The Frelinghuysen Arboretum is not only home to assorted local flora and fauna, but some say the historical site also houses several spectral occupants.
And the public is invited to tag along as the Island Paranormal Society, based out of Long Island, N.Y., investigates the ghostly phenomena in the property’s colonial revival mansion.
The Morris County Park Commission, which is co-sponsoring the event with the society, did not seek out the ghost hunters, said society director Matthew Haas.
“Nobody really advertises, ‘Hey, we’ve got ghosts.’ So (the society) sends out email inquiries to places with a rich history, which tend to have more activity,” Haas explained.
And the Frelinghuysen manse fit the bill.
The arboretum was established on the former site of Whippany Farm, owned by George Griswold Frelinghuysen (1851-1936), son of Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, and a New York City patent attorney and president of Ballantine Brewing Company from 1905 until his retirement, and Sara Ballantine (1858-1940) of Newark, the granddaughter of the founder Peter Ballantine of the Ballantine Brewing Company. In 1964 their daughter, Matilda Frelinghuysen (1887-1969) began plans to turn the estate into an arboretum. Today’s Frelinghuysen Arboretum was dedicated in 1971.
After park officials responded to the society’s inquiry, the team began to research the site’s history and made two visits to the mansion, Haas said.
“We walked away with quite a lot of evidence on the second investigation,” said Haas, adding that the team was a little surprised at how much evidence they had been able to record. “Maybe it was because (the spirits) were starting to be a little more familiar with us. It doesn’t happen on demand. The former inhabitants have to get used to you and (the investigators) have to open up to the spirits that are there.”
The team uses a variety of video and audio recording devices to capture evidence of spirit activity.
Originally scheduled for Saturday, May 30, a Paranormal Night at the Historic Frelinghuysen Mansion has been postponed to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, after one of the investigators broke his foot.
The program will begin with an orientation session explaining the methods that the society uses to investigate paranormal activity. The investigators will explain the types of phenomena that the participants may encounter.
Tour participants will then be divided into smaller groups and one of the investigators will lead the groups to locations where paranormal activity had been detected during the society’s preliminary investigations in February and April, Haas said. Most of the investigations will be concentrated on areas on the mansion’s main floor and the third floor, the location of the former servant quarters, he said.
However, Haas stressed that the investigators would not point out occurrences during the actual tour because they do not want to unduly influence participants.
The idea is to teach attendees about what to look and listen for before the tour begins so that they become an active part of the investigation, Haas explained.
“At the end, we’ll all meet again and we will reveal our findings” and audience members will be asked to share their own observations. “We respect what we do and if our participants respect our investigation and approach ... they could have an experience just as much as we did.”
Locally, the team also has investigated paranormal activity at Liberty Hall Museum on the campus of Kean University in Union. They will gladly travel anywhere in the tri-state area to investigate paranormal phenomena, Haas said.
Island Paranormal Society is an all-volunteer organization that deals with the study and research of unexplained phenomenon. Other members include Josie Haas, Brian Bee and Alex Franzini.
“We are a small team of Investigators who are passionate about helping our clients and researching paranormal activity. (Our) goal is to find a resolution based on our findings, whether we determine it is paranormal or not paranormal. We use various methods that include investigating and documenting claims of paranormal activity using instruments entirely safe to the environment and designed to help us collect data during the investigations. Such instruments include video cameras, audio recorders and a surveillance system that helps us monitor the entire investigation,” states the society’s website.
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