This story was originally published on March 1, 2020. September 17, 1951 article showed the damage that the Octagon House. There are numerous reports of occurrences in the Octagon that were supposedly caused by the household ghost. Both Marlene and her mother were pushed down the staircase on two separate occasions. In 1900, the property became strictly a rental unit for tenants. People in the museum have been touched by cold, little hands. A 1892 legend mentions an alleged clause in Col. Tayloes will that forbade his heirs from opening a certain closet: Mr. New York: Albany, C. Van Benthuysen & sons. Ringing bells was the way they used to haunt the old mansion, and every night at exactly the same hour their din would be heard.". The oldest son, John Tayloe IV, served in the US Navy during the War of 1812 aboard the USSConstitution. Look which ever way you will, he wrote, and you observe happiness prosperity and wealth.. Emma, working as a teacher at a school on Broadway between Montgomery and Sansome, married shortly thereafter and moved with her aging mother to her husbands house on Guerrero. When he looked over the bannister he saw a man in black walking through the stairhall. A young lady on her wedding night is killed in a freak accident when he Creepy Tales from Old Alexandria, VA Alexandria, Virginia, has an exciting place in history, and especially when it comes to the ghosts that haunt every corner of this city, it seems. A former secretary said that she heard what sounded like the rustling of silk skirts coming up the stairway. The promise of octagonal living, though, was still a magical dream for the family who built the home on Gough Street. It was built in 1856 by Isaac Brown, the first mayor of Fond du Lac, on the site of an established settlement and trading post. The real reason for the secret rooms and tunnels may never be known for sure. Here's how to claim a chunk of $725 million case, Taxes are due Tuesday in only 3 of 58 California counties, It can work: Plans for an SF-LA night train are underway, Bay Area city at risk of devastation when overdue earthquake hits, Thousands of unusual sea creatures wash up on Bay Area beaches, Horoscope for Tuesday, 4/18/23 by Christopher Renstrom, BLACKPINK's genius Coachella set turned me into a BLINK, Kings fans are playing with fire against the Warriors, Kings announcer vents misplaced outrage over TV promo, Authorities investigate video showing man harassing SF sea lions. Residents included Harry and Winney Jackson, the head coachman, and ladys maid respectively. It was in sad shape, needing boatloads of money to fix it. He also reported that there is a step as youre heading downstairs from the second floor landing to the first floor that he would misstep on every time. ), Use the form below to submit photos and videos for use on the Wisconsin Frights website and social media. Just ten years after being named a national landmark, the Octagon House was rebranded as a museum. To protect his family and his livelihood, Brown hired designer, Orson Fowler and built his home in 1856, on the grounds near an Indian village, and an 1814 trading post, fort, and a settlement house. It sits at the intersection of 18th Street, NW and New York Avenue. But the house is also filled with secrets. The Octagon House of Virginia, also known as the Abijah Thomas House, is an abandoned home that sits in the countryside just outside of Seven Mile Ford. Killian K. Van Rensselaer, American lawyer and Federalist politician who served in the United States Congress as a Representative from the state of New York dined at The Octagon House. This 1856 octagon-shaped house has one and a half stories, grout walls covered with stucko, four dormers and a central chimney. Apparently, this was more than enough to earn the moniker of being octagonal in its day. The first initial reports of hauntings of the Octagon House were said to date back as early as 1888. The spiritsof the Brown children are stillplaying here and having fun; with each other, teasing the dog, touching people and cooperating with investigators. Besides being the emergency escape route from a possible attack from hostile Native Americans, Isaac Brown joined Fond de lacs Underground Railroad by using this house as an Underground Railroad stop in this massive effort to move ex-slaves to Canada. She identifies the murderer, however, as one of the Tayloe boys, a young blood with his fathers passion for horses and a few passions of his own for gambling and wenching.. July 13, 1952: Two story, cedar shingled tea house on Fallon Place, in San Francisco's Russian Hill. When Marlene bought the Octagon House property, she thought she was buying it for the preservation group; Save the Octagon House Committee, but that proved not to be the case.. "Now and then I hear tales of the ancient ghosts in the Octagon House. A Virginia native, he bore the weight of his burdens physically, with slumped shoulders and a weary expression on his face. The Octagon House is described as being "An Extremely Unique Property; an Architectural Masterpiece!" The house's mid-1800s' American