The Farnsworth House Haunting
The Farnsworth House Haunting: On the Gettysburg Ghost Trail (Gettysburg Ghosts Book 2)
By Richard Estep
The Sexton’s musings (spoilers are likely):
As this is a work of non-fiction describing the investigations done at the Farnworth by Estep there will probably be less ranting and more straight information. This is the first book that I have read by Estep and so far I like his style. It’s relatively straight forward yet entertaining. Here you not only get the stories of the experiences but you also get the history of the Farnsworth House Inn as well as a general look at the Civil War. You also get to join him on his investigative sessions. He does not try to sensationalize anything. If they get results he reports them is not he is open about that as well. These things are not in a controlled environment and trained to perform on cue. It’s random and fleeting.
You can tell that he is passionate and fascinated by the American Civil War. Continuing throughout the book to imagine what it was like during that time and wondering what was going through the minds of the people that were there during the conflict. (just an aside…over the years the reason for the civil war has been skewed. It was less about slavery and more about States Rights. Slaves were owned by individuals that resided in both the north and the south, by the black and white population of the time. This war was about maintaining a way of life and not being taxed into oblivion…). This book is structured by chapters that examine a specific location or incident (room, battle, tragedy, etc.) for the most part. So I am going to structure my discussion in the same way.
The first chapter looks at the general history of the house and some history about the entities that have been experienced in the house over the years, along with their stories. The rooms are named after some of the more notable historical figures of the War. Estep stayed two nights in the McFarlane room and two nights in the Sara Black room. Both rooms have been known to be haunted by a boy named Jeremy, who was said to have been run over by a horse while playing and died in the bathroom of the Sara Black room, which used to be the nursery. In my own look at the Farnsworth House Inn it seems that Jeremy has his own room at the inn dedicated to his memory as well. Don’t know if it is haunted but you can stay there. The inn is a beautiful place. The rooms look to be top notch as do the tavern, beer garden and fine dining establishments! I’ve never been here but I might have to leave the boneyard for a small clip at some point.
Next Estep talks about his first night at the house in the McFarlane room. No investigation session was done this night as they were all knackered and there were no other worldly incidents to report. The normal sounds of course woke him up on occasion; however, there was always an explanation for it. The three subsequent chapters after this were the telling of the experiences of other guests that had stayed in the McFarlane room. One of them a police officer and as we know, they are hard nuts to crack when it comes to believing in the preternatural and paranormal.
The McFarlane Room
We then move on to the attic where Confederate snipers had seated themselves, aiming at Cemetery Hill through the one small window on that side of the house. It is said that one of these snipers shot the bullet that killed Virginia “Jennie” Wade, the only civilian casualty of the Gettysburg battle. There have been several reports activity in the attic. Not just while standing in there or during an investigation but several guests have heard what they have said sound like footsteps and dragging noises coming from the ceiling of their rooms. Estep has his own session and he joins another pair of investigators that were staying there as well. There are two chapters that cover the attic the second which is titled “The P-word”. When you read the chapter you will laugh at this. It’s also an interesting view into how language changes over time.
Garret window where the fated bullet that killed Virginia “Jennie” Wade was suspected to have been shot.
The Jennie Wade House now
Jennie Wade House then
On the recommendation of Brad Klinge, who Estep met at a convention and who happens to have written the forward to this book, he decided to visit a lesser known location called the Brickyard. The Battle of the Brickyard was not something that I was familiar with although in all fairness most of my civil war knowledge is from my research of the paranormal and not historical. This said, Estep outlines the incident where 778 young men from both sides of the conflict lost their lives. Estep goes for a visit and decides to come back that night for a session.
Mural of the Brickyard Fight by Mark H Dunkelman painted at the site of the battle.
