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Book Excerpt – Haunted Gettysburg: Paranormal Tales from the Field of Battle by Barry Corbett
Haunted Gettysburg: Paranormal Tales from the Field of Battle by Barry Corbett
The following is an excerpt from Barry Corbett’s latest book Haunted Gettysburg: Paranormal Tales from the Field of Battle, published August 21, 2025, by America Through Time. Available in paperback. 128 pages, $26.99. Available where books are sold, or online at: Amazon, Amazon.ca, Barnes and Noble, and Books-a-Million.
Chapter 19. The Farnsworth House Inn
The brick Gothic Farnsworth House Inn situated on Baltimore Street is now a popular Bed & Breakfast, but it is more widely known as the most haunted hotel in Pennsylvania. The current owners, Loring Schultz and his extended family profess that no less than sixteen spirits reside on the premises, each with their own unique personality. Full apparitions of both Union and Confederate soldiers have been encountered over the years, as one might expect for a building that once served as a field hospital for both armies. Farnsworth House staff and patrons experience some form of paranormal phenomena on an almost weekly basis. Cynthia Codori-Schultz offers guided ghost tours of the quaint, historic inn and the nearby battlefield.
The Farnsworth House has boasted four owners since 1800. The original plot of land was purchased by the Reverend Alexander Dobbin, one of the earliest pioneers to settle in Gettysburg. In 1810, Dobbin sold the lot to John F. McFarland, who constructed a two-story home, then added a second building, a sturdy, brick structure in 1830. John passed away in 1851 and the mortgage was taken over by the Bank of Gettysburg. For a time the building served as a tannery, a restaurant, a lodging house, a tavern, and a slaughterhouse. Harvey Sweney assumed the mortgage in 1852, and the historic venue became the Sleepy Hollow Lodge.
In 1909, Sweney sold the inn to George and Verna Black, and the couple ran it for forty years. When Verna died, it was passed down to their daughter, Sara Gideon Black. Sara is believed to be one of the many spirits who remain at the inn. In 1972, the old building was scheduled for demolition but Loring Schultz purchased and then restored the inn to its 1863 appearance. Shortly after moving in, Loring realized why the building had changed hands so often. His charming venue contained a host of otherworldly entities. But over the years, the family has learned to live with them. At 92, Loring still comes in daily to assist the family with general maintenance.
During the Civil War years, the inn was run by Harvey Sweney and his family. After the battle, the Sweneys found their home riddled with bullet holes, many still visible to this day. A cannonball had torn a large hole in the roof, landing in the attic. Over the years, the owners have collected roughly 135 bullets from various areas around the property. Early in the three-day battle for control of Gettysburg, the Union Army had established command of the high ground at Cemetery Hill. The Confederate Army, 30,000 strong, had swept into Gettysburg from the northwest and invaded many private homes, searching for food and supplies. They commandeered Sweney’s building and turned it into the headquarters for Brigadier General Lewis Armistead. The inn was an ideal location to position snipers in the garret window of the attic, where they could pick off Union soldiers at Cemetery Hill, only 500 yards away.
Unfortunately, one of the stray shots passed through the front door of a residential home, killing 20-year-old Virginia “Jenny” Wade where she stood in her sister’s kitchen, baking bread for the Union army. Young Jenny was the only civilian casualty of the 3-day engagement. For two days, the Union and Confederate forces surged and retreated over a five-mile square battlefield, the fighting so savage and brutal that one blood-soaked field later came to be known as “the Slaughter Pen.”
On July 3, after pummeling the Union position at Cemetery Hill with heavy artillery, Commander Robert E. Lee ordered General Longstreet to join with General Pickett’s two brigades and penetrate the center of the Union troops holding the ridge. Longstreet felt that the plan was suicide, and he openly challenged Lee but could not persuade the stubborn commander to reconsider. His famous quote, addressed to Lee, stated “It is my opinion that no fifteen thousand men ever arranged for battle can take that position.”
They formed a mile-long line and marched the rebel troops across an open field, which proved to be disastrous. Delayed by broken fences and hilly terrain and blinded by the smoke from the constant shelling, they took heavