StopSylviaBrowne - Sightings: Ghost of Brookdale Lodge

[RSLancastr]

New article up today:

http://www.stopsylviabrowne.com/articles/sightings_ghostofbrookdalelodge.shtml
Sightings: Ghost of Brookdale Lodge
Sylvia Browne knows details about a reputed haunting. Did she have prior knowledge?

[yairhol]

I liked the article.
Very good investigation.

Isn't it getting frustrating that after so many investigations and publications about browne apperantely being a liar and a cheat, she still has so much success?

I am frustrated beyond compare about this.

Regards,
Yair

[philkensebben]

Great work yet again Robert.

[kieran]

New article up today:

http://www.stopsylviabrowne.com/articles/sightings_ghostofbrookdalelodge.shtml
Sightings: Ghost of Brookdale Lodge
Sylvia Browne knows details about a reputed haunting. Did she have prior knowledge?
Robert, there appears to be a typo, the section "A wedding" has Paul Dufresne's wedding in 1983, but item 2 of the section "Analysis" has 1984. Not that it matters to the overall message of the article, but it is probably better to sort that out before unscrupulouis people use it as an example of your "lies" ...

[yairhol]

Robert, there appears to be a typo, the section "A wedding" has Paul Dufresne's wedding in 1983, but item 2 of the section "Analysis" has 1984. Not that it matters to the overall message of the article, but it is probably better to sort that out before unscrupulouis people use it as an example of your "lies" ...

Are you, sir, saying that RSLancastr is a liar?
Is that what you're saying?

Regards,
Yair

[kieran]

Are you, sir, saying that RSLancastr is a liar?
Is that what you're saying?

Regards,
Yair
Who sir? Me sir? No sir!

I was pointing out that someone unscrupulous (and illogical) might use the inconsistency to claim that. The clue was the use of quote marks around the word "lies". Probably waayyyyyy to subtle eh?

[Matty1973]

Excellent article once again.

[yairhol]

Who sir? Me sir? No sir!

I was pointing out that someone unscrupulous (and illogical) might use the inconsistency to claim that. The clue was the use of quote marks around the word "lies". Probably waayyyyyy to subtle eh?

Ha Ha...got you....
Just messin' around...

Regards,
Yair

[headscratcher4]

Another nice job, Robert! The fact that she was there years before is almost, in my mind, proof positive that she knew the story. Can you imagine attending a wedding at a well-known and supposedly "haunted" local and not have that be a topic of conversation? If you went to the Ambassador Hotel in LA, someone would say here's where Bobby Kennedy was shot. If you go to the Willard Hotel in DC, they tell you here's where the phrase "lobbiest" was coined, etc. Hotels, their staff's and their guests all talk about the uniqueness of a place...probably selected the site for the wedding, in part, because of the charm and mystery of holding it in a "haunted" place.

[Rasmus]

Oh my ... does the woman *ever* say anything that's true?

[RSLancastr]

Isn't it getting frustrating that after so many investigations and publications about browne apperantely being a liar and a cheat, she still has so much success?
Thanks, yairhol! No, I knew going into this endeavor that it would take time and patience. I was under no illusion that it would be simple.

Great work yet again Robert.Thanks, Phil!

Robert, there appears to be a typoFixed, thanks!

Excellent article once again.Thanks, Matty!

Another nice job, Robert!Thanks, 'Scratcher!

The fact that she was there years before is almost, in my mind, proof positive that she knew the story. Can you imagine attending a wedding at a well-known and supposedly "haunted" local and not have that be a topic of conversation?Particularly given her "hobby" of checking out "haunted houses."

Oh my ... does the woman *ever* say anything that's true?Oh, I'm sure she does, from time to time, inadvertently. :)

[Minarvia]

That was some terrific research and a great article. I remember seeing that lodge covered on several tv shows including Unsolved Mysteries. I didn't see the Sylvia segment on Sightings, tho.
Sooo...Sylvia had no prior knowledge of the place? Puhleeze!

[JoeTheJuggler]

Oh my ... does the woman *ever* say anything that's true?
She's definitely correct, though still misleading, when she says she's not 100% accurate. :)

What a liar she is!

Excellent article, Robert.

