The History
The home was completely built in 1907 by John Bayless. He, his wife Mary, and their six children moved to Claremore, OK from Missouri. Sadly John would never live to see the completion of this beautiful home . He passed away in 1907 shortly after it's completion. His daughter, Bland would too have a tragic death. Many people have reported seeing both John and Bland in the house on numerous occasions and describe them perfectly. The home today is open for tours.
The Setting
North-Eastern Oklahoma - Claremore
The Case
Erik, Laura, and I (Logan) had been looking forward to this investigation for quite some time. When I first learned of the Belvidere Mansion and saw pictures of it, I knew I had to investigate it. Erik had informed me of what went on the last time the OKCGC investigated the mansion and I was confident that we could do a much better job with not so many people. As the three of us prepared for the journey to Claremore, OK we learned that we would not have our trusty videographer Brandon on this investigation so I had to fill in for him. Jeremy was to be there as expected.
As we entered claremore and pulled up to the Belvidere, I was quite in shock that we were going to have the whole building for the entire night. Jeremy was scheduled for 8pm to arrive. After we spoke with Ruth and Joe, did Ruth's interview, and spoke briefly with a local reporter from the Claremore Daily Progress, we then headed out for some food. We decided to try a local eatery called the "Hammett House". The food was very good. The Bread was excellent! Very satisfying meal.
We then went back to the Belvidere and met up with Jeremy so we could begin the first initial sweep of the building. We started the first sweep in the basement and worked our way up. As we were in the basement, we heard a tapping noise, plate noises in the kitchen, a loud bang, and footsteps.
Shortly thereafter, Jeremy was touched by an unseen presence. As we left the basement and proceeded with the first floor, all was normal. We then started the first sweep of the second floor and heard a female voice say "help" as we were leaving the Mason Hotel Room. In Room #8, we had a blackout on Laura's camera. We proceeded to the 3rd floor (ballroom) for the completion of the sweep. All was normal.
We began the first sitdown at approx 10:00pm in the basement. We heard knocks coming from the kitchen (which is directly above the basement). We heard a scraping noise from the first floor like a chair was being dragged across the floor or furniture moving. There was also a foggy haze visual effect that was reported by some investigators as well as the feeling of intimidation by an unknown presence. At the near of conclusion of the sitdown, there were several reports of small pinpoint red LED type lights in several areas of the basement. We concluded the first sitdown at approx 10:35pm.
We decided to try another location for the second sitdown and chose the 3rd floor ballroom. This was to be the most active sitdown session for the entire night. As we started the sitdown at 10:45pm nothing could prepare us for what was to come. We had 3 return noises from the knock test. There was a loud attention getting bang that came out of nowhere. We all heard several people talking at once like a group chatter coming from the lower floor like a party was going on. We heard a male laughing at random. At one point, we heard a very loud crashing sound that gave us the impression that someone was trying to gain access to the building. We searched the house and Jeremy searched around the outside of the building and no one was to be found and nothing was disturbed. We returned to the 3rd floor for the completion of the sitdown. There was several knocks and noises in response to some of the investigators questions and comments. We finished the 2nd sitdown at 11:50pm.
After the 2nd sitdown we decided to do a 2nd sweep of the building to see if anything had changed. We again started in the basement and worked our way up. The rest of the sweep went very normal for readings and temperature.
At 12:37am we decided to conduct a third sitdown in the Mason Hotel Room. This sitdown was very quiet and uneventful. No anomalies to report. We concluded at 1:01am. Now During the third sitdown, the tape on the camcorder ran out and I had to run downstairs to get another one. I went downstairs alone, got a new tape and placed the old one by our gear.
We conducted a fourth sitdown back on the 3rd floor ballroom from 1:05am to 1:16am and a fifth sitdown in the first floor dining room from 2:00am to 2:12am. No unusual or anomalous activty to report for both sitdowns. We decided to sleep on the 2nd floor. Jeremy slept in the child's bedroom, I slept in Room #8, and Erik and Laura slept in the hallway between. I can say that there were some noises coming from inside my room that appeared to be coming closer to me. Also the eerie dress in the standing case did not help with my sleeping. In the morning we all got up, packed everything up, and headed out for some breakfast and a long trip home.
This was one of the most active houses in Oklahoma if not the most active I have ever been in. Just ask any of the investigators and they will tell you whomever is still residing in the Belvidere Mansion has no problem making his or her presence known and we look forward to meeting up with them again in the future.
The Team
Erik (OKCGC)
Laura (OKCGC)
Logan (OKCGC)
Jeremy (OKCGC)
The Equipment
DCR-TRV520 Sony Digital Nightshot camcorder
Sony Digital Nightshot camcorder
Sony Hi8 Nightshot camcorder
Digital audio recorders
Analog audio recorders
Hp935 Digital Still camera
Digital Still cameras
2 Gaussmaster EMF meters
3 IR non contact Thermal
6 EMF array meters
Data
Belvidere Mansion Sweep #1
Sweep Info:
Basement:
65-68 F
0 EMF
1st Floor
Kitchen:
66 F
0 EMF
Gift Shop:
63-65 F
0 EMF
Butlers Room:
65 F
0 EMF
Ladies Parlor:
65 F
0 EMF
Dining Room:
65-66 F
0 EMF
1st Foyer:
61-64 F
0 EMF
2nd Foyer:
65 F
0 EMF
2nd Floor
Mason Hotel Room:
60 F
0 EMF
Children's Room:
58 F
0 EMF
Room #8:
58 F
0 EMF
1st Foyer:
60 F
0 EMF
2nd Foyer:
61 F
0 EMF
3rd Floor
Ballroom:
57 F
0 EMF
Sweep #2
Basement:
66-69 F
0 EMF
1st Floor
Kitchen:
70-72 F
0 EMF
Gift Shop:
64-67 F
0 EMF
Butlers Room:
67 F
0 EMF
Ladies Parlor:
68 F
0 EMF
Dining Room:
67-68 F
0 EMF
1st Foyer:
64-67 F
0 EMF
2nd Foyer:
67-74 F
0 EMF
2nd Floor
Mason Hotel Room:
58-59 F
0 EMF
Children's Room:
61 F
0 EMF
Room #8:
60 F
0 EMF
1st Foyer:
61-62 F
10 EMF
2nd Foyer:
67-74 F
0 EMF
3rd Floor
Ballroom:
56-57 F
0 EMF
Movies
Belvidere Mansion 2k6 Investigation
Belvidere Mansion 2k6 video Trailer
Photos
Group Outside Belvidere
Belvidere Mansion
John Bayless
John's daughter Bland
Bayless Family Photo
Ladies Parlor
Dining Room
Foyer
Room Number 8
Creepy Baby
Children's Room
Ballroom
Basement
Mason Hotel Room
Visual Anomalies
None Noted