The next chapter talks about a soldier named Amos Humiston who was one of the 50,000 men that dies during the Gettysburg conflict. He died clutching a photo of his three children and because of this they were able to find his family and identify him. Humiston is one of few soldiers who actually have a marker with their name on it. The picture ended up opening a can of worms when it came to the children who were orphaned during the war. Where would they go? So funds were raised and an orphanage was opened (not far from the Farnsworth House). The place was run by a woman named Rosa Carmichael who eventually was found to have been abusing the children in her care both physically and mentally. Ultimately this monster got off with a slap on the wrist, a fine, and the orphanage shut down. This bitch should have landed herself in prison after what I have seen of her version of care, or possibly strung up in the town square. I vote for the latter. Let some of the kids have a stab at her…literally.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Orphanage run by Rosa Charmichael then and now.
“This is 'the pit' where the sadistic head mistress, Rosa Carmichael, allegedly chained disobedient children.” photo courtesy of Grave Concerns Paranormal
Access article on Newspapers.com
Estep then move his things into the Sara Black Room where he reads and recounts in the chapter some of the stories that are in the guestbook in the room. Lots of people had experienced something while staying this room however Estep and his team (Anna and Jason) did not have much luck capturing anything during their session.
The Sara Black Room
The next chapter is about the session that the team did in the cellar. As well as an investigation done by another investigative team that happened a couple of weeks after Estep’s team. The cellar is set up to reflect a Victorian funeral home. You know just to help with the creep factor vibe. The cellar was not a complete loss but not exactly what the team was hoping for so in the next chapter Estep decided to hit up the Klinge brothers for a bit of advice and ended up back in the attic. Unfortunately a personal tragedy strikes Estep and the session is cut short. The remainder of the chapter is Estep’s reflection on life and death in relation to the investigation and Gettysburg in general.
Farnsworth House Cellar (2024)
Chapter 13 discusses the stories that some of the staff and other guests have had through an interview with the lead housekeeper for the house named Vivian. They also discuss more history about the house and the Sweney family. Some interesting things come to light and the whole group has an experience they can’t explain.
As the above interview took place during the end of breakfast I thought I would share a picture of a guests breakfast. Makes me want breakfast.
Apparently chapter 13 was supposed to wrap up the book but Estep had the opportunity to interview an actor who had portrayed Major General Winfield Scott Hancock in the film Gettysburg. Here you learn about the role he played in the Civil War, not just Gettysburg as well as his life after the war. He was instrumental in holding Cemetery Hill as well as showing his skills as a tactician and strategist.
Major General Winfield Scott Hancock - photo courtesy of NPS
The last chapter here is an added bonus to this book. It’s a short story titled “Blood and Bricks” the Estep wrote after his emotional experience at the Brickyard and with the story of Amos Humiston and the 154th New York. It seems that this story was particularly powerful for him and his way of dealing with this was to write this story. Estep notes that this is a work of fiction based on research. It’s actually very touching. Obviously when you consider that the main character Amos was a real person who gave his life fighting for what he believed was right and true, it creates a flood of emotions. In truth this story could have described pretty closely that last few hours of this soldier and family man’s life. I think it encompasses what so many men experienced during this conflict and it does those that lost their lives a form of justice, and shows them due respect.
The picture Sergeant Amos Humiston was clutching when he passed. These are his children.
Closing thoughts:
If you are reading this book to have a scare then this is not the one that you want to be reading. Even though there are accounts of guest experiences and information regarding paranormal investigations that took place at this location it’s not really all that creepy in a horror/haunting type of way. The haunting part of this is the actual history surrounding this location and the surrounding area. So many lives lost at Gettysburg during the Civil War it’s no wonder that the area is rife with earthbound spirits. I enjoyed the historical part of this book. I think there is a good mix of historical fact (as we understand it anyway) and paranormal experiences. It is unfortunate that Estep and his team do not have much luck with their overall investigation of the Farnsworth House Inn but this said it definitely was not a total loss. Great book! And the inn itself is beautiful!
“We are serving no one man, we are serving our country.”
