Woodburn Governor's Mansion of Dover, Delaware The story of Woodburn Mansion has been told to residents of Dover, Delaware for many years. A 19-year-old Caucasian male student at the University of Maryland told this particular version of the ghosts of Woodburn Mansion. Now a sophomore architecture major, he grew up in a small town just outside of Dover, where the story of Woodburn is known all too well. The story was first told to him as a young teenager while actually visiting the mansion with his parents. The telling of a ghost story entails more than the text itself. Lighting, environment, tone of voice, and many other factors affect how well a ghost story is told. As one can see by reading the following story, simply reading …show more content…
The mansion where the story takes place is called Woodburn Mansion in Dover, Delaware. Charles Hillyard, III built the house in about 1798 and passed away in 1814, leaving the house to his daughter Mary and her husband Senator Martin W. Bates. Mary Bates recorded the very first haunting of the house in 1815, which is the story of the visitor seeing the family’s father on the stairs (as told above). The father in this story was Charles Hillyard, III (Mary’s father) and was seen by a Mr. Lorenzo Dow. In his description of the ghost, Dow says that he saw a man "dressed in the fashion of the preceding generation, complete with queued hair, knee breeches, [and a] ruffled blouse" (HauntedHouses.com). In this version Dow saw the ghost prior to breakfast, not dinner. Another ‘sighting’ of Hillyard’s ghost was reported in about 1870 when a woman was revived from a fainting spell to see a man in a white wig in front of the fireplace. In other versions of this story, the ghost of Hillyard is known to drink wine that gets left out over night, not just any liquor. Governor Charles Terry Jr. (resident from 1965 to 1969) states that he saw a man in a white wig help himself to wine from the dining room. The ghost of the slave as told in the above story has different versions as well. One version tells that the man hiding up in the tree was not a slave, but rather a slave raider. A group of these slave raiders came to the mansion in search of escaping slaves on the Underground Railroad, but were chased off by the owner at the time, Daniel Cowgill. One of these raiders decided to hide in the tree to catch the slaves, but he fell and got his head stuck in a hole in the tree where he was hung to death
I have lived in Baltimore for quite some time now, and it is impossible to live in the area and not know that there is a ghost story associated with the Admiral Fell Inn at Fell Point (a section of Baltimore located right on the harbor). The man who told me this story is a very well educated, 61 year old credit union CEO. He told me the story over dinner, with me trying to shush the rest of the guests because they all wanted to tell their own versions. I have included his version of the Ghost of Admiral Fell below, excluding only names and comments from others:
This story, although somewhat unique in its exact plot, contains many elements that make it a typical and traditional ghost story. These elements suggest common fears in today’s society of people in general, and children specifically.
The particular story I collected takes place in Philadelphia, where ghost stories are plentiful. Philadelphia is an old city with a rich cultural heritage, and our founding fathers made history in the place that was once our nation’s capital (Eidmann). Many believe that their spirits and spirits of those from colonial times still lurk around. It is easy to feel like spirits are around when in a place where many people have lived and died before, and in a place that is filled with old buildings and landmarks. All of these factors make this city a perfect place for a ghost story.
Windham, Kathryn Tucker, and Margaret Gillis Fish. “The Face in the Courthouse Window.” 13 Alabama ghosts and Jeffrey. 1969. Reprint. Huntsville, Ala.: Strode Publishers, 1976. Print.
A 19-year old female from Harford County, Maryland, narrated the story of Black Aggie, the urban legend of an overnight stay in a cemetery. She grew up Christian, and still lives in one of the more rural areas of Maryland with her younger sister and parents, who own and work at an electrical contracting business. Accustomed to hearing many ghost stories and urban legends, she first heard the story of Black Aggie during a middle school slumber party. Late one Saturday night over pizza in our Hagerstown dorm, she was more than willing to share her favorite urban legend with me.
chambers in the mansion (p. 11)," the atmosphere of the room lingers an ominous and creepy
I searched until I heard a story that gave me the chills. It comes from right around the block from where I live on campus, at one of the sorority houses at the University of Maryland. I collected this story the weekend of April 2nd, at my fraternity house. I asked my friend, a junior from Pikesville, if she knows any ghost stories. Her face lit up as if she was dying to tell me this story since the first time we ever met. She asked “you never heard the story of the ghost in the sorority house?” I replied no. The normally quiet woman demanded my attention away from the TV and went into her story.
