Joyce's Thoughts on Restland Cemetery  (4/2008)

    Situated on 25 acres near Monroeville, PA is Restland Cemetery, a place best known for a spirit named “Walking Rosie”, although she is by no means the only ghost in residence. Rosie’s origins are a mystery, most of the stories you find online echo popular urban legends and are therefore, most likely, erroneous. Even though her origins aren’t verified, sightings of Rosie are numerous and ongoing. Other sightings over the years have involved Revolutionary War Soldiers who died in a nearby battle to spirits of those killed in a mine explosion on or adjacent to where the cemetery now stands.

   Before the land became a cemetery, it was the site of a single family farm. The farm house burned to the foundations, and a family member recounted to one of Restland’s current groundskeepers how he saw the silhouette of a boy in the flames.  The foundation itself survived the fire and was used for the administration building.

   Restland began interments in the late 1930’s and in the 90’s added a pet cemetery.  Although this is a small section, the headstones and momentos left echo deep love and deep sadness, a poignant addition to a landscape of loss. There’s no shortage of activity at Restland, so on April 12^th, we headed out with high hopes.  Accompanying the group was Joe, a representative from the paranormal “webzine”, www.Visonsonline.com. Although Joe professed himself a skeptic, he kept an open mind and his camera at the ready.

   Upon arrival, we split into two teams to allow us to cover more of the huge graveyard.  Early in the evening, we met members of Steel City Investigators of the Paranormal, a new local group also visiting Restland on a hunt that night. They’re nice people, we hope to see more of them in the future and wish them luck with their investigations.

   Although we’re still going over all the physical evidence collected (possible EVPs, reviewing all the images caught on various cameras), a number of us had personal experiences, including:

°      Several of us spotted a shadow person at the nearby tree line following us. The presence never seemed menacing, just curious. Oddly enough, I once spotted him darting from tree to tree, almost like a child hiding.  The entity followed us until we were far clear of the tree line.

°      A number of us entered an area with a hedge fence surrounding it. This is a family plot, and the air inside that area feels quite charged. One of our members reported a small “shove” when no one was nearby. Again, not something with evil intent, more of a way of a presence making itself known.

°      Another person in the group caught sight of a man and woman standing inside the hedge area. The woman was dressed suggesting a 1910-1920 era look. The man was dressed in what looked like similar period clothes, but seemed more plain. Unfortunately, the apparitions disappeared quickly, as they so often do, and we didn’t get a thorough look.  The second group attempted to collect some EVPs in the hedge area, but every time they asked a question the wind picked up considerably and made recording a challenge.

°      One of our group was walking along a path with a partner when they were hit in the head with a small rock or twig. There was no one within a distance that could’ve thrown anything at her, and no nearby trees or shrubs. This wasn’t a malicious thing, she reported feeling it was more of an “attention getter” event!  

°      Finally! A couple of team members in the second group caught sight of Walkin’ Rosie. We all hurried that way when we heard, but I don’t believe we caught photographic evidence. Several of us felt we saw an apparition, however. Was it Rosie? We didn’t get any identification from them.

°      Our investigation ended in the pet cemetery area, where I got caught up reading the stones and suddenly looked up and found myself alone. I could hear the group, but I’d let them get out of my sight. As I stood up and began walking to them, I distinctly heard footsteps behind me, but when I turned there was, of course, no one there. This is one of Rosie’s favorite tricks, I wonder if that was her send off for the evening!

   All in all, we felt it was an interesting night and we did come away with many personal experiences. Hopefully, when we have finished analyzing the physical evidence, we’ll have some great photos or EVPs to share.

Shawn's thoughts....

INVESTIGATION IN CHESWICK, PA  March 2008

In early March of this year, my son and I decided to contact the Pittsburgh Paranormal Society to come investigate what we believed was our ghost. I found them online and after exchanging a few emails with Shawn and Doreen I felt comfortable inviting them to check out the house. They both seemed kind and knowledgeable.

Two things led me to seek their help. The first happened about six months after we moved in. My  son heard a female voice behind him say “Excuse me, do I know you?” It was three AM; I was upstairs asleep, and when he turned, no one was there.

We agreed that such a question seemed to indicate confusion, but we weren’t sure what to do. Shaken, but curious, we simply waited to see what happened next. Then one Sunday I was talking to a friend on the phone and heard the female voice close behind me say, simply, “Hello”.

I stood up and turned to see who was in my house, and before I could say anything to my friend on the phone, she asked “who said that, who’s there?”  No one was. No one was in my house; no one was outside, and she had heard the voice as clearly as I did.

I decided to call in the Pittsburgh Paranormal Society. Although I’ve always been interested in the paranormal, a presence that seemed to want to communicate was out of my league. The team arrived one Saturday night and while I had expected an interesting evening, what I got was one of the most memorable of my life!

The PPS team was great, they were courteous and respectful. They listened to our stories about the things that had happened, and they listened to my son and I clumsily explain the ways in which we tried to explain away some of them! In the end, we had some things that might be explained by noisy neighbors, or my cat, but a book  whose cover asks “What’s a real ghost like?” that lands four feet away from a bookcase where it was firmly shelved….. well that is a little harder to dismiss.

Neither my son nor I were prepared for what the team did find, although in retrospect, we should have known something was wrong. There was a negative “presence” in my son’s room. No one has ever really considered that room “comfortable”, and I was uncomfortable if the door to the room was open. There was also another presence in the room, seemingly being held there by the first.

Although what I saw and felt happen is difficult to put into words, the end result of the PPS team “clearing” my child’s room was nothing short of amazing.  Immediately the room felt different, almost lighter, and easier to breathe. I was reminded of something my mom said after her cataract surgery: “I didn’t realize how bad my sight had gotten until it was restored.” I had not realized how oppressive the atmosphere had become until that weight was lifted.

