Tinker's Creek - Cuyahoga Falls, OH.

A Little History

A Special SHGHRS Thank You To DeadOhio.Com For Granting Us

The Use Of Their Historical Research Findings!

Mostly hidden among a tree-covered, glacier-carved landscape, Tinker's Creek remains largely untouched by human hands. Some of those who have attempted to settle this land barely left a trace of their own existence. Today, many visitors to this area have reported strange occurrences, eerie sounds, lights and shadows, the uncanny sense of being chased away and even followed....

Is Tinker's Creek Haunted Or Cursed, As
Some Say? And If So, Then Why?

Understanding the mystery of Tinker's Creek first requires a look back at its history. And its history is quite mysterious indeed. Historical records prior to the twentieth century are sparse. An Ottawa tribe resided on the land sometime prior to 1786. It is not known how long the Ottawas occupied the land, but what is known is that that they suddenly abandoned their huts and left the area. Their escape may have been due to encroaching white settlers from New England, or from growing hostility by other nearby Native American tribes. Or perhaps from something else....

In the late Spring of 1786, a Moravian mission came upon the abandoned Ottawa settlement. Fleeing persecution, the Moravians - led by David Zeisburger and John Heckewelder--decided to make this part of the Cuyahoga Valley their home. They named the land Pilgerruh (German for "Pilgrim's Rest"). The Moravians planted crops and built cabins and a church. They did not intend to make this their permanent home, but something happened while they were there to cause them to leave even sooner. Wrote Loskiel, one of the missionaries, "[The] missionaries were not concerned as to their own safety. If that alone had been the point in question, they would not have hesitated a moment to return to the Muskingum. But they dare not bring the congregation committed to their care, into so dreadful and dangerous a situation." A nearby tribe recommended they stay at Pilgerruh, but for reasons unknown the Moravians decided to move on as quickly as possible. Only ten months after they had settled at Pilgerruh, and as soon as Spring broke in 1787, the Moravians gathered for a prayer on the banks of the nearby creek and walked away.

Ten years later, in 1797, members of the Connecticut Western Reserve Land Company arrived to survey the land for permanent settlement by pioneers from New England. There, they discovered the ruins of the Moravian ghost town. They renamed the area Tinker's Creek, after the survey team's principal boatman, Joseph Tinker. Unfortunately for Tinker, the curse of Pilgerruh would continue. Shortly after leaving Tinker's Creek on his return to New England, Joseph Tinker drowned, along with two companions.

Since its official establishment, Tinker's Creek has enjoyed an uneasy history. Few white settlers actually resided in Tinker's Creek, and instead settled in nearby Bedford and Northfield Township. However, when these settlers had to bury some of their first dead, they chose an isolated, out-of-the-way plot of land located atop a hill in Tinker's Creek. Although it is not confirmed that this cemetery used to be the burial ground for the Ottawas, it has historically been referred to as "Old Indian Cemetery." That cemetery is now commonly known as Tinker's Creek.

The Cemetery

Despite its peaceful beauty, this abandoned graveyard is widely reported to be haunted. Also known as Terra Vista Cemetery, Hillside Cemetery and Pilgerruh Cemetery - this burial ground is the site of accounts of an evil dark shadow figure, ghostly phenomenon, and even occult activity. As large as this cemetery is, very few tombstones remain. It is speculated that Tinker's Creek cemetery was also used as a mass grave site for Irish canal workers who died from malaria and other diseases while digging the Ohio and Erie Canal in the 1820's around Tinker's Creek. Many surrounding townships and villages would not (or for financial reasons) could not accept the bodies for burial in their cemeteries. As a result, many of the canal workers were buried in "pauper's graves", or within the walls of the canal itself. Around Valley View, some of those workers were also buried in the old Valley View Cemetery, since destroyed by highway development in the 1970's. Early settlers did not have the benefit of an undertaker at this time. Instead, as Pamela Kendall writes, "A log was cut and split, the two halves hollowed out, and the body placed inside. The two halves were then put back together, and sealed with wooden pins".

