Sylvester K. Pierce was a wealthy furniture manufacturer in Gardner, Massachusetts. He married Susan Jackson and they built this 6,661 square foot Victorian mansion in 1875. Sadly, a few weeks after moving in, Susan died from a bacterial infection. 

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One year was the proper and traditional mourning period for the era and S.K. waited exactly that long before marrying Ellen West, a woman 30 years his junior and only six years older than his eldest son, Frank. 

 

SK and Ellen had two more sons together, Stuart and Edward, before SK died in 1888. Ellen succumbed to a bacterial infection in 1902 sparking a family feud amongst the three sons for control of the mansion and the business. 

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Edward Pierce took ownership of the mansion during the Great Depression and tragically his young daughter, Rachel, was the third Pierce to die of bacterial infection. Edward not only lost his daughter, but also the mansion.

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The mansion became a boarding house with new owners. It was during this time that a World War II veteran named Eino Sauri became the house's fifth, and as far as we know, final death. Urban legend attributes his death to spontaneous combustion but in reality the fire that claimed his life was the result of cigarettes and chemical residue on his clothing and skin. 

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With all of that history and tragedy the mansion endured, we knew a paranormal investigation would be interesting. We were not disappointed.

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We welcomed back returning guests Griffin and Jason along with a new guest, Andrew. Staff member Marion joined us for the duration of the investigation. However, just as we were setting up our equipment we were all startled when we heard gunshots erupt from the store across the street. Gardner, Massachusetts is a safe town and the mansion is in a safe area so we were shocked, to say the least.

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Andrew is a first responder and ran across the street to help as Jillian and Marion called 911. The suspect was quickly caught, the shooting victim survived his injuries, and the police continued to patrol the area for the duration of the night. 

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We went on with our investigation as best we could knowing that the events of the night weighed heavily on all of our minds and hearts. With the strong police presence we modified our standard investigation techniques to account for the outside noise. Each of us had personal experiences that we hope we captured for evidence.

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We're all grateful that no one become another chapter in this property's tragic history that night.