From Bandit Hideout To Hospital To Haunt, McRaven Refuses To Rest

A bandit’s bolthole, a sheriff’s showcase, a wartime hospital—McRaven House compresses centuries into a single haunted address, and it doesn’t whisper so much as answer back. We dive into the Pioneer roots of 1797, where highwayman Andrew Glass built a one-story hideout on the Natchez Trace, then follow the 1836 Empire-style expansion by Sheriff Stephen Howard and the 1849 Greek Revival polish from brickmaker John H. Bob. Architecture becomes a timeline you can walk, and every room has a reason to remember.

The Civil War carved those memories deep. During the 43-day Siege of Vicksburg, McRaven served as a Confederate hospital and took cannon fire while casualties mounted. Locals believe hundreds were interred in a mass grave on the property—close enough that visitors still feel the ground pulling at their thoughts. That context lights up modern investigations: footsteps on empty floors, a balcony figure locking eyes, and sudden bursts of equipment hits when the questions turn to parties in the parlor. When a femur surfaced during utility work, guides say the house bristled for days, as if the soil itself had something to say.

What lingers most are the people. Mary Elizabeth, married at twelve and gone by sixteen during childbirth, is the house’s gentlest presence—seen in a wedding dress or mourning black, opening an antique armoire and playing with visiting children. Andrew Glass feels closer to the rough Pioneer rooms, where women report tugs and whispers. The name Ida appears on spirit boxes with eerie timing, matching a death recorded in 1946. Even a self-proclaimed skeptic from CNN Travel walked away unsettled, pulled from laughter to goosebumps as the gear flashed in sync with sharp, relevant answers.

We bring curiosity and care to the hunt—cross-checking stories, watching for relevance, and letting the location set the pace. McRaven isn’t a jump-scare factory; it’s a living archive where verifiable history and personal hauntings intersect. If you love paranormal investigation, Southern architecture, or Civil War history, you’ll find a rare convergence here that rewards open minds and good questions. Press play, then tell us: did the armoire convincing you tip the scale, or did the balcony woman do it?

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Transcript

Welcome And Episode Setup

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Between the realm of the dead and the journeys of the living, join Josh, Jamie, and Elisa as they delve into the vast world of the paranormal and breathe life back into the history of the departed. Ready? Podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:15

Hey everybody, welcome back to the Paranormal Peeps Podcast. I'm Josh.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

I'm Jamie. And I'm Elisa.

SPEAKER_02 0:22

And today, Jamie, what are we talking about?

SPEAKER_01 0:27

I don't know. Was I supposed to do something?

SPEAKER_02 0:29

I thought so, but maybe uh maybe I should do it instead.

The McRaven House Overview

SPEAKER_01 0:36

No, no, I got this one. Okay. So today we're gonna do the McRaven house. It's like a McChicken, but it's a raven instead of a chicken. McRaven.

SPEAKER_02 0:47

McRaven.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

McRaven.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

I think it's probably I think that's a UK offering.

Pioneer Era And Bandit Origins

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Oh. Anyways, yes, the McRaven house. So it's located in Vicksburg, Mississippi. And originally the house was built in three separate stages.

unknown 1:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Okay. So the first section is known as the Pioneer section and was built in 1797.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Ooh.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

So a few years ago. A couple. One year. Just one or two. And it was built by Andrew Glass, and he was a highwayman or a bandit. That's so cool. And he actually built it as his hideout.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

Okay, that's kind of cool.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

So he constructed the house along the, I think it's Natchez. Almost says like Nachos. I don't think I'm saying it right. It's N-A-T-C-H-E-S-E-Z. Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Yeah, Nacho's.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

Natchez. Okay. Uh so, anyways, he constructed the house along the Natchez trace. Um, and so it's the Natchez trace was used by indigenous people, soldiers, uh, travelers, European travelers, um presidents. So it was well known, well traveled.

SPEAKER_03 2:15

Right.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

And so what the per what the perfect place to build a house along that area, because then you can just conveniently rob people and then go hide out. I wonder how well it was hidden though.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

I don't know. It is it kind of like hiding in plain sight. Maybe it didn't really say, huh?

SPEAKER_01 2:32

So it was just kind of like made out of brick, it was like a single uh story. I think it was just a single story, because it said like he would like go through a window and then pull up the ladder. So like there was no easy way to get in.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

Pull up a ladder.

SPEAKER_01 2:51

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

It sounds like it's is it a tree house?

