Hannah House

Indianapolis, IN

From the official Hannah House Website:

The Hannah House was built in 1858 by Alexander Hannah, aged 37 at the time. Hannah was a prominent figure in the Indianapolis community; a farmer, gold rush prospector, sheriff, postmaster, Circuit Court clerk, and civic leader. What few people knew was that the Hannah House basement served as a safe haven for slaves escaping into Canada on the Underground Railroad.

On one tragic night, a group of slaves, cramped into a dark dirt-floored cellar, sit waiting for the right time to leave their hiding spot in the Hannah House and head for the freedom of Canada. One of them unknowingly tips over an oil lamp, instantly igniting a fire that traps them there - many to be killed by smoke inhalation and burns within only a few minutes. The dead are buried in the very cellar that claimed their lives in an attempt to cover any trace of this incident as quickly as possible.

This story is not only true, it happened in this very house. And ever since then, the cellar of the Hannah House has been a known area for paranormal activity. Spectral slaves have been witnessed by several people, hiding in the shadows, moans and voices have been heard, and cold spots have been felt. It seems that some of the slaves killed on that night may have stayed around, still hiding in the safety of the basement that protected them in life. Also, the apparition of what many think is Hannah himself has been seen on several areas of the property, including the upstairs, as well as the balcony. An older woman has also been reported upstairs, in and around a particular room. Whispering voices have been thought to be heard, and a chandelier was filmed swinging by a news film team on one particular occasion. Do the former occupants of the Italianate-style mansion still watch over the place they called their home? Many who have stepped through its doors will tell you so, and with all the history that lies within the walls of this structure, it would be no surprise.

Hannah was married to Elizabeth 14 years after the home's construction, and soon made additions to the house, including a summer kitchen, milk house, smoke house, and servants' quarters - all as a present to his new bride. Hannah died without an heir on April 15, 1895. The property was eventually sold to a German immigrant by the name of Roman Oehler in 1899, and remains in the ownership of his descendants to this day. It was listed in 1978 as a recognized historical landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Today, the house has been restored and renovated . It can now be booked for special events such as weddings, receptions, corporate dinners, birthday and anniversary parties, and class reunions.

On November 11, 2005 we embarked upon our second "official" overnight investigation at Hannah House in Indianapolis.

There were some very obvious "good" reasons why we selected Hannah House. Proximity was probably number one. Now that we had had a "taste" of investigating, we were looking for all available possibilities. A simple search online of "Haunted Indiana" produced all sorts of results. The trip to Hannah House was an excursion we could make in one night and we could bring our teenage crew along. In tow was my youngest son and my sister's youngest daughter. It was extremely helpful to have the additional "hands" for the equipment we were slowly acquiring. We now had a Sony videocam with Night Shot, along with a second digital recorder and camera. Also, my niece seems to have a gift with dowsing rods and we wanted to explore whatever the experience would offer.

There were approximately 15 people participating in the investigation. Following some brief introductions, and name tag applications, we ventured forth on our own. We headed upstairs to peruse the bedrooms. There have been reports of smells from one of the rooms and the sighting of the spirit of an older woman in another.

With our digital voice recorder running we headed for the first bedroom upstairs. It didn't take long to realize that our recordings would be overrun by the conversations of the other investigators. Despite being a large home, the layout of the upstairs rooms did not afford the opportunity to be isolated from one another.

We attempted to do some more EVP work in the upstairs parlor but had the same sound issues. We decided we would try the attic.

We had the attic all to ourselves. Lauren was attempting to work with the dowsing rods while Danny was running the digital voice recorder. We noted a small fluctuation in EMF readings, but nothing remarkable. We also had some temperature fluctuations but, again, nothing truly noteworthy.

While videotaping Lauren working with the dowsing rods, I had the distinct feeling of someone placing their fingers around the back of my neck. Our photos disclosed nothing unusual.

We headed back to the bedroom level and discovered that we had the floor to ourselves. Apparently everyone else had gone down to the basement. This gave us an opportunity to try some serious EVP and dowsing rod work.

We attempted to record until we heard voices, once again, coming from the main level. We ventured downstairs to take a break. After experiencing Mansfield, Hannah House was spoiling us - places to sit, a readily available restroom and running water! You can truly learn to appreciate the simple things in life.

We shifted locations, once again, and headed for the basement. One half of the basement was divided off as part of the haunted house display for Halloween. We went towards the open doorway to the left - my sister and her daughter went on into the room while my son took EMF readings around the bottom of the stairway and near the door. The readings were off the chart and we were trying to find an explanation for it. We eventually set the meter on one of the stairs and listened to the detector buzz wildly, then die off, only to buzz wildly again. I was videotaping the area and continued to tape as my son walked through the doorway. When I reviewed the tape I found I had captured a shadow figure, in the doorway, just to the right of my son's shoulder. The shadow pulled back quickly, as though it had been "caught." It would have been impossible for a person to have made this type of movement as the area immediately inside this doorway was completely cluttered with piles of all kinds of "stuff." My sister and niece were already seated in the room.

Others joined us in the basement and we continued to videotape and run the digital voice recorder. Marianne was seated against the wall (well, as close as you can get to the wall with the pile of "stuff") by the doorway. She suddenly bolted from her chair and said it felt as though someone had grabbed her elbow. We spent a considerable amount of time in the basement but had no further instances of activity.

As the wee morning hours progressed we went upstairs to the parlor with the hopes of hearing the piano play on its own. My niece Lauren took a seat on the settee by the window and I sat by the piano with the video camera.

The crowd had thinned considerably by this point. I videotaped the adjacent room, the piano, and then panned towards my niece who was reviewing the digital voice recorder files. We found later that I had captured something of an anomaly between the two of us - a black, feathery mist had seemingly manifested itself.

We later discovered that the rest of the group was in the attic using a Ouija board - with some unexpected results. We heard of a light anomaly scaring the dickens out of one of the proprietors on the premises. We do not approve of or indulge in the use of Ouija boards. We felt those in charge should have at least informed us that this was taking place; thus allowing us the opportunity to stay, leave, or become involved.

At any rate, Hannah House provided another interesting learning site. We encourage anyone interested to visit their website http://www.thehannahmansion.org/home.html for additional information.