White House Ghost Stories

[Anita]

Happy Halloween!

Thought these would be fun reading for today!
Go here for some haunting White House stories.
https://www.whitehousehistory.org/press-...st-stories

[LincolnMan]

Loved the ghost stories!

[Anita]

Bill, did you have a favorite ghost?

I liked the story of David Burns who owned the land where the White House now stands. His ghost haunts the Yellow Oval Room. I wasn't familiar with his story.

"Within local legend, David Burns is better known as “the obstinate Mr. Burns,” a moniker given to him by the man he really managed to irritate: George Washington."

Check him out here. "The Obstinate Mr. Burns" and the First White House" by Katherine Brodt . https://boundarystones.weta.org/2020/07/...hite-house

[JMadonna]

Wonder why Dolly's in the Rose Garden? - didn't exist in her time.
Maybe they mistook her for Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy?

[Anita]

Perhaps Dolly frequented the conservatory that was located there prior to 1902 when the Rose Garden was created. Ghosts go to places they knew in their time.

"Prior to 1902, the area of the present-day Oval Office, Cabinet Room, and Rose Garden contained extensive stables housing horses and coaches. There was also a conservatory rose house in the area."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Hous...text=Prior

[JMadonna]

I believe the conservatory was long after Dolly's time too. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think Buchanan built it because he was impressed by Victoria and Albert's Chrystal Palace when he was ambassador to England. (or maybe I'm just blowing smoke and he just liked to smell flowers.)
Maybe she's looking for the White House silverware she had her slaves bury before the White House was torched?

[Anita]

Yes, it was Buchanan who built the conservatory. Victoria and Albert's Chrystal Palace was impressive indeed. It burned down in 1936.

Looking for White House silverware more is more likely.

"Dolly Madison was not inclined to garden—in those days, it was considered a pastime for men—but she may have invented the flower crown. “I will avail myself of your offer to chuse me a facinating Headdress,” she wrote to her friend Phoebe Pemberton Morris, who lived in Philadelphia. “It must be of large size—I enclose you 20$ my darling, & you will add to the Bonit or Turbin, some artificial Flower or fruit for the Head.”

James Madison, on the other hand, planted the first documented presidential vegetable garden. At the time, presidents paid the expenses of feeding guests out of their own pockets, and Madison’s list of seeds to purchase included several varieties of cabbages and radishes, as well as carrots, beets, parsnips, broccoli, and more. https://www.architecturaldigest.com/stor...ts-gardens

[RJNorton]

There are some interesting stories from Presidential children here.

[Anita]

What fun Roger! Children of all ages love a good ghost story! Maybe some of those bumps in the night are Tad's goats running around.

[JMadonna]

Search only for John Tyler proposing to Julia Gardner,

Courtship with President Tyler

He first proposed to her on February 22, 1843, when she was 22, at a White House Masquerade Ball.
She hated that and hated later proposals he made. The increased time spent together prompted public speculation about their relationship.