The three cities of Gettysburg, Williamsburg, and New Orleans are hotspots of paranormal activity. From the ghostly whispers of colonial taverns to spectral soldiers roaming historic battlefields to voodoo legends in the heart of the bayou, these three offer a treasure trove of unearthly experiences to those brave enough to delve deep into their histories. Let’s take a closer look at the most haunted place in each of these three cities.
The Wythe House – Williamsburg, VA
The Wythe House – Copyright US Ghost Adventures
The Wythe House was the home of George Wythe, one of the Founding Fathers. His signature is the first of the seven signatures from Virginia on the Declaration of Independence.
His house, now a historical landmark, is haunted by the ghost of George’s friend, Ann Skipwith, who often stayed at the house with her husband, Sir Peyton Skipwith. It wasn’t exactly a happy marriage. Sir Skipwith’s reputation of being a womanizer was well known, but when rumors that he was dating Ann’s sister started spreading, Ann had enough.
During a ball, she publicly confronted her husband. After a heated argument, she stormed out and headed back to the Wythe House, where they were staying. Her husband didn’t follow her.
She rushed up the stairs and committed suicide in the guest room. To this day, the faint clicking of her heels on the staircase can be heard. Visitors report seeing a lady in a ballroom gown passing by the windows.
The ghost of George Wythe sometimes visits his former abode as well. In 1806, he was poisoned by his grandnephew, 17-year-old George Sweeney. Sweeney was named the primary beneficiary in George Wythe’s will and wanted Sir Wythe to die so he could quickly receive his inheritance.
Several others were poisoned together with Wythe, and although Wythe insisted that he was poisoned, the doctors first dismissed his claims and claimed it was merely cholera. Only later, when Sweeney tried to cash checks against Wythe’s account (when there was already widespread knowledge that Wythe was deathly ill), did people start becoming suspicious of Sweeney. It was discovered that Sweeney had been cashing forged checks for a while.
Sweeney was jailed. Although Wythe died, one of the other poisoning victims recovered and claimed that he saw Sweeney put a powder into their morning coffee.
The LaLaurie Mansion – New Orleans, LA
The LaLaurie Mansion – Copyright US Ghost Adventures
The LaLaurie Mansion was the home of Madame Delphine LaLaurie, who lived there with her third husband. Her previous two husbands had both died under mysterious circumstances, which should have been reason enough for people to be suspicious of Madame Delphine – but they weren’t.Â
Despite being sweet and gentle on the outside and well respected in New Orleans, Madame Delphine LaLaurie had a dark, sinister, and cruel side. She frequently abused and tortured her slaves for no reason other than her own depraved entertainment.
In 1834, the house caught fire. Some people believe that one of her slaves set the fire in an attempt to escape. In either case, it was then that people discovered LaLaurie’s horrific treatment of her slaves. They were found chained and malnourished, with severe injuries all over their bodies.
In French Louisiana at the time, keeping slaves was legal, but torturing them was not. Out of shame and fear of repercussions, the LaLaurie fled to France, never to be seen or heard from again – at least in their lifetime.
Some decades passed, though, and strange things started happening in the mansion. People who walked by at night reported hearing the clanking of chains and the muffled cries of people in agony. Keen passersby can hear these strange sounds to this day.
Sometime later, things took an even more sinister term. In the early 1900s, the building served as a girl’s school. The girls studying there often reported being attacked by an older woman and presented with bruises and lesions. However, this woman was never spotted by any of the teachers. Many believe that it was the ghost of Delphine LaLaurie, who just couldn’t control her sadistic tendencies.
The Welty House – Gettysburg, PA
The Welty House – Copyright US Ghost Adventures
The Welty House in Gettysburg, PA, was built in the 1830s by J. Schwartz. In the 1850s, it was sold to Solomon Welty, an immigrant farmer from Sweden.
What makes this house so haunted, though, is the role it played in the Battle of Gettysburg, which was the turning point of the Civil War. The Welty House, now part of the Brickhouse Inn, was situated smack in the middle of the fighting. With Union soldiers on one side and Confederates on the other, the Welty family cowered in the basement, trying to escape the fighting.
Dozens of soldiers who died outside were buried in makeshift graves. They continue to haunt the area, their ghosts patrolling at night, still traumatized from the fighting. With so many reports of both Confederate and Union phantom soldiers being seen in the vicinity of the Welty House, it’s hard not to believe that the area is utterly haunted.
The best way to explore all of the haunted spots in the area, including the Welty House, Brickhouse Inn, and Jenny Wade House, is to take a haunted Gettysburg ghost tour.
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