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 servants' bells are no longer in the house and there are no reports of their continuing to ring today. Aside from the Tayloes themselves, it was said that two of their daughters may also linger to haunt the home. Edwin, Ruth and their children are long deceased, but for those who have had experiences in the Octagon House, they never left. When the British set fire to it in 1814, she was credited with saving the classic portrait of George Washington. 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. Not only are there eye-witness accounts, but paranormal investigators and psychic researchers have reported that the evidence they have gathered through equipment and actual contact with the house residents proves that spirit people still love their house. NE of Hamburgh, which was absorbed into the new city plan. The oldest of the ghost legends seems to be one which deals with the mysterious ringing of the servants call bells. The Octagon House. The unusual design was to ensure the building would present faces square onto both streets and take advantage of the dramatic corner for the entrance to the building. Octagon House; Old Croton Aqueduct Trail; . [8] The house probably would have been spared even if it hadn't been effectively a "diplomatic residence", since the British were under strict orders not to damage private property. 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. The kitchen, stable and outhouses are built of brick and accommodated a large number of both servants and horses. [18] When the house held bells to summon servants, the spirits of the dead slaves would announce their presence by ringing these bells loudly. By the 1970s, this historic property was too much of a fixer upper opportunity; too dilapidated to rent, even to the poorest residents of Fond du lac. After that time it seems to have been seen exclusively by the maintenance men who work in the house late at night. Ruth and Edmonds three children didnt survive their childhood and died probably from a wide-spread disease that swept through town. There, a message scratched into the wall dated 1888 seems to give directions to the next safe house along the path of the Underground Railroad. During the Prohibition era, when the US government banned the production and sale of alcohol across the country, bootlegging was widespread in Fond du Lac. The generous outside space also has a hexagonal garden. 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. While Tayloe III was a Federalist, he was not solidly in Madisons corner politically. After William died in 1869, Harriet and Emma started taking in boarders. His early death in 1824 was possibly connected to wounds received during the war. Also, a kitchen, a basement, an attic, probably common rooms like a living and dining area; all have their place in the houses 2,420 sq feet on a double corner lot. The spiritsof the Brown children are stillplaying here and having fun; with each other, teasing the dog, touching people and cooperating with investigators. 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. Whaley House, CA (Spirits of Mr. and Mrs. Whaley are still comforting their distressed daughter; (suicide) and taking care of their toddler;(fever). People in the museum have been touched by cold, little hands. Variations of the stories have been recorded since 1908, but NONE of the Tayloes daughters ever died in the Octagon. Photos, some of which you can see in the gallery above, show the damage. . The Osbournes: Night of Terror premieres Friday, Oct. 30 at 9 p.m. The 1941 book Ghosts that Still Walk: Real Ghosts of America, by Marion Lowndes, describes ghostly receptions held by Dolley, states that Dolley has been sighted in the front hall, and says that the smell of lilacs is noticeable whenever Dolley is present. The Golden Gate Bridge can be seen in the background. The remains of gold leaf show in some of the relieved portions. In 1956 the legend of the ghost of the slave girl, also a suicide, supposed to run screaming through the garden was dispelled by the AIAs resident historian, a Mr. Saylor. The oldest son, John Tayloe IV, served in the US Navy during the War of 1812 aboard the USSConstitution. Coachellas Friday night headlining show ends on a bad note, Used Facebook? According to the legends, ghostly receptions are held by Dolley Madison, who is supposedly most often seen in the front hall and drawing room, and the smell of lilacs is noticeable whenever her ghost is present.[22]. As they continued to ring, General Ramsay held the rope which controlled the bells, but, it is said, they were not silenced.. At that time, the house was already being rented out to various tenants. The Madisons paid $500 for six months of rent. 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. Would love your thoughts, please comment. September 17, 1951: Stairway in the Octagon House (aka the McElroy House) . As they continued to ring, General Ramsay held the rope which controlled the bells, but, it is said, they were not silenced. General Ramsay immediately arose from the table to investigate, but failed to unravel the mystery. Ruth may be the culprit. William moved in the 1850s from Virginia, setting up shop as a miller. 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. 