Are There Ghosts In Gettysburg?

Are there ghosts in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania?

Are the rooms in the Farnsworth House Bed And Breakfast, located at the edge of Gettysburg, really haunted?

My friend, Jackie, and I, decided to find out. In April, 2004 and April, 2005 we visited the Farnsworth House. Both times we stayed overnight in one of their five haunted rooms.

Built in 1810 and converted into a Bed and Breakfast in 1972, The Farnsworth House has been called one of the most haunted inns in America by the Travel Channel. Staff have hosted television programs such as Unsolved Mysteries and The History Channel.

The Farnsworth is reputed to house at least fourteen ghosts. Many who stay at the Farnsworth leave in the middle of the night, frightened by strange encounters. For example, a terrified man checked out after stating that all night long he felt as if a feather were tickling his face, and the bathroom door would not stay shut. Guests also report being awakened in the night with the feeling of a hand pressing their shoulder or stroking their hair. Others report unexplained smells in their room such as pipe tobacco.

Ghost tours abound in Gettysburg. Tour guides tell visitors to check their photos after they are developed. They claim that orbs may appear in a picture. Orbs are white or clear circles that supposedly signify spiritual or ghostly energy in the place where a photo was taken.

The guides also inform vacationers that when a ghost is near, the area around them will get extremely cold. Numerous tourists report seeing faces in their photos, especially on the battlefields where over 50,000 soldiers died during the Battle Of Gettysburg in 1863.

Back in April, 2004, Jackie and I stayed in the McFarland Room at the Farnsworth, the same room where a guest had reported having her hair stroked. Nothing unusual happened that year except for a clear orb appearing in one of my photos of the room. However, at least fourteen of my developed photos of the battlefield contained men's faces.

A year later was a different story.

In April, 2005, Jackie and I returned to the Farnsworth. We stayed two nights in The Sara Black room, which is supposed to be the most haunted room in the building.

The room was beautiful, quaint, with a canopy queen size bed covered with a maroon shiny silk bedspread and a large bathroom with a shiny ceramic black and white tile floor. Both rooms were spotless with a clean, pleasant refreshing smell. We took a few pictures, then left the room for less than five minutes to bring in our suitcases.

Upon our return, Jackie called me into the bathroom. Both of us smelled a horrific foul odor. It smelled as if someone had just used the toilet and walked out without spraying the room. I went outdoors to see if there was another bathroom below ours, thinking an odor may have seeped up through our floor. However, our bathroom was over the dining room. Above us was a haunted attic where no one was allowed.

I said to Jackie, "That smell is terrible! No bathroom spray at ALL! Just the smell of someone who used the toilet and walked away!"

We then walked back into the bathroom and smelled a strong floral scent on top of the bad odor.

I have absolutely no explanation for that incident.

We then left our room and went on a tour. When we returned, I took a bath, and Jackie laid on the bed to take a nap. After my bath, Jackie was still awake.

"Our door will not stop jiggling," she said.

I looked over, and the door was shaking back and forth like crazy. I opened it, and there was no breeze or window in the hallway to justify why the door would jiggle like that.

The following night I took a shower in the clawfoot bathtub, surrounded by a plastic lace appearing bathroom curtain. I always use extremely hot water, as hot as I can stand it. As I was washing my hair I noticed the air around me in the shower was extremely cold, and there was no steam. I called to Jackie. She stuck her hand in the curtain. She said the temperature inside the shower was a lot colder than the bathroom. There was no steam on the windows and no explanation why the air was so cold around me with all that hot water.

The next night, instead of taking a shower, I took a bath in the claw foot tub. There was an old fashioned brass soap holder dish attached very firmly to the edge of the tub. I laid my heavy shampoo bottle in the holder. All of a sudden the brass holder flew up into the air, did a back flip and landed on the floor. I put the soap holder back on the edge of the tub, tried to push it off the edge, and it would not budge.

Our very last night, out of curiosity, we booked a tour with a psychic. She got very upset when we approached a red, barn-like building in the town. She claimed there was the presence of a dying soldier. Jackie took a picture of the red building on her digital camera, and it showed numerous circular orbs around the building (see my photo).

Conclusion: I am unable to explain what I just shared. I plan to return to Gettysburg, soon, to continue what I refer to as my curious research. Jackie and I have been on several of the tours, as well as, talked to many of the local residents on the street. We have had some very interesting conversations, heard alot of ghost stories, and met some great people.

One thing I cannot deny is what I call a "karmic" feeling when I am in Gettysburg. Because of its civil war history, where so many soldiers fought and died, I feel as if I am walking on hallowed, sacred ground, no matter where I am.

At this time, while I'm still getting acquainted with all that is involved with Hub Pages, I do not know how to post pictures on my hub articles. Once I learn, I will include some fascinating pictures with this story.

Blessings to all, Sincerely, Sparklea :)