The Farnsworth House: What Spectral Frights Inhabit Gettysburg’s Famous Haunted Dwelling?
There is no rest for the ghosts of battle. For three horrific days in July 1863, death and destruction befell the once peaceful crossroads town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Ravaged by war, more than 50,000 dead and wounded soldiers bloodied its farmlands, streets, homes and every standing structure long after the final shots were fired. The lingering smell of death was rampant and sickening, the cries of agony unbearable. And for many of those who fought and died on these hallowed grounds of Gettysburg, there remains no escape from the eternal confines of where they fell.
Throughout the July 1-3 battle, a brick house stood — as it does to this day — on Gettysburg’s southern edge along the corners of Baltimore and South Streets. Built by tannery owner John F. McFarlane around 1830, local butcher Harvey Sweney purchased the property in 1852. At the outbreak of battle in 1863, Sweeney and his family still resided in their home, but, like many other families, deserted it to keep themselves safe.
On July 1st, Confederate sharpshooters from Louisiana, Georgia and Alabama occupied the Farnsworth House, using the small south-facing attic window as a vantage point to effectively target Union troops embedded along Cemetery Hill a half-mile away. For three days, Rebel and Union skirmishers fired relentlessly at one another. On July 3rd, the final day of the battle, Union forces stormed the Farnsworth House, smashed their way into the attic and killed or captured the holed-up Confederate troops.
Mary Virginia “Jennie” Wade, the only civilian casualty during the Battle of Gettysburg - the victim of a single errant bullet believed to be fired from the attic of the Farnsworth House
Sadly, 20-year-old Mary “Jennie” Wade — the only civilian killed throughout the Battle of Gettysburg — died instantly in the kitchen of her sister’s home after being struck in the back by a stray Confederate bullet believed to have been fired from the attic of the Farnsworth House.
Today, the Farnsworth House — renamed in honor of Union Captain Elon John Farnsworth, who perished near the rocky terrain of Devil’s Den on the final day of the battle — still bears the scars of war. More than 135 bullet holes prominently riddle its south-facing red brick facade. Each bullet has its own story to tell. As do the ghosts who still haunt this historic structure.
Gettysburg’s reputation for being one of America’s most haunted towns dates well before the Civil War, owing much credit to the Farnsworth House and the restless spirits bound within it. Like the dried blood of dead Confederate sharpshooters that still stain the attic’s wood floorboards, the ghosts who haunt its confines refuse to fade away.
It’s believed as many as sixteen ghosts haunt Farnsworth House, including the spirit of an 8-year-old boy named Jeremy who died in the house soon after being struck by a horse-drawn carriage on Baltimore Street. His ghost has been witnessed both inside and outside of the house, watching over children playing near the street. Then there is the phantom midwife named “Mary,” whose spectral figure is often seen wandering inside and in the hallway near the bedroom she died in.
Guests staying at the Farnsworth House have reported an assortment of eerie phenomena. From mild encounters like the strong aroma of cigar smoke in their room, especially in the dead of winter when the windows are sealed shut, to discovering their bedsheets continuously being tucked in by invisible hands throughout the night. Others have recounted being scared out of their wits seeing the silhouettes of human forms standing next to or sitting on the edge of their bed in the darkness. A female apparition is often seen sitting alone in the dining room, often mistaken as a fellow guest before she suddenly fades away before everyone’s startled eyes.
Even more frightening encounters include the bloodied and faceless form of an unknown entity seen from the outside of the house that appears in the window of the “Sarah Black Room.” One guest reported the sound of heavy boots and labored breathing closely following him up the staircase “almost close enough to feel the breath on the back of my neck,” only to turn and discover he was alone.
A majority of eyewitness accounts of ghostly activity in Farnsworth House are of long-dead Civil War soldiers who spent their last hours of life in the stifling confines of the attic. Perhaps they died elsewhere in the house, which served as a make-shift hospital first for the Confederacy, then the Union throughout the battle. Guests have been startled awake by the sound of “gunfire-like pounding” coming from the attic above them. Others have sworn they heard the sounds of men wailing in agony from the same spot.
The Farnsworth House attic , a hotspot of paranormal activity within the building
Gettysburg historian Tom Evers often recounts the story of his encounter in the attic with a Confederate soldier. Exploring the attic one morning, he was startled by a figure crouched in front of the south-facing attic window. Thinking it was a fellow re-enactor because of his realistic Confederate Army attire, “the gaunt figure turned its head, stood up and walked quickly towards me. When he was close enough to touch, he suddenly faded away into nothing.”
It’s the rich history of Farnsworth House that contributes most to its allure. Haunted by both ghosts and tragedy alike, it carries within its brick and stone structure memories of peace, of war, of both life and death. The house, like its spectral inhabitants, has many stories to tell. And after nearly 200 years, the stories continue to be told well into the darkness of night.