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. His is buried in Rienzi Cemetery. If a spirit has had a structure to itself for a time, and saw how the living have neglected it in the past, he or she may take some time getting used to having to share and may express other feelings as well. At the outset, he planned on building a home in Philadelphia since it was closer to Baltimore and other major places of personal interest to Tayloe. Alexander, John. It is documented that several soldiers from both sides, never physically left this property. Harriet came first, moving from Pennsylvania shortly after the start of the Gold Rush. They built a large modern office behind the Octagon House and restored the building to its original splendor. Some academics believe the secret spaces within the Octagon House were built during that time for the clandestine storage and transportation of liquor. Today, the American Institute of Architects offers tours and public programming related to the Octagon House. On April 19, 1799 Dr. William Thornton wrote to George Washington, "Mr. J. Tayloe, of Virginia, has contracted to build a house in the City near the President's Square of $13,000 value." Inside the tin box found by the electrician was a time capsule left there by the McElroys almost 100 years before. Tayloe was also a relative of George Washington, who was made well aware of Tayloes plans to construct the home. 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. Colonel Tayloe and his daughter quarrelled on the second floor landing over the girls relationship with a British officer stationed in the city. (Mary Kouncelor Brooks, Philadelphia Evening Telegram, 1912). 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. Jacqueline Bouvier (later Kennedy) wrote an unpublished article about the Octagon in 1952 in which she reports that in 1939 the wife of an army general stationed in Washington, on a tour through the house, smelled lilacs so strong, so suffocating, wherever I turned that I could hardly breathe.. One night, nearly a dozen men were said to have spent the night here with the intent to scare off any of the spirits that may have occupied the house. The Historic 1856 Octagon House can be found in the city of Fond du Lac, near the corner of South Street and Linden Street. Leading into the back hall and dining-room are two secret doors in which the wash-boards, chair-boards, etc. Another legend says that a slave was locked in the attic and was never heard from after that except at 12:01 AM.. The 1880 census shows Harriet and Emma (then 27) living with a 20-year-old doctor and a young laundry worker. The British had already burned the White House down. 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. Each room was cut off from the others by a series of doors, and the staircase up to the second floor was located, through more doors, in the very center of the house. And during drilling into an upstairs wall, he hit a tin box. People collect free clothing at a distribution center outside of the badly damaged McElroy Octagon House after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Aside from the Tayloe family residing in the home, many important residents have come and gone through the years. The finished home was an eight-sided structure, that had nine secret passageways and spaces. October 27, 1958: Rejuvenated Octagon House (aka the McElroy House), moved, landscaped and decorated. Upstairs, a group of runaways from a local youth juvenile hall set up shop. The Octagon House in Washington, D.C. has a fascinating floorplan and an elegant design. Inside this unique historical structure there are twelve rooms, and two full bathrooms; seven rooms on the ground floor, and four rooms upstairs. 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. This story is based on the actual finding of such a body in one of the odd wall closets that abound in the Octagon House. A maintenance man from the 1970s was working at the house late one night, vacuuming the stairs between the first and second floor, and saw a man wearing dark black clothing, late nineteenth century, and a tall hat walk up the stairs. In the center of the building is a large winding staircase, which serves as a corridor leading to the rooms. 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 State president of the Colonial Dames, Mrs. Lindley Miller of Hillsborough, has heard the ghost story," the Chronicle reported in 1953, "but [she] figures that the society can always close the house on ghost-walking days.". None of us know whats on the other side.. The legend appears again in 1975, in Ghosts: Washingtons Most Famous Ghost Stories by John Alexander. [11] "Another invitation recalls one of General Washington's closest friends, whom he persuaded to become a resident of Washington in its infancy, and who built the spacious mansion on the corner of New York Ave and Eighteenth Street, which is one of the surviving relics of the primitive city, not having been destroyed by the British in 1814 - Col. Tayloe: "Mr. Tayloe requests the favor of Mr. Van Rensselaer to dine with him on Sat next at 4 o'clock. She was murdered, through jealousy, by a young English naval officer whose ship was at anchor in Georgetown, not a suburb of Washington. 2023 Copyright DC Ghosts. The butler, in a state of great alarm, rushed into the dining-room and declared that it was the work of an unseen hand. The Octagon House was home to John Tayloe III and his wife, formerly Ann Ogle. Cites: (a) Glenn Brown, architect, Secretary of the American Institute of Architects. 