A while back I wrote a post
about how the television set where Ghost
Whisperer was filmed was haunted. Ghosts were spotted standing behind
actors in scenes that were reviewed afterward. More about this is here.
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt was the
star of this show and she was not a novice when it comes to ghosts.
Hewitt lived in a house that
she felt was haunted. She called in a paranormal investigator, Mary Ann
Winkowski to help. Winkowski states she can communicate with the deceased.
What Winkowski found was an
earthbound spirit--a young man--had taken up residence in Hewitt’s home.
This man had been killed in a
car crash, and he told Winkowski that he had been a big fan of Hewitt’s while
alive. He had even attended high school with her--but Hewitt did not know him.
Winkowski discovered this man’s
name and address.
Winkowski checked out his
story and discovered he had attended school with Hewitt and had been killed in a
car accident. The family told her he was a fan and that his bedroom was
covered in posters of Hewitt.
Mary Ann Winkowski with Hewitt
Hewitt afterward stated she
was actually comfortable with his presence for she felt his ghost “was looking
out for her.”
This haunting is a classic
example of why ghosts often remain behind. In this case because of a strong
attachment to a person--even though the affection wasn’t mutual.
It was actually this haunting
that inspired the creation of the TV show Ghost
Whisperer, which aired from 2005 to 2010 on CBS.
Winkowski was a consultant on
the show and Hewitt was an associate producer.
Mary Ann Winkowski since has written a book entitled When Ghosts Speak.
The fourth oldest executive
residence in the United States is located in Austin, Texas. Several ghosts, two
of them former governors of the state, haunt this mansion.
But the most well known ghost
is that of a young man who committed suicide in this National Historic
Landmark.
Mansion in 1860s
A Rejected Suitor
This 19-year-old was visiting
the mansion when Pendleton Murrah held the office. He was the 3rd
and final Confederate governor of this state.
This young man was visiting
the governor’s mansion toward the end of the war when he met and fell madly in
love with the governor’s niece. He proposed to this girl but she cruelly
rejected him.
He returned to the small
guest room located in the north wing where he was staying in this mansion and
took a gun and shot himself in the head.
This suicide apparently
resulted in his ghost being condemned to reside in this room.
Within a short period of time
after his death witnesses started to hear wails and moans coming from this
small bedroom. The activity became so pronounced that servants in the mansion
refused to enter the room to clean up the blood-splattered walls.
As the months passed people
noted the room was always ice-cold. Persistent banging sounds were also heard
in the room--keeping visitors awake all night.
The next governor, Union
appointed Andrew J. Hamilton, sick of hearing the complaints had the room
sealed off. But rattling, moaning and gasping breaths continued to be heard.
A doorknob was seen
constantly rattling to the point where the housekeeping staff avoided going
into this part of the mansion whenever possible.
This strange activity
continued into the 20th century--when the room was finally unsealed.
The noises are always louder on Sundays--this was the day the young man
committed suicide.
Witnesses mention hearing
these strange noises even today.
Two Governors
Both Texas governors that
haunt the mansion are said to linger because of their controversies while
holding this office.
Sam Houston
Sam Houston, a hero from the
Mexican-American War had gained Texas’s independence with his attack on San
Jacinto.
He served as president of the
Lone Star Republic and then when
Texas became a part of the states he served as a U.S. Senator until 1860. After
the outbreak of the Civil War Houston was elected governor.
But he refused to pledge his
allegiance to the Confederate States of
America. He had been a verbal opponent of secession. Infuriated the Texas
Legislature discharged him of his duties.
Houston died in Huntsville,
Texas in 1863.
Pendleton Murrah, related to the young man who committed suicide, like Sam Houston departed from Austin
before his term was up.
Pendleton Murrah
In 1850 suffering from
Tuberculosis he moved to Texas for the dry climate. He ran for the office of
the governor in 1863.
The demands of leading
Texas’s efforts during the Civil War took a huge toll on Murrah’s health. When
it became apparent that Union Troops were about to occupy Texas, he stepped
down and fled with other Confederate leaders to Mexico.
He died in Monterrey, Nuevo
Leon Mexico in 1865.
Ghostly Activity
Pendleton Murrah’s apparition
has been seen since his death both inside and outside the governor’s mansion.
Sam :Houston's Bed
Sam Houston’s ghost haunts
the bedroom in the mansion that he occupied while governor. This bedroom still
has the 4-poster mahogany bed, which he used. *
His apparition has been seen
on several occasions. When spoken to he just disappears. His shadow has been
seen lurking in a corner of this room.
In the mid 1980s Governor
Mark White’s wife and daughter felt strongly Houston’s ghost haunts this room.
The governor’s daughter
Elizabeth stated that the room across from her parents--Houston’s old
bedroom--frightened her so she would not enter it.
First Lady Linda Gale White
had several experiences that she attributed to Houston’s ghost. Awake late one
night she noticed that the light in Houston’s bedroom above his portrait had
been left on.
She entered the room and
turned it off. The next morning she discovered the bedroom’s door was wide-open
and the light was on again.
On another night she turned
this same light off several times but each time it would almost immediately
turn back on.
* This mahogany bed was one
of the valuable items that were saved when an arsonist set the Texas Governor’s
Mansion on fire in 2008.
