|
The Whaley Family - Thomas Whaley House Museum It's a mansion - a two story house high," said the traveler as he stepped down from the buckboard. Inquiring at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, the visitor was soon directed the short walk to the Thomas Whaley House. Construction of the Granary, the first building, commenced in February 1856, with the help of local Native Americans. Bricks were made of nearby river sand and clay and baked in two Vervalen machines. In September 1856, construction continued as the Greek Revival style home was added to the Granary. A plaster of pulverized pure white seashells mixed with river sand and horse hair for a binder covered the inside walls. The structure was centered on 8 1/2 acres purchased in 1855 for $302. Building costs exceeded $10,000. Nearing completion, about May 1857, the House soon became the center for business, governmental, and social affairs. The family loved their home. Sightings of Anna and Thomas Whaley, the primary spirits, have occurred in the study, parlor, upstairs, courtroom, and in the yard. In 1964, Regis Philbin, (TV entertainer/talk-show host) and a friend saw Anna as they sat on the Andrew Jackson sofa at 2:30am. The image floated from the study, through the music room and into the parlor at which moment, Philbin, in nervous excitement, dissolved the apparition with the beam of his flashlight. Since that time, night visits have not been permitted. Yankee Jim Robinson, the "third" spirit, was hanged on the property BEFORE Whaley bought the land in 1855. Occasionally, Jim "walks" across the upstairs siting room to the top of the stairs. As the story goes, this alleged horse thief was captured and sentenced to hang for the intent to steal the schooner, Plutus, worth $6500. His two accomplices fared much better - a year in State Prison. The incident became an event as every law officer hunted the 6' 4", fair-haired man in the "red shirt". Jim made a dash for freedom, but too soon a Vaquero's old, rusty sword crashed into his head. Despite Robinson's pitiful condition, the trial continued that day in September 1852. The sad outcome was a crude cross-bar, erected by the Army during the Native American uprising in January 1852, and Jim at the end of a rope. Thomas Whaley was on onlooker as Jim mounted the wagon to keep his date with the Grim Reaper. The "fourth" spirit is of a girl named "Annabelle Washburn", a playmate of the Whaley Children. One day while running to join her friends in the back yard, she struck a low-hanging clothesline and died from her injuries as Mr. Whaley carried her into the kitchen of the house. She has been "seen" by other children. Spirit activity occurred in the past much as it does today. Visiting parapsychologists, psychics, and their classes tell us they are "followed" throughout the house by spirits. The courtroom photo display, donated by visitors, can reveal to untrained eye, images from the past. Chains stretching across the legal area, strongly sway back and forth as though a child were swinging on them - draw near and they stop. Anna's heavy, sweet-scented perfume is noticed all over the house. Thomas' favorite Havana cigars are most often "smoked" in the main hall. Cooking odors "drift" from the kitchen, especially apples. In earlier days, the favorite family dog, Dolly Varden, "ran" down the hall and into the dining room. There is the sound of "crowded" courtroom and "meeting" of men in the upstairs sitting room and in Thomas' study - the rooms are empty. Childrens' footsteps "run" up the stairs followed by the "rustle" of a woman's skirt. The music box "plays" as does the GONE WITH THE WIND piano and other instruments. Sometimes Anna "sings" in the dining room. Crystals on a lamp "swing and tinkle" and a door knob "rattles" to open as children "giggle" by the music room door and call "Mama, Mama." The Whaley House, a completely furnished Victorian mansion is listed as one of 30 ghost houses by the United States Department of Commerce...one of two in California. *Information provided by the Historical Shrine Society of San Diego County. Exclusive Ghost Photo! - Special Anomalies Network Investigation
|
|
 |  |