For some reason this one seems to be even more revealing. It's not a matter of her being wrong in a reading (which she can brush off since, according to her, no psychic is 100% accurate), but of lying about the externals--that she'd never been there before and had no clue what to expect.

[Magic 9-Ball]

And I'd also like to add my thaks for the update, Robert. That's the second place I check for updates each day.

I'd love to see articles every day. You can't be THAT busy, can you...?
;)

[PastBrowneFan]

Again, a great journalistic piece of work RSL.

To know that two of her Ministers were at the location previously, did a "House Blessing", then covered it in a newspaper and a television news station proves that SB had knowledge of the location, especially since nothing at NS happens without SB's knowledge.

This proves that the woman is a liar, and a con.

Keep up the great work RSL

[SeekingTruth]

Just wanted to echo everyone else's sentiments Robert - wonderful article - and pointing things out as you do in your inimitable style can only serve to continue to take the blinders off of the "believers" and hopefully encourage them to think for themselves.

Those who continue to trust SB dispite the overwhelming evidence proving she's a con artist, liar, etc, etc, may one day realize that as the articles continue to go up, their trust and support of this con artist has been undeserved. And may they be so angry at her deception that they provide you the final nails for her coffin.

ST

[Kilgore Trout]

Excellent article. I especially liked the invitation at the end for the assistants to be quoted. Though, I very much doubt you'll hear anything.

[edteach]

Silvia is a doubble bagger

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

She went to a "haunted house" without knowing what the haunting was? Please. To start with, "haunted houses" don't exactly keep it a secret they're "haunted"! Motels and hotels in particular announce it to the world because it always translates to bigger buisness.

For instance, here's Brookdale Lodge talking about the ghost of Sarah Logan on their website:

http://www.hauntedbay.com/features/BrookdaleLodge.shtml

Too bad this happened in 1994- otherwise you could have said she just looked it up on their website. :D

[headscratcher4]

She went to a "haunted house" without knowing what the haunting was? Please. To start with, "haunted houses" don't exactly keep it a secret they're "haunted"! Motels and hotels in particular announce it to the world because it always translates to bigger buisness.

For instance, here's Brookdale Lodge talking about the ghost of Sarah Logan on their website:

http://www.hauntedbay.com/features/BrookdaleLodge.shtml

Too bad this happened in 1994- otherwise you could have said she just looked it up on their website. :D


It would be interesting to see an advertising brochure from that period...probably proclaims it ...

[Winterfrost]

Great article.

After reading up a bit, I'm curious about the story of "Sarah Logan," and I'm wondering if there is some way to confirm that she was even real. If she was, as stated on a page linked from the Brookdale Lodge's website (http://www.hauntedbay.com/features/BrookdaleLodge.shtml), "six year old Sarah Logan, the niece of the lodge owner" (obviously meaning the "original" owner, as J. H. Logan died in 1928 and had sold Brookdale long before that) and Sarah supposedly died sometime in the 1940's, they are one curiously virile family!

Assuming that Sarah died in 1940, she was born in 1934 -- 6 years after J.H. Logan died, though he would have been 93. With multiple marriages and younger wives, it's possible that J.H. may have had a brother at least 20 years his junior, who sired Sarah at a ripe old age, I suppose (J.H. had a child at age 70)... but it doesn't seem very probable to me...

The other possibility is that "niece" refers to a "great niece" or some slightly more distant relation. The fact that the ghost is being tied back to the original owner (who was dead and no longer owned the place) just smells suspiciously like "myth building" to me.

Does anyone out there have access to a genealogy website that might be able to check some of these details about the Logan family? Seeing as J. H. Logan was in public office, I would think his family details might be more accessible, but I can't find anything.

I know it's not really your intention to disprove ghosts on your site, RSL, but surely if the ghost that Sylvia saw could be shown to never have even been a real person, that's worth something...

Anyway, keep up the good work!

[RSLancastr]

That was some terrific research and a great article.Thanks, Minarvia!

I remember seeing that lodge covered on several tv shows including Unsolved Mysteries. I didn't see the Sylvia segment on Sightings, tho.
Sooo...Sylvia had no prior knowledge of the place? Puhleeze!:D

She's definitely correct, though still misleading, when she says she's not 100% accurate. :) Oh, and she's also correct when she says that she isn't psychic about herself!