SPEAKER_01 2:55

No, no, it is not a tree house. So the pine uh the pioneer section is kind of described as a hand-hewn construction, which is like just a reflection of you know early frontier life.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

Yeah, so it did say it had brick though, so yeah, they can they would make bricks back then though, handmade bricks. Oh, I'm sure. Or hand-hewn, which means they'd cut them out of granite themselves, so that'd be a lot of work, yeah.

Sheriff’s Expansion And Empire Style

SPEAKER_01 3:29

But anyways, he obviously used the house as a hideout after he would rob people, and this went on until his death in 1823. So now the second section of the house, okay? It was built in 1836 by Sheriff Stephen Howard, um, and it expanded the original house by adding a dining room, a bedroom, a stairway, and a two-story porch. Oh, so we added maybe added another level? I'm guessing, yes. Nice. Because stairway, that's what tells me that the first section was one level.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

And then this one he added a stairway.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

Or maybe it didn't have a stairway, it was just the ladder.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

Very well compared to that. Hard to say, yeah. Hard to say, right? Um, hold on. Okay. So the 1836 edition was known as the Empire style. And these additions contributed to the home's reputation as a time capsule of southern architecture. Interesting. Which you're basically combining different styles from different eras. Right. Right.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

How interesting, though, that the first occupant is basically a thief.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

He wasn't basically a thief. It sounded like he was a career criminal.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

Sure. And he probably beat up a few people, maybe killed a couple people.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

Who knows?

SPEAKER_02 5:01

Who knows? But then the next occupant is a sheriff.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

How great is that?

SPEAKER_02 5:09

Is the third one a judge? Because then we can just like complete the trifecta.

Greek Revival And The Flying Staircase

SPEAKER_01 5:13

Well, let's continue and we'll find out. So in 1849, the final expand expansion phase was done by John H. Bob. A judge. And he was he was actually a local brickmaker and sawmill owner. Oh, okay. And he ended up purchasing the property in 1844. And this addition to the house uh brought uh the house into the Greek revival revival style. Interesting. So you got three different kind of stages.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

I would like to see all these different stages of kind of mushed together, right? Yeah. Because my mind's going wild right now.

SPEAKER_03 5:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

What this looks like. So John he added a parlor, a master bedroom, a men's changing area, and a distinctive flying wing staircase. Ooh. So a fancy staircase. Flying wing staircase? What's that? I don't know. I that's why I said fancy.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

It's one that you can like slide down the banister on.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

Ah, and then you fly off.

SPEAKER_02 6:13

Exactly. It's flying wing.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

It's like every kid's dream. Yeah. Kid, I mean.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

I know, right? I'll try it once. So uh so he also added a brick, uh, sorry. He also added a brick exterior, obviously, because he was a brickmaker.

SPEAKER_03 6:34

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

And it gave the home the updated and sophisticated look shortly before the Civil War. I bet it just kind of tied everything together. Right. So this is a house I would like to see.

SPEAKER_02 6:46

I'd be kind of neat.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

In person, I should say.

SPEAKER_02 6:49

Well, I mean, it is in Mississippi, so we gotta go back. We can go back to Mississippi.

SPEAKER_01 6:53

Why not?

SPEAKER_02 6:54

Yeah.

Civil War Siege And Field Hospital

SPEAKER_01 6:55

So the house actually remained in the Bob family until 1869 when John passed away. Um, and it was then sold to William Murray. So the McRaven house was used as a Confederate hospital during the 43-day siege of Vicksburg. And that took place May 18th through July 4th in 1863.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

So do they have like how many people, if anybody died there, or how many people were there?

SPEAKER_01 7:28

Um, well, the home actually sustained cannon blasts during the fighting. So it took it took damage, but yeah, you know, survived obviously and was repaired. Um, it was believed that there are hundreds of Confederate soldiers that are buried on the property.

SPEAKER_02 7:46

I couldn't believe it. I mean, the the siege of Vicksburg was was all out. Like they they blockaded Vicksburg in and then just started pummeling it.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

Oh, yeah. Yeah. So yeah, they they they do. They think there's a lot of soldiers that died in the hospital, and they actually think that they're actually buried in a mass grave on that property.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

So they're not even properly consecrated.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

No.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

So can you imagine though, like a mass grave of who knows how many soldiers? See, that's the thing. So when I went to Scotland, we stayed at a huge home that was there during their civil war. Yeah. And they had a mass grave in the front yard and it was a big mound. It was still there as a mound. Really? Yeah. Ah. So, and it just there's kind of like almost like a reverence when you go and drag around it. Oh, I'd believe it. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:40

Hands down. I wonder if they, you know, with like the ground penetrating radar, it'd be so neat if they would like take one out to this property and like go over it to just I mean, they'd be able to tell you how big the the disturbing of the soil is. Like well, that's what I that's what I mean. That's how they kind of can determine what's under there and if it's like in a mass area or if there's like different disturbances all over.