The Gleeson House

One of the settlers who did choose to live in Tinker's Creek was Edmund Gleeson (also spelled "Gleason"). Edmund built his homestead and farm on Dunham Hill, which lies near the intersection of Canal and Tinker's Creek Roads. Unfortunately, Edmund died shortly thereafter. His cause of death is not known, although his wife quickly remarried, to James Cleveland. Edmund, along with some other members of his family, is buried in a small family cemetery plot on the hill behind the house. Some people claim that the Gleeson farm and house are also haunted. There have been reports of strange lights seen in the upper floor windows of this house. It is also said that a cross-dressing, female pig farmer used to live here, but no paranormal accounts have been connected to her. She was just "weird."

The Gleeson Barn

As for the Gleeson farm, the legend becomes even grislier. The barn was the site of an actual suicide, by a young man whose body was found hanging in the barn in 2002. There are also rumors of a suicide pact, but it is unclear whether it involved the Gleeson property or another abandoned home nearby.

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The SHGHRS May 24, 2005 Investigation

On May 24, 2005 SHGHRS member's - Aedryan, Tony, Matt and Kim conducted an investigation at Tinker's Creek. We brought along 3 new prospect members as well. However, two of them (you know who you are!) will definitely not be welcomed into our organization. Besides the fact that we had to smell them all the way there and back in the car, we found them to be very annoying during our investigation (as well as for 2 weeks prior to the investigation) and they should have just been abandoned in some Cleveland projects area for other reasons (you both know why!). As for our other new prospect member - Lynne, we welcome her into our fold and hope that she will go on to become an active and contributing member.

We began our investigation by lugging our equipment up the long, dreadfully steep hill to the cemetery. We officially began our investigation at 9:48 PM and right away we began seeing orb activity in real time through our nightvision. We shouldn't fail to mention that prior to the beginning of our investigation, Aedryan reported having heard distinctive, heavy footsteps walking beside him near the front part of the cemetery, while he was by himself. We continued monitoring the area through our nightvision, taking pictures and recording audio until about 12:30 AM. People that do not have any of their own equipment were given equipment and instructed to monitor for temperature and electro magnetic frequency fluctuations. As usual they just didn't seem to grasp the importance of doing that and continuously huddled around our nightvision cameras, so no fluctuations were recorded. This is an issue that must be rectified before our next investigation.

We were planning on doing the very first of our Ouija Board experiments on this night, so Tony brought his handcrafted Ouija Board and we set it up in the middle of the cemetery. We had planned on just setting the board up and leaving one of our nightvision cameras focussed on it to see if the planchet would move on its own accord. We decided that our other video recorder would be more beneficial elsewhere, so we scratched the idea. However, we ended up actually using the Ouija Board for a short time around 11:00 PM. For some reason the planchet wouldn't even budge. We think this may be due to the dew that was settling and causing the board to be less slippery than it should have been or maybe Tony's planchet was a bit too heavy. It may have been because of all the commotion as well. It was a spur of the moment idea to actually use the board in the cemetery, so no one had been briefed on the basics of Ouija Board use and etiquette. Even though the Ouija Board itself wasn't functioning properly, we obtained several other pieces of bizarre evidence, while we were using it, which you will find below. >8>|

Throughout the evening we had a couple of little scares. Shortly after we had been using the Ouija Board, an enormous pack of coyotes began to howl. It almost seemed as though our whole area was surrounded by them. It was a bit overwhelming and un-nerving. At about 11:41 PM Matt approached Aedryan to inform him that he had gotten some ecto in a picture. Aedryan asked matt where he had gotten the picture and before Matt could even answer, Aedryan took a picture in the general vacinity of where Matt had just came from and it sounded as though someone set off a firecracker! Aedryan's camera made a really loud popping noise and a very bright flash came from it. At this point, nothing out of the ordinary has shown up in that picture, but it was nonetheless, very strange....