When one usually thinks of a hearing a ghost story, the setting is dark with flickering light (such as around a campfire or in a basement with bad lighting) and, of course, it is nighttime. Needless to say, when I heard this story during the middle of the day on a Friday, I was a little taken aback. When prompted for any urban legends or ghost stories a white, female friend of mine immediately responded with, “Have you ever heard of de Sales Academy?” With my negative response, the nineteen year old student jumped into her story:
All houses are haunted; all persons are haunted; throngs of spirits follow us everywhere, we are never alone. Every county has they own haunted places some more known than others. I know this very personally because I live less than 100 yards from one of those haunted places, Marsh Road. I will take you on an adventure though Wisconsin’s past and present gulls and goblins that will sure give you a new look on Wisconsin. The haunted places in Wisconsin are worth learning about.
This particular ghost story was told to me by one of the members of my gymnastics troupe. We had become friends over the course of the season, and she was telling me this story in an informal setting in my dorm room on a Friday night. She is twenty years old and grew up in a very conservative Catholic family in New Jersey. Later on, as I attempted to find more people who would have heard a similar story, I ran into another friend who had heard a variation of the same plot. This was a Jewish Caucasian male, nineteen years old, who grew up in North Carolina. He told me this story as we were eating lunch at a sandwich place in College Park:
The story describes the house as being old and tended by an old man. The house is barely described other than it just being dark (paragraph 4). This adds to the creepy
The most famous address in America, is also the country’s most famous haunted house. Presidents, first ladies, staff members, and guests have reported ghost presence, hearing unexplained noises, and running into actual apparitions. The White House is not only home to President Obama, and his family. It is also home to many ghosts. The ghosts that have been reported, are former presidents and other people who have died on White House grounds. There have been many ghost sightings. Some weren’t even President’s. It was just people who have died in the White House or on White House grounds. Most people were President’s though. There are some creepy stories to go along with it. People have said that they have seen President’s sitting in their favorite chairs or favorite rooms.There are 18 ghosts living in the White House. Eleanor Roosevelt has been found wandering on the second floor. Abraham Lincoln has been found in the hallways and in his bedroom. Martin Van Buren, has been found in the kitchen. Nancy Reagan, has been spotted. Andrew Jackson, has been heard cursing out loud. David Burn, is the oldest ghost that is living in the White House, he has also been heard. Harry S. Truman, has been seen relaxing in his living room. Anna Surratt, has been seen beating on the doors of the White House on May 7th. Thomas Jefferson, has been spotted in the yellow oval room, practicing his violin. President Carter’s daughter, has been seen playing a prank on the White House on Halloween. Abigail Adams, has been seen in the laundry room and carrying things. A British Soldier, has been seen with a torch in his hand. Grover Cleveland, Martin Van Buren, Ronald Reagan, William Henry Harrison, Dolley Madison. President’s that are still living h...
This story was recounted to me by a 20 year old female student at my University. She is a Communications major, coming from an upper middle class family in the rural suburbs of New Jersey. I interviewed her in her apartment sometime in the late afternoon in an informal setting. Although she is skeptical about things such as urban legends and ghost tales, she explained to me that this story always unsettled her in an inexplicable way.
... story and compare it to those that already exist. As any story gets passed along, the minor components will always vary with the stable elements will remaining the same. The symbols in the Landon House ghost story, specifically the old woman, the civil war soldiers, and the dogs, show that our society believes that repeated actions transcend time, that death leaves its mark, and that disturbing the peace of spirits tends to “awaken” them.
The story I was told concerns the Manresa Castle at Port Townsend, in Washington State. The myth surrounding the castle is the usual belief that the castle is haunted. People go to the castle just to hear the cries and feel the tingles of staying there over night. People have also reported that when they have taken pictures while they stay there, they will be surrounded by glowing orbs in the background.