Mass Graves And Battlefield Context

SPEAKER_02 9:08

Well, I I think it would also depend too, though. Like, were they buried, you know, five, ten at a time, and then just kind of like extended the grave, so to speak, as one continual long grave.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

Or did they have to like just leave it open and start piling bodies in as they came in? Well, I mean, if there's that many people and they they start to stink really fast. Oh, yeah. So I would assume that they would probably just big a dig a big hole.

SPEAKER_02 9:43

Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

And then continue it as, you know.

SPEAKER_02 9:46

Well, I mean, in the Siege of Vicksburg, I mean you had civilians dying. I mean, you had thousands of thousands of people dying during that time, either of malnutrition or actual gunfire.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:04

Like the that might not be the only mass grave in Vicksburg.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

Oh, I'm sure it's not, because it's not like they have digging equipment other than shovels. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:14

Yeah. Bring it out of back out.

SPEAKER_01 10:17

Ain't happening. Nope.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

Nope.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

So let's talk about some of the hauntings. Yes, let's. Which is always our favorite part. I mean, as much as we love the history, let's face it, the hauntings.

SPEAKER_02 10:27

That's why we're here.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

That's why we're here. Yeah. So they say that the original bandit, Andrew Glass, who robbed people, they say that they feel his presence often felt in the original and the smaller and darker part of the house, which is the part that obviously he occupied. So that would make sense.

SPEAKER_02 10:46

Would make total sense.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

Right. So then we move on to Mary Elizabeth Howard, and she was the wife of the sheriff Stefan Howard, and she married him uh at the age of 12. What is up with these children? I don't know. She was 12 when she married him. Now, she was 12, and I think he was 28, but still that's oh my god. No, no, no, I'm not justifying it. I'm saying he wasn't like in his 50s. Oh, okay. That was what I'm saying. But still, she's 12.

SPEAKER_02 11:19

It's still 16 years old. And I know it was more humans.

Mary Elizabeth’s Tragic Story

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Well, and I know it was more commonplace back then. But even that age though, I know they're still right. There's still babies. There's still babies. Still kids, right? Let kids be kids. So she actually ended up j uh dying in childbirth at the age of just 15 or 16. Um, and she died in what is now known as her upstairs bedroom. That's so sad. Yeah, it's it's really sad. She's considered actually the most prominent benevolent spirit that resides in that house. I wonder why. Not malevolent, benevolent. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:59

So good spirit.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

Right, good spirit. So not not all people know that there's a difference.

SPEAKER_02 12:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

Well, it makes me wonder why she's still hanging around. Never gotta be a kid.

SPEAKER_02 12:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

So, but she's actually described as either like the ghostly bride, and she's either seen wearing a wedding gown or a morning dress.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

Mourning as in morning, like no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Black morning as in a mourning a death. Oh, gosh. Like a black yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

So I'm not sure though. I don't I'm not sure why she would be wearing I don't know. A mourning dress. I I understand maybe the wedding dress aspect was that what she was buried in?

SPEAKER_02 12:45

A black dress?

SPEAKER_01 12:46

I don't know. It doesn't say.

SPEAKER_02 12:48

Yeah.

Friendly Phenomena And Children

SPEAKER_01 12:49

But I mean 15 or 16, she died in child. That's too young. But the baby survived, which is good. Um, the child survived, um, but then her husband, the sheriff, he ended up dying not many years later, and so the child was then raised by his parents. Oh, wow, yeah. So they both died. I mean, she died really young, but he died relatively young. Yeah, yeah. So a lot of the guests that stay there often report uh her appearing in the room, and then she's been known to open and close an antique armoire. Oh, that's cool, and then she will manipulate the lights in rooms. Okay, I want to go like like dim them, bring them back, and they they're not on dimmer switches from what I gather, but she can like dim them and bring them back up, dim them, you know. So Mary is actually described as a very playful spirit, and sometimes she will actually show herself in photos that guests have taken, and other times she has been reported playing with children that are like on tour or that are staying there. She'll play with the children. So she's a very kind and friendly ghost.

SPEAKER_02 14:09

That's the kind of spirit you want hanging around, though.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

I mean, if you had to have a spirit, that's the kind I want to have, that's the one you'd want.

