The Haunted Phelps Mansion, Stratford, Connecticut

Sep 14

In 1971 Stratford, Connecticut a decrepit, long abandoned nursing home sat on 1738 Elm Street. The home had been a victim of a fire several years back rendering it uninhabitable and since then, the newest owners were looking to tear it down.

Though it had been bordered up, vagrants and squatters would typically find a way in requiring calls to the police to clear the place. During one of these calls in 1971, the police spotted someone unusual running through the mansion. A little girl ran past the police in the main hall rushing up the stairs.

The police gave chase hoping to catch her before she slipped and fell among the debris of the home but upon reaching the third floor, the little girl vanished into thin air. They could do nothing but wonder if the nursing home, once known as the Phelps Mansion, was truly the home of the supernatural.

PART 1 - The Phelps on Elm Street

“The communication of the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living.”

T.S Elliot

In 1848 the doors to the lavish mansion on 1738 Elm Street opened wide to the Phelps family. The 58-year-old Reverend and doctor Eliakim Phelps had recently married the widow Sarah Kennedy after losing his first wife several years prior. The two moved from Philadelphia, bringing along their infant son, Sidney, as well as Sarah’s children from her first marriage, 16-year-old Ann, 11-year-old Henry, and 6-year-old Hannah.

For the next two years the family settled into the mansion they now called their home, meanwhile a state away in Rochester, New York a trio of sisters, known as the Fox Sisters, had begun a spiritualism movement through their ability to communicate with the dead using seances. By 1850 the Fox Sisters were a national sensation performing public seances and attracting interest from those across the country.

One man who grew interested in the practice of reaching out to the dead was Eliakim Phelps. Though the exact nature of his interest in spiritualism is not fully known, it could be thought that Reverend Phelps wanted to reach out to his deceased wife.

The First Séance

On March 4th, 1850 Phelps welcomed an old friend, Reverend John Mitchell, to his home. After several hours of discussing the other side, the two decided to perform a séance to test out the legitimacy of the Fox Sisters. That night, the two sat across from each other in a dark room lit only by candlelight, and began attempting to summon someone or something to speak with.

They cast their questions out into the darkness and received no answer. After several attempts the two gave up, thinking nothing more of their experiment but less than a week later Reverend Phelps would realize something had heard them.

The Hauntings Begin

On March 10th, Phelps locked up the home, placing the only key in his pocket as the entire family made their way to church. A few short hours later the family returned to the home shocked to find every door and window wide open.

Phelps ordered his family to stay outside while he entered the home expecting to find a thief but instead, nothing had been stolen. The home was in disarray, furniture had been knocked over, dishes smashed, and clothing tossed around but all valuables remained.

Thinking whoever did this would return, Phelps sent his family away for the afternoon, grabbed his pistol, and hid in the study. After several hours of silence, Phelps exited his hiding spot to search the home again.

Upon entering his room, terror struck him, in front of him laying on the bed was the silhouette of a woman covered head to toe by a blanket with arms crossed over her chest as if her body was to be laid in a casket.

Phelps pulled the blanket off the body to find someone had stuffed pillows into his wife’s nightgown and stuffed other articles of clothing under the blanket to make it appear as if there was a body. Even though he was relieved, he was still certain he had not heard any sounds of someone in the home while he hid and was confused as to why someone would set up what at the time he believed to be a prank.

The following morning the family woke up for breakfast only to find the home in the same state as the day before, despite having cleaned and cleared all the broken furniture. But it didn’t end there, hours later Phelps watched as an umbrella seemed to lift itself off the ground and toss itself 25 feet across the hall. Before he could attempt to comprehend what occurred, a bucket at the top of the stairs was forcefully thrown by something unseen.

Introduction

Over the course of the next several days, the visitor made itself known to the other family members, throwing objects like knives, forks, spoons, and blocks of wood across the rooms with no discernible targets. Sarah Phelps demanded her husband reach out for help in solving what was going on in their home.