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 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. When the British marched into Washington in August 1814, there was a French flag flying outside the Octagon. 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. September 30, 1968: Octagon House at 1067 Green Street in San Francisco's Russian Hill. Theyve heard the sounds of the Brown children playing more than 150 years after they occupied the home. The original floor plan for the San Francisco home is a mess. There must of been something in the water. Inside was a trove of papers that finally answered the question: Who on earth would build a house this strange? But the caretakers of the NSCDA had a plan, just in case. Both John and Ann were buried at Mount Airy. Recent variants of the quadroons legend have tended to be short, and are usually mentioned in relation to the (historically impossible) staircase legend. Because of the extensive damage to the White House, James and Dolley Madison were offered the use of the Octagon House. 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. About this time the family left the home, and ever since it has virtually been unoccupied.". The museum at one point closed for six years (between 2007 to 2013). 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. Dutton House, VT (A male spirit has a hard time with the amount of visitors that invade his home during museum hours). 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. John Tayloe III was a Federalist, and not terribly supportive of President James Madison and the war with England that began in 1812, but he was active in the Virginia militia and commanded a regiment of DC cavalry. The home needed extensive renovations. She started to rent this property to tenants, while trying to sell The Historic 1856 Octagon House as of June 2007. When it is dark, the living see lights, and hear sounds. Every November 24, the neighborhood legend went, a person could be heard creaking up the staircase in the middle of the house. One gentleman, dining with Colonel Tayloe, when this mysterious ringing began, being an unbeliever in mysteries, and a very powerful man, jumped up and caught the bell wires in his hand, but only to be lifted bodily from the floor, while he was unsuccessful in stopping the ringing. The earliest report of this ghastly occurrence dates back to 1908. Katie Dowd is the SFGATE managing editor. One location in particular that has a reputation for frequent unexplained activity was the impressive circular stairwell of the house. [14], The Octagon House is purported to be one of the most haunted homes in D.C.[15], Apparitions and the presence of otherworldly forces have reportedly been seen and felt in many places at The Octagon, including on the spiral staircase, the second floor landing, the third floor landing, the third floor bedroom, and the garden area in the rear. One person reported hearing what she described as a womans voice diagonally across the room. January 18, 1984: Bathroom in the Feusier Octagon House, located at 1067 Green Street in San Francisco's Russian Hill. 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. All the work in the circular vestibule coincides with the circumference of the tower, the doors, sash and glass being made on the circle. List of the oldest buildings in Washington, D.C. "List of National Historic Landmarks by state", "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: The Octagon / Colonel John Tayloe House", "Old Landmarks at the Capital That Few Persons Know Anything About. [4][5] Col. Tayloe had been considering building his new home in Philadelphia under the expert hands of architect Benjamin Latrobe. Scott was one of the 1st purchasers of lots in the newly platted capital. But one thing is certain: When youre there, youre never alone in the house. She rented out the Carriage House that had been converted into an apartment with some effort. The knobs and shutter-buttons are of brass and evidently of a special pattern.[3]. 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. Three dozen newspaper clippings, mostly about the outbreak of the Civil War, were tucked inside, as was a tintype of the McElroy family: husband William and wife Harriet (a very good Looking old Couple, William jokingly wrote) and daughter Emma. South Macy Street turns into Linden Street, which runs south through to 12th Street, parallel to South Main Street. Just ten years after being named a national landmark, the Octagon House was rebranded as a museum. ", "Friends and reason ascribed it to the electricity while fable told the tale of an old white woman in Virginia who made a request of said Mr. Tayloe, which he refused. Many visitors recall feeling cold spots and strange feelings as they ascended or descended the stairwell. It has five bedrooms to go along with the two baths. When First Lady Dolley Madison fled the city as the British approached, she sent her pet parrot to the French consulate at the Octagon for safekeeping. The building served as a hospital for Confederate soldiers and a target for the Union Army during the Civil War. Solomon, Mary Jane; Ruben, Barbard; and Aloisi, Rebecca. 