McRaven House - Is it really haunted???

McRaven House

Photo by Jan



McRaven was built ca.1797 by Andrew Glass in a town called Walnut Hills, which is now Vicksburg, Mississippi. In the Civil War era, it was known as the Bobb House, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as such. McRaven got its current name from the street it is located on, which was formerly called McRaven Street, but is now Harrison Street. McRaven has been on the Mississippi Department of Archives and History's Historic Preservation list since January 8, 1978.  It is also believed by many to be haunted, and has been called "the most haunted house in Mississippi."

The walkway to McRaven House is a bit over-grown keeping with the idea that the house is haunted. 

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McRaven House was built over time in three different stages. The first part of what is now McRaven was built by Andrew Glass 1797,  The historic residence originally served as a way station for pioneers en route to Nashville, Tennessee along the Natchez Trace to the Mississippi River. As first built, McRaven consisted of only a kitchen with one room above it,  This part of the house is now known as the "Pioneer Section".  Below is a drawing of the original house as built by Glass in 1797. 

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 This 'Pioneer section' is still standing and was very interesting to tour.  Enjoy some photos of an age past below.  I think most of us would say "I'm glad it's past!".  First the kitchen, although pioneers had a hard life, they had some very interesting kitchen toys to play with! In this first picture notice the Coffee Grinder up top and the double boiler and the cool waffle maker on the stove burners.

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Note that Butcher Blocks have not changed mush over the years!

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The small cabinet on top with the white ceramic knobs was used as a spice cabinet.  Believe it or not they had access to ice!  This is an ice box of the time and note the ice tongs on the wall.  I'm not so sure about all the things in the fridge but in the bottom right corner is a portion of a large copper kettle - we have one of those in our family - who knew it was so old!!!

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No one seemed to know what the items in the photo are.  Any one out there know?

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Below are some keys of the time, an oil lamp, a muffin tin and on the chair sets a mortar & pestle (note it is made of wood).  On the table is a grinder but most interesting is the large round item on the top left corner of the table.  Any ideas?  It is actually a silver polisher.  Unless made of tin, silverware was made of, you guessed it, silver.  This machine is about 4" wide from front to back and there are several holes around the middle section.  There was pumice inside and the silverware would be inserted in the various holes around the circle.  Using the handle you see on the front, one would turn the barrel until the silver was polished.  Pretty ingenious!  By the way, the air conditioner in the window was added much much later!!

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I've always thought oil burning lamps had a certain charm to them.  I'm sure if they were my only source of light I would think differently!

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Here's a close up of the "Knife cleaner"

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A variety of charcoal heated clothing irons.  The second from the left you will notice it does not have a flat bottom.  It has a zigzag bottom, it is called a Fluter, and was used to iron all the those crinkle collars that were worn during this time period.

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Close up of the 'Fluter"

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 Close up of the meat grinder and apple peeler attached to the table.

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Hummm..we don't know what this is ... maybe an ice cube maker?  Or  a part from a washing machine?  Who knows...anybody??

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Ravioli maker rolling pin.

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We are now on the second floor, in the bedroom.  The walls are really showing the bedrooms age! 

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The mattress of feathers, moss, leaves or anything else they could think to stuff it with was held up by ropes crisscrossing from one side of the bed to the other.  Don't think it was very comfortable.

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In 1836, Sheriff Stephen Howard bought the house and added the middle dining room and the bedroom above it built in Empire architectural style. Sheriff Howard's wife Mary Elizabeth Howard died during childbirth in late August, 1836 in the middle bedroom.

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Second stage of growth of McRaven House included a bedroom and dining room.  Although the original bedroom was across the hall, infants to small children would sleep in with the parents. 

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In the photo below you can see the crib/toddler bed, then on the floor to the right of the parents bed you see a trundle for a small child.

Built in closets were not thought off yet so most bedrooms of quality included furniture pieces for clothing and person items.

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Spinning Wheels were also improving. 

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The house was then purchased by John H. Bobb in 1849.   Bobb built the rest of the house in Greek Revival style.  During the Civil War's 1863 Siege of Vicksburg, McRaven was used as a Confederate field hospital and camp site. Since it was located so close to the railroad, a major point of battle, the house was battered by cannon blasts from both the Union and Confederate forces. In fact the house had been reported by many sources as destroyed, causing some confusion in later years as to whether this was the original home or not.
 

The Greek Revival McRaven House of today.

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Beautiful staircase to the second level of the house.  Note that the stair case is a "floating" staircase. 

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The staircase is on the left upon entering the front door but if you turn right you find yourself in the "parlor".  The photos show the beauty of the era with seating arranged gracefully for conversation or possibly to enjoy the entertainment of who ever played the piano.  The trim around the ceiling and the decorative disc above the gas lit ceiling lamp were all hand created on the walls and ceiling.  They did not have pre-made trims to purchase and have installed.  The detail of these items is amazing.  Such workmanship!! 

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Damage done during the siege of Vicksburg.

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Heading to the upstairs bedroom up the beautiful floating staircase, we first come to the 'gentlemen's dressing room',  This room was his private 'get away' where he can smoke and drink and read to his hearts content.  It was small but served it's purpose.  It contained a wash table, a comfortable chair, a wardrobe and a dresser.

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Photo by Jan

 

Then on to the master bedroom.  Other than the bed, the master bedroom was the territory of the women of the house! You will notice that everything from the wardrobe, to the dressing table, the dress stand, the bath, to the personal accoutrements ... it is all female, and lovely.

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McRaven was eventually sold to William Murray in 1882. Murray and his wife Ellen Flynn raised four daughters and three sons in McRaven. William Murray died in the house in 1911, his wife Ellen died there in 1921, their daughter Ida died in 1946, and a son died in 1950, all in McRaven. From this point on, William's daughters Annie and Ella Murray, both unmarried, lived alone in the house with no modern conveniences aside from a telephone and no contact with the outside world except their doctor, Walter Johnston. So to say the sister's lived alone in the house doesn't quite tell you everything.  They actually ended up living in the dining room ... yep, they spent their days in the dining room and their nights.  They felt safer in the dining than anywhere else in the house.  Before opening for tours the dining room was returned to it's glory days with furniture, china, place settings, light fixtures, tea box service and more.

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Under the back stairway is a small area where children used to play.  Now it contains their toys which are said to be moved around when no one is looking ... ghosts of children past perhaps?

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 In 1960, Ella Murray died at the age of 81, and her sister Annie sold the house after moving to a nursing home. At this point, the house was in such disrepair that neighbors and nearby residents had no idea it existed. The upper story was completely overgrown with vines.  In 1960, the house was sold to the Bradway family who restored McRaven and opened it to the public as a tour home in 1961, which it remains today. In 1984, Leyland French purchased McRaven and did further restoration, French was the first owner since the Murrays to reside in the house. Aside from a modern kitchen and bathroom in its basement, which are not on the tour, McRaven has remained largely unchanged since the 19th century. For this reason, McRaven was featured in the July 1963 issue of National Geographic Magazine which called it the "Time Capsule of the South."  In May 2007, owner Leyland French put McRaven up for sale for $1,750,000.  In August 2015, Steven and Kendra Reed purchased the home. They are continuing the tours for both historical and ghost tours. (My thanks to Wikipedia for many statistics in this chapter)

 

Needless to say we did not see any ghosts, not in person during our tour nor did I catch any ghosts in any of my photos!  So following the fountain walkway back out to our truck we say fairwell to McRaven House.

Photo by Jan

More coming your way soon :)