Believing there to be a logical explanation, Phelps requested Reverend John Mitchell to return and help figure out what was happening. Believing the children to be behind the disturbance, Mitchell had Phelps lock the children in one of the rooms while they waited to see if objects were still thrown about. To their surprise, the objects continued to be thrown around the home.

Now knowing something supernatural to be at work, the two reached out for others to witness and document the happenings but it seemed like the more people who entered the home the more violent and powerful the spirits became when there was no one around.

The throwing of small objects escalated to a pounding with what sounded like an axe on floors and walls, always followed by a blood-curdling scream coming from deep within the mansion. Fake bodies built with random clothing were now constantly found in multiple rooms kneeling in front of open bibles as if they were praying to them. And on March 15th, the spirits escalated once again.

That day when 11-year-old Henry arrived home, the spirit attacked, tearing at his clothes and cap. Only minutes later as 16-year-old, Ann made her way to the staircase, a brick was thrown viciously down the stairs narrowly missing her head. It was the first time a thrown object had come close to injuring one of the family.

That night, as Ann slept, a long piece of ribbon made its way around her neck, tying itself and attempting to strangle her. Her strained yells were enough to get the attention of Phelps who witnessed the incident after barging into her room to help. With the increase in violent attacks, Reverend Mitchell consulted with other clergymen who all agreed, Phelps was dealing with a demon.

Dealing with A Demon

After these incidents, the Phelps made plans to send Henry and Ann away for several weeks at the end of the month hoping the demonic entity wouldn’t attack until then. For the most part they got what they wanted, the demon was less violent solely pushing and pinching the children until they left. Once they left, it even appeared to be completely gone. There were no sounds, thrown objects, broken furniture, or bibles laid out on the floor.

The Phelps hoped this meant the worst had passed and they could now focus on living peacefully with the children. But several hours before Henry was scheduled to return a letter anonymously arrived stating, quote “The good ones say that all is done, but the wicked ones say it has just begun.”

The family realized whatever was after them wasn’t going to stop, and terrifyingly, it was tethered to 11-year-old Henry. Meanwhile, Phelps and Mitchell began to wonder if another seance would be needed to find out who the demon was.

PART 2 - From Hell

“Hell is empty and all the devils are here”

-William Shakespeare from The Tempest

After Henry’s return, the family gathered together to pray, possibly hoping to receive answers on how to handle their increasingly violent guest. Instead, their prayer was interrupted by the sounds of their windows shattering throughout the home.

For the next several weeks shattered windows were an almost daily occurrence along with other pieces of furniture being thrown and broken. There would be a day of destruction followed by two or three days of calm before the cycle started over.

By now many in the town and other states knew about the possible demon or poltergeist in the Phelps home. Many came by to try to find a reason or to witness something supernatural.

As pressure built up for Phelps to attempt a séance, the last straw occurred towards the end of April when the spirit began to attack his wife, Sarah. She was pinched, pricked with pins, and pushed randomly throughout the home. With no other choice, Phelps and Reverend Mitchell attempted to make contact with the spirit.

The Stratford Knockings

Around a small table, following instructions from the Fox Sisters, the men called on the spirit to answer their questions with knocks.

The first question, “Who are you? If a spirit, knock.”

A knock was heard at the foot of the table.

The second question, “Are you a good or bad spirit? If good, knock.”

No knock was heard.

“If a bad spirit, knock.”

The men held their breath… a knock echoed in the room.

After several more questions, the spirit claimed to have been a man who used to work for Phelps and had defrauded him while alive. Since Phelps was unaware of anyone defrauding him the following day he went to his business, reviewed his accounts, and unbelievably found out he had, in fact, been defrauded by a man who was no longer alive.

“For Fun”

Mitchell and Phelps continued performing seances for the next month believing they could get the spirit to quell their destruction, soon the spirit was no longer knocking but writing on pieces of paper found randomly in the room. During one of the seances, they received contradictory information letting them know the spirit wasn’t the man Phelps thought. He challenged the spirit to reveal who it really was, asking it why it was lying.