SPEAKER_02 14:17

Especially if you're gonna have a spirit that you're that you're gonna know is running around your house, yeah, have one that's gonna be fun.

CNN Skeptic’s Night At McRaven

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Right. Exactly. She's got my vote. So in the home, Mary's deathbed and a lot of her other personal belongings are actually still in her room at the house.

SPEAKER_00 14:37

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

So I mean, think about that. If your deathbed's there and your personal belongings are there, I could kind of see why her spirit would be there too.

SPEAKER_02 14:47

Yeah, is it the energy is it just her familiar items that she's used to that she can that she's drawn to?

SPEAKER_00 14:54

Yeah. I would be, I mean, right? Well, and I also kind of wonder too if it's like she was going to just basically star her life. Yeah. I mean, being married at twelve is one thing, but I don't think you're mentally mature enough to really understand the gravity of marriage at that age.

SPEAKER_02 15:14

Oh heck. Well, certainly not.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

Right? Heck no. But when you're 15, 16, you have a little bit better understanding. Plus, she's been in it for three years, three, four years.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

And she's about to have a child. So, and that when you are about to have a child, those instincts kick in so fast. So, I wonder for her if it was like an exciting time that she was excited for, like something to look forward to. Right.

SPEAKER_03 15:43

Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

And then it's just gone. So maybe maybe you stick around because maybe she wanted to see what that life would have been like.

SPEAKER_02 15:54

Yeah. Or maybe it's one of those things where she just keeps coming back.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Yeah. Just to visit.

SPEAKER_02 16:00

Yeah. Just to visit.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

Play with the kids.

SPEAKER_02 16:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Show herself in photos.

SPEAKER_02 16:05

Something she never got something she never really got a chance to do in life. So do it in death.

Footsteps, Armoire, And Touches

SPEAKER_01 16:12

Okay. So there's this article that was written by CNN Travel. Okay. Okay. And basically it's a skeptic spent the night hunting for Civil War ghosts. And so they're fun. There's a skeptic that went. You know, what better person to go and send there that doesn't even believe?

SPEAKER_03 16:33

Right.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

And then hopefully have them emerge a believer at the end of it, right? So near closing time, on a recent 4th of July, uh Grace Bailey noticed a man approaching along a the brick pathway headed toward the front door of the McRaven house in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Through the foliage lining the walk, she could see he was dressed formally more so than the usual tourists at the antebellum home. Um hold on. As one or two tour guys on duty, Bailey marched back inside to her post at the front door to greet the late arriving guest. But when she opened the door, nobody was coming up the block. While she stood waiting for the man to reappear, though she realized something eerily familiar about his attire and distinctive hairstyle, both of which seemed out of place and time. Um then she remembered the other significance of the date. In Vicksburg, July 4th, is also remembered as the day in 1863 when Confederate forces surrendered to the Union Army ending a grisly 43-day siege. And it was exactly one year after the siege ended that the owner, John H. Bob, was murdered by Union occupiers. So, yeah, the last owner who did the last edition of the house ended up being murdered.

SPEAKER_02 18:05

Right.

Tools Of The Hunt And Obscenities

SPEAKER_01 18:07

So she says, I was on the verge of freaking out because the hair that I saw has the same swoosh as Mr. Bob's portrait, she says. It was a moment of, okay, well, I just saw a ghost for officially the first time. I mean, at least she's rational about it.

SPEAKER_03 18:27

Right.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

So starvation, dismemberment, and death are all part of the gruesome Civil War history in the Mississippi River city that President Lincoln called the key to defending the Confederacy. And McRaven claims its own role in the narrative. So during the campaign, this was one of the private residents used as a makeshift hospital for wounded Confederates, hundreds of whom are believed to be buried in a mass grave just a short 50 feet from the house. Ooh, that's really close. That is close. That's really close. That is really, really close. But as guides and guests alike insist, paranormal activity is a year-round occurrence at McRaven, but not solely tied to the war. So much that it hosts monthly late night ghost hunts in addition to its historical tours. On an evening in September, I joined 13 other guests, including some repeat visitors, to attempt to connect with its spirits. So then the next part is something goes bump. Something always goes bump.

SPEAKER_02 19:36

Bump in the night.

Shadow Figures And Balcony Woman

SPEAKER_00 19:37

Yes. So I just looked at the house. And it's really pretty. Yeah. It's really pretty. It is. I'd like to see it in person though. And like the girl's dress that's out is gorgeous.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

So everything that's set up in her room and stuff, it's so fancy and so like beautiful. It just I feel like I was born in the wrong era. But you weren't. But I no, but I understand the feeling. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

Because I feel the same way a lot of the times.

