The term investigator in this report refers to anyone that is a member of the Ghost Hunters of the South paranormal research team. The term attendee in this report refers to anyone at the investigation that is not a member of the Ghost Hunters of the South paranormal research team.
Background & Site History
Oakleigh museum is a T-shaped Greek revival mansion featuring unique architectural features including a distinct cantilevered front staircase, grand double parlors and classic six-over-six windows and galleries accessed through jib windows. The house s built by a cotton factor from Virginia and later inhabited for three generations by one of the leading society families of Mobile. Complementing the Oakleigh mansion is the Cook's House on the southwest portion of the property. The Cook's House was built in 1850 as quarters for slaves who were the backbone of the Oakleigh property. Master craftsmen including brick masons and carpenters lived and worked on the property from prior to the time of the main house's construction. This three-room building tells the story of every day life for craftsmen, laborers and domestic servants. The interaction between the owners and servants explains how urban slavery affected the lives in this commercial city and how interdependent these two cultural communities were in stark contrast to the elaborate plantations to the north.
When Virginia cotton factor James W. Roper made his fortune in Mobile, his goal was to build a small Greek temple in an oak grove. That dream was realized with Oakleigh, Mobile’s Official Period House Museum since 1955. Roper loved the majestic oak trees he found in the countryside outside early 19th century Mobile. He also loved the rolling meadow that stretched from the peak of a small hill where he planned to build his house. The name “Oakleigh” is derived from the combination of “oak” and “lea.” Lea is another name for meadow. While the reason for Roper’s spelling in unknown, his intent is clear. Oakleigh is a T-shaped Greek revival mansion featuring unique architectural features including a distinct cantilevered front staircase, grand double parlors and classic six-over-six windows and galleries accessed through jib windows.
Roper was his own architect and builder. Using slave and free labor, the house is composed of bricks made from clay dug on the grounds and timber harvested from the property. Tool marks can be seen on the siding, doors and window frames. Roper placed his front doorway off-center for a reason. He and his wife planned to entertain lavishly at Oakleigh so he created a north hallway to accommodate large double parlors to the south. Due to an economic downturn in the cotton trade, Roper lost his house in the Bank Panic of 1837 but, through the benevolence of a wealthy brother-in-law, continued to reside in Oakleigh until it was transferred in 1848 to the family that would put an indelible imprint on the house.
Alfred Irwin came to Mobile as secretary of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in the late 1840s. He first rented, and then purchased Oakleigh in 1852. He and his wife, Margaret Kilshaw Irwin, a british citizen of the Irish peerage, were prominent in Mobile’s social scene. Their three children, Thomas Kilshaw Irwin – known as T.K., Lee Fearn and Corrine, lived with them in Oakleigh. Corrine died as a young woman. Lee Fearn built a fine home, as an adult on Selma Street and Thomas and his wife, Mary Anna Ketchum Irwin, were the second-generation Irwin owners of Oakleigh, which, during the three-generation Irwin tenure was known as “Irwin Place.” During the Union occupation of Mobile, Margaret Irwin saved the house from occupation or damage by draping a British flag on the front gallery. The Irwins occupied the house through the Golden Era of Mobile. The Irwins were leading lights of Mobile society, entertaining family, friends, neighbors, writers, actors, artists and a future president. In 1877, future-U.S. President James Garfield sipped his first genuine Southern mint julep on Oakleigh’s front gallery as a guest of the T.K. Irwins. The last Irwin to occupy Oakleigh was Daisy Irwin Clisby, who sold the house in 1916. Poignant letters in the Historic Mobile archival collection between Mrs. Clisby’s sons detail their efforts to cover her debts as she lived in genteel poverty in the family manse.
Reported Activity
The desire to investigate this old mansion was mainly because of the stories reported by Elizabeth Parker in her book “Mobile GHOSTS: Alabama’s Haunted Port City.” The story tells of a little boy that went on a tour and refused to go through to the second parlor and asked to be guided a different way. He stated that a ghost woman stayed in the first parlor because she liked it and that she was a good happy ghost but the energy in the second parlor was less friendly and cold.
Further reports by the staff mention furniture moving on its own. One report mentioned that after hours the staff was down stairs and they heard what sounded like footsteps upstairs and some scraping. When they went back up stairs they found that a green couch had been rearranged in the first parlor. Reports have also surfaced about the pillows on the couch in the library had been rearranged.
A paranormal club mentioned that they witnessed the heavy chandeliers of the mansion swinging back and forth. A couple of the club members also said they smelled strong kerosene on their hands. One mentioned that she felt it pour across here face.
Preliminary Findings & Hypothesis
Although some hobbyist paranormal groups have investigated the Oakleigh mansion, no data has been displayed or otherwise publicized as to what was found.
No hypotheses were developed for this investigation as we were going for the shear fact that the house has been the topic of subject for many stories, old and new. We did not really know what to expect and having no knowledge of other results made hypothesizing difficult. Of course, with the age of the house, we fully expected to find high EMF and resonance problems that could cause problems with the human psyche.
Baseline Readings
Data Duration: 28hrs 15min.
Outside Humidity: 70%
Outside Temp: 74 degrees
Climate: Clear
LST: 02:55
Electron Flux: 103 >0.8 MeV
Planetary K Index: 0Kp (K-indices of 5 or greater indicate storm-level geomagnetic activity.)