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.. However, after forty years, it got to be too much so Helen Hanson closed her museum. Aghast we stood. The Octagon House, WI (The spirit of Rose at first didnt like having to share the house with the new owner, plus not trusting this owner to make repairs. Located at 2548 Gough Street, between Union and Green Streets in San Francisco's Cow Hollow. September 17, 1951: Stairway in the Octagon House (aka the McElroy House) . In this way, she did much to define the role of the Presidents spouse, known only much later by the title First Ladya function she had sometimes performed earlier for the widowed Jefferson. There is no historical evidence to support these stories. The house, which was owned by PG&E, was sold and moved across the street to its current location. The house served as an important social center in Washingtons early years, and when the British burned the White House in 1814, President Madison and his family lived in the Octagon for six months as the city rebuilt. 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. My theory is that the spirit of Rose was angry at first because the living turned out to be dolts, neglecting her house. A boatload of hard evidence has been caught by various paranormal investigation groups. One of the many acute-angled intersections in the somewhat irregularly laid out capital. Ghost Dimension s01e07 ~ The Old Glen & Milner Curse (2016) 4 . Local dressmaker and antiques dealer, Marlene Hanson bought the property with days to spare, without even seeing the inside of it. Also added to the basic 1856 structure was a wrap around porch that at some point was enclosed, perhaps to create more living space. January 16, 1984: Feusier Octagon House, located at 1067 Green Street, in San Francisco's Russian Hill. The reason behind the naming of the six-sided building as the Octagon is unknown. It is something that the observer doesnt see every day! The Octagon House, located in Washington D.C, United States of America is, despite its name, shaped like a hexagon. No one, though, knew who the spirit belonged to. The hours wore quietly on. Participants were never disappointed. It is the only known fully domed octagonal residence. Sounds of children laughing and playing have been reported by docents and others. Tom and I would love to buy it if we had the money to do so. A few thousand homes were built around the nation before people realized its problems. A lot of TLC was showered on this historic home by the current owner, Helen Hanson for forty plus years. His letter, in some ways, feels remarkably current. Although PG&E bought it in 1924, for decades the McElroy Octagon House remained one of the only homes in San Francisco without electricity. The construction materials, such as bricks, timber, iron, and Aquia Creek sandstone were all manufactured locally. Of those, one died in 1800 at the age of one month (Ann Tayloe) and never lived in the Octagon. Instead he chose the primitive wilds of the new federal city and the architect Dr. William Thornton, the man who designed the new United States Capitol and the help of James Hoban winner of the White House design contest. The tin box that solved the mystery of San Francisco's Octagon House. Witnesses have seen the spirit of the young boy going about his business in different parts of the house. One such occurrence happened when Marlene was applying wallpaper in a room. 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". While a resident of Washington, Tayloe helped found and organize St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square in 1814, served as a trustee in 1816 during its construction and upon completion served on the vestry and donated to the parish a communion service of silver, which Bishop William Meade, in his work on the old Churches of Virginia, says had been purchased by Col. Tayloe at a sale of the effects of the Lunenburg Parish Church in Richmond County, VA., to prevent its desecration for secular use. 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. October 27, 1953: Living room in the Octagon House, aka the McElroy House. "Halloween is inching closer, and it wouldn't. Eyes stare out from the dark in the cellar where the hidden tunnel enters the house. Another of Colonel Tayloe's daughters eloped with a young man, incurring her father's wrath. The Misses Riley, three sisters who rented it from 1903 until last year [1951] for $35 a month lived like recluses, their high button shoes, chokers and courtly manners illuminated by flickering gas fixtures. This is a carousel. In widowhood, she often lived in poverty, partially relieved by the sale of her late husbands papers. She may have died too soon, remarried, or she had to sell it in 1872). 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. Shadows are seen in rooms all over the house and property causing the moving cold spots as well as stationary ones. His parents provided for his wife and child after his death. 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 Tayloe family lived in the house until Annes death in 1855. Whew! In 1952, an architectural designer, named David Stovel, moved in and improved the property. It was occupied by an artist named Styles Dickenson at one time. There was plenty to see here; featuring a lot of antiques and items from the early days of the Brown family and their descendants. The spirits of parents may stay in this world to take care of their spirit child or children who has chosen to stay there. There is no historical evidence to support these stories. The home was six-sided, made from bricks, and was designed with some of the most innovative features at the time like a closet for every room including the kitchen. 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