About 12:30 AM we decided to head over to the Gleason Farm, so we packed up our gear and trekked back down to the van. At about 1:04 AM we arrived at the barn and began taking pictures around the outside of the barn. We then proceeded up into the woods behind the barn to try and locate the Gleason family burial plot behind the house to no avail. Once we approached the rear of the Gleason house, we began taking pictures around the outside of the house. Due to all of the vandalism in the cemetery, we had predicted that the interior of the house would be accessable. But, to our surprise the house seems to be kept up pretty well. The fact that there are stickers all over the windows, stating that it is now government property is a major detourant. At any rate, the exterior of the house and the barn provided us with a treasure trove of glorious ecto photos!

About 1:45 AM we called it a night and headed back to the van....

Read On To See Some Of The Spooky Evidence

Collected By The SHGHRS On This Nigtht!

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We Urge Everyone To Click Here And Read Our Article About
Reviewing Ghost Evidence Before Viewing Our Reports!

Weather Data

Date - 5/24/05
Moon Phase - Full Moon - Waning Gibbous
Solar X-rays:
Geomagnetic Field: Quiet
Humidity: 72%
Wind Speed: NE 12 MPH
Barometer: 29.57 in.
Dewpoint: 53°F
Heat Index: 62°F
Wind Chill: 61°F
Civil Twilight: 4:28 AM EST
Sunrise: 5:00 AM EST
Sunset: 7:47 PM EST
Civil Twilight: 8:19 PM EST
Temp: 62°F

Mostly Cloudy

Equipment Used

Click Here For Our Current List Of Equipment And Specifications

Note: Not all of the evidence we collected on this night will be posted on our website, as we only present our most compelling evidence to the public. Other than resizing or brightening, none of our photos have been altered or enhanced in any way. Additionally, our EVP's are presented in their rawest form unless otherwise stated.

Aedryan's Evidence

Anamolous Photos Captured

Total Photos Taken: 230

"Beavis And Butthead & Co."

Captured By Aedryan Methyus

Comments: This photo was captured at 9:31 PM. Heh-Heh.... Cemeteries are cooool!

"Blue Orb"

Captured By Aedryan Methyus

Comments: Photo captured at 12:04 AM. The orb almost has a wolf-like facial feature within it....

"Red Energy"

Captured By Aedryan Methyus

Comments: Photo captured at 12:18 AM.

"Welcoming Or Warning Ecto?"

Captured By Aedryan Methyusl

Comments: Aedryan captured this photo at 1:04 AM. As with all of the ecto photos we obtained at the Gleeson Farm on this night, this ecto has some strong facial features within it. This was the very first picture Aedryan took when we arrived at the Gleeson Farm.

"The Gatekeeper's Final Warning"

Captured By Aedryan Methyus

Comments: Aedryan captured this photo at 1:17 AM. It is the third of the three ecto photos we obtained of the Gleeson House and again has very strong forms and facial features within it. It is almost like the ecto followed us around the house, as if it were guarding it. Tony captured an ecto photo on the right side of the house, we walked around the front and Matt got an ecto photo then Aedryan capatured this photo as we walked around the left side of the house. Hmm....

"An Old Lady In The Window"

Captured By Aedryan Methyus

Comments: This was the very next photo taken, only seconds after the last photo at 1:18 AM. As you can see, the ecto has vanished, but look who's in the window....

Electronic Voice Phenomenon Obtained

At this time we have only discovered one EVP that was obtained, prior to the beginning of the Ouija Board experiment. From the time we put our fingers on the planchet until the time we took them off and walked away, at least 14 EVP's were obtained, within only 20 minutes/26 seconds. Of those, many are either direct communication or personal communication and we consider two of them to be Threatening Direct Communication. After that time, no more EVP's were obtained. Considering the fact that only one other EVP was obtained before using the Ouija Board and none afterwards, we feel those are pretty substantial numbers and worthie of consideration.

