On Friday, 2.17.2012, The Black Raven Paranormal group will conduct an investigation of  historic Montgomery Hall.  Montgomery Hall was built in the 1820’s by renowned lawyer and statesmen John Howe Peyton.  Peyton named the Montgomery Hall Plantation after his second wife Anne Montgomery Lewis Peyton.  Together John and Anne had 10 children while living at Montgomery Hall.  The department has consulted with the Peyton/Lewis/Catlett historian, Jane Gray Avery, to retrieve information regarding the original owners.  We were looking for specifics like suspicious deaths, folks who might have had unfinished business, family secrets and tortured souls.  Searching for clues to explain why numerous department staff at the recreation office located at Montgomery Hall have recently been experiencing a “presence” in the building.   When we called Jane Gray this past Tuesday, in a strange moment of synchronicity, she that very day had been hot on the trail of some very relevant information regarding the slaves on the Montgomery Hall property.  Through the use of the U.S. Census in the 1800’s  and records from the Freed Man’s Bureau of Augusta County, Jane Gray was able to verify that the Peyton’s had 50 slaves ranging in age from 2 to 70+ years of age.  She was also able to establish after the Civil War, many of the servants’ names and their origins.  Jane Gray revealed that John Howe Peyton was truly conflicted about the issue of slavery.  His notions revealed through the original Peyton family letters and essays are made clear – he felt all people should be free.  How to go about this was another matter.  As Jane Gray delves into the slave issue, more and more and more clues turn up and as of this writing she is one document away from proving that there is a slave graveyard here on the grounds of Montgomery Hall Park.

John Howe Peyton's portrait hangs in the Augusta County Courthouse.

Our original motivation for giving Jane Gray a call was to ascertain potential entities in the building (more on this below).  Jane Gray, in the throes of writing her book From Stony Hill to Steep Hill: The Peyton Family of Virginia, confirmed that only three people in the Peyton family actually died at Montgomery Hall.  John Howe Peyton, Anne Montgomery Lewis Peyton and John’s mother Anne Hooe Peyton who died in 1837.    Family letters reveal a potential family tragedy, a miscarriage, in between the birth of the first child Susan and the second child John Lewis Peyton.  A few interesting tidbits about those who passed away at Montgomery Hall.  John Howe Peyton died in 1847.  He had fallen off a horse and survived only to suffer through apoplexy the rest of his life.  Anne Montgomery Lewis Peyton died three years later in 1850.  She had been in declining health though we don’t know why, but surmise it probably had something to do with having 10 children without the health care for women that we have today.  Because she was only 47 when she died and left behind 10 children ranging in age from 5 to 27, this is our best guess about the person with unfinished business.  John’s mother Anne Hooe Peyton died of natural causes in old age.  She lived in a cottage on the property that John had built for her.  As an aside, that cottage was moved from the Montgomery Hall property to Steep Hill.  Steep Hill was the 100+ acre property in 1850 that butted up to Baldwin Fair Grounds now called Gypsy Hill Park.  Steep Hill was built John Lewis Peyton.

As you will read below, the entity that has been visible by staff, is that of a taller man dressed in 19th Century top coat.  Is this John Howe Peyton’s apparition?  Is it related to other owners of Montgomery Hall like the Peck family that owned the M.H. property from 1870-circa 1910?  According to Jane Gray Avery, the only known living  descendant of the Henry Dwight Peck family was on the mother’s side -a gentleman named George Sprinkel IV (Great Grandson).  Jane Gray has done her best to contact him looking for old photos of the two lavish weddings held at Montgomery Hall in 1902 and 1903 as well as photos of Montgomery Hall before it burned in the early 1900’s.  These social elite weddings were the talk of the Richmond and Philadelphia newspapers at the time.  She had been unsuccessful in contacting the Peck descendant until we spoke to George Sprinkle IV this morning.  He was calling from Winter Haven, Florida where he retired as a judge.  After an enlightening hour long conversation, he is now inspired to search the information passed down to him from his father.  His father had researched the family history before his passing, boxed it for George IV who hadn’t had time to really look at it.  George asked that we ascertain from the investigation tonight whether the entity is a Peyton or a Peck or neither.  He confirmed the 1902 wedding was that of his grandmother affectionately known as Mimi (Frances Griswold Peck Sprinkel Scan_Doc0002). We are also going to verbally inquire to potential entities, where we might find the sought after photos of the 1901 and 1903 Peck girls’ weddings.

No matter what the outcome of the  Black Raven Paranormal investigation  tonight, the pieces are beginning to come together in the Montgomery Hall puzzle in a very synchronised and generationally entangled fashion.

Below is a blog written by Audrey Bess on her Ghost Grrl ~ In Pursuit of the Paranormal website.

