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History: The early history of the Broadwell Funeral Home in Felicity, Ohio is sketchy. What we do know is that Lula “Lou” Broadwell purchased a funeral business from J.L. Bannock in 1904. It is unclear where this funeral business was located. It has been reported that the current building was built in 1910. If this is the case as many claim, I believe that it was Lou Broadwell, not his son Chris that built it as Chris would have only been 10 years old at the time. At some point, Joseph Burnette “Chris” Broadwell took over the funeral business from his father.
Chris Broadwell did not run a funeral home in the sense we know today. At the time his funeral business was in operation, most funerals were held in the family home. Mr. Broadwell provided the casket (which was made in the workshop behind the house) and the hearse for transportation to the cemetery. |
The Hayden Funeral Home was the funeral home of choice for most local residents. There is no indication that there was any animosity between Hayden and Broadwell which lends credence to the theory that it is very likely that Broadwell provided the service for Hayden. Once embalming became commonplace, Broadwell installed equipment in the basement so he could provide that service as well.
According to local residents, the property never sat vacant for any length of time prior to the current owners purchasing it, as has been reported.
Claims: In my research and chats with the neighbors, I could find no claims of paranormal activity. One neighbor did say the property gave off a ‘bad vibe’ to him when he was younger but he had no tales of paranormal activity that he experienced or knew of anyone else having. One neighbor did say that about 4-5 years ago a paranormal group found out the building used to be a funeral home and asked for permission to investigate. They apparently captured a photo of what they claimed was a figure in the front parlor window. That’s when the paranormal claims began to circulate.
During our visit, I was shown that photo. It was taken at Christmas time from the front yard, toward the window, with Christmas lights circling the porch. I really couldn’t see anything in the photo except for some natural reflection from the lights. We tried to recreate the photo as the lights were still on during our visit, but were unsuccessful – all we captured was light reflection.
The owner did share with us his paranormal encounters which included his dogs alerting at something unseen at the stairway and second floor closet and seeing unidentified footsteps in plaster dust while remodeling. Other investigators have claimed to hear footsteps and children laughing, seeing the coal bin door slam shut and witnessing a 5 gallon bucket in the basement being thrown. Claims of feeling uneasy in the basement have also been made.
Our Findings: We investigated the Broadwell Funeral Home in May, 2021. We set up 4 night vision cameras. Even though there were no claims of hearing unidentified voices, we began holding EVP sessions throughout the building. We had video and audio constantly running, used the SLS camera, Rempod, spirit box and K-2 meters.
The only thing we captured on video was a mouse in the closet (possibly what the owners dog had alerted to??) however, we did capture what sounded like intelligent responses through the spirit box.
Is the Broadwell Funeral Home haunted? We did not capture enough evidence to convince us, but check it out for yourself.
According to local residents, the property never sat vacant for any length of time prior to the current owners purchasing it, as has been reported.
Claims: In my research and chats with the neighbors, I could find no claims of paranormal activity. One neighbor did say the property gave off a ‘bad vibe’ to him when he was younger but he had no tales of paranormal activity that he experienced or knew of anyone else having. One neighbor did say that about 4-5 years ago a paranormal group found out the building used to be a funeral home and asked for permission to investigate. They apparently captured a photo of what they claimed was a figure in the front parlor window. That’s when the paranormal claims began to circulate.
During our visit, I was shown that photo. It was taken at Christmas time from the front yard, toward the window, with Christmas lights circling the porch. I really couldn’t see anything in the photo except for some natural reflection from the lights. We tried to recreate the photo as the lights were still on during our visit, but were unsuccessful – all we captured was light reflection.
The owner did share with us his paranormal encounters which included his dogs alerting at something unseen at the stairway and second floor closet and seeing unidentified footsteps in plaster dust while remodeling. Other investigators have claimed to hear footsteps and children laughing, seeing the coal bin door slam shut and witnessing a 5 gallon bucket in the basement being thrown. Claims of feeling uneasy in the basement have also been made.
Our Findings: We investigated the Broadwell Funeral Home in May, 2021. We set up 4 night vision cameras. Even though there were no claims of hearing unidentified voices, we began holding EVP sessions throughout the building. We had video and audio constantly running, used the SLS camera, Rempod, spirit box and K-2 meters.
The only thing we captured on video was a mouse in the closet (possibly what the owners dog had alerted to??) however, we did capture what sounded like intelligent responses through the spirit box.
Is the Broadwell Funeral Home haunted? We did not capture enough evidence to convince us, but check it out for yourself.