style layout may be a bit odd by modern standards, but the space is well-designed for a family in 1856 as well as families who lived here throughout the eras. The construction materials, such as bricks, timber, iron, and Aquia Creek sandstone were all manufactured locally. There is no historical evidence to support these stories. The True Story of Alexandrias Burning Bride. It was Washington himself that suggested that Thornton would be responsible for the architecture of the Tayloe home. July 9, 1952: Octagon House located at 1067 Green Street, in San Francisco's Russian Hill. [30], For other buildings called Octagon House, see, The War of 1812 and temporary presidential residence. By far the most intricate and popular of the legends connected with the Octagon is that of the deaths of the Tayloes' daughters. Around that same time, the American Institute of Architects, which had been headquartered in New York City, began looking for a new national headquarters location in Washington, DC. Southwest Wisconsin Paranormal Group has caught substantial hard evidence, and have proclaimed that the Octagon House is very haunted indeed. The building is an official site of the Haunted History Trail of New York. This passageway led down to the basement tunnel, which led to the nearby river. The living room has a false fireplace with a small wooden stairway behind it and there is also a secret room adjacent to a second story bedroom. There was also an underground tunnel between the main house and the large wood shed, that started behind the fireplace in the parlor. The Ghosts of Octagon Mansion || Wytheville, VA || Paranormal Quest 72,125 views Premiered Mar 26, 2020 2.4K Dislike Share Save Paranormal Quest 109K subscribers The Paranormal Quest Team. January 16, 1984: Stairway in the Feusier Octagon House, located at 1067 Green Street, in San Francisco's Russian Hill. The story as related is that the crazed lover committed suicide by leaping over the balustrade from the top landing, falling to the hard, stone floor below.. Use the form below to suggest edits. People whoexperience thestruggles as well as the joys oflife in their forever home in this world, sometimes like to stay there in their afterlife to be able to enjoy in peace theirfond memories as well as peace from their struggles. Colonel John Tayloe III, for whom the house was built, was born at Mount Airy which he later inherited the colonial estate built by his father, John Tayloe II on the north bank of the Rappahannock River across from Tappahannock, Virginia. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. The servants' bells are no longer in the house and there are no reports of their continuing to ring today. This daughter, too, fell to her death down the stairs (or over the railing), and her shade is alleged to haunt the third floor landing and stairs between the second and third floors. The current owner suggests that the Carriage House could also be a place for one or both aging parents to live; or becoming a suite for relatives or company. Edwin would not make it back home to his young wife and children. Of those, one died in 1800 at the age of one month (Ann Tayloe) and never lived in the Octagon. Two years later, the home was ready. A lot of TLC was showered on this historic home by the current owner, Helen Hanson for forty plus years. At the time of her death her father had been dead for four years and she had been married to her husband, Robert Wormeley Carter II, for some time. After William died in 1869, Harriet and Emma started taking in boarders. For sixty-seventy years, many families lived here and called it home. The Octagon House still serves as the Lombardis' private residence, but it is open seasonally for guided tours. When the daughter turned in anger to go down the stairs, she fell down the stairs (or over the railing; stories differ) and died. Soon after the house was converted into a museum, the superintendent at the time was said to have witnessed various lights flickering on or off or having them turn off for no apparent reason with no one at the switch. When she returned home to reconcile with her father, they argued on the third-floor landing. The historic Octagon House in Fond du Lac is full of ghosts and secrets. When the entity reached the 20th step, it let out an unearthly scream and a thump resounded through the home, like a body falling to the first floor. On April 19, 1797, Tayloe paid $1,000 to Gustavus W. Scott for lot 8 in Square 170, at the corner of New York Avenue and 18th St., N.W. I am 76 years old and have spent 40 years taking care of the house and I decided that I have done enough.. A 1929 variant of the story claims that this is one of the most famous of the Octagon tales, and claims that proof of the story came in a body having been discovered in the house: an octaroon, a favorite of the lord of the manor. But the company's plans have changed, and the house together with its lot, 65 by 110 feet, appraised at $20,000, will be sold October 13. Paranormal The Octagon Hall is widely regarded as one of the most haunted places in the