The home was originally owned by the Townsend family. The house was used as a base for the British during the Revolutionary War. John Andre was a British Major during the war and visited often. One day Townsend’s daughter overheard Andre and John Simcoe (Commander of British Forces) talking about a payment to Benedict Arnold to surrender his troops. The Townsends relayed this information to George Washington. Benedict Arnold escaped, but Andre was captured and hanged. His ghost was first reported here in the 1930s when he was seen on horseback outside a bedroom window. John Andre isn’t the only ghost here. Sally Townsend, allegedly John Simcoe’s lover is said to still haunt the house. Her former bedroom is always cold, even in the summer the curator wears a warm wool vest in that room! Paranormal investigators have said that whatever is in that room is not happy. In October of 1999 a volunteer was working on the property when the garden door opened and a man came out wearing a dark wool coat with brass buttons. First it was strange to see someone wearing that clothing, second the building was locked, and third the alarms were all on! In march another worker saw the same ghost materialize by the staircase. Once with the bottom half of his body missing, and then again full-figure. The ghost is believed to be Michael Conlin, an Irish immigrant who worked as a servant in the 1860’s. In the upstairs of the former servants quarters moving shadows have been seen when no one else is in the house. In that same area the smell of roses has mysteriously been sensed. The spirit of a servant woman has materialized and walked into the kitchen. In that kitchen the smell of apple pie has also been present when ghosts want to make themselves known. The submitter was extremely privileged when they smelled the strong scent of cinnamon-apple on their way down the stairs near the kitchen. When they got down to the bottom of the stairs they could smell the strong scent of something like cinnamon rolls or apple pie! Another area that is said to produce some interesting smells is the front foyer. The smell of a non-existent stove has been sensed there as well as the faint smell of a smoking pipe. At one time this was the kitchen area. The former museum director Andrew Batten says he has sensed at least 5 different entities and something in Sally Townsend’s room.
