Ghosthunting Kentucky. Patti Starr

      AS I WALKED THROUGH THE PUB, making sure all the guests had their needs met, I noticed a fair-haired, slim gentleman sitting at the bar. As I approached him I recognized him as the owner of the Jailer’s Inn. Since I had became the general manager of The Old Talbott Tavern in 1996, I had not taken the opportunity to go next door to introduce myself to the owner of the Jailer’s Inn. This was a perfect time for us to meet. Just as he reached for his drink, I introduced myself and we started to chat.

      I learned that Paul McCoy had purchased the Jailer’s Inn Bed-and-Breakfast from his parents, Challen and Fran McCoy. They had purchased the county jailhouse when it went to auction after it closed in 1987. I asked him about his business because I was trying to improve the Tavern’s business and thought we could partner on some ideas. I suggested to Paul that we might promote something special together to bring in more guests. We talked about several promos that would include a wine tasting, or mystery dinner, or romantic get-a-ways. He invited me over to his place to see his facilities and that’s when I discovered something really unique about the Jailer’s Inn. It is haunted! As I entered the front door, I was hit with an impression of a woman who was in charge and guarding this space. From the corner of my eye, I saw figures dart back and forth in the hallway. “Paul,” I said, “I don’t mean to alarm you, but do you know that this building has spirits?” He smiled and almost reluctantly admitted that he did think it might be haunted. I took the opportunity at that time to tell him about my other profession as a ghosthunter and asked him for permission to do a ghost investigation of the Jailer’s Inn. Quietly, he agreed.

      Before the building was a bed-and-breakfast it served as a jailhouse for Nelson County from 1819 until 1987. The jailer’s office was on the first floor, and the prisoners stayed on the second floor until 1874 when the county built the extension on the back. They also added a tall stone fence and gallows for hanging the convicted. Once they moved the prisoners to the back of the building, the jailer and his family lived in the front part of the jail.

      We set a date and I returned to the Jailer’s Inn with my small Bardstown group of ghosthunters, which included two close friends, Melody and Gary. We started our investigation on the first floor in the Library Room that housed many older books and included a king-size poster bed and sofa. We continued our search for the spirits into the next room called the Colonial Room. It offered a rustic feel with the natural limestone wall and the hand-hewn timbers that ran across the ceiling. While working in these rooms, I felt as if I had time-traveled back to the late 1800s. Since the first floor didn’t seem to be very active. we decided to move on to the second floor in hopes of finding some paranormal activity.

      At the top of the stairs and to the right, we entered the 1819 Room. This room was once referred to as the dungeon. It seemed funny to call an upstairs room a dungeon, but at one time it was dark, with thick hand-hewn timbers all along the walls and ceiling with no windows to let in the light. This is the room where the jailer would shackle the criminals who had committed the most heinous crimes. At one time, the only way to get to this room was to put a ladder up on the side of the building and corral the men up through a window. Then they were chained to the walls in this dark room. The window was closed off by another door to create a secure hold with no escape. Now, it is a beautiful room with white sheer curtains flowing across the walls for a beautiful, calmer ambiance. We had great hopes that this room would be the one where we would find the most evidence of ghosts.

      We set our audio recorders out, positioned our camcorders in the corner of the room, and continued to ask for the spirits to communicate with us through sight or sound. As I turned to walk into the bathroom, I felt a strong cold spot and asked one of the team to take a picture of me where I was standing. When the photo was developed, there was a thick, dark mist to the right of where I was standing, which indicated to me that we had possibly captured spirit energy.

      I felt that it was the presence of a woman but couldn’t make out who she was or why she was there. I grabbed my dowsing rods and started to dowse in the room. I asked if the spirit was a female and got a “yes” response. I asked if she lived there and got a “no” response. This answer eliminated the ghost as a member of the jailer’s family. I asked her if she died there and she responded “no.” I asked if she was a visiting spirit and got a “yes.” Then her energy seemed to leave the room. Later on I asked Paul if a woman had ever been hanged at the jail, and he said he did not have a record of such an incident. I asked him if a woman had ever been incarcerated there, and he said that a couple of women had been arrested but not for any major crimes. My curiosity was about to get the best of me, so after the investigation I went to the local library to see if I could find out who this woman might be. After hours of searching the microfilm, I found an article in the newspaper that dated to 1909. The title read, “Is the Bastille Haunted?” Wow, I thought. They were writing about the jail being haunted all the way back then. The story was written by a reporter who had heard reports that the inmates were complaining about ghosts waking them up at night from loud banging, screams, and the sounds of chains dragging across the floors. He decided to research some of the prisoners who had died at the jail to see if one of them was haunting this place. One story that caught my interest was about Martin Hill, a man who drank too much bourbon, who had been arrested in 1885. His wife was greatly afraid of him when he drank because he became so mean and violent. As I was reading this story, I closed my eyes and could feel her fear, and I started to envision what she had gone through while married to this man. He would beat her so badly at times that he would break her arm or a few ribs. He would hit her in the head until she would lie unconscious. One night Martin came home drunk and grabbed his wife to start another brutal beating, but she jerked away from his grip and ran out of the house. She ran into the woods to the other side of the hill to a neighboring farmhouse. She knocked on the door and begged the farmer to let her stay with his family until morning because her husband was drinking and she feared for her life. Martin was furious that his wife had run from him. He grabbed his rifle and stormed out of the house in hot pursuit of her. It wasn’t long before he came to the farmhouse. He stood outside in the front yard waving his rifle around while swearing to kill everyone if his wife didn’t come out. The farmer came out and pleaded with Martin to go home and sleep it off. He promised him that his wife would return to him the next morning. Martin refused and before he could cause any more ruckus, his wife stepped out on the porch to plead with him. The moment Martin saw her, he lifted his rifle and shot her dead before she could speak. Martin was arrested and taken to the jail. While awaiting trail he became ill, so the jailer sent for the doctor. Martin told the doctor that he was in great pain. He said his head was throbbing, his arms ached, and it hurt for him to take a deep breath. After the doctor examined Martin, he couldn’t find anything wrong with him. All he could do was give him some pain medication.