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| MANCHESTER CEMETERY |
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Manchester Cemetery is a despoiled cemetery. It is located near the intersection of Winnebago
and Trask Bridge Roads about seven miles northwest of Rockford, IL.
It was once a part of the long forgotten Manchester settlement that reached its peak in the mid
1800s. The Manchester settlement once was home to a blacksmith shop, a wagon shop, a local inn and a post office.
It is on Illinois State Comptroller Dan Hynes' list of cemeteries in dire need of restoration.
It currently sits in the middle of a corn field.Two of the stones discovered are John McIntosh and Rev. W. Stillwell.
Investigation
September 4, 2005 8:30pm - 11:00pm
Equipment:
TriField emf meter, Trifield Natural em meter, noncontact infrared digital
thermometer, Nikon digital camera, 2 digital voice recorders, Hi8 video camera with night shot.
Investigators:
Jim, Trevor
Baseline readings:
emf: 0 - 1.5mg
temp: September 4, 2005 - 68°
One of the theories of cemetery hauntings
is that if a location has been abandoned or desecrated this could be a cause. When we heard of the recent discovery
of the settlement and cemetery we thought it would be worth putting that theory to the test.
We set out to find the cemetery during daylight
hours, since it was said to be in such an out of the way location. It was finally discovered in a wooded area surrounded
by corn fields on two sides. There were a few tombstones still there, but all were knocked over and most were broken.
Someone had obviously came out and marked all of the grave locations with orange flags. We decided to come back that
night with our equipment and see what we could record, if anything.
We arrived back at 8:30 that night to start
an investigation. Baseline readings were collected as we did a walk through of the cemetery. Video was set up
to cover the location, and team members positioned themselves in different areas for observation. Attempts were made
to collect evp's. During one point in the investigation two digital voice recorders were left in different locations
on their "voice activated," setting. The location was then left for a half an hour. No evp's were found on the
audio recorders. Nothing anomalous was found on the video or photos. Overall, the entire night was uneventful.
We tested the theory of abandonded cemeteries being cause for a haunting with absolutley no results. Our opinion is
that Manchester Cemetery, although an old, abandoned cemetery, in the middle of nowhere is more than likely not haunted.
| TREVOR COLLECTING EMF READINGS |
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| OLD TOMBSTONE |
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