SPEAKER_02 20:10

I couldn't fit into those dresses. I tried, but I couldn't. I can't fit.

SPEAKER_01 20:15

That's what courses are for. We'll squeeze it. We'll squeeze you in. So she says, before we go any further, I must admit I'm a skeptic about anything supernatural. I've never seen, felt, or heard a ghost. And I've never witnessed an inanimate object move of its own accord. To me, ghost stories seem too fantastical and detached from reality. But I've also uh hedged against those beliefs. Once I had to, once I had to overnight in another alleged haunted house, I self-medicated enough to ensure nothing except the blast of my 7 a.m. alarm could rouse me. She was dosed. She was yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:59

I get that.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

She was schnockered.

SPEAKER_02 21:02

I can understand that some people are like, I don't want to see anything. I don't want to experience anything.

SPEAKER_01 21:07

So I don't want to hear it. I don't want to see it.

Unearthed Bone And Spiking Activity

SPEAKER_02 21:09

I'm gonna make sure that I sleep all night long.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

I'm gonna over-medicate. So Bailey says she held a similar opinion when she started working at McRaven. She says, I was a skeptical believer. I was like, maybe there's ghosts. I wasn't going to say anyone is weird for believing in ghosts, but I wasn't quite convinced yet. I like the yet.

SPEAKER_02 21:30

Right?

SPEAKER_01 21:31

The fleeting glimpse she believes she caught of McRaven's murdered owner absolutely convinced her. Well, I think it would me too, though.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

But isn't that the way it goes for a lot of people, though? They're like, I never believed in ghosts until someone walked right up and said, I'm dead.

Party And Mask: Parlor Responses

Ida Named And Room Dynamics

SPEAKER_01 21:50

How are you doing? Yeah. If McRaven House made a quick convert uh of Bailey, it wasted no time in its attempt to convince. Me too. Not long after she and her colleague Brian Riley explained the ins and outs of electronic gizmos that would supposedly help us to locate spirits. Um, a series of muted but definite thumps sounded from the unoccupied second floor. Did you hear that? I asked John Williams, a guess whom I had just met. Yeah, that sounded like footsteps. We shared a look of amusement. It was nearly 9 p.m., but the hunt was officially on. Williams, who traveled four hours from Boonville, Mississippi, was visiting for the second time with his wife, Cassie. Although he said he grew up in a house where he experienced ongoing paranormal activity, he didn't expect that much the first time he and his wife toured the McRaven house. I was thinking it was just a tourist trap type thing, he says. I mean, you walk up on an old house like that, set in the woods, it's gonna feel creepy whether there's anything there or not. He soon changed his mind. In the upstairs bedroom of Mary Elizabeth Howard, a teenage bride who died during childbirth in 1836, he said he witnessed an armoire repeatedly opening and closing on its own. Oh, there it is. There it is.

SPEAKER_02 23:17

Oh, I'd love to see that.

Winding Down And Afterglow

Travel Plans And Hidden Haunts

SPEAKER_01 23:18

I would too. Across the hallway in the original section of the home where Civil War relics like a bone saw and a bloodstained cloth stretcher are displayed. His wife Cassie said she had an encounter in the bedroom of Andrew Glass, the notorious highwayman and thief who built the first phase of McGraven House. So I wonder if he his ghost comes out and tries to rob you. Yeah, I was gonna say, like, what is what is he gonna do? Rob the ghost of your money that you did have? Uh as she stood in the small quarters where an antique four-poster bed draped with sheer white curtains cast a uh cadaver's paw. She said she felt something touching her hair. She assumed it was her three-year-old son whom she was holding until she saw his hands were nowhere near her head. Oh surprise. So staffers say the ghost of glass gravitates towards women, and Bailey, the guide, believes he is responsible for her own first paranormal experience at McRaven. She said that incident, which wasn't an actual sighting, consisted of a gentle grabbing of her ankle and something brushing against her cheek. A few minutes past 11 p.m., the Williams Williamses, and I stood in the glass bedroom with Bailey and a few other guests when something began to register on the K2 EMF meter and the REM pod. Two gadgets that are there to measure changes in temperature and electromagnetic fields consistent with paranormal visits. Bailey with headphones on, listen as the spirit box raced through the radio frequencies for answers to questions the guest asked. Among the responses was a string of obscenities. And you'd be surprised at how much when we use these things, how many of these obscenities you really do get?

