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| Woodruff Fontaine House |
This old mansion is a museum
that offers tours today. It was originally built in 1870.
Amos Woodruff came to
Memphis, Tennessee in 1845. He was a carriage maker that made his fortune fast.
He then delved into a variety of other enterprises.
All were successful. He ran
two banks, a railroad, and a hotel. He had a hand in construction and the
lumber and cotton industries.
A leading member of Memphis
society he ran for mayor twice. He had a fancy mansion built for his family in
1870. It was in the French Victorian style with Mansard roofs, arched windows
and stately columns on the porch.
A carriage house, courtyard fountain,
elaborate gardens and a sweeping front lawn surrounded his new mansion.
In 1871, his daughter Mollie
married in the home. She became Mollie Fontaine Henning and inherited the
property when her father died. None of her children lived to adulthood. She
lived in the mansion until she died.
Her ghost is one of three that haunt the home to this day.
Another successful family by
the name of Fontaine moved into the mansion. Noland Fontaine was a cotton
baron.
In 1929 the mansion became an
antique shop and then in 1959 an art school moved in. By 1961, the once grand
mansion was in desperate need of repairs.
A local Memphis preservation
society (APTA) came to the rescue. They restored the mansion and opened the
Woodruff Fontaine Museum in 1964.
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| Mollie Woodruff Henning |
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| Rose Room named after patterned wallpaper in room. |
It was around this time that
Mollie Woodruff Henning’s ghost became more active. She often hangs out in her
old bedroom, known as the Rose Room, on the 2nd floor.
She is known to sit on the
bed leaving dents so people know she was there. Since the Rose Room is roped
off to tours no one is allowed close to this bed.
Visitors have seen the
rocking chair move in this room and the bed covers rustle. It is here where
people note drastic changes in the temperature.
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| Indent in bed in Rose Room. |
Lights go on and off in this
room as well as the rest of the mansion without explanation.
Mollie’s ghost startled a
museum docent one day when she appeared in the Rose Room. She informed this
lady that she preferred the furniture in the room be placed back in its
original arrangement.
Her ghost wanders throughout
the mansion. She likes to follow people that are doing something different or
interesting. One paranormal team investigating the mansion went down into the
basement.
Evidently Mollie followed
them for they captured her voice on one recorder. She told them that she rarely
went into the basement.
Unlike Mollie, who is a
friendly ghost, another entity in the mansion is an angry male. He ripped off
the necklace from a staff member one day and his negative spirit is sensed on
both the 1st and 3rd floors.
A paranormal team caught his
gruff voice during one EVP session. He answered “no” to their questions. His
ghost has not been connected to anyone who once lived in the home.
Yet another male ghost in the
home is believed to be the Fontaine’s son. Another docent who works for the
preservation society saw his ghost one Sunday afternoon when she was the only
one in the mansion.
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| Elliot Fontaine |
As she made her way up to the
3rd floor she spotted a man sitting at the foot of the stairs that
lead to the 4th floor tower room. He was so lifelike she at first
thought he must be a man that found himself locked in the mansion after a
tour.
But when she looked closer
she realized he looked just like a photograph she had seen of the Fontaine son,
Elliot. Frightened she backed down the stairs and closed her eyes. When she
looked once more he was gone.
I am currently on staff at The Woodruff Fontaine House Museum. While we appreciate the public's interest and the ever increasing popularity of social media with blogging, etc., we would also very much appreciate the material that is being distributed to the public be factual and accurate. The mansion was first home to Amos Woodruff and his family, as mentioned, however, it was Mollie Woodruff that got married in the home in 1871, not Mollie Fontaine. Mollie Woodruff then became Mollie Wooldridge. Eight years after losing her first husband, Egbert Wooldridge, she remarried James Henning, hence she is often referred to as Mollie Woodruff Wooldridge Henning. There was never anyone related to the families of the mansion named Mollie Fontaine Henning. It seems as though the two Mollies have been confused and blended. There was only one family named Fontaine that ever lived in the mansion. Mr Noland Fontaine purchased the mansion from the Woodruffs in 1883. They also had a daughter named Mollie who would marry Dr. William Taylor in 1886. They lived across the street at 679 Adams Avenue; and Mollie Fontaine Taylor lived there until her death in 1939.
ReplyDeleteThe Fontaine Family made the mansion their home until Mrs. Virginia Fontaine's death in 1928. It was shortly thereafter it became a part of a growing art academy and operated as such until 1959,. After the art school relocated to Overton Park and became known as the Memphis College of Art, the mansion was abandoned for a short time until the APTA (Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities) took over in 1961 and raised funds for the restoration. We have operated as a public museum since 1964. We hope this will clear up some of the misinformation provided in this blog.
And yes, we do believe that Mollie Woodruff Wooldridge Henning and a few other "former residents" do indeed still call the mansion home!
What I wrote is the best known story about the house. Thanks for the information. It enriches the information on this blog.
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