Geomagnetic: 102nT
All equipment performed as expected. There were no abnormal or transient EM spikes that were not predictable. Of note was a large variance within the second parlor that had a consistent EM field strength of 3.5 mG. High EM fields have been known to be a catalyst for certain physical effect within people that are hypersensitive to such fields. These characteristics can be anywhere from feelings of uneasiness to interactive hallucinations. Prolonged exposure to high electric and magnetic fields have been shown to cause certain types of cancer.
The high electric and magnetic field correlates well with the story of the small boy that refused to enter into the second parlor for fear of a less than happy ghost that had taken up residence. It also correlates with other stories of a ghost that exhibits the same demeanor.
| Electric and Magnetic Field Readings | ||
| Reading Level | Area | Notes |
| 1.0mG | 1st Parlor | Average for room |
| 3.5mG | 2nd Parlor | Large variance in room no spikes, very predictable. |
| 1.0-1.7mG | Library | |
| 1.5mG | Childs Room | |
| .5 - 1.0mG | Old Bathroom | |
| .00 - 0.2mG | Master Bedroom | |
| .5mG | Main Hall | |
There were no abnormal spikes in temperature of note.
| Temperature Readings | |
| Degrees in Fahrenheit | Area |
| 72 | 1st Parlor |
| 72.5 | 2nd Parlor |
| 72 | Library |
| 73.3 | Childs Room |
| 73.2 | Old Bathroom |
| 71.7 | Master Bedroom |
| 72.5 | Main Hall |
Resonant Frequency Analysis
"Infrasonic frequencies are felt as vibrations which, if intense enough,
may result in feelings of nausea, vertigo, hallucination and eventual
black-out or internal hemorrhaging". Resonant frequency is how many
times per second sound travels between a cavity and returns to its
starting point. Resonant frequencies for some areas were calculated at
room temperature (72 F) with the following formula: (1131.743 f/s) / (2
* Cavity Width (in feet)). Note that the 1131.743 feet/second figure is
the speed sound travels at in room temperature, and frequencies below or
near Alpha brain wave (< 13 Hz) frequencies were flagged in red, as
there is a possibility that these affect the body more than higher
infrasonic frequencies. Notice the "1st and 2nd Parlor" measurements,
correlating with the story of the boy that felt the spirits within the
room. This also correlates with many sensations and feelings people have
had while standing in these rooms. The low resonant frequency is a
direct result of the two parlors being joined via a sliding pocket door
that remains open.
| Room resonant frequencies at 72 F | |||||
| Area | Msrmnt | Resonant Freq | Area | Msrmnt | Resonant Freq. |
| 1st Parlor& 2nd Parlor | 43.3’ | 13.07 | Master Bedroom | 15.5’ | 36.50 |
| Library | 19.0’ | 29.78 | Main hall | 21.11’ | 26.81 |
| Children’s Room | 10.8’ | 52.4 | Old Bathroom | 9.6’ | 58.94 |
Video and Audio Analysis
Video: During a sit down vigil, one investigator had a hand held video
camera positioned on a brandy closet where he had thought he saw
something move inside. As another investigator walked by; the closet
doors swung open. Although this type of event does not necessarily mean
a haunting is taking place, we do find it interesting because we had
tested the brandy closet thoroughly prior to the event, and further
tested after the event had taken place and we could not get the cabinet
to open on its own.
Movie of the Door Opening
Thermal: No thermal anomalies.
Audio: One audio anomaly occurred on the 1 minute 3 second mark of a
hand held recorder. It is of a rough male’s voice, distinctly audible
with no cleaning of the recording necessary.
Abnormal Noise That Has Syntactical and Vocal Structure
Experiential Analysis
During the investigation one of the team members felt a strong dislike
to the child's bedroom. There was no prior knowledge of the alleged
death that had occurred within the room. The team member mentioned that
she felt that something bad had happened in the room.
While walking into the library, an investigator passed by an old brandy
closet. As he passed by the doors of the brandy closet swung open at a
pretty high rate of speed just narrowly missing him. While this
happened, another investigator had a video camera focused on the brandy
closet because he thought he saw something move in it. Once the
investigator passed the closet, he tried to recreate the opening of the
doors and could not. He verified that it was not his weight that had
cause the piece of furniture to shift and he verified that the doors
themselves did tend to stick closed. At about the same time this event
happened, a similar event happened to another investigator where a
pantry door swung open just missing a crack to the knee
Later in the evening, another team member went outside to the artificial
well by the captains table. As he was standing at the well, his
equipment flew out of his hands and hit the top of the well like they
were smashed down. He then became extremely enraged beyond what one
would consider acceptable and began circling the well at a very high
pace. He was yelling and swearing which was very uncommon for this
investigator. It took several other team members to calm him down. He
was not sure why he got some enraged.
Conclusion
The investigation went just fine and all equipment functioned as
expected. We fully expected to see a low resonance and high electric and
magnetic fields within the house. Such environmental conditions are very
typical of these old mansions. The high EMF in the 2nd parlor along with
the low resonance frequency of the joined 1st and 2nd parlor correlated
very well with the stories told to us as children and from books that
have been written of such things.
While we did have some events happen such as the brandy closet door
swinging open almost hitting an investigator, it is hard to say if such
events were in fact paranormal or simply due to the age of the house and
items shifting due to changes in the environment. Old houses tend to
sway, and adjust for many reasons.
We did not experience any advanced paranormal activity such as objects
moving, chandeliers swinging, or sightings of apparitions. We certainly
had open minds and wished that these things would have come to pass;
perhaps in a re-investigation.
