WILDWOOD — Ethereal apparitions have been associated with the yuletide holiday ever since Charles Dickens took quill to paper and penned “A Christmas Carol.” We have learned of the ghosts associated with Christmases past, present and future from George C. Scott, Jim Carey, Lionel Barrymore and even Mr. Magoo.
Members of Cumberland County Paranormal will be setting up their equipment in the J. Thompson Baker House on Atlantic Ave. on Sat. Dec 10 to see if they can catch a glimpse, or hear a sound, of the “consciousnesses” of those who have not quite left their earthly home.
“We are not ghost hunters,” Clay Borneman, founder of the group and head researcher told the Herald. “We just collect data and put it out to the community.”
According to Borneman, in a preliminary evaluation of the Baker House, the group was able to recover four or five electronic voice phenomena (EVP).
The researchers use digital recorders to pick up sounds and statements of people saying things.
“At one point,” said Borneman, Matt Fisher ( the group’s co-founder), heard a conversation with two people who, quite frankly, weren’t there.”
The researchers picked up hot spots in the historic house. Built in 1904, the home’s attic and stairwell over the fireplace seem to be hot beds of paranormal chatter.
“Those are the areas we’ll be concentrating on,” said Borneman.
The group will set up their equipment and stay in the building for anywhere between three and five hours, depending on what they find.
“I’m confident that we can produce the EVP results,” said Borneman. “The Holy Grail is a full apparition. I’m not sure if we’re going to get one of those.
The house was built by J. Thompson Baker and his wife Margaret as a summer home. Baker served as the first mayor of the incorporated city of Wildwood as well as a Congressman. President Woodrow Wilson was a guest in the home.
The Baker’s had four daughters, the oldest of whom died in 1919 from tuberculosis. Baker died ten months later. Some attribute his death to a broken heart after losing his daughter.
His widow lived in the house, along with their daughter Mary, until 1934 when the home was sold to the Wildwood Civic Club. The home continues to be used as the organization’s clubhouse.
“I spent a good amount of time in the house,” said Borneman. “My grandmother was a member.”
The group works pro bono. “It’s our hobby; it’s not a science,” he said.
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