Exciting news: this weekend, Black Raven Paranormal will be conducting the first ever paranormal investigation of Montgomery Hall Park in Staunton, VA. Locals know Montgomery Hall Park as a tranquil, fun, family-oriented place of hiking and biking trails, softball fields, tennis courts, playgrounds, and a public swimming pool. Acquired by the city in 1946, the park was used by the African-American population in the 50s and 60s when misguided prejudices of the day wouldn’t allow them to use Gypsy Hill Park. Today, as well as being the location for the offices of the Department of Parks and Recreation, it’s a lovely jewel set among scenic hills and woodland, available for the use of all who choose to take advantage of its beauty.

Somewhat ironically, Montgomery Hall began life as a grand plantation. Built in 1820 by John Howe Peyton, a successful criminal defense lawyer, the mansion became home to his second wife, Ann Montgomery Lewis Peyton, and their 10 children. Ann Peyton was the great-granddaughter of John Lewis, the first noted settler of what later became Staunton. The plantation was quite large, eventually encompassing more than 400 acres with a huge apple orchard, at least 50 servants, a bowling alley, and a gym. John Peyton died in 1847 and Ann Peyton followed in 1850. At least one of their children died at a young age, and Ann herself died in the house. The mansion burned sometime around 1910 and was rebuilt to resemble its former glory as closely as possible. As you drive into the park now, the beautiful cream-colored building presides over the grounds in stately silence.

Now to the spooky part: employees who work in the old mansion claim that it’s haunted. They have always had creepy experiences, but it’s ramped up considerably in the last 3 to 4 months, since the visit of a historian who walked through the building and related many fascinating and little known facts about past occurrences and occupants, including names. Apparently that visit stirred up something in the atmosphere. Whatever (or whoever) it is seems to be most active when the building is not open to the public, either early in the morning or late in the evening. People working in the house often hear disembodied voices calling their names, especially when they’re alone in the building. One employee has been on the second floor, again all alone in the building, and has heard someone moving around on the first floor. Going down to see who it is, he has found no one in the house and no cars in the parking lot; however, as he investigates the first floor, he’ll start to hear someone moving around on thesecond floor that he just left. This employee has also come in early in the morning, opened the door to his office, and witnessed his desk chair suddenly move and spin on its own, as if someone just stood up from the computer.

The same employee has also seen a dark, featureless human form go past his office doorway, but when he checks to see who is in the hallway, no one is there. Perhaps more frightening, he was once descending the stairs and saw the dark form at the bottom of the stairs, heading down the hallway. When he got to the bottom of the stairs and investigated the area, it was ice cold and the hair on his arms stood up. These feelings disappeared as soon as he got out of the hallway. Of course, no one else was in the building.

A secretary has seen an apparition in the building twice. She described it as a tall man dressed in dark, 19th century clothing, standing at the end of the hallway. Both times he disappeared as she approached. She and another secretary also often hear children giggling and laughing when no children are present in or around the Hall.

The cleaning crew has become increasingly spooked as they complete their duties in the old house. Something seems to delight in perturbing them by turning lights on and off and locking and unlocking doors.

Even people looking at the building from the exterior have had inexplicable experiences. There is a particular window where a female figure has been seen gazing out at passersby. Not long ago, some inmates were brought to work in the park and the guard accompanying them refused to enter the Hall. His reason? It’s haunted. He said he’d seen a woman in white at the window and no way was he going inside.

With all of these reports from reputable and believable sources, Black Raven Paranormal is quite thrilled to spend the night in the mansion. Our objective is simply to attempt to document some of the same phenomena the staff claims to have encountered. To that end, we are taking all kinds of equipment to try to cover most contingencies. Some of the tools in our paranormal arsenal include digital and infrared cameras, night vision and full spectrum camcorders, audio recorders to help capture electronic voice phenomena (EVPs), KII and EMF detectors to pick up any fluctuations in the electromagnetic field (thought by some to indicate the presence of ghosts), thermometers to measure cold spots, and a ghost box in case the spirits feel chatty. (A ghost box is basically a hacked radio that constantly sweeps through the AM or FM band; theoretically, ghosts can either use the white noise or the bits of words coming through to form sentences.) We will also use “trigger objects” – things like toys, dolls, balls, coins, etc. – to see if any of the children or other spirits will move them.

Regardless of whether or not you believe in ghosts, Montgomery Hall Park is certainly worth a trip. The kids will definitely love it, and you never know – you might just glance up at the old mansion and see the white lady looking back at you.

Stay tuned for results of our investigation, to be posted here and also on our website, www.blackravenparanormal.com.

This Staunton “Parks and Recreation Blog” was posted by Jennifer Jones, Superintendent of Recreation.  Chris Tuttle, Staunton Parks and Recreation Director, duly notes that this investigation does not involve taxpayer dollars nor employees working on the clock.

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