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(#8) Delaware - The Woodburn Mansion
Built in 1790, the Woodburn Mansion housed a collection of wealthy and elite members of Dover society over the years before being purchased as the Governor's Mansion in 1965.
The first ghostly sighting occurred in the 1820s, when Dr. M.W. Bates and his family hosted a preacher overnight. The next morning, the preacher passed a man dressed in colonial attire on the stairs and, at breakfast, insisted on waiting on the second guest. To his astonishment, there was no other guest, and the preacher's description allegedly perfectly matched the host's deceased father.
Another tale concerns Quaker owner Dan Cowgill and the use of the home as a stop on the Underground Railroad. One night, slave raiders swarmed the property to kidnap their targets but found resistance from Mr. Cowgill. One slave raider climbed a tree to escape but instead hanged himself on a knot in the tree. Some say his evil spirit relives his slow, painful hanging death for all eternity.
Many Governors' wives have alleged the dining room is haunted by ghosts who enjoy drinking wine and floating about the room. Governor Charles Terry Jr. even claimed he witnessed a ghost taking in the wine firsthand, as have other previous owners, who swear ghosts emptied their decanters in the night. A young girl in a gingham dress supposedly tugged on the clothes of guests at the 1985 inauguration of Governor Michael Castle, then floated around the party. She also enjoys playing in the fountains on the property.
Anyone hoping to catch a glance of one of the ghosts can call and make an appointment to visit the Governor's Mansion.
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(#36) Oklahoma - The Overholser Mansion, Belvidere
Anna Ione Overholser is supposedly the specter haunting this 1903 mansion located in Oklahoma City, OK. Overholser was a socialite who attended a 1900 Presidential reception; reports claim she haunts her old home in a long gown with her hair piled atop her head. Visitors say she's often seen looking out of windows or making her way down the grand staircase.
Some even believe Overholser's husband and child may also be present in the house, as well as a couple of their servants. Witnesses claim motion detectors are continually set off for no discernable reason. The house is now a museum, and one of the employees recalls a movie filming across the street and a crew member asking who lived in the house. Apparently, he saw the window curtain move as if someone was there and was distraught to learn this was impossible.
Overholser and her much-older husband, Henry, lost many children in the home. Henry also suffered a stroke and spent four years in the home as an invalid until he died in 1915. Overholser herself passed in 1940.
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(#10) Georgia - The Sorrel Weed House
Francis Sorrel fled Haiti as a young boy during a slave revolt but had his life saved by those very enslaved people who refused to harm a child. He worked on the docks until moving to America, where he became a slave trader in Savannah, GA. Sorrel also shipped cotton, butter, molasses, and salt with the people. His son Moxley later fought on the Confederate side of the Civil War and was a Brigadier General in the confederacy.
The Sorrel Weed House, built in 1837, sits on the site of the Seige of Savannah that took place during the Revolutionary War. The Revolutionary Army was overcome by the attack of the French and American Forces and buried hundreds of their dead in trenches on Madison Square. The bodies were never exhumed and still sit under the Sorrel Weed House to this day.
Sorrel moved into the house with his bride Lucinda Moxley when he came to America. When Moxley passed away, he decided to marry her younger sister, Matilda. While married to Matilda, Sorrel had sexual relations with one of the women he had enslaved, Molly, in a room in Sorrel Weed House. Allegedly, Matilda found out and jumped from the second story to the ground below, dying instantly. Regretting her part in Matilda's death and fearing the consequences, Molly reportedly hung herself.
Visitors report seeing Molly and Matilda in mirrors or roaming the estate as dark silhouettes. Molly's former room was once rented out as an office to a man who was said to have had no notion of the home's history. He claimed feeling watched constantly, and others reportedly felt as though they were being choked, perhaps by a hanging rope. Many also hear chatter in the living area, only for it to cease as soon as they approach.
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(#27) Nebraska - The Captain Bailey House
Captain Benson M. Bailey was a riverboat captain who built his second wife the mansion now known as the Captain Bailey House, located in Brownville, NE. In 1877, the scenic Missouri River near the house began damaging the shore - and possibly Captain Bailey's home. He elected to move the home, brick by brick, to a new Main Street location, far from the water's dangerous waves.
Supposedly, a jealous neighbor sent poisoned food to the house for Mrs. Bailey so the neighbor could have the Captain to herself. Unfortunately for her, the Captain ate it instead and passed away in 1883; however, Mrs. Bailey passed three years earlier, leading some to believe the neighbor poisoned Mrs. Bailey first, then Captain Bailey when he didn't reciprocate her love.
According to witnesses, Captain Bailey still enjoys the home he built (twice) by opening and closing doors. The house is now a museum open to visitors.
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(#14) Indiana - The Whispers Estate
@SamandColby @ColbyBrock @SamGolbach hope you’re so proud. Did my very first ghost investigation last night at the Whispers Estate in Indiana. Thank you for inspiring and helping me step out of my comfort zone pic.twitter.com/io1ljaexMq
— a. (@aFandomRose0316) March 20, 2022The Whispers Estate was originally built in 1894 and purchased by Dr. John Gibbons and his wife Jessie in 1899. Gibbons used the first floor as his physician's office, and over the years, he and his wife adopted multiple orphaned children and brought them into their home. Unfortunately, their lives were marred by tragedies that may have marked the home for ghostly activity.
At just 10 years old, their daughter Rachel started a fire in the home shortly after her family moved in, and she sustained severe burns that led to her death days later. Elizabeth, only 10 months old at the time, passed from an unknown ailment in the home's main bedroom. Jessie Gibbons developed pneumonia and later died in the same room. In the 1960s, the resident of the house died in the upstairs bathroom. Another family's son fell down the staircase and passed away.
Visitors reported seeing Rachel Gibbons still wandering her bedroom and the rest of the house. The main bedroom is plagued with reports of strange sounds, specifically someone struggling to breathe while coughing, possibly pointing to Jessie's bought with pneumonia. On other occasions, the main bedroom's closet pops itself open multiple times by wiggling its own handle. The third bedroom is said to give horrific nightmares to anyone who sleeps there, and many claim someone tried to break open the bedroom door in the middle of the night.
The Whispers Estate is now a bed and breakfast that embraces its paranormal history.
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(#40) South Carolina - The Battery Carriage House
The Battery Carriage House is reportedly one of the most haunted inns in the South, with its roots deeply entrenched in Charleston since its construction in 1843. According to lore, Samuel Stevens built the house, and its next owner, John F. Blacklock, added his house from 18 Bull Street to his new property and house on 20 South Battery Street. The Civil War forced Blacklock from the house, and he sold it to Yankee Colonel Richard Lathers in 1870, who added a ballroom-turned-conference-room and a library.
The next owner was Andrew Simonds, who threw extravagant parties in the house with his wife, Daisy. Simonds sold in 1912, and it was passed around until becoming a hotel in the 1980s. While staying in room three at the Battery Carriage House, visitors reported cell phones making strange noises while turned off. They also saw orbs and asked a psychic staying in the hotel to clear out the spirits so they could get some sleep; fortunately, she obliged.
Supposedly, a floating, headless torso in room eight likes making weird noises to attract visitors' attention. Room 10 is home to the Gentleman Ghost, who legend says took his own life in the Battery Carriage House when it served as student housing. He likes to lay in bed with guests and watch people unpack.
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