Native looks into local ghost stories

Commercial News (DANVILLE) — From the ghosts of coal miners at Grape Creek to paranormal activity around Ellsworth Park, Eddie Cunningham has heard it all and wants to hear even more.

A Danville native, Cunningham is one of the co-founders of the Central Illinois Paranormal Association and is conducting a project to publish a book about the history and hauntings of Vermilion County.

“It’s the mystery of it and an interest in history for me,” Cunningham said. “You can’t have a haunting without some sort of history involved with the location. They go hand in hand.”

At a time when ghost hunting programs have captured TV watchers’ imaginations, Cunningham is looking for the ghost stories — and lore — that surround the buildings, homes and properties throughout Vermilion County.

So far he’s had a pretty good response, with one-time residents of the area calling him from Indiana and California with stories about the county. A former employee from the now demolished St. Elizabeth Hospital contacted Cunningham with descriptions of what he encountered at the hospital.

He’s also heard rumors about other places, including Spring Hill Cemetery, Danville Area Community College and the Hegeler mansion.

Cunningham began the research last winter for the book and said he expects it will take another year to complete.

Writing is only part of Cunningham’s interest in the paranormal. As a member of the CIPA as well as a local representative for the American Ghost Society, Cunningham has been involved in the paranormal for 16 years and taken part in investigations of places in several cities, ranging from Springfield to Peoria.

He said the field of paranormal research is not an exact science.

“In this field, 99 percent of the time you’re not going to get results back,” he said. “In my experience, you experience more than what you can capture evidence-wise.”

Cunningham said CIPA investigators like him merely look into the reports of hauntings with hopes of finding evidence of the paranormal. This generally entails seeking and ruling out all explainable possibilities, such as faulty plumbing or wiring, rodents or even deceit.

To contact the Central Illinois Paranormal Association, send an e-mail to legion421@comcast.net or visit the organization’s Web site at http://www.ci-paranormal.org