South. Inside this unique historical structure there are twelve rooms, and two full bathrooms; seven rooms on the ground floor, and four rooms upstairs. The first reported sighting of the Man in Black ghost was by a doctor who visited the Octagon on a house call. Detailed accounts of spirits in the Octagon House were later published in a local newspaper, which was quoted multiple times throughout the 20th century when other publications were writing about the Octagon House. It was stated that. It was easier to condemn it and repurpose the land for a better use. Virginia Tayloe Lewis, a granddaughter of John Tayloe III, grew up in the house, and recorded this family memorate in an unpublished manuscript: "The bells rang for a long time after my Grandfather Tayloes death, and every one said that the house was haunted; the wires were cut and still they rang Our dining room servant would come upstairs to ask if anyone rang the bell, and no one had.". It is one of only five houses to serve as the presidential residence in the history of the United States of America, and one of only three (along with the White House and Blair House) that still stand. Sometimes citizens will step up to the plate and buy an endangered historic building and then be reimbursed by the preservation group that was working to try to save it. A passage through the fireplace leads to the basement. She also opened up the house to several paranormal groups, like Southwest Wisconsin Paranormal Group. Another explanation is that the eight angles formed by the odd shape of the six walls are an old definition of an octagon. NE of Hamburgh, which was absorbed into the new city plan. In 1911 Marian Gouverneur, the daughter-in-law of Maria Monroe Gouverneur who was one of the original proponents of the legend, wrote of the Octagon and the bells in her memoirs: I have been told by the daughters of General George D. Ramsay that upon one occasion their father was requested by Colonel John Tayloe to remain at the Octagon overnight, when we was obliged to be absent, as a protection to his daughters While the members of the family were at the evening meal, the bells in the house began to ring violently. Major restoration efforts were undertaken in the 1960s and the 1990s, which returned the Octagon to its Tayloe-era appearance. Ghost Dimension s01e07 ~ The Old Glen & Milner Curse (2016) 4 . 2023 Copyright DC Ghosts. Marlene decided to keep living in her current house, and turned the main Octagon House into a museum; offering tours of some of the rooms. An owner reports that a spinning wheel on display was found completely taken apart in just a moment. It wouldnt be until at least 1990 when the home was restored back to its original 1815 look. When the British set fire to it in 1814, she was credited with saving the classic portrait of George Washington. The house was modeled after Donato Bramante's 1502 Tempietto in Rome, which in turn was based on a Tholos, a type of ancient . However, the 1970s owner did manage to get this Octagon House listed on the National Register of Historic Places, on November 3rd, 1972, before the state took ownership of this as is fixer-upper opportunity, and put it on the market at a reduced price. In 1937 the ghosts activities are defined: a murdered slave girl, another suicide, and the ghosts of slaves wander screaming through the house and grounds, Jackie Bouvier, in her unpublished 1952 essay about the house, related a variant of the story very similar to the first version. On either side of the porch the first floor was enlarged a bit to support the porch. Annals of the Van Rensselaers in the United States, especially as they relate to the family of Killian K. Van Rensselaer. The other death, stories claim, occurred in 1817 or shortly thereafter. The spirit of Ruth made her presence known to the owner Marlene throughout the house, and perhaps to the docents as well. The event is part of Travel Channel's third annual "Ghostober" programming event. as laid out in a plan of the District of Columbia by Maj. Pierre Charles L'Enfant and surveyed by Andrew Ellicott. Additionally, there have been reports of odors of cooking food coming from the kitchen downstairs. At the time, it had incredible views stretching in all directions of the burgeoning city. Today, the American Institute of Architects offers tours and public programming related to the Octagon House. Colonel Tayloe and his daughter quarrelled on the second floor landing over the girls relationship with a British officer stationed in the city. There are a number of ghostly legends at the Octagon that deal with its early history as a gathering place for the elite of Washington. John Tayloe III married Ann Ogle, daughter of Benjamin Ogle and granddaughter to Samuel Ogle of Ogle Hall Annapolis, Maryland, in 1792 at her family's country home Belair Mansion. She is said to have written that in Washington the Octagon was generally thought to be haunted because of the violent and unexplained ringing of the service bells. After those screams our band was closely knit together collectively we listened through the waning hours of night to the clanking of sabers and tramping of footfalls. Many of the stories of ghosts surrounding the property are associated with the Caldwell family, slaves, confederate, and union soldiers that stayed or lived or died there. March 24, 1953: The Octagon House on Gough Street, between Green and Union Street, in San Francisco's Cow Hollow. Children who die from accident or disease, sometimes choose to stay in a structure in this world where they felt love and support. