Sarah Winchester and Her Mysterious Mansion

William Wirt Winchester and Sarah Lockwood Pardee married in 1862 and had one daughter called Annie, born 15 June 1866; who sadly died weeks later on 25 July.    This caused Sarah to fall into a deep depressing; which worsened after William’s death in March 1881.

Sarah Winchester, 1865. 

After William’s unfortunate death, Sarah inherited an immense amount of money, which she used to fund the construction of, what is now known as, The Winchester Mystery House.

According to sources, Mrs Winchester sort out spiritualists as she felt that her family was cursed, she came in contact with a medium called Adam Coons, a psychic, and it was said that he told Sarah that the Winchester family was being haunted by the people that had been killed by the Winchester rifle (the family business).  Allegedly, Coons advised Sarah to move to the west and build a house for herself and the spirits; he apparently warned her that if the construction of the house ever stopped, then she would join the same fate as her husband and daughter. 

Driven by fear, Sarah purchased a farmhouse in San Jose, California (525 South Winchester Boulevard) and began using her vast inheritance to rework the house in hopes to keep the spirits at bay.

It is clear in the first instance that Mrs Winchester is the main character in this mysterious story, however, it can be inferred that Adam Coons – the medium – could also be a major part of this story.  Perhaps his perceptive of the situation, whether he was sincere or not, could tell us more about Mrs Winchester mannerisms during the time, was she driven with madness after the death of her husband and daughter? Or was she in fact sane?

Hopefully a book concerning this story that I have ordered, called The Inscrutable Mrs. Winchester and Her Mysterious Mansion by Lisa L. Selby, will shed some light on the character of Adam Coons. Surely, this will also give me additional information in the lives of Mrs Winchester and her family, as well as the family business that allegedly caused the haunting.  

Winchester Mystery Mansion

Some true stories stay with the reader for months, even years. Some spur readers to action.  That action may mean simply sharing the true story with friend and strangers.  It may mean the upending of long-held views.’ (Ricketson, M. Telling True Stories: 2014)

While researching true stories, I initially wanted to find something that was significant, interesting and also held historical impact; something that most people would recognise. However, after looking at the PowerPoint from our second lecture, I began to realise that I needed to find something of greater significance, something that not only had a personal element to me but also to the reader; what use was it if the story was dull, boring and repetitive.

This brought across my next problem, what kind of story would be personal to me?  I had already decided that I didn’t want to write about my family or friends, for I felt it would be too difficult to write personally as it would make me feel incredibly pressured to create some sort of masterpiece for them.  My next best bet was a local story, or a story centred to a specific place.  My first thought was to search for something more close to where I live, Brighton, but found nothing that interested me or brought an idea to mind.  I then decided to search stories in Winchester and, although I had no luck in that sense, I was delighted story to find a story about a haunted mansion in Winchester, California.

Winchester Mystery Mansion 

This story, sometimes known as the Winchester Mystery House, is based around a woman named Sarah Lockwood Pardee.  Sarah married William Wirt Winchester, treasurer of the famed gun makers, in 1862.  After William died of tuberculosis, Sarah was convinced that the spirits of those her dead husband’s weapons killed were haunting her.  This story is about the way in which Sarah overcame these spirits, by setting out building a structure to confuse the potential ghosts, it was a mansion outfitted with doors that opened into walls, the stairs lead to nowhere; the whole mansion was a confusing design.

With additional research, I am hoping to find extra information into the lives of Sarah and William to add more context to the story; much like Kate Summerscale did in The Suspicions of Mr Whicher.