Click Here To Hear The EVP's We Obtained On This Night!

Anomalous Video Footage Obtained

Unfortunately, we have not been logging the exact times we capture anomalies on video, but we will be from this point on. But, in only about 2 1/2 hours of recording, we captured an enormous amount of orb activity on video at Tinker's Creek on this night. Below we have posted some of the best ones. Definitely no shortage of activity in this place!

We Got Action! - This orb had been zig-zagging around everywhere. In this clip you will see it appear then hide behind the tall, white tomestone.

Close-up Orb - This orb comes right up to the camera, just as they had done many times on this night.

Orbs Zipping Around - In this clip you will see an orb appear and dart over by where we had the Ouija Board sat up. It then shoots over to us and goes in front of the camera, heads back towards the Ouija Board then vanishes in mid-air. As we've said many times.... Dust don't do that!

Ball Of Light - We're not sure what this is, but it appears to be some sort of bright ball of energy. Notice how you can see it glowing through the trees in the clearing as it floats behind them.

Ball Of Light Again - In this clip you will see an orb quickly dart by, but look to the top of the screen in the middle. Another glowing ball of light is seen through the clearing in the trees, as we are using the Ouija Board.

Ouija Board Orb - This is a very interesting clip, because Aedryan had just changed tapes in his video recorder and in the midst of doing so, he obtained a Direct Communication EVP in his digital audio recorder. The voice said, "Put it back in there!" and as soon as Aedryan put the new tape in it said, "There!". As soon as Aedryan hit record on the video recorder this orb is seen coming from where the video recorder was sitting and swooping in for a closer look at the Ouija Board.... Good stuff!

More Ouija Board Orbs - More orbs are seen swopping over us as we used the Ouija Board....

Orb Invasion - In this clip many orbs are seen coming and going from every direction! Pssst..... Kim, it was just a tree! >8>)

Orb Wisping By - We had walked up a trail, to the top of the hill, where we had heard most of the coyotes howling earlier in the evening. We're not 100% sure, but it seems like the orb may have made the "wisping" sound you'll hear as it passes in front of the camera. It could have been Aedryan, but it doesn't seem like he would have had enough time to see the orb and make the noise that quickly.

Orb Waiting To Take Matt's Seat - Is this orb doing a drive by, waiting for Matt to get up?

Orb Taking Matt's Seat - Beat your feet..... Lose your seat!

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Matt's Evidence

Anamolous Photos Captured

Total Photos Taken: 130

"Big Blue Orb In Motion"

Captured By Matt Ostrowski

Comments: Matt captured this brilliant blue orb in motion at 11:37 PM. It seems to have a small partner accompanying it, out on a midnight stroll through the cemetery.

"Ecto Rising"

Captured By Matt Ostrowski

Comments: This is the ecto photo that Matt captured a few seconds before Aedryan took the picture that seemed like his camera blew up, as mentioned in our report. He captured this photo at 11:41 PM. If anyone ever wondered what Aedryan's feet looked like, here they are! >8>)

"Lil Purple Orb"

Captured By Matt Ostrowski

Comments: Matt captured this purple orb photo at 11:50 PM. Tinker's Creek Cemetery seems to have them in all sizes, colors and flavors!

"Mad Ecto Rising"

Captured By Matt Ostrowski

Comments: Matt captured this photo at 11:54 PM. A few facial features can be seen within the mist. Can you see them?

"Come With Me"

Captured By Matt Ostrowski

Comments: Matt captured this exceptional energy streak photo at 1:07 AM, just seconds before he captured the mother of all ecto photos on the front of the Gleeson House. If you look closely you can see a monster-like ecto face at the top of the right column on the porch as well. Was "something" grabbing the girl by the arm and trying to lure her up to the old house?

