If only the walls of the 1872 Vincent House could talk … or do they?

There are legends of hauntings surrounding several old structures within the city of Fort Dodge, including the Vincent House.

Dan Prochaska has been the caretaker for the Vincent House for several years and has experienced many encounters that have led him to believe there are spirits in the home.

There are some theories as to why there could be spirits attracted to the home, from deaths that occurred there to the fact the builders of the home, James and Adeline Swain, were members of the spiritualist society.

According to Prochaska, a psychic medium once visited the Vincent House. She said there were close to 25 spirits that reside in the home.

“James Swain is still here. Adeline is still here,” he said, adding the psychic medium said when there are parties at the home or when someone is playing the piano, the spirits will come to the staircase, all dressed in period clothing — just wanting to know what is going on.

The two known deaths, Prochaska said, are Helen Vincent, daughter of Webb Vincent, who had purchased the home from the Swains; and Charles Vincent who, at the fall of the stock market in 1929, shot himself in the ballroom.

According to Prochaska, Helen Vincent can be quite an active spirit.

“I was showing the house to a couple to be married. They were in the living room; I was in the dining room. All of a sudden I heard them gasp. I turned around, all three of us saw this. We saw a little girl, dressed in black, she ran around the piano, waved at us and disappeared,” he said.

There was another time Prochaska said he believes Helen was present. This time it was during a Halloween tour. There was a group of people dressed in historical clothing impersonating the Vincent family, including a young girl portraying Helen.

The last of the people were enjoying a late night tour of the upstairs when a little girl walked by them and went back down the steps.

Prochaska said as they were cleaning up, he mentioned how he enjoyed how good the little girl’s performance of Helen was. The group he was talking to asked what he was talking about and when that happened. Come to find out, the little girl had gone home a few hours prior and that was not her who walked by them during the tour.

It hasn’t just been Prochaska who has experienced the potential entities in the home.

One evening, one of the hostesses at the Vincent House could hear noises coming from the second floor. And whatever she was hearing was enough to make her want to leave. Prochaska said when he showed up she was standing down the block. He convinced her to come back into the home.

They walked up the back staircase and found, in the children’s room on the second floor, the hairbrush that usually sits on the dresser had been thrown on the floor.

He placed the hairbrush back on the dresser, turned off all the lights, locked the door and then something caught his eye.

“We no sooner got outside and one of the lights upstairs came on. I went back in and up the stairs to shut the lights off. I said ‘that is enough’ and that light never came back on again that night,” he said.

Lights turning on randomly still happen, however.

“Lights will turn on. Sometimes you can see the chandelier twisting and turning,” he said, adding that he actually caught that action on film.

When you are driving by the Vincent House at 824 Third Ave. S. in Fort Dodge, be on the lookout. It has been said that sometimes you might see handprints form in the windows of the ballroom in the third story.

The investigation

In an attempt to help explain some of this paranormal activity, a group of investigators set up some of their equipment at the Vincent House recently.

Leading the group was Jeanette Thanupakorn, a member of the Fort Dodge group called Researchers in Paranormal Phenomenon (RIPP). They only investigated for a few short hours – but what they experienced is making her want to go back for more.

The group’s first experience was a light turning on in the kitchen.

“We were standing around the kitchen island and we noticed the room got brighter. No one was near the light switch, in fact, I did not find that light switch until we went home that night,” she said. “Somehow that light switch got flipped on. That is a big deal. Movements and things like that seem to require a lot of energy.”

Although the group did not bring all of their equipment for the investigation, they brought some to set up including recorders — or they at least tried to.

“My brand new batteries kept going dead. That was pretty frustrating. Something was draining my batteries,” she said. “I put a recorder on the piano and it went dead. Why? I don’t know, but the recorder I was holding had the same new battery and it didn’t go dead and is still going strong and other devices with batteries from the same pack worked. But three batteries drained like nothing.”

This is a common phenomenon Thanupakorn said she has experienced in other investigations.

While the group investigated the second floor, they went to the middle bedroom where it is said indentations will appear on the bed — even after straightening the bedding.

“We smoothed out the bed and when we came back the depressions reappeared on the bed. Was it something? Is it an old mattress? We don’t know,” she said.

Before the group headed up to the ballroom, Thanupakorn said she placed a recorder in one of the other second floor bedrooms. She also decided to push a rod full of clothing that once belonged to the Vincents into the closet and shut the closet door.

Later when she was listening to her recorder she picked up on a lot of audible movement; it wasn’t just a sound from a floor, or a creaking sound of an old house — but definite movement and no one from their group was on the second floor during the recording.

Thanupakorn said the first sound was a bump. Then soon there was movement and then footsteps. Then another bump and then more footsteps. It was several minutes later she could hear a noise. A noise she said sounded familiar.

“When I reopened the closet door and pulled the bar of clothes back out before we left, I remembered the noise it made and that was what I heard on my recorder,” she said adding it resembled someone pulling the rod of clothing out and putting it back away.

After she heard the sliding noise, Thanupakorn also heard on her recorder the sounds of breathing and again some footsteps and the sliding noise again.

Up in the ballroom, they were hoping to connect with Charles Vincent — the suicide victim.

Two people in the group, including Thanupakorn, could hear music playing.

The group used their equipment and starting asking questions, such as “can you tell us, is anybody here?”

They got nothing.

Thanupakorn said they asked, “Charles are you here?”

“All of a sudden, clear as a bell we heard ‘no,’ she said. “We asked can you touch this device? ‘No’ was heard again.

They also heard some movements in the background.

But those responses of “no” were not the scariest part of the night.

“We asked who are we talking to? And then I asked how many of there are you? And clear as a bell it said ‘get out!’ We all heard it,” she said.

After that, part of the group heeded that warning and left. But, three remained, including Thanupakorn, and they decided at that time to set up in the parlor.

They asked if anyone was there to knock on something.

“I got two knocks,” she said. “I said if that was you could you do that again? I got two more knocks.”

The recorder also picked up a giggle. Was that Helen Vincent playing with people again?

Thanupakorn tried again to get someone to say who they were.

“I asked if Mr. Vincent was there and we recorded the sound of a sigh of disgust or like clearing of a throat,” she said.

Prochaska said he hopes these haunting tales do not deter people from coming to enjoy the Vincent House.

“Different people have experienced different things, but to my knowledge, they are a protective spirit of the house — a playful spirit,” he said. “I have been here 19 years. Yes, I have experienced things, but it doesn’t really faze me.”