Caledonia Wine Cottage
St. Louis Ghost Hunters had the opportunity to investigate the Caledonia Wine Cottage in Caledonia, Missouri. Although it is now a wine cottage, bed & breakfast, and wine store, the location has a long history.
An empty lot was bought in 1924 by Jacob Fisher. There, with the help of slave labor, he built the large 12-room 3-story house. Underneath the house is a dirt floor basement with three tunnels; two leading to the houses on each side and one to a nearby creek. The tunnels were for the slaves to use to get from workplace to workplace. Later, they are thought to be used as part of the Underground Railroad. In January 1829, Jacob Fisher fled town after brutally beating a female slave woman, named Patience, to death. Fisher never returned to the town and the house was sold.
The house was also an important location in the Civil War during the Battle of Fort Davidson at Pilot Knob. It was used as a make-shift hospital to treat the wounded soldiers from both sides. Diseased soldiers were quarantined in a locked bedroom on the third floor. A hole (still present today) was cut in the bedroom door to pass food and water.
In the basement, recovered Confederate soldiers were kept prisoner and some were even left to die there. The bars on the basement windows remain to this day.
The house was owned by William and Hallie Ramsey for most of the later 20th Century. Both Ramsey’s died in the home, William in 1976 and Hallie in 1993. The house is currently owned by Pepper Carpenter and Dave Buis and was reopened in 2007 as the Caledonia Wine Cottage.
Current employees and guests of the wine cottage have claimed to hear voices. Several people have heard an elderly woman’s voice say “hello”. A shadowy man that looks to be wearing a Civil War uniform has been sighted multiple times. Footsteps have been heard on floors that were void of people, corks have popped out of non-carbonated wine bottles, items hanging on walls have moved and children have been known to interact with unknown entities.
Once the cottage closed to the public for the evening we set up our equipment and began our investigation. During the investigation we used various audio and video recorders, digital thermometers, as well as several different types of electro-magnetic field detectors. Attempts were made throughout the night to make contact with any entities that reside at the wine cottage.
Teams thoroughly investigated the location until 4am. At this time the team dispersed into the separate bedrooms, but the equipment was left running over night. At approximately 8am the investigation ended and the equipment was gathered.
Upon reviewing evidence we found several audio abnormalities. Audio collected from the wine tasting room revealed some rustling noises in the room when there was no one there. Also, a “mechanical” sound was picked up. We were unable to determine the cause of the sounds. We also experienced several equipment malfunctions that evening on similar recorders and were unable to ensure that this mechanical noise was not caused by an equipment malfunction.
During the investigation there were some unique EMF experiences that occurred in the dining room. To test what was occurring during this time, several EMF detecting devices were placed on a table. For some unknown reason, the EMF meters were going off in places they had previously not.
The video evidence showed an unknown movement in the quarantine room. We have slowed this piece of evidence down and it appears that what caused this flash was possibly a moth or insect of some sort, but we are unsure. It was the only time this occurred and at no other time during the reviewing process was another moth or bug seen.
Based on the evidence collected STLGH is unable to determine that there was paranormal activity happening the evening of the investigation.
STLGH would like the thank Pepper and the gang at Caledonia Wine Cottage for having us out and being so hospitable. The property and surrounding area is beautiful.
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