"The Gatekeeper's 2nd Warning"

Captured By Matt Ostrowski

Comments: Matt captured this mother of all ecto photos at 1:08 AM, only seconds after the last photo. It was the very next photo taken, which clearly proves that the ecto appeared out of nowhere just as fast as it vanished. Many vivid facial features and forms can be seen within the ghostly mist. As previously mentioned, this is the second of the 3 ecto photos captured of the Gleeson House and it seems as if the ecto circled the house as we did, almost as if the house was being guarded. No need to get hasty. The "The United States Government Property" signs were enough to keep us out of the old house....

"Keep Away From The Barn!"

Captured By Matt Ostrowski

Comments: Matt captured this ecto photo at 1:16 AM as we approached the barn for the second time. Again, many strong facial features and forms can be seen within the ghostly white mist. Matt had to have captured this photo only seconds after Aedryan captured the third of the 3 Gleeson House ecto photos. Did the mist follow us back over to the barn?

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Tony's Evidence

Anamolous Photos Captured

Total Photos Taken: 270

"An Ecto Haze"

Captured By Tony Cromwell

Comments: Tony captured this photo at 10:46 PM. He had taken nearly 100 consecutive pictures in a row of this area in addition to several other ones throughout the evening and only two of them produced ecto photos.

"Thick Ecto Haze"

Captured By Tony Cromwell

Comments: Tony captured this ecto photo at 10:48 PM - less that two minutes after the last photo. There were only two other pictures taken in between them and the other pictures showed no trace of ecto whatsoever. Nor did any of the photos taken after this one. Once again, this shows us how quickly ecto comes and goes. Notice how the mist almost has a blue tint to it.

"The Gatekeeper's 1st Warning"

Captured By Tony Cromwell

Comments: Tony captured this photo at 1:16 AM. This is the first of the three ecto photos we obtained at the Gleeson House. Notice the strong facial features within the thick bellowing ecto as it rolls off of the old house.

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Conclusion

We all feel that our trip to Tinker's Creek was very worthwhile. Ecto photos are normally far and few between for us, let alone ecto photos that are this fantastic. We can do a half a dozen or more investigations, taking thousands of pictures in other haunted cemeteries and locations and never get so much as one trace of ecto. For us to have captured 9 ecto photos within only 630 total photos, in less than 4 hours of investigation is a real rarity.

There is no doubt in our minds that Tinker's Creek is definitely haunted for whatever reasons and so is the Gleeson Farm, if not even moreso. If the common theory that suicide locations attract negative energies and/or demons, that may explain why the Gleeson Farm appears to be so haunted. We would assume that the canal itself most likely has a lot of bad mojo as well, due to the fact that many of the canal workers were burried within its walls. There could very well be a lot of lost souls wondering around for that reason alone. We can't help but wonder if one of the reasons why the early settlers abandoned Tinker's Creek was due to the extreme amount of coyotes. We can't imagine it would be very easy to keep livestock in that area. With a pack of coyotes the size of the one we heard, it's hard to imagine that humans would even be all that safe.

Though we may feel a little bit differently now, after having reviewed a couple of the EVP's we obtained during our Ouija Board experiment, none of our people reported any feelings of being followed or pushed away or threatened in the cemetery on this night, as some have reported. However, we will say there is a certain nearby, undisclosed location that gave three of us who entered the area, an immediate uneasy and unsettling feeling just being there. At least two of the three just had a feeling like they just did not want to be there and were happy to just leave after about only 10 minutes of being there.

So, is Tinker's Creek haunted? Yes! Is Tinker's Creek cursed? Could be. Does Tinker's Creek rank high upon the ghostly activity scale? Absolutely! Will the SHGHRS travel two hours to visit Tinker's Creek again? Oh, hell yes!

All information contained within the pages of our investigations and reports are the property of Aedryan Methyus and the S.H.G.H.R.S. Any unauthorized duplication of any information contained within these pages without prior written consent is strictly prohibited. All information is © copyright 2003 - 2005 Strange Happenings Ghost And Hauntings Research Society & Methyus.com ©.

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