What a liar she is!

Excellent article, Robert. Thanks, Joe!

And I'd also like to add my thaks for the update, Robert. That's the second place I check for updates each day.

I'd love to see articles every day. You can't be THAT busy, can you...?
;):boggled:

Again, a great journalistic piece of work RSL.Thanks, PBF!

To know that two of her Ministers were at the location previously, did a "House Blessing", then covered it in a newspaper and a television news station proves that SB had knowledge of the location, especially since nothing at NS happens without SB's knowledge.Yes, I think it will be very telling for anyone in her organization who have yet to realize she's a fraud. They know how much control she has over everything, and how unlikely it is that those ministers went to the lodge without her full knowledge.

Just wanted to echo everyone else's sentiments Robert - wonderful article - and pointing things out as you do in your inimitable style can only serve to continue to take the blinders off of the "believers" and hopefully encourage them to think for themselves. Thanks, ST!

And may they be so angry at her deception that they provide you the final nails for her coffin.Let's hope so, ST.

Excellent article. I especially liked the invitation at the end for the assistants to be quoted. Though, I very much doubt you'll hear anything.You never know! And thanks!

She went to a "haunted house" without knowing what the haunting was? Please. To start with, "haunted houses" don't exactly keep it a secret they're "haunted"! Motels and hotels in particular announce it to the world because it always translates to bigger buisness.Yup.

It would be interesting to see an advertising brochure from that period...probably proclaims it ...:)

Great article.Thanks, WF.

After reading up a bit, I'm curious about the story of "Sarah Logan," and I'm wondering if there is some way to confirm that she was even real.An interesting angle, and one I had not considered! Let me give it some thought. Thanks!

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

I like Wikipedia's comment on the "hauntings" on their page about Brookdale:

"The Brookdale Lodge is known for having a stream run through the restaurant. The original lodge was built in 1890 by Judge James Harvey Logan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Harvey_Logan) at the site of the Grover Lumber Mill. Before Judge Logan's development, the area was know as Clear Creek and Brookville.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookdale%2C_California#_note-0) The lodge is still in use and it is rumored to be haunted by Sarah Logan, a niece of the owner, who drowned in the creek within the lodge in the 1920s, according to multiple print and online sources.[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookdale%2C_California#_note-1)[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookdale%2C_California#_note-2)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookdale%2C_California

[headscratcher4]

Great article.

After reading up a bit, I'm curious about the story of "Sarah Logan," and I'm wondering if there is some way to confirm that she was even real. If she was, as stated on a page linked from the Brookdale Lodge's website (http://www.hauntedbay.com/features/BrookdaleLodge.shtml), "six year old Sarah Logan, the niece of the lodge owner" (obviously meaning the "original" owner, as J. H. Logan died in 1928 and had sold Brookdale long before that) and Sarah supposedly died sometime in the 1940's, they are one curiously virile family!

Assuming that Sarah died in 1940, she was born in 1934 -- 6 years after J.H. Logan died, though he would have been 93. With multiple marriages and younger wives, it's possible that J.H. may have had a brother at least 20 years his junior, who sired Sarah at a ripe old age, I suppose (J.H. had a child at age 70)... but it doesn't seem very probable to me...

The other possibility is that "niece" refers to a "great niece" or some slightly more distant relation. The fact that the ghost is being tied back to the original owner (who was dead and no longer owned the place) just smells suspiciously like "myth building" to me.

Does anyone out there have access to a genealogy website that might be able to check some of these details about the Logan family? Seeing as J. H. Logan was in public office, I would think his family details might be more accessible, but I can't find anything.

I know it's not really your intention to disprove ghosts on your site, RSL, but surely if the ghost that Sylvia saw could be shown to never have even been a real person, that's worth something...

Anyway, keep up the good work!


Not sure you would even have to go at it from this angle....a small child drowns at a hotel. I would think a local or state paper news service would have covered it...and a funeral. I wonder what the local newspapers for the period say about the "alleged" drowning....if there was no drowning, who whas Sylvia talking to? Herself?

