The Farnsworth House

The Farnsworth House

The Farnsworth House was built in 1810 as a farmhouse and got its' name from General Elon Farnsworth, who died during the Battle of Gettysburg. It was also the site of a rebel sniper's nest, and is thought to be the place that the musket ball that killed Jennie Wade was fired from. The B&B is allegedly loaded with spooks from the battle.

The sharpshooters in the attic are still there and supposedly are very active. It's said that you can hear one of them play a Jew's Harp to while away the time. You can hear the footsteps of another carrying a dying comrade down the stairs to the basement, where he softly sings to comfort him. Shadows have been spotted flitting throughout the house, mostly at night and often in the dining room. Footsteps have been heard pacing up and down the main hall.

But quite a few of the wraiths came as part and parcel of the house's history. A youngster named Jeremy was trampled to death outside the Farnsworth by a buggy while playing tag with his friends, and allegedly you can see him being cradled in a blanket by his sobbing father carrying him into the Inn. It's said that the boy roams the hotel, stealing things and exchanging them for toys. Jeremy's also supposed to haunt two other nearby houses, one a shop and the other a home.

A former resident called Mary died in the Sarah Black Room. She's appeared to guests there, dressed in a blue gown. She sits on the end of the bed and likes to toy with visitor's personal belongings and sometimes their hair. It's thought that she's been spotted in the next door Catherine Sweeney room, too. The guest that saw her had a cold, and Mary was a midwife in real life who tended to the House's ill. Mary's also been spotted accompanying the Farnsworth Ghost Walk Tour.

Another spirit was reported as a black mist that slowly morphed into the form of an old woman. A lady dressed in 19th century garb has been seen checking out the kitchen supplies. She vanishes when you approach her. It's thought she's an old employee of the Inn keeping an eye on the shop. There's also been quite a bit of poltergeist activity involving the help - touchings, tugs on their aprons, overturned trays, the works.

One great Halloween story comes from there. A local radio station was setting up to broadcast from the Farnsworth on All Hallow's Eve. They were dressed in blue jeans and blue company tops. When they called into the station to check on their feeds, they talked to a person who was nicknamed Captain.

Apparently all the people in blue reporting to their "Captain" put the rebel spirits into an uproar. A psychic that was along for the show said the spirits were afraid of being discovered by the Union troops - the people dressed in blue - and told her that there was a spy in their midst. She tried to tell one of the spooks that the war was over and he could move on. He didn't believe her.

The Inn has been featured on A&E's The Unexplained, Sci Fi Channel's Sightings and the History Channel. It's in a virtual library of both history and spook books. The Farnsworth House is famous for more than its' hospitality.