The Day Lily
PRE-INVESTIGATIONThe Day Lily Cottage and Other Mishmash is located at 138 Olive Street in Keller. The current owners of the business are listed as Sharen Chatterton, Karen Rester, Katie Holland, Kayla Sullivan, and Laii Rice. The house was formerly located at 105 Taylor Street in Keller.
It was built in 1907 by John B. Merrill. In the early 1920s the house was purchased by Thomas Bayne White. TB White was a major stockholder in the Keller State Bank and the bank's second president. The Whites were major landowners in the Keller area.
TB White came to Texas after the Civil War from Missouri to become a cowboy. He and his brother originally came to Ft. Worth and then to Weatherford to get jobs. TB White became a pony express rider. He met and eventually married Annie Louisa Jane Jones who was 18 years younger than him. TB and his brother eventually became ranchers and moved to the Keller area. Annie would eventually become to be known as "Granga".
TB and Granga had two sons, Hugh Halsey and John Ray. Hugh became an attorney and rancher. Ray was a successful businessman and rancher. Hugh married Lyda and their home is currently located next door to the Day Lily and was previously investigated by SPI. John Ray married Evalena Sanders and they had two children Martha and Mary Ray.
The house was moved to it’s current location in 2004. There are no current reports of paranormal activity taking place in the home, however due to the houses age and connection to the White family we feel it’s worth taking a shot at an investigation here.
For more information on the White family of Keller please see SPI’s investigation of Old Town Quilts.
INVESTIGATION
On October 27, 2007 the crew from Stockyards Paranormal tackled two investigations in one night. We staged a return visit to Green Olive Interiors and conducted our first investigation of The Day Lily and Other Mishmash.
We began the evening with Terri, Pat, and Cheryl working at the Day Lily and Monica, Rebecca, and Kevin at Green Olive. One of the things we try to pay attention to is the feel we get for a house, a room, or any location we are in. Our group has done enough investigations that we don’t often get the odd creepy feeling. We don’t call these feelings evidence but we do pay attention to them. Both Terri and Cheryl had these feelings while at the Day Lily. Terri’s was more in the upstairs areas while Cheryl and Terri both had the feeling in the room behind where the cash register is.
Terri captured a very bright orb photo in the first photo she took inside. She immediately took another photo of the same spot and the orb is no longer present. She captured one other orb photo in the rear part of the house. This one is a little fainter and could be a loose dust particle. These were the only orb photo found during either group’s investigation. Terri also captured a very unusual EVP in the kitchen area. This was the only area of the house where any paranormal activity had been previously reported. The EVP sounds like a child’s voice. It’s difficult to make out the exact words but the voice is certainly not the voice of any of the investigators.
The other group arrived at the Day Lily after having some very unusual activity across the street at Green Olive. Rebecca, Monica, and Kevin made their initial walkthrough of the house. They then decided to focus on the upstairs portion of the house. We sat quietly for about thirty minutes asking for signs and listening intently. We had no activity during this time.
Kevin then left Monica and Rebecca upstairs and worked alone in the kitchen and the back office behind the cash register. We usually don’t like investigators to work alone, but for tonight we decided to experiment with a single investigator. A lot of paranormal activity is reported by people who are alone, so we felt it was worth trying. Kevin stayed alone in the kitchen for about 10 minutes and in the office area for about 10 minutes. There was no activity to report during this time.
Both groups agreed that the Day Lily house has a comfortable feel and for the most part none of us ever had that creepy feeling you sometimes get on investigations. Terri and Cheryl did have a bit of a feeling when they first entered the house but that feeling quickly faded. We were quite surprised at the EVP that Terri picked up. We have no explanation as to what spirit may have caused this.
We would like to thank the owners of the Day Lily. The house is wonderful and has great ambiance. We also appreciate the fact that they maintain this rich part of history for both the City of Keller and for the North Texas area.
Pictures
Picture One
Picture Two
Picture Three
Picture Four
Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVPs)
EVP 1