[headscratcher4]

I like Wikipedia's comment on the "hauntings" on their page about Brookdale:

"The Brookdale Lodge is known for having a stream run through the restaurant. The original lodge was built in 1890 by Judge James Harvey Logan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Harvey_Logan) at the site of the Grover Lumber Mill. Before Judge Logan's development, the area was know as Clear Creek and Brookville.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookdale%2C_California#_note-0) The lodge is still in use and it is rumored to be haunted by Sarah Logan, a niece of the owner, who drowned in the creek within the lodge in the 1920s, according to multiple print and online sources.[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookdale%2C_California#_note-1)[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookdale%2C_California#_note-2)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookdale%2C_California

Indeed...and not one of those sources is contemporary to the alleged incident. ;0

[Loss Leader]

According to this (http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=CAdeath1940&so=2&rank=0&gsfn=Sarah&gsln=Logan&sx=&gs1co=2%2cUSA&gs1pl=7%2cCalifornia&year=1935&yearend=1940&sbo=0&sbor=&srchb=r&prox=1&db=&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-c), Sarah Jane Logan, also known as Sarah Jane Draeseke, died in California in 1940. You have to buy a membership to see the actual death record.

[RSLancastr]

According to this (http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=CAdeath1940&so=2&rank=0&gsfn=Sarah&gsln=Logan&sx=&gs1co=2%2cUSA&gs1pl=7%2cCalifornia&year=1935&yearend=1940&sbo=0&sbor=&srchb=r&prox=1&db=&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-c), Sarah Jane Logan, also known as Sarah Jane Draeseke, died in California in 1940. You have to buy a membership to see the actual death record.Thanks, LL!

I'll ask my wife to look into this. She has done a fair amount of genealogy research, and may have a membership to that site (or an equivalent).

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

Sarah's age and manner of death sure keep changing around an awful lot-

Greetings from Santa Creepy In and around Santa Cruz, ghost stories and spooky sites send chills (http://web.lexis-nexis.com.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/universe/document?_m=7e57171bc945d80317442dd9cc099dc3&_docnum=13&wchp=dGLzVzz-zSkVb&_md5=ddbaa0f8f4c6e64ea4e3c028a5007e18), The San Francisco Chronicle, OCTOBER 31, 1997, FRIDAY, FINAL EDITION, PENINSULA FRIDAY; Pg. 1, 1768 words, Jennifer Asche, Chronicle Staff Writer, SANTA CRUZ

...

BROOKDALE LODGE

''It's a happy world with rustling winds, soft clouds and skies of blue -- why not be happy too?'' proclaims a Brookdale Lodge menu circa 1940.

Nestled in the tiny town of Brookdale in the Santa Cruz mountains, the 46-room lodge is widely known for its dining room, which has a brook running through it. Built in 1900, the lodge was once a haven for Marilyn Monroe, Joan Crawford and other Hollywood luminaries.

Some visitors never left.

Sarah, the 8-year-old niece of the hotel's proprietor, disappeared one afternoon in 1918 and was found hours later dead at the bottom of the brook. Some say that Sarah's lilting laughter, cryptic cries and the buzz of her tricycle pervade the lodge.

Puzzled by the haunting sounds, Kim Gilbert, daughter of Bill Gilbert, a San Francisco Police Department lieutenant who purchased the lodge in 1989, sought the advice of Sylvia Browne.

Browne, who entered the lodge with no knowledge of Sarah's story, said she immediately sensed a girl's presence.

''I first ran into her in this banquet room. She was skipping rope, really happy. And then, as if the scene changed, you could see her frantically running -- and then I saw her hit her head,'' Browne said.

Lt. Gilbert admits that sometimes guests leave the lodge prematurely, citing strange visions and auras.

His other daughter, Jennifer, said she first encountered the ghost in 1994 when she and a co-worker were closing the lodge.

''We heard laughter in the Fireside Room. We thought we saw a shadow by the fire, and we actually looked for somebody, but no one appeared.''

And, she said, muffled cries sometimes replace the laughter.

...

http://web.lexis-nexis.com.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/universe/document?_m=7e57171bc945d80317442dd9cc099dc3&_docnum=13&wchp=dGLzVzz-zSkVb&_md5=ddbaa0f8f4c6e64ea4e3c028a5007e18

[Normal Dude]

I did a search for Sarah Jane Logan on genealogy.com, didn't find anything. Sorry :(