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/OctagonHouse-Washington-DC_DSC6648.jpg/1280px-OctagonHouse-Washington-DC_DSC6648.jpg, http://dcmemorialist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/OctagonHouse.jpg, http://dcmemorialist.com/wp-content/gallery/octagon-house/2015-04-24-13.45.40.jpg, The Old Stone House: D.C.s Oldest Haunted House. The old woman went back to her Virginia home sullenly remarking, Never mind, hell pay for dis. Soon after the clatter of the bells began and continued until the annoyance was so great that they were taken down. Ruth continued to live in the family home. They built a large modern office behind the Octagon House and restored the building to its original splendor. Ann Ogle Tayloe lived in the Octagon until her death in 1855. Aside from the Tayloes themselves, it was said that two of their daughters may also linger to haunt the home. The Bethlehem Globe-Times in 1949 reported a story in which the mortal Dolley (while she was still alive) was distressed at the ghostly sounds in the Octagon and reportedly told her husband, James sir, were going to move. The house, which was owned by PG&E, was sold and moved across the street to its current location. The children were all born between 1793 and 1815. July 31, 1966: The Octagon House (aka McElroy House) on Gough Street, between Green and Union Streets, in San Francisco. Aghast we stood. FHL #975.525 H2t. October 27, 1958: Rejuvenated Octagon House (aka the McElroy House), moved, landscaped and decorated. But the house is definitely a place worthy of its reputation, especially if you happen to be a fan of paranormal activities and ghost stories. At the hour of midnight, as I and two others were crossing the threshold of a room on the second floor, three feminine shrieks rose from the center of the room. Reports of the slave girl's body being found in the house (walled up in a closet, the attic, or a chimney) have no basis in fact. The spirits of parents may stay in this world to take care of their spirit child or children who has chosen to stay there. Some have heard deathly screams at night yet they were the only ones in the house at the time. When Cyprus told him that there wasnt, the doctor looked perplexed and told him of encountering a man on the stairs just a few moments before who had been dressed in a military uniform of the early 1800s. The oldest of the Octagon's ghost legends is that of the mysterious ringing of the servant's call bells, just one of the legends linked to the African American slaves who once lived there. The pair met and married in 1859, the same year Harriet used her independent wealth to buy a lot on Gough for $2,500 (about $72,000 today). from Georgetown, and about .5mi. Another of Colonel Tayloes daughters eloped with a young man, incurring her fathers wrath. Both John and Ann were buried at Mount Airy. George Washington whose half-brother Augustine Washington, Jr.'s son, Capt William Augustine Washington married Tayloe's sister, Sarah 'Sally' Tayloe, on May 11, 1799 found out and persuaded the Tayloe's to build their house in the new capital city in an outlying section. The doctor was preparing to leave when he mustered up enough courage to ask Cyprus if there was a costume party going on that evening. He dealt with the problem by relating the house equally to both streets, which put the two walls at a 70 degree angle from each other. The Octagon House was likely spared destruction, during the War of 1812, because of the tricolor flag hanging outside. From all quarters the party rushed Too brave to desert, yet cowards at heart, we watched the gray light of morning dawn, and each man of us thanked God his night among ghosts was past. This daughter, too, fell to her death down the stairs (or over the railing), and her shade is alleged to haunt the third floor landing and stairs between the second and third floors.