Thursday 4 March 2021

McRaven House, a haunted house in Vicksburg, Mississippi

 


McRaven House, on Harrison Street, Vicksburg, Mississippi, played an important role during the American Civil War and also features on lists of notorious “haunted houses”.

When General Grant captured Vicksburg in 1863 he established the Union headquarters at McRaven House, from where he was able to direct operations concerned with control of the Mississippi River. Stationed at the house were Colonel Wilson and his aide, Captain McPherson. McPherson’s role was to liaise between the occupying troops and the residents of the town.

One night, MacPherson did not return from his usual tour of the vicinity and was declared to be missing. On the following night, so it is said, the mutilated apparition of Captain MacPherson, dripping with blood, appeared to Colonel Wilson and told him that he had been murdered by Confederate sympathisers and his body thrown into the river.

Since that time, the ghost of Captain McPherson has continued to appear to occupants of McRaven House, each time telling them the same story.

McPherson’s ghost is not the only one to have been seen. Other Civil War soldiers and a woman with long brown hair have also been reported.

Despite the building being blessed by a priest in 1991, ghostly sightings have continued at McRaven House, which has become a popular tourist destination.

© John Welford

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