by Shelly Beard, MSSPI
My husband David and I had the pleasure of staying overnite at this historic home in March of 2009. This was also a joint investigation with members of Paranormal Inc. of Memphis, TN.
Magnolia Manor is also, one of the featured locations in Paranormal, Inc. upcoming documentary entitled Ghost of War soon to be released later this year. Click the Ghosts of War icon below to view the trailer.
http://paranormalincorporated.blogspot.com/2009/11/ghosts-of-war-update-and-trailer.html
Also present was The Ellisville Mississippi Paranormal Society out of Ellisville, MS along with a couple of nice ladies we met named Cindy and Lisa from Missouri.
The photo above was taken the day after the investigation on a visit to the nearby Polk Cemetery.
Magnolia Manor was built by Judge Austin Miller in 1849. He was a prominent attorney and is credited with helping place the southern boundary of Tennessee so that Memphis was in Tennessee, not Mississippi. In fact, Austin Miller is mentioned by name in the Constitution of the State of Mississippi in article two as having established the northern boundary of that state. He also donated 20 acres of land in Tunica County, Mississippi in 1848 for the county seat. The town was named Austin in honor of Judge Miller.
Magnolia Manor is a classic two story Georgian Colonial designs. Each brick was hand made and sun dried on the home site by slaves. It features fourteen foot ceilings and thirteen inch thick walls from the ground to the roof. There are four bedrooms in the main house and nine fireplaces. Two of the bedrooms are master suites, two full baths and two half baths. The house also features double parlors.
It has been beautifully restored and is owned by Elaine Cox. It has operated as a bed and breakfast since 1985.
Elaine has told us, that Magnolia Manor was used as headquarters for the Union Army during the Civil War and was occupied by Generals Logan, McPherson, Sherman, and Grant. It is also believed, that this is the home where they planned the battle of Shiloh.
One story that Elaine told us, was that one night, during dinner, General Sherman made the comment that he thought, that all Southern women and children should be exterminated. Mrs.Miller heard this comment and went out on the back porch, crying. General Grant followed her and asked her why she was crying, and she told him what General Sherman had said. General Grant then marched back into the house and made General Sherman apologize to Mrs. Miller. General Sherman did so, but he was so angry and humiliated, that on his way upstairs to his quarters, he slashed the banister with his sword. This slash is still visible to this day.
We began our night with a meet and greet with everyone and toured the house, as well as, learned the fascinating history of this manor.
Although we did not have any personal experiences, other team members did have experiences. You can read about those at the Paranormal Inc. web site listed below. We did get a few good EVP's from this location that we know were not anyone else that was present. We did not get any anomalous photographs, although we took numerous photos of the house and the grounds.
When I do an EVP session, I like to try, to carry on a conversation and see if I get some kind of response. While I was talking, I asked "Do you live here?" and this is the response I got. You can listen to the clip on our main website http://www.mississippi-spi.com/ on the new Casefiles EVP page. There were no other females in the room with David and I, and I know it was not me or any of the other guest in the house. There were two ladies in the room next to us, but I know, it was not either one of them.
After a full night of investigating David and I decided to turn in. We left the audio recorder running all night long in our room and captured a few good EVP's. Please take a listen and let us know what you hear. David and I did wake up a few times during the night to, sounds of doors banging shut and the sound of furniture being moved around in our room. (NOTE: You may hear David snoring in a few of these clips, but the sounds are clearly not him, as I am used to every sound he makes.)
Special thanks to Ms. Elaine Cox, owner of Magnolia Manor and Rich Newman and Mike Ulseman of Paranormal, Inc. for inviting us on this overnight investigation event.
For more information about the history of Magnolia Manor or to book a stay at this historic bed and breakfast, please visit their web site at www.magnoliamanorbolivartn.com
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