The Discovery

‘Telling true stories is a powerful form of public communication. Researching what is going on in people’s lives and in the world around us unearths fresh, even revelatory information that at its sharpest will speak truth to those in positions of power and authority.’ (Ricketson, M. Telling True Stories: 2014)

A few days ago, the book I ordered specifically for my story on The Winchester Mystery House, finally arrived.  It is called The Inscrutable Mrs. Winchester and Her Mysterious Mansion and it is written by a woman called Lisa Selby.  Although the narrative is not all that descriptive, completely unlike the work of Kate Summerscale in The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, the book still gives me help in understanding the story of Mrs Winchester and her infamous mansion. 

The book, however, does give me additional information in terms of the Winchester family and the Winchester rifle business; specifically a chapter called The History of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. In this chapter, I learned that William Winchester, and his father and uncle before him, did not come from a wealthy family and in fact, his grandfather was a farmer and died when William’s father and uncle were only one year old.

After a massive success in his company called The New Haven Shirt Manufactory Company, Oliver Winchester, William’s father, decided to enter into the firearm industry, in a company called Volcanic Arms Company.  After the owner died in 1857, Oliver, who owned a majority of the stock, chose to take over the company; later renaming it the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. 

Another chapter, named The Life of Sarah Winchester, Fact and Fiction, gave me additional information about Sarah’s association with the medium, Adam Coons. Seemingly, Coons (at one of their meetings) was said to have told Mrs Winchester that her recently dead husband was in the room with her and that he would guide her to her new home, ‘which she would recognise when she saw it.’

As well as learning about the Winchester family, I also found evidence in the form of pictures, specifically taken from inside the mansion; which will be useful in terms of collecting sources, as well as describing the house itself for my story.