Benjamin Stoddert, the first Secretary of the United States Navy, built Halcyon House, an elegant small house overlooking the Potomac River in Georgetown, after Washington D.C. was made the capital of the United States. Pierre-Charles L’Enfant, who planned the layout of the capital city, designed the terrace. Stoddert was a Revolutionary War militia captain and owned a shipping company. After his tenure as Secretary of the Navy ended in 1801, his business greatly deteriorated. When he died in 1813, he was destitute.
Foundations for Ghostly Phenomena at Halcyon House
After Stoddert died, the house had multiple owners. During the Civil War, Halcyon had a tunnel, part of the Underground Railroad, that was used to help runaway slaves find their way to freedom. Legend is that some died in the house’s basement. The tunnel’s entrance was sealed around 1900.
In the 1930s, eccentric Albert Clemons bought Halcyon. He believed that as long as he kept adding onto the house, he wouldn’t die. Clemons added rooms, a new facade, a staircase leading to nowhere, stained-glass windows, a crypt and a large wooden crucifix. He refused to have his residence wired for electricity. There was a provision in the eccentric man’s will for the doctor who pronounced him dead to stab his heart to ensure he was. His demise happened in 1938.
Halcyon House Hauntings
Eerie events occurred before and exacerbated after Clemons died.
- There were spectral sighings and moanings
- Mysterious forms and an apparitional woman floated about during nighttime hours.
- Inexplicable rattlings sounded in the walls.
- Muted phantom footsteps were heard.
- Odd noises emanated from the empty attic.
- Some occupants woke during the night and found themselves floating over their beds.
- Closed windows opened by themselves.
- Lights extinguished without apparent cause.
- A resident returned to the locked dwelling and discovered a large engraving was removed from the wall. She re-hung it. The next time this happened, the wall bore a black “X” where the picture had been.
- Some witnesses saw an old, short, balding, heavyset man who was the image of Stoddert. The haunter often appeared sitting in a captain’s chair in one of the drawing rooms, gazing at something outside the window.
- Another ghost is dark, tall and Clemons’ double.
Halcyon House Today
Hubert Humphrey, Lyndon Baines Johnson’s Vice-President, considered moving into the home in the 1960s. He decided not to because of the extensive restoration work it needed. Now, Halcyon is a historical landmark and private residence.
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Sources:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ghosts and Hauntings, Tom Ogden, (Alpha Books, 1999)
The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, (Facts on File, Inc., 1992)
