Happy Halloween: Ghosts in the White House Did You Know? Lincoln, who is believed to have attended only two of the séances his wife held in the White House, actually foresaw his own death more than once, including in a dream he had shortly before he was killed. The most famous address in America–1600 Pennsylvania Avenue–is also perhaps the country’s most famous haunted house. Presidents, first ladies, White House staff members and guests have reported feeling ghostly presences, hearing unexplained noises and even running into actual apparitions–even on the way out of the bathtub, in one particularly famous case. Abigail Adams & David Burns Abigail Adams and her husband John, the second president of the United States (1797-1801), moved to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue from the former U.S. capital in Philadelphia. At the time, Washington, D.C. was still just a town, built mostly on swampy land on the banks of the Potomac River. Because the East Room of the new White House was the warmest and driest, Abigail used it to hang the wash. Her ghost, clad in a cap and lace shawl, has reportedly been seen heading towards the East Room, arms outstretched as if carrying laundry. A lesser-known early White House personality who has been said to haunt its halls was David Burns, who sold the government most of the land on which the city of Washington–including the presidential residence–was built. Lillian Rogers Parks, a seamstress who chronicled her 30-year career working at the White House in a 1961 memoir, told the story of a valet to President Franklin D. Roosevelt who reportedly heard a disembodied voice coming from a distance in the Yellow Oval Room, saying “I’m Mr. Burns.” During Harry S. Truman’s administration, a guard heard a similar voice; thinking it was then-Secretary of State James Byrnes, he went looking for him, only to learn that the secretary hadn’t been at the White House that day. Andrew Jackson & Harry Truman’s Ghosts In 1824, Andrew “Old Hickory” Jackson...
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 19:19:07 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015