From Berksmont News: EPI conduct Ghost Hunt at Joanna Furnace
By Brett Swailes
for Journal Register News Service
(photo by Brett Swailes) The EPI team conducts 'Ghost Hunts' throughout the region.
View and purchase photos
On Saturday night, October 15, a group of professionals quietly conducted what some might call a ghost hunt - a paranormal investigation - at historic Joanna Furnace. They came armed with a diverse array of electronic sensors, motion and sound detectors, and cameras and computers. After a lengthy setup the team of volunteers positioned themselves hundreds of feet distant from the detection gear. Each of the individuals present that night settled in to observe the stream of raw data and a split screen monitor showing each of the observed areas.
Extreme Paranormal Investigations, or EPI, is the group that performed this study and furnished the required equipment. Nevertheless, the same question is always waiting – what is the basis that compels people with this urge to do what they do?
Brian Joad, the founder of EPI, furnished the answer: he wanted to see if this could be a manifestation of life after death. After the deaths of his aunt and uncle, Joad, a network consultant and professional videographer, developed an interest in paranormal activity. He said that he was influenced by the writings of David Rountree, the author of Paranormal Technology. The EPI approach is one that uses scientific methods together with the investigation of locations, and it seems to produce results.
EPI has already completed audits of sites that are usually historically significant (places where significant events and many people were involved). This volunteer group has recently performed investigations at the Seven Stars Inn, Mid-Atlantic Air Museum, the Rail Road Masters House, Waynebrook Inn, and the Downingtown Opera House. Joad is an immense history buff, of course, and a member of several historical societies.
From six in the evening until four the next morning, all while maintaining a silent vigil, they made their routine entries in the logs and waited. It is in those quiet places, when cloaked in darkness, and after hour upon hour of heightened awareness and painstaking waiting—that the reverie can be punctuated suddenly and without warning by moments of strong activity and yes, even terror. Even among the experts, or so they say…
Joanna Furnace was chosen for investigation because it served as a station on the Underground Railroad. Its role as part of the Underground Railroad was kept a close secret to avoid any interruptions in the ironmaking activities from the federal government or slave chasers. Keeping this secret was especially problematic in the aftermath of the 1857 Dred Scott Decision—the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that made slaves the legal property of their owners, as the proximity of the Mason-Dixon Line made Pennsylvania a frequent stop for the agents of the southern slave owners.
Joad said that African-Americans regularly congregated at the Mount Frisbey AME church, which was located between the Hopewell and Joanna Furnaces. He suggested that perhaps a narrow road that cut through the woods was used as part of the conduit leading to the Joanna stop.
The other EPI team members on that night at the furnace were: Sandra Dee - who works as a professional ballroom dance instructor and is originally of Harlingen, Texas; Joe - an EMT in both Elverson and Exeter and an Lieutenant at the West Bradford Fire Company in his spare time; and Phil – a retired auto mechanic who has been interested in the paranormal for quite some time.
What did they observe at Joanna Furnace on October 15? While Brian said that there was “nothing substantial” on that night, he added that all the data had not yet been verified. During an infrared search in the woods, however, they discovered an old, overgrown wagon road. Was it part of the Underground Railroad? Perhaps, but only long-dead stationmaster Henry Segner could have verified that fact. EPI’s final conclusions in the Joanna study will be published within two weeks.
Thanks for this article are owed to the folks at the Hay Creek Valley Historical Association (In 1979 Bethlehem Steel transferred title to the lands to the Hay Creek group), and to Sue Fellman Jacobs - the author of History of Joanna Furnace 1791-1999: History of a Berks County, PA, Charcoal Iron Furnace. Continued...
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For information on EPI, their methods of investigation, and upcoming hunts, visit the group online at www.extremeparanormalinvestigators.com. For more information on Joanna Furnace visit www.haycreek.org/joanna_furnace.htm
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On Saturday night, October 15, a group of professionals quietly conducted what some might call a ghost hunt - a paranormal investigation - at historic Joanna Furnace. They came armed with a diverse array of electronic sensors, motion and sound detectors, and cameras and computers. After a lengthy setup the team of volunteers positioned themselves hundreds of feet distant from the detection gear. Each of the individuals present that night settled in to observe the stream of raw data and a split screen monitor showing each of the observed areas.
Extreme Paranormal Investigations, or EPI, is the group that performed this study and furnished the required equipment. Nevertheless, the same question is always waiting – what is the basis that compels people with this urge to do what they do?
Brian Joad, the founder of EPI, furnished the answer: he wanted to see if this could be a manifestation of life after death. After the deaths of his aunt and uncle, Joad, a network consultant and professional videographer, developed an interest in paranormal activity. He said that he was influenced by the writings of David Rountree, the author of Paranormal Technology. The EPI approach is one that uses scientific methods together with the investigation of locations, and it seems to produce results.
EPI has already completed audits of sites that are usually historically significant (places where significant events and many people were involved). This volunteer group has recently performed investigations at the Seven Stars Inn, Mid-Atlantic Air Museum, the Rail Road Masters House, Waynebrook Inn, and the Downingtown Opera House. Joad is an immense history buff, of course, and a member of several historical societies.
From six in the evening until four the next morning, all while maintaining a silent vigil, they made their routine entries in the logs and waited. It is in those quiet places, when cloaked in darkness, and after hour upon hour of heightened awareness and painstaking waiting—that the reverie can be punctuated suddenly and without warning by moments of strong activity and yes, even terror. Even among the experts, or so they say…
Joanna Furnace was chosen for investigation because it served as a station on the Underground Railroad. Its role as part of the Underground Railroad was kept a close secret to avoid any interruptions in the ironmaking activities from the federal government or slave chasers. Keeping this secret was especially problematic in the aftermath of the 1857 Dred Scott Decision—the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that made slaves the legal property of their owners, as the proximity of the Mason-Dixon Line made Pennsylvania a frequent stop for the agents of the southern slave owners.
Joad said that African-Americans regularly congregated at the Mount Frisbey AME church, which was located between the Hopewell and Joanna Furnaces. He suggested that perhaps a narrow road that cut through the woods was used as part of the conduit leading to the Joanna stop.
The other EPI team members on that night at the furnace were: Sandra Dee - who works as a professional ballroom dance instructor and is originally of Harlingen, Texas; Joe - an EMT in both Elverson and Exeter and an Lieutenant at the West Bradford Fire Company in his spare time; and Phil – a retired auto mechanic who has been interested in the paranormal for quite some time.
What did they observe at Joanna Furnace on October 15? While Brian said that there was “nothing substantial” on that night, he added that all the data had not yet been verified. During an infrared search in the woods, however, they discovered an old, overgrown wagon road. Was it part of the Underground Railroad? Perhaps, but only long-dead stationmaster Henry Segner could have verified that fact. EPI’s final conclusions in the Joanna study will be published within two weeks.
Thanks for this article are owed to the folks at the Hay Creek Valley Historical Association (In 1979 Bethlehem Steel transferred title to the lands to the Hay Creek group), and to Sue Fellman Jacobs - the author of History of Joanna Furnace 1791-1999: History of a Berks County, PA, Charcoal Iron Furnace.
For information on EPI, their methods of investigation, and upcoming hunts, visit the group online at www.extremeparanormalinvestigators.com. For more information on Joanna Furnace visit www.haycreek.org/joanna_furnace.htm
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