from smallpox or slaves through the Underground Railroad.

Ritter said she is continuing to gather information and documents about the house from former owners and real estate agents.

"I'm learning more and more about people's stories with the house," she said.

abusch@semissourian.com

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