A piece of paper floated down towards him, it read “For fun.” When asked who the spirit really was, another piece of paper was found, it read “A demon, from Hell.” After this Phelps refused to perform any more seances believing the demon was lying and never intended to stop.

Despite no longer performing seances pieces of paper with writing would often be found throughout the home, often threatening Henry and other times referencing the bible usually signed by the Devil or Beelzebub. But soon other letters started showing up signed by others, sometimes with unknown names and sometimes with the names of old friends of the Phelps who had died long ago.

More Spirits and The Final Straw

The Phelps mansion had become a hub for spirits. By August of 1850, it was claimed to have up to five spirits, three were welcoming and kind with the other two being aggressive and full of misery.

One afternoon the eldest Anna, walking through the parlor, saw three men sitting on several chairs around the table. One was reading a newspaper, his face covered, while the other two had their hats pulled down low obscuring their faces. Anna, believing them to be friends of her father, walked towards them to greet them. The man nearest to her leaned over the side of the chair, falling and slamming to the ground. She let out a scream watching the men instantly disappear.

After this Anna was described as having suffered a nervous condition. With Henry often targeted by the letters, Anna suffering from this nervous condition, and Sarah unhappy with the situation, the Phelps agreed to move back to Philadelphia, leaving the home and the spirits behind.

By September all except Phelps had left as he stayed behind till October to finish several business transactions. The last letter he received was addressed to his wife, it read, “her husband was sick and wished her to return if she expected to see him alive.” Phelps took this to mean the spirits were threatening his health if Sarah did not return home but since he felt fine, he disregarded the letter.

The following week, before he was able to leave Stratford, Phelps became violently ill and was bedridden for several days. On the fourth day, despite still feeling ill he left the mansion for good.

PART 3 - Return to Elm Street

In March of 1851, the Phelps returned to the mansion believing it to be safe after the neighbor who was left in charge hadn’t reported any strange occurrences. Though there were still a few rumored encounters with spirits or letters sent to the Phelps after they moved back in, things were relatively quiet for the next 7 years.

In 1858 Sarah Phelps passed away in Philadelphia where she was receiving treatment for an illness. After her death, the Phelps stayed in the mansion for another year before selling it and moving away to New Jersey.

The family that purchased the home never reported any spirits or hauntings. The mansion had several owners in the following decades until finally being purchased by Mrs. Maude Thompson who converted it into a nursing home.

It was here the spirits that haunted the Phelps almost a century ago returned to cause havoc on its newest residents. Many of the staff reported hearing strange noises at night or feeling something watching them. Like with the Phelps, things slowly escalated with random alarms going off at night and objects being moved around.

Because of the history of the home and with the new uptick in supernatural incidents, famous paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren were called in to investigate. After several days, they were unable to confirm or witness any hauntings.

Several years later a fire broke out in the nursing home, the damage rendered the property unusable by 1970. It was eventually boarded up and chained up to prevent any squatters but time and time again several would be found and police would be called.

In 1974 the newest owners tore the mansion down, ending the story of the ghosts at the Phelps mansion for good.

PART 4 - Theories

Since the Phelps, there have been many theories on what caused the hauntings if there even really was a haunting to begin with. While the Phelps were still alive and living in the mansion many believed the first séance on March 4th opened the mansion to spirits. Others believed Anna and Henry were unknowingly mediums who were used by the spirits to manifest in the home.

The Witch Goody Basset

One story that gained some traction in the following century was that of the supposed witch Goody Basset.

Long before the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, Connecticut had its own version of the witch trials between the 1640s and 1660s. There aren’t many records left from that time going into detail regarding the witch trials but one woman who was accused was Goody Basset. She had moved to the growing village of Stratford around 1651 and was immediately disliked by many for her supposed abrasive nature.

