Gold Rush Ghosts Saga: The Friendly Hauntings of the Albert Shafsky House B&B

Gold Rush Ghosts Saga: The Friendly Hauntings of the Albert Shafsky House B&B
By Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Esoteric Detective
www.hpiparanormal.com
Paranormal Hotline: (916) 203-7503
Email: [email protected]

Roberts Family

Below is a story – a blast from the past. My beginning days as a paranormal investigator. Enjoy!

Sometimes when I go to Blockbuster Video, I pick up a few horror movies, like Thirteen Ghosts. That was one scary movie, in which every ghost is hideous and is an imminent threat to the guest’s well-being. Ummm…how come I never run into Thirteen Ghosts that will scare the living daylights out of me? Case example, I get a call from Robert Reppert – Head Investigator of Gold Rush Ghosts and his lovely wife Nancy Bradley – Celebrity Psychic. They run down a story to me about a preliminary investigation that Robert Reppert, Rodney Roberts and Catherine Noble did at the Albert Shafsky House B&B. The story is intriguing. Robert wants me on the official investigation. Robert has me hooked, because he also mentions an Indiana Jones meets the Winchester House type of discovery. Robert discovered a stairwell in the basement area that leads to nowhere! 

When I arrive to Nancy’s home, the paranormal investigative team gathers: Robert Reppert – Head Investigator, Nancy Bradley – Psychic Extraordinaire, Rodney Roberts – Technician, Brian Abeel – Evidence Analyst and of course me, Paul Dale Roberts – Ghostwriter. We gather all the equipment that we will be using this evening of Sunday – May 18, 2008, which includes: thermal reader, digital audio recorders, digital cameras, video cameras, temperature gauges, EMF Readers. We all pile up in the official GRG Truck and head over to the Shafsky House - www.shafsky.com / 2942 Coloma Street, Placerville, CA 95667.

We are greeted by the owners Rita Timewell and Stephanie Carlson. Two very sweet ladies that have stories to tell. Nancy and I, conducted the interviews for her show Journey into the Paranormal. With the interviews, I learn that Albert Shafsky and his wife Dora Shafsky aka Kitty came to Placerville in 1901. Albert was a dry goods salesman and opened up a department store on Main Street. He was the first man to have glass show windows and he had a milliner who made lady’s hats. He built a beautiful home for his wife Kitty and their 2 year old daughter Alberta. He later had 3 more daughters, Verah, Bernice & Jeane. He was to later have a son named Boyd, born in Oakland. Albert became well known in the community and was elected City Council Member from 1906 to 1910 and Mayor of Placerville from 1906 to 1908. Albert and his three brothers came from Kishinvev, Moldavia. His daughter Alberta lived for 103 years. Albert Shafsky is descended from Kopel Yarashafsky of Modavia. 

After gathering all of the history about the Shafskys, I wanted to know the experiences of Rita and Stephanie. I wanted to know what the guests also felt in this spacious bed and breakfast. While I was getting the information from Rita and Stephanie, Nancy sensed their was a ghostly fuzzy white dog and a ghostly tabby cat that was still roaming around in the premises of this home. As the interview continued, I learn that Rita and Stephanie owned the home for 6 years, they absolutely fell in love with the enchanting personality of this home. They have both experienced hearing heavy footsteps on the second floor, books being flown off the shelves, lightbulbs being unscrewed. They will also find pennies laying about the house. Mrs. Shafsky was known to save pennies. Nancy was feeling the presence of a small child in the neighboring room. Later she feels that two kids are playing. Could this perhaps be the children of Albert & Kitty? Rita and Stephanie at times hear piano music playing in the lounge room. Sometimes they smell cherry pipe smoke from 7:30pm to 8:30pm in the evening. On this very night, the cherry pipe smoke aroma filled the room for a matter of a few minutes during the interview process. 

I learn that during storms, the activity seems to increase, as if the entities may be drawing energy from the ion particles in the atmosphere. Guests have seen a man on the stairs, it has been suggested that the man is Albert Shafsky himself. Shoes have been placed in order underneath the bed by an unseen force. We later learn that Kitty Shafsky’s mother Thora Bean died in this home. Nancy conducting a psychic reading of the house, discovers that Albert Shafsky and his wife Kitty are here in this home. She also feels Alberta, Boyd and Bernice are still here. Nancy feels that it is Kitty, who is playing the piano in the lounge area room. Nancy picks up the fact that two dogs are buried in the backyard and the ghostly presence of the fuzzy white dog and tabby cat are also in this home. There was one more entity that Nancy picked up on, she said that Marian Wing a former resident of this home is still here making her haunting presence known. 