SPEAKER_02 25:15

They can be a lot.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

Yeah. And it honestly depends on the place. Yes. Sometimes you go in not expecting something like that, and then you get a swear word or whatever, or them calling you a name from like back in the day. Yeah. And you're like, rude. So rude.

SPEAKER_02 25:32

You know you don't call us that these days.

SPEAKER_01 25:35

We use different slang nowadays. Um, then the activity abruptly stopped. Um, for sure there was something there, Bailey says. So across the hall, Mary Elizabeth's room was quiet, with only a few discernible words coming across the spirit box. It's typically one of the most active rooms during one memorable hunt, Riley says. He observed a baton owned by her husband, who served as sheriff, move on its own. Oh, that's cool.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

That is neat.

Community Invite And Sign Off

SPEAKER_01 26:08

Riley, a veteran of paranormal research, who led a separate group that night, says he has witnessed shadowy figures darting through and around the same time of year, Bailey saw the man come up the walk. So by his account, he's been knocked down and scratched. And once during a tour, he says he locked eyes with a strange woman on the second floor balcony just outside of Mary Elizabeth's bedroom. A particularly chilling moment since she wasn't on tour and was never seen again.

SPEAKER_02 26:38

Oh, geez.

SPEAKER_01 26:39

Can you imagine if you locked eyes with something?

SPEAKER_02 26:43

See, I mean, I have, and it was.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

That's when it gets really scary. But then you realize that it's nothing like solid.

SPEAKER_02 26:53

Like see, that's what happened at Needful Things when we were sitting in that one open area.

SPEAKER_03 26:58

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 26:58

And I came back from the restroom and I and I turned down and I looked, and I stared, I stared it right in the face, only to realize that what I really was would have been looking at was a lamp.

SPEAKER_01 27:12

Right.

SPEAKER_02 27:13

So it's like, okay, well, that's not what I saw. There was eyes, nose, and mouth.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:19

Not a lamp shape.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

Creepy for sure, though.

SPEAKER_02 27:21

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 27:24

So yeah, they go on to say, I think she noticed me, and I definitely noticed her, Riley says. I remember she had brown eyes, brown hair pulled back in a bun, and a brown dress with blue flowers. I was later told that particular style was an 1830s dress. So it fits. The timeline, it fits. So in his telling, activity increased, he says, after one of the owners accidentally unearthed a human femur while digging a shallow trench to bury electrical wires.

SPEAKER_03 27:57

Oh jeez.

SPEAKER_01 27:57

So Riley had just arrived at the house to prepare for a tour when he says he saw a shadowy figure step off the porch, off the front porch, and walk toward the back of the house. And again, the figure was never seen again. He goes on to say, I think there could be a correlation with with that, he says, because I remember for a couple days the house was kind of unsettled. I mean, think about it. You dig up, you're digging to bury some electrical wires, you pull up a human femur, and then you see something. Well, any kind of Right. It's a new discovery. Yeah. So now things seem unsettled for the next few days.

SPEAKER_00 28:35

Yeah. Well, and anytime you like you upset the area when you're remodeling or anything like that, things tend to pick up.

SPEAKER_02 28:44

In this case, you upset someone's grave.

SPEAKER_01 28:47

Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:48

Yeah, so you don't go to their brain.

SPEAKER_01 28:49

I'm surprised they just found the femur, though.

SPEAKER_02 28:52

Yeah, I mean it it it depends on how much the stuff uh everything else is gonna decay. I mean, it could take there are there are environments in the soil that a whole body can be dissolved within, you know, a a month or two. And then there's others that it takes four or five, you know, four hundred years.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

Yeah. I guess it depends on like the moisture of the ground, the type of dirt, right?

SPEAKER_00 29:16

And where you're in Mississippi, you're gonna have that humidity. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:22

Yeah, and what's the water table and all that stuff?

SPEAKER_00 29:24

Exactly. All factors in the room. Well, and I really wonder too how much of this is residual.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

Well, that's true, but I mean when you dig up a femur and then you see Well, I mean, like the guy walking up to the house.

SPEAKER_00 29:38

Oh, right, right. That could just been something. I wonder if it was just something that he did all the time and it was just like a residual experience. Which would make experience? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:47

Maybe it was part of his death. He was walking up, and that's when he was killed.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

Yeah, did you ever find out how he died?

SPEAKER_02 29:54

Yeah, he was He was murdered, he was killed by the Union soldiers, but it didn't say where or like how he died?

unknown 30:02

No.