We didn’t hear from our “female” ghost that night, but there could be many reasons for that. The negative presence required more attention, so removing it from the home became the priority. I believe the PPS team was successful in that effort. I wish we’d had another time to attempt contacting her, but I have since moved so she’s going to remain a mystery.  

The team conducted an investigation that was thorough; they were courteous and curious about the house and its events, respectful and kind to me and my son.

I feel I need to especially single this team out for the way they handled the non-paranormal part of the evening. I was living in a duplex next to someone who is very negative and had actually been harassing me. When he saw the team arrive (watching me was part of his general creepiness) he became very confrontational and angry because they wanted to photograph the outside of the house. The entire team treated him with courtesy and remained calm, effectively diffusing the situation despite his continued monitoring of our activities.

All in all, I considered the investigation a success. Both my son and I wish to thank the whole PPS team for all their efforts, the evening was informative, eventful and fun!  

Valley Hotel, Clairton, PA    May 19, 2007

          It was rainy night and driving down 837 wondering what the Valley Hotel had in store for us. This was a new experience for us, because we have never investigated a Bar hotel before. The Hotel was built in the 1840's by the Grainger family. Chains of ownerships have changed hands, and now Jo and Duel currently own the establishment. I met Jo previously before we went to the investigation, and she had some fascinating stories about the Hotel. She showed us some pictures taken back when the bar was in full swing. She gave me the grand tour of the place, and as I did my walk through I could sense a lot of paranormal activity. I told Jo what the group was about and what equipment we will bring, and how many people would show up. She and I were both excited about the up-coming investigation.

          Friday night came and we were all anxious to do this. We had to wait until 2 am to begin, when the regular crowd shuffled out. So this investigation was a very late one. Don came in and walked through the place and started to set up his equipment down in the cellar. When I first went through the basement it was very eerie and cold, and I could sense many spirits. I sensed a lot of the spirits down in the cellar were the servants that used to work at the hotel a long time ago. It's funny because as we set our equipment, I could sense the spirits wondering what we were, since they had never seen such things!

          Right away, interesting things started to happen.

          Carmen, Wanda and I started to walk around the bar area and started to snap some pictures on our digital cameras. We caught many orbs and mist on the second and third floor. The energy in the place was intense, and I began to get a headache. I went back into the bar and sat on the stool and proceeded to drink my coffee and observe the place as the night continued. What I enjoy about the investigations is listening to the different stories the owners talk about. To watch their expressions, and to watch how they express it reminds me of the newbie's we have in our group. It was kind of dead (no pun intended!), so Carmen noticed the drum set and she began to pose as a drummer. Then it was my turn, and I began to drum a steady beat as I went into a trance. Then the spirits began to come out of hiding. Everyone began to snap pictures, and many orbs appeared. By the way they were moving around the room, it was like they were having a party themselves.

Two interesting things happened on our investigation that is worth mentioning. We have evidence of a face in the mirror. Carmen took a snap shot of herself in the mirror to see if she could catch anything. As we downloaded the picture on my PC, we saw a face of a man right beside her; it was kind of neat to see this picture because it does give us some proof that spirit does exist (I will post the picture before and after on our website). You can judge for yourselves. The second occurrence was in the cellar. Don, Matt, Jeremy, Chris, and Devin had two mirrors lined up close together. They had a camera focused in on the mirrors, and all of the sudden one mirror crashed and broke. We do have it on film and we are still looking over the footage. It was pretty freaky to actually see the mirror move on its own and then fall and shatter. We do have the footage and when we come to a conclusion we will also post it on the web, so that you can see for yourselves. Even though it was a long night, we got some awesome evidence and we made more new friends.

          In conclusion, with all of the activity and evidence we recovered, I can honestly say that the Valley Hotel is definitely haunted. Jo and Duel were awesome hosts, and they have invited us back for a follow-up investigation. So if you are down on Rt 837, or you are on New England Rd. in Clairton, please go to the Valley Hotel for some good food and spirits, and maybe a pitcher of beer! When you sit at the bar and listen to the live music on a Friday night, just look around the bar and open your minds. Maybe , just maybe, you will see a spirit looking back at you.

          Jo and Duel gave us permission to give you the address to their place. Valley Hotel 1004 New England Rd. Clairton PA 15025. The phone number is 412-233-9800. God Bless, Shawn.

St Anthony's Church, Monongahela, PA     February 24, 2007

        On one of our investigations down in Mon city, our client mentioned to me that a priest down the road believed in spirits. This struck me as funny because according to the Roman Catholic teachings spirits (ghosts) don't exist. Our client graciously called the father and told him that we were interested in going to his rectory. The following Saturday we went to the house and our investigation began.

            We were met at the door by a wonderful person, and a very special relationship began. He gave us a brief tour of the rectory and found out that it was the original St Anthony's church. We walked through the house and it was totally infested with spirit activity. We were introduced to the priest's brother who by all means is very gifted. He told us about the strange happenings that have occurred in the house and gave us a brief summary of all the spirits that he has witness. He then took us to the second floor which they had nicknamed the shining hall. The hall had 8 or 10 rooms which were where the nuns used to stay. During the course of the tour we came upon a room, which had a star hanging from the light in the middle of the ceiling. The star, we noticed, turned to face whoever happened to be talking at the time. Don took a picture of the star and later we found that there was an orb right next to it.

        In conclusion, the investigation was a success. We got a lot of decent evidence and have made three more friends and members of our group. So who ever you believe in and whatever your place of worship, just listen to the silence and feel the love and warmth of the spirits that are there. Although they have passed on, they our still in our hearts and minds.