Tinker Swiss Cottage Investigation

The Tinker Swiss Cottage is a historic place, museum, and park in Rockford, Illinois, USA. It was built as a personal residence by Robert Hall Tinker in the1860s. It is now a popular destination for school trips and wedding receptions.

Robert Hall Tinker was born in Honolulu to missionary Reuben Tinker (1799–1854) and his wife Mary Throop Wood (1809–1895) in 1836. Tinker moved to Rockford in 1856, where he was employed as an accountant by Mary Dorr Manny, the wealthy widow of John H. Manny of the Manny reaper works. Tinker traveled Europe in 1862 and was greatly impressed by the estates and gardens he had seen there. On his return to Rockford , Tinker built himself a 20-room Swiss-style cottage on a limestone bluff overlooking the Kent creek and the home of Mary Manny. In 1870 Robert and Mary were married, becoming Rockford 's most influential couple. Tinker was mayor of Rockford in 1875 and a founding member of the Rockford Park District.

Upon the death of the Tinkers, the cottage was left to the Rockford Park District. The home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on December 27, 1972.

Located at 411 Kent St . , Rockford, IL . 61102, 815-964-2424

Website: www.tinkercottage.com

Experiments performed: EVP experiments were conducted in the red room, main living room and octagon room. Ghost Head Soup investigators used their reverse speech device during some EVP sessions.

Personal experiences: I did feel a cold draft several times in the Red Room and could not debunk where or why. Someone seemed to indicate it was coming from a crack in the floor but the air of coldness was several feet off the ground and intermittent.

I thought I saw a short shadow figure standing just within the door jam of Tinker’s Bedroom while looking up from the library with the naked eye. It was a fleeting glimpse and was only there for a few seconds.

The light formations that I was seeing through my Nightshot camera in the one corner of the Red Room were nothing more than dust particles apparently stirred up by air currents and people walking about. At first they didn’t fit the profile of dust particles which tend to have a snow flurry effect. But in later analysis, it was most definitely just dust particles.

Dean and I both clearly heard a disembodied female sigh come from the other room and we both said simultaneously that we had heard the same thing.

The Ghost Research Society investigated Tinker Swiss Cottage on October 21, 2011. Team members included: Dale Kaczmarek with help from Mark Schwabe, Dean Thompson, Jessica Kasza, Tim Schmuldt, George Hawrylenko and Angela with Steve Litteral.

Evidence collected:

Cat.MP3 – a catlike sound was captured on the full spectrum camera positioned in the Red Room.

Eight.MP3 – during an EVP session in the library, Dean suggested to George to mention eight in his EVP questions, the Ovilus said, “eight.”

Gunfire.MP3 – we were able to capture the shooting incident in Rockford of gunfire.

Female sound.MP3 – during an EVP session in the library, a question was asked, “Mary what happened in the library?” In the background, you can clearly hear a disembodied female cry which several people also hear in real time.

Healthy.MP3 – during an EVP session in the library, a question was asked, “Did you have a favorite cigar?” The Ovilus responds with, “help.” Then the conversation continues with bringing back memories for Tinker when the question is asked, “Is there something you would appreciate for us to bring to you?” A whispering voice responds with what I believe is, “healthy or help me.”

Help.MP3 – during a group EVP session before the investigation in the room with the coffin, the digital recorder was placed on the coffin. A question was asked, “Tinker can you make a noise upstairs if you’re here with us?” A muffled sounding “help” was the reply.

I hate Dean.MP3 – the Ovilus says very clearly, “I hate Dean.”

Joe.MP3 – during an EVP session in the library, the Ovilus says, “Joe” which could stand for Josephus.

Look up air.MP3 – during an EVP session in the Red Room there were comments made about cold drafts of air felt by a few in the room. The Ovilus said, “look up” and followed that with, “air.”

Mmm.MP3 – during an EVP session in the library, George was asking what he could do to make Tinker remember what it felt to be alive in exchange for a conversation. He asked, “Maybe the smell of baking bread?” An “mmm” like someone enjoyed that suggestion was the reply.

Running feet.MP3 – during an EVP session in the Red Room, a question was asked, “Robert can you follow the sound of my voice and join us in the Red Room?” What follows is the sound of running feet.

Singing.MP3 – a singing female voice was captured on the full spectrum which was in the Red Room. However the sound did not appear to emanate from that room.

The Ghost Radar said the words: uncle, Joe, label, student, produce, fruit, hungry, run and swept when in the Red Room while the Ovilus said look up, soccer and tide.

Conclusions: I believe the building was active on the evening of the investigation both with disembodied voices, sounds, shadows and direct responses during EVP sessions. However the wooden floor made a lot of noise when walking on it and there was a lot of extraneous other sounds and unnecessary talking during some of the EVP sessions including when we were conducting the very first session in the Red Room. A smaller group was heard downstairs either talking or conducting their own session so a lot of tagging was necessary.

I think it would have been a good idea to limit the EVP sessions to much smaller sessions that way we could have covered many more parts of the cottage that evening. The last session in the library lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes. It is not customary to expect communication from the other side lasting that long in one session. Even the spirits must be given a break to recharge sort to speak. Also we like to have a ten minute complete quiet time during our investigations where nobody moves, talks or says anything to see if anything is heard or recorded later.

I would like to investigate this location again with more cameras and equipment and a Command Center .