SEGUIN, Texas – The historic Magnolia Hotel in Seguin which is rumored to be haunted has new evidence that spirits are active inside its walls.
Erin Ghedi, who co-owns the hotel with her husband Jim, captured some serious movement on their cameras around 10 p.m. Saturday night.
In a video Ghedi posted to Facebook, which can also be seen in the video player above, a ball can be seen rolling across the floor, along with tiny rem pods that only light up when they’re touched.
“The most exciting thing is watching the shadow figure enter the room on the top left corner by the door. It goes under the table,” said Ghedi.
She told KSAT that she can tell several spirits are in the room at the time of the recording because the ball moves, in addition to a shadowy figure that enters the room on the left at the same time a dress on the right is ruffled.
“That is our children’s room where all of our little spirits enjoy playing because of all the toys,” Ghedi said. “This was definitely sweet Emma because she is the one who enjoys rolling the ball.”
Ghedi said she thinks the shadow figure is a spirit named Mrs. Read who watches over the children.
The story of little Emma Voelcker isn’t for the faint of heart. “Emma is the little girl who was murdered in her own bedroom in 1874 while she was sleeping. Her friend Mrs. Helene Faust was also blinded in the same attack when a man, assumed to be Mrs. Faust’s husband, Wilhelm Faust, struck them both with an ax,” said Ghedi.
For years it was believed that Wilhelm Faust murdered the pair, and according to Ghedi, Faust was even convicted of the murders but never made it to the jail because he was killed by Emma’s father.
As it turns out, Ghedi discovered in the past several years that Wilhelm didn’t kill Emma or his wife. “The real murderer confessed doing it on his dying bed four years later,” Ghedi said.
Ghedi is an author and a historian in addition to being an owner of the hotel.
“Emma began showing up right after we started remodeling the hotel,” Ghedi said. “Each time she would provide us with clues to help solve who the true murderer was. Now she has grown attached to the other children’s spirits, the hotel and our, and many other’s, love for her which is why she comes forward so often.”
Ghedi, who said she knows of at least 20 spirits at the hotel, offers tours and overnight stays at the hotel which she rents out as a bed and breakfast.
The hotel is known worldwide for its paranormal activity and unique history. Built as a log cabin in 1840 by James Campbell, one of the first Texas Rangers, the Magnolia evolved over the years into a stagecoach station and a hotel.
The Magnolia Hotel is located at 203 Crockett Street in Seguin.