Nancy picks up more energy signatures that indicate that Boyd had some kind of breathing problem and she could see Kitty beating on a rug outside on the porch. She said that Kitty was always concerned on the condition of her floors, she wanted the floors cleaned and tidy. Going through some old notes on the Shafsky, I found something comical. When Albert Shafsky was a little boy, he was on a ship with his father, he wanted to know what the time was and picked up an English dictionary to say “what o’clock is it?” and instead accidentally said “son of a b***h”. 

Clement Valtille, Lens, France
Relative of Paul Dale Roberts

The entities of this home, seem to be completely benevolent, they mean no harm to the owners and only want to make their presence known at certain times. Since little children are seen, this home probably has a combination of residual haunting activity in which an act replays itself over and over again. Case example, the children playing in the adjourning room. The children could possibly be the children of Albert & Kitty Shafsky. There seems to be some intelligent activity with the books flying off the shelf, as possibly one of the entities is trying to make a statement or let the owners know that he or she is around. With this beautiful bed and breakfast there is absolutely nothing to fear. If you ever stay at this bed and breakfast, you will even be greeted by the cutest miniature dachshund named Lily. Lily has detected presences in this home too. She will bark at an area where there is nothing there to be seen. 

The Shafsky House is pretty popular, since established people of Hollywood have stayed here. Such as the location scouts for the movie Memoirs of a Geisha and the Director of the movie trailer Pirates of the Caribbean has stayed here too. Steve Hanks the well known artist has comfortably stayed the night at the Shafsky House to rejuvenate from his travels. If there was a haunted home I want to live in, the Shafsky House is right there on my list! 

Now let’s see what Robert’s FINDINGS and CONCLUSION are. Did Robert’s team capture EVPs or any photographic evidence? Let’s see, Robert take it away:

ROBERT REPPERT’S FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION:
ROBERT REPPERT: There was a great amount of voice phenomena in the kitchen area, and also in the area where the piano once was. The voice phenomena was extremely audible on the stairs, and it is clear that you can hear Albert Shafsky say “Christmas party” which was interesting in itself, as he was Jewish. He speaks of a “holiday party” for the children, his and his friends, keeping them upstairs until the downstairs is ready for them to see. He also says the word “Memorial”. Both these are clearly heard when he was on the stairs, and in the kitchen his voice is heard as well, as is his wife ‘Kitty’. We will do further work on getting those words clearly off our equipment, this is a preliminary finding.

There was a great amount of orb activity at the bottom of the stairs where the unseen steps go under the building, as well as in the Albert Shafsky bedroom. Shadows appear in the kitchen, stairs, and living quarters which will need further investigation. As we go through the voice phenomena with a fine tooth comb, it is clear there are other words. This is truly a haunted building.

Unknown Family – Picture Found at Roberts Residence

One more thing. Nancy was able to identify that there was a piano in the living room, and was surprised it was on an outside wall. She was concerned as she plays the piano herself, and knows that all pianos must be kept on an inside wall so as not to allow for moisture. However, she has a clarification for the door next to the piano. On first observation she thought it was opened with shelves inside and perhaps some brass parts for instruments. Upon looking at it closer she is certain at 100% that what she thought was shelves, was WOOD PILED UP SIDEWAYS, making it appear to be shelve like. The shiny objects are at the end of what appears to be a wood holding device, so the opening next to the piano held firewood, and the cabinet led to the outside of the building.

This is a truly haunted Victorian building with wonderful clear and happy energy. We do not have Brian or Rodney’s findings on their equipment as yet. We intend to come back and spend our anniversary here in November with Stephanie and Rita over a glass or two of wine, our two new friends, seeing what else may be going on.

BRIAN & RODNEY’S NOTES (found at this link):
http://forums.jazmaonline.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=633

Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Esoteric Detective
aka The Demon Warrior
Hegelianism Paranormal Intelligence (International)
http://www.hpiparanormal.com/
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