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.