- Haunted White House - mzsu
Patriotic ghosts include those of Benjamin Franklin, US Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln and General Mad Anthony Wayne, Betsy Ross, DC and Aaron Burr. The US Presidential Mansion, the White House, is the most haunted site for this select group of ghosts.
Ghosts of the Revolutionary War Era
Benjamin Franklin was instrumental in building the government’s foundation when the US was first established. His specter is said to haunt the Philosophical Society’s library in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Betsy Ross is credited with sewing the first US flag. Her crying specter has been sighted while she sits on the foot of the bed in her former home.
George Washington was a General during the Revolutionary War and the first US President. His wraith has been seen in the Hotel Chamberlain in Fort Monroe, the Hiawassee woods, Woodlawn Plantation and in Gettysburg. It’s said that his ghost rescued a group of Union soldiers fighting to drive Confederate troops away from Little Round Hill. He appeared, with upraised sword ablaze, astride a shining white stallion and commanded the Yankees to fix their bayonets and charge. This maneuver forced the Confederates to retreat. Gettysburg residents say that on some hot summer nights they still see Washington’s ghost astride a white horse gallop across the battlefield.
General Mad Anthony Wayne was a hero of the Revolutionary War and the Commandant of Fort Ticonderoga where his ghost has been sighted in the dining room and by a fireplace, smoking a pipe and drinking from a pewter mug. His specter has been seen at Lake Memphremagog where he searched for bald eagles to capture to train for hunting. Wayne was sent to Storm King Pass to warn troops of an impending attack. Witnesses report having seen his ghostly horse, Nab, and an equally ghostly Wayne before impending storms.
Spectral Aaron Burr
He was the third US Vice President under Thomas Jefferson, but this isn’t why he’s best remembered. He’s primarily remembered for killing Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the US Treasury, in a duel. Their relationship was one of political enmity and hostility. Hamilton considered Burr an unprincipled scoundrel. The antagonism between the two came to a peak 1804 when Hamilton thwarted Burr's attempt to get re-nominated for Vice President and his attempt to be elected the governor of New York. Burr challenged his adversary to a duel.
After killing Hamilton, Burr was tried for treason and acquitted. Burr’s ghost is said to haunt the One If By Land, Two If By Sea Restaurant, in New York City which is in what was once Burr’s carriage house. Visitors and staff have seen dishes fly of their own accord and have had chairs pulled out from under them by unseen hands.
Burr’s ghost is featured in New Hope, Pennsylvania’s ghost tours. A tour guide was so excited when she saw his ghost that she left her bewildered group behind and ran off because she want to tell staff members about the sighting.
White House Ghosts
The Presidential Mansion is Haunted by Some Former Residents Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the US, used to relax in the Oval Office and play his violin. Many people have reported hearing the sounds of a phantom violin emanating from the room. Seventh US President Andrew Jackson’s ghost has been heard stomping and swearing in the Rose Room. Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams, the first President to live in the White House is another haunter. The mansion was drafty and damp, exception for the East Room where she hung the wash. Her phantom has been sighted, scurrying to the East Room, with arms full of laundry. Dolley Madison planted the original Rose Garden. It’s been said that, when Frist Lady Mrs. Woodrow Wilson decided to remove the garden, Dolley appeared to the workmen dismantling it and scolded them. They fled and the Rose Garden remains. Willie Lincoln, one of Abraham Lincoln’s children, died in the White House when his father was President. His wraith was seen during U. S. Grant’s Presidency.
Sixteenth US President Abraham Lincoln’s ghost is the most active. His wraith has been seen in the White House by many people, including President Theodore Roosevelt, First Lady Grace Coolidge and Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands. Lincoln’s specter has been sighted at his tomb at Oakridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, walking the city’s streets and in his former home. A train carried his remains from Washington DC, where he was assassinated in the Ford Theater, to Springfield. Witnesses have reported seeing Lincoln’s phantom funeral train on its journey to his grave.
Black Cat’s Ghost Haunts Capitol Building
In the 1800s, the Capitol Building was infested with rats, so cats were brought in to control the rodent population. The cats are gone except for the spectral DC, Demon Cat, who appears only at night and only when the witness is alone. Some people have fled in terror; others fainted. When the experient regains composure, there are those who refuse to talk about the sighting while others discussed it. When witnesses tried to show others the cat, it had vanished without a trace. Although no detailed records have been kept of the sightings, DC has appeared before major tragic events. It was seen before the crash of 1929 which led to the Great Depression, US President John F. Kennedy’s assassination and other national catastrophes. Was DC patriotic in trying to warn people of impending disaster or an omen of misfortune? Unfortunately, cats speak feline language, not English.
Sources:
- Daniel Cohen, Phantom Animals, A Minstrel Book, 1991.
- Dennis William Hauck, Haunted Places, Penguin Books, 2002.
- Michael Norman & Beth Scott, Haunted America, Tor, 1994.
- www.nationalgeographic.com/ngkids/0610/2.html.
- Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, Facts on File Inc., 1992.
- Rosemary Ellen Guiley, “George Washington’s Ghost Looks after Woodlawn Plantation,” FATE, February 2008, Vol. 61 No. 2, Issue 694.
- Susy Smith, Prominent American Ghosts, The World Publishing Company, 1967.
Jill Stefko - I'd rather deal with the paranormal than human abnormal - having dealt extensively with both.