Of course, during that time any woman who was outspoken was looked at suspiciously and if hysteria caught on they would be accused of witchcraft. Unfortunately, that was the same thing that happened to Goody Basset. She was accused of witchcraft and tortured where she eventually confessed to being a witch in order to stop it.

She was then dragged to a location to be hanged. The stories say while she was being dragged she did everything she could to stop the attack, digging her nails and fingers into the ground. Eventually digging them into several rocks where her nails ripped off as they scraped along the rock.

The rock and its location would be known as the “Witches Rock”, and the gallows where they hanged Goody Basset was said to be on Elm Street where the Phelps Mansion would be built centuries later.

The stories say when Phelps conducted a séance he allowed the spirit of Goody Basset to enter the home and continue with her wicked witch ways. It’s a good story but it turns out Goody Basset wasn’t hanged on Elm Street and she certainly wasn’t a witch. Like many stories that attempt to explain the supernatural, details are always changed a bit.

The Natural “Supernatural”

So what actually happened to the Phelps? It appears the simplest explanation may actually be the right one. The Phelps made it all up. After having moved in 1848, they experienced no supernatural hauntings until 1850 coincidentally right when spiritualism across the nation was gaining a lot of traction because of the Fox sisters.

The details of what happened to the Phelps in this episode came from a book written in 1855 called “Modern Spiritualism: Its Facts and Fanaticism.” written by Eliab Wilkinson Capron who was documenting the rise in spiritualism at the time.

In the chapter covering the Phelps mansion, he notes that those who came to witness the hauntings never actually saw anything with their own eyes, in several cases nothing would happen in the house until the visitors had their backs turned. These then became so-called first-hand accounts.

Many of the incidents Phelps claimed to have happened, he himself admits some could be explained logically without reaching to the supernatural. Before leaving the home in 1850 Phelps also claimed he had a book where, since March of that year, he wrote every supernatural incident that occurred. Conveniently the book was burned and destroyed by the spirits before he could leave the home.

Throughout the years many have also come to the conclusion that Anna and Henry were the ones throwing items around in the home in secret while visitors came to investigate. This would also explain why anytime Anna and Henry were away the spirits wouldn’t bother the family except for a few occasions. That of course could be explained as the family all being part of the scam.

The Fox Sisters

Another important thing to note is the relationship between the Phelps family and the Fox sisters. Phelps visited the Fox sisters on multiple occasions and at one point believed and announced the spirits the Fox sisters were communicating with were the ones also in his home.

The issue with this is the Fox sisters were eventually found to be frauds. Late in their life, one of the sisters admitted to faking the entire thing, cracking knuckles and toe joints loud enough to act as if the spirits were knocking, only continuing the lies because of the money they were making from touring.

It’s also interesting to note during 1850 when the Fox sisters were touring there was already speculation they were frauds, articles were written in the New York Tribune denouncing the sisters for having figured out how the knocks were occurring. In 1851, multiple investigators came to the same conclusion, more articles were written, and finally one of the Fox sister’s relatives, Mrs. Norman Culver, admitted in a signed statement that she also helped in faking the seances.

Despite all the proof, that the Fox sisters were making the whole thing up many still believed they were able to talk to the dead for several more decades. But when all the details came out in 1851 it was also conveniently the same time when the Phelps returned to the mansion and no longer reported any hauntings. Was it possible they were worried about being seen as frauds?

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to truly know the exact details of what happened in the Phelps mansion. After 1851 the family rarely spoke about the incidents and with the nation more enthralled with the Fox sisters, they were left alone for the most part.

As for the mansion, was there truly something haunting it and the Phelps just took advantage of the situation? Probably not but then again there was never any real explanation to what was haunting the nursing home in the mid-1900s if there really was anything there.

But how about you? What do you think actually happened to the Phelps? Was it a ploy to make money and become famous like the Fox Sisters or was there really something dead living in the Phelps mansion?