[24]. Variants of these stories appeared again in newspapers in 1892 and 1908. The legend of the bells then faded until 1952, when it appeared in an unpublished manuscript by Jacqueline Bouvier who wrote that Mrs. John Tayloe had the bell wires cut after her husbands death in 1828 because she felt that enemies were trying to drive her from the house. The legend appears again in 1975, in Ghosts: Washingtons Most Famous Ghost Stories by John Alexander. Whether for bootlegging during Prohibition or as a stop on the Underground Railroad, the purpose of its many secret passages and hidden rooms remain a mystery. Its rich history and important location mark it as a location with many layers to unfold, some no doubt including unhappy spirits that linger on. A boatload of hard evidence has been caught by various paranormal investigation groups. A Silicon Valley exodus is Is the Stanley Quencher tumbler worth its TikTok hype? When the daughter turned in anger to go down the stairs, she fell down the stairs (or over the railing; stories differ) and died. His parents provided for his wife and child after his death. The Octagon was firmly established as a haunted house by 1888, when, it is reported, twelve men decided to spend a night in the house in order to expel the ghosts or prove the legends wrong. The Madisons paid $500 for six months of rent. The Octagon would continue to serve as AIA's headquarters until the construction of the current headquarters building in the 1960s. The Octagon House was built in the 1860s by Paul J. Armour, a New York City financier. Dolley and James Madison resided in the Octagon House from September of 1814 through March of 1815, after the White House was burned by the British. Undaunted, Marlene Hanson went forward in restoring this historic gem through the loans from National Register of Historic Places; which also means that Marlene Hanson had to abide with the NRHP rules as well. Legend says Witch Road near Ripon, WI is haunted by an evil crone whose ghost dwells in the woods, causing mysterious lights and other paranormal phenomena. During the Civil War, Edmund Brown had enlisted with the Union Army, leaving his wife and three children to hold the fort so to speak. Rebecca Plater Tayloe died in 1815 at the age of 18, but at that time the Octagon was being rented by President Madison, and the Tayloe family was staying at their Mount Airy Plantation in Richmond County, VA. Sources state that the Tayloe family was "grief stricken by the loss through illness of their eighteen year old daughter Rebecca Plater while at Mount Airy". [16] The other death, stories claim, occurred in 1817 or shortly thereafter. this also brought in a steady income to continue in the maintenance of this historic house. It is reasonably priced at$149,996for such a huge lot with two homes!! Katie Dowd is the SFGATE managing editor. During a visit from his friend, a captain in the English army, he conceived the idea that said captain was in love with the quadroon The host slew his guest in an upper room, with only the quadroon as witness. And downstairs, a ghost paced. By this time, it was the centerpiece of a roughly 60,000 acre department of interdependent plantation farms-known as the Mount Airy department, located approximately one hundred miles south of Washington, D.C., in Richmond County, Virginia. 5 farmhouses to book for an agritourism getaway, Des Linden unveils new book, shares race day must-haves, Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). It will take me a long, long time to move my things out, so they will have to live around me, Hansen said. Caretaker James Cyprus had summoned the physician for his ailing wife. However, after forty years, it got to be too much so Helen Hanson closed her museum. Another legend says that a slave was locked in the attic and was never heard from after that except at 12:01 AM.. Kind of a low moan, repeated twice, it wasnt a word just a guttural sound. In 1989, on January first, the state of Wisconsin finally caught on that the Octagon House was an historic restored treasure, now that they didnt have to put any money into the restoration. The Octagon was firmly established as a haunted house by 1888, when, it is reported, twelve men decided to spend a night in the house in order to expel the ghosts or prove the legends wrong. The lot is triangular and fenced in by a high brick wall. In 2011, the T.V. Indeed, Isaac Brown had a secret purpose for the homes special features. If the house were built to face either of the bordering streets, it would be at an ungainly angle in relation to the other street, and outbuildings and wells had to be fitted in also. Currently operated by the American Institute of Architects Foundation, the Octagon Museum offers self-guided tours, permanent and changing exhibitions, public programing, and guided tours by appointment. The Clancy Family moved into this house; the first of many renters. The citys reputation earned it the nickname Little Chicago in reference to its enterprising neighbor to the south where gangsters like Bugs Moran and Al Capone ran massive operations in the trade of illicit booze. Of the Tayloes' seven daughters, only three died before the age of 30. Recent variants of the quadroons legend have tended to be short, and are usually mentioned in relation to the (historically impossible) staircase legend. This house and its land has long had a history of many uses, strong emotions, adventures and probably a few deaths. His early death in 1824 was possibly connected to wounds received during the war. It is documented that several soldiers from both sides, never physically left this property. Marlene Hanson also held events, dinners and other planned programs here, putting this old house to work; bringing in needed funds to keep maintaining it and making improvements as well.