SPEAKER_01 30:03

I'm sure it's out there. Yeah. I didn't go that far to look it up. So okay, so then the article goes on to say around 12 45 a.m. we moved downstairs to the parlor, which is a gathering space adorned with ornate fixtures, a baby grand piano, an elaborate crown molding original to the 1849 edition. So with headphones on, Bailey listened to the spirit box and repeated the words party and mask. So that's kind of cool. So they got that in an EVP? Well, they're doing like um the SB7. The SD's method. Like kind of like the SD's method. Yeah. So she's getting party and mask. So like a masquerade ball, probably. Cool. Which is cool. So and she deciphered them through the static. So a rampod placed in the center of the room began flashing while a small LED cat toy placed on, so it's a cat ball.

SPEAKER_03 31:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:03

Placed on the mantle flickered to life after Cassie Williams asked if the spirits were having a party. Another guest asked if it was a masquerade ball. Again, the gadgets responded. So whether by coincidence or something else. That's cute. But that seems kind of I mean, and we have those times too, right? Where it's really relevant and it hits right as you ask the question, and it seems to be the answer.

SPEAKER_02 31:32

So yeah, well, exactly. It's like that's how we kind of judge whether or not it's real or not, is whether or not it's actually relevant to what we're I mean.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

Could it be a coincidence? I guess it always could. Always.

SPEAKER_00 31:46

But I think it's less likely when it happens like that.

SPEAKER_02 31:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

Yeah. That's why we tend to ask certain questions more than one. Repeatedly in maybe in different ways, and see if we can get the same response. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 31:58

So then later on, this same area, Spirit Box app on her husband John's phone flashed the name Ida.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

So, like I've actually gotten that one before.

SPEAKER_01 32:08

I have too. So because it's they're like coincidentally or not, the name of a woman who died in the house in 1946. So I guess there was a woman named Ida. Ida's relevant.

SPEAKER_03 32:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

It is. It is. So I've never seen Mary's room that quiet on a ghost hunt before, especially that early in the night. But the parlor made up for that in a way because there was very much an increase of activity that specific night. And they were probably having a party and we interrupted it.

SPEAKER_00 32:40

Well, and it makes me wonder too if they're having something like that on the other side. Having a masquerade ball. Yep. But then all of a sudden they see us like tromping in.

SPEAKER_01 32:50

And they're like, uh, where's your invitation? How'd you get past security?

SPEAKER_02 32:56

You're not wearing a mask, put one on.

SPEAKER_01 32:58

Get out. You're not dressed properly. So when we were in Miss Eliz Mary Elizabeth's room, Cassie Williams says the spirit box kept saying that she was saying late and get out. And I was like, I wonder if she was late to the party because we were disturbing her and she told us to get out so she could go. Or maybe she was changing.

SPEAKER_03 33:21

Right.

SPEAKER_01 33:21

I'm late, get out, I'm dressing. How dare you? You know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:27

Inappropriate.

SPEAKER_01 33:28

Inappropriate. Especially back then.

SPEAKER_02 33:30

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:31

So at nearly 1:30 in the morning, that all seemed plausible. We were interlopers bumming out their good time. As my exhaustion broke the spell of curiosity, the narrative appealed to me. It was time to leave this ghost to their party, if that's what it was, and retired from the hunt. In groups of two and three, the other guests began to drop out and head to their cars, and I soon followed careful, I must admit, to make sure nothing followed me on the way out. And as I walked along the brick pathway, reversing the mysterious walk that made a believer out of Bailey, I tried to shake the thought I was being watched.

SPEAKER_00 34:10

Oh, she probably was.

SPEAKER_01 34:11

Yep. So I emerged into the hazy light beaming down from a pair of utility poles, crossed the pavement of Harrison Street, which dead ends at McRaven, and made a brisk retreat to my vehicle. Now sitting by myself at the far end of the gravel parking lot. Then in one fluid motion, I locked the doors, cranked the engine, and threw the transmission into drive. Well, that seems like a fun experience. I mean, I would like to have that experience. I wouldn't say no to it.

SPEAKER_02 34:44

No. It's always like it's always fun when you're at an investigation when things start to happen and they go on, and you're like, this is a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 34:53

Yeah. And it varies. Like, I mean, we've had investigations where we'll have some activity and then at a certain time of night, it's like it all shuts off.

