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April 30, 2009
Old Palmer Burying Ground |
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As we entered up the three or four steps to the cemetery grade, we were greeted by three deer who were not too frightened by us, as if to say we weren't invited. I approached them to within ten or fifteen feet before they calmly but gracefully leaped the fence and started grazing nearby**. There was a good feeling tonight.
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NPI equipment: Sony Digital Voice Recorder, 2 ea K-2 meters with modified switch, Olympus digital still camera, Canon digital still camera. |
Visual Evidence: There were no K-2 responses.
Approximately 46 minutes into the investigation, Vincent was taking digital snapshots of me and Kevin by several headstones near an area he sensed low activity. Upon immediate review of the image on the camera we saw an anomaly which was detected in three successive pictures. The fourth picture was clear. The pictures were taken all within the same minute. Subsequent attempts to recapture this anomaly did not yield any result. Kevin attempted to debunk the image as flash reflection from fingers holding the camera but it did not appear the same. It appears to look like lens flare but typically there is an external source of light into the lens or a bright reflection. The pictures were taken facing east with the sun setting behind us. The photos are presented here for your judgement:
Sundown was officially at 7:53 PM!
(7:56 PM)
UPDATE: Here is the clip enhanced CLICK HERE. We believe it is saying: "Heaven hold them, leave them, leave them, leave them be..."
UPDATE: We did a quick enhancement and slowed it down. Someone suggested it sounds like "clearly distraught". Click HERE to listen. Best with headphones.
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Satellite image showing relative position to neighboring houses. House to the east was approximately 100 feet away from where the EVP was captured. Camera was facing east while the sun set to the west. |
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Same image with outline of burying ground shown and location of
investigators at the time of the second EVP and third picture. |
Research:
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The second EVP captured intrigued us not just for the length and cadence of the sentence, but the possible applicability to the spot where the EVP was recorded. the glow in the photo emanates from the headstone of Abraham DeClark, This did not seem to fit the situation. The headstones where we were standing seems to be more significant. The Smith family is buried there. Picture 3 above shows us standing between the headstone of Charity Smith and one of her children. Further to the right in the photo are two more of her children. The first headstone to the left in Picture 3 is Capt. Aury Smith, a Captain in the Revolutionary War |
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| We found it fascinating that the voice repeats "leave them" three times. This could be one for every one of the three children buried along side Capt. and Mrs. Smith. |
DID WE CATCH THE VOICE OF CHARITY SMITH?
| Children | ||||||
| First Name | Last Name | Born | Died | Mother First Name | Father First Name | Father Last Name |
| Aury | Smith | 1772-08-05 | Charity | Aury (Aurie) | Smith | |
| Lambert | Smith | 1767-08-21 | Charity | Aury (Aurie) | Smith | |
| Jan (Jannetje) | Smith | 1792-01-18 | Charity | Aury (Aurie) | Smith | |
| Parents | ||||||
| First Name | Last Name | Born | Died | Spouse First Name | ||
| Charity(Gertrude) | Smith | 1738-11-30 | 1805-06-11 | Capt. Aury | ||
| Aury(Aurie) | Smith | 1736-10-30 | 1820-08-13 | Charity |
Daytime infrared photo of Charity and
the three
children to the left.
(Click on photo for larger version)
Orb Evidence:
At this point in time NPI does not believe orbs are anything more than dust, bugs or dirt on the camera lens. We are open minded and will make judgments on a case by case basis. For those who are interested, I present our 'orb' photos from this investigation:
This is one of the two oldest burial grounds in Clarkstown. It has 66 graves of some of the earliest families and includes six Revolutionary War soldiers.
Old Mountain Road was used by the Indians and early settlers who traveled from Nyack to Rockland Lake and the West Nyack area by way of Christian Herald Hill and Storms Road. It was called “the road to the pond” in early deeds.
In a history of Rockland County published in City and Country during the year 1882, appears the following: “The old burying ground at Upper Nyack was started in about the year 1730 and the names of Snedeker, Smith and Perry are most abundant….
“All Upper Nyack at one time belonged to Cornelius Claessen Cuyper who, with his “huisvrouw,” Aeltje Teunis (Bogert) and their family of little ones, settled somewhere along the river shore between 1685 and 1687. Frontier hardships apparently agreed with the young couple, for by 1708 their progeny had increased to fifteen; thirteen of whom reached maturity. Cuyper became a wealthy, prominent and influential man in the County of Orange…On his farm and near his house he laid out this family burial place before 1730….”
“Cornelius died in 1731 and his wife died four years later, both are interred in the family plot. Their graves wee marked by low, heavy slabs of red sandstone undressed except for the crude lettering. These probably had been quarried from the five stone beds near the river shore.
“Aury Smith bought 320 acres and Capt. Jacob Vanderbilt and his step-son, Andries Onderdonk, also became residents of the locality. A homemade headstone containing the initials “V.D.” and the date “1739” is supposed to mark the Captain’s grave.
“If Aury Smith is buried here, he lies in an unmarked grave.
“The last burial marked by an inscribed stone was that of Garret S. Smith in 1857.”
Copyright 2009 (C) Nyack Paranormal Investigations