A Haunting in St. Joseph

A Haunting by Dennis "Doc" Cromwell

It began with the Witches' Tea, a benefit for the Albrecht-Kemper museum of Art in St. Joseph Missouri. Dozens of women, all dressed as witches, attending a luncheon or dinner with the proceeds going to the museum. As part of the festivities, a number of psychics including Hally Aarhus, Jamie Zunick and myself were there to provide readings for patrons attending the event. The museum is a modern addition to the mansion of Mr. and Mrs. William Albrecht which was built in 1933 and considered haunted particularly by employees of the museum.  Photo: http://albrecht-kemper.org/visit/ The three of us were privileged to receive a guided tour of the mansion and in particular, the areas of the mansion considered to have the most "activity". We began in the library which had a definite masculine energy about it and even though I felt comfortable and at ease, my two colleagues felt a bit uneasy being there. Our next stop was the bar area where we immediately picked up the scent of cigar smoke only to be told this was Mr. Albrecht's party room, a place where he entertained his male friends and guests. We learned that employees regularly hear voices coming from this room and have odd experiences such as lights being turned on after someone turned them out, doors opening or closing. It was here that we discovered a portal which may account for the experiences. At one point, photos of the room taken with a phone camera captured the image of a face in a decorative mirror looking out at us even though we were unaware of it until after reviewing the photos. Touring the parlor where Mrs. Albrecht entertained her friends was also of interest as we all three picked up the feeling that she may have regularly held seances in the room which coincidentally was above the party room. We surmised that the portal was opened during these seances and unfortunately never closed. The most interesting and frightening experience came when we explored the basement/storage areas. One employee stated she felt uneasy at times being in her office which was in the basement. When we asked about opening a particular door, we immediately heard three distinct knocks coming from the other side of the door. When the door was opened, we realized that what we had really heard was footsteps coming up the three steps to the landing. It was at this point that one member of our team, Hally, fell from the landing causing her to land flat on her back on the floor. She immediately stated that she felt as if she had been pushed and witnesses stated that it appeared that she was indeed pushed causing the fall.  We all sensed the presence of a large male figure that we encountered later in a room employees were afraid to enter. It was here that we experienced a definite sense of danger and considering what just happened to our team member, decided to leave rather than take the chance of provoking this spirit again. Overall, we determined there were energies of three distinct time periods from the mid-1860's to the turn of the century 1900s and lastly the post Prohibition era. Our tour of the mansion was successful but the injury sustained by the team member reminded us of how much we needed to truly watch each other's backs. __________________________________________ The Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art is open: Tuesday-Friday from 10am-4pm Saturday & Sunday from 1-4pm. We are closed Mondays and major holidays including Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving and the day after, Christmas Eve and Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Admissions: Adults 18 & over-$5.00, Senior Citizens-$2.00, Under 18 & Students w/valid ID-$1.00, under 6 & members-FREE, Group Rates available. ______________________________________________________________ Dennis 'Doc' Cromwell is an active PRS board member. He has a weekly Open Meditation on Wednesday evenings at Spectrum, A New Age Shop. Doc is also available for private readings and can be reached at 913-645-8296