SPEAKER_03 35:02

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 35:03

You know? And then there's other places you go and you'll get nothing. And then a certain time during, you know, the night, it comes alive. Yeah. Yep. So you never know what you're gonna get.

SPEAKER_02 35:14

And what's what's in what's not uncommon either, though, is in an area that is usually very active, not being active, but the activity moves to a different location.

SPEAKER_01 35:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:27

And that's that's happened in in several different places we've investigated where it's like, oh yeah, this place is normal, this area is usually pretty active and it's just quiet.

SPEAKER_01 35:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:37

And then you go to one another spot and it's like, whoa.

SPEAKER_00 35:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:41

Guess we found everybody.

SPEAKER_01 35:42

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 35:42

Maybe they're having a masquerade ball.

SPEAKER_02 35:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:47

Yeah. So, anyways, I had I had never heard of this location. No, that's a fun one. Um, until I started looking into it, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:57

I mean, I've always been looking for a good reason to go to Mississippi.

SPEAKER_01 36:00

So well, there's one right there.

SPEAKER_02 36:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:02

And I'm sure there's others, but the McRaven House is considered the most haunted place in Mississippi.

SPEAKER_02 36:12

Interesting. You know what'd be fun to do is because I'm sure there's that's not the only haunted place in Vicksburg, considering what happened to the world. Oh, I'm sure not.

SPEAKER_01 36:21

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:22

And I wonder if you could find uh, you know, some of the other places that were used as hospitals and stuff like that, and then just go around and investigate all of them.

SPEAKER_00 36:31

That'd be so cool. Oh, I'd be down. That'd be so fun. I'd love to do that.

SPEAKER_02 36:37

All right. Next road trip. We'll call it October. We're going to Vicksburg.

SPEAKER_01 36:43

October. October, huh?

SPEAKER_02 36:46

Why not?

SPEAKER_00 36:47

Deal. I'm in.

SPEAKER_02 36:48

All right. I mean, it doesn't have to be this October.

SPEAKER_00 36:51

One October. Sometime.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

That's not where you can't do that. So it's actually another one we could add to our list because the list is getting longer and longer and longer. And probably most of these places we will never go, but it's always fun to add a new one to your list.

SPEAKER_02 37:08

Well, and I think that's part of the the fun of this is that you get to find locations sometimes near you or near somebody else, and they maybe they've never heard of or never been to.

SPEAKER_01 37:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:24

And give other people an opportunity to go find out.

SPEAKER_01 37:26

Well, and I think it's fun to find ones that aren't as well known. Oh, I agree. You know, because like Waverley's well known and Trans Algeny. Well known, you know, the Queen Mary. So to find ones that like we've never heard of, even.

SPEAKER_02 37:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:43

Is actually kind of fun.

SPEAKER_02 37:45

It is a lot of fun. Because there's stuff out there.

SPEAKER_01 37:48

Oh, there's tons of stuff out there.

SPEAKER_02 37:49

You know, people are surprised at how haunted Utah is. And they're like, wow, there's so many haunted locations here.

SPEAKER_00 37:55

I know. We're Utah's not even that old. No. Yeah. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 37:58

We're not, I mean, as a state, we're not. But it's like, but you don't have to be old to be haunted. And that's always the misconception that people look at and they go, wow, the East Coast is so much more stuff over there. And and this is true. It's just closer.

SPEAKER_01 38:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:16

Where everything like all the like known places, right? The big known places are really nice and close over in the East Coast.

SPEAKER_00 38:23

Oh, yep.

SPEAKER_02 38:24

They're a little more spread out here.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

Yeah. Well, they've had a lot of, you know, wars and things like that that they've seen where on this side is very few.

SPEAKER_02 38:35

Right. But what we do have, more so, I think, than obviously the other side of the country, is we do have a lot of ghost towns in a lot of places that people have boomer busted. And you know, you you don't get to go to a real ghost town on the east coast, not really.

SPEAKER_00 38:52

No. Not like not like the West Coast.

SPEAKER_02 38:55

Right, exactly. Not like the West. And so each each has their own interesting pieces.

SPEAKER_01 39:00

Absolutely. But this was a fun one.

SPEAKER_02 39:02

That's a good one.

SPEAKER_01 39:03

Good find.

SPEAKER_02 39:05

So everybody, if you would go or have been to McRaven House, let us know.

SPEAKER_00 39:10

Or even if you've heard of it, even. Or if you'd like to host us so that we can visit there.

SPEAKER_02 39:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 39:16

We're all in.

SPEAKER_02 39:18

Always welcome for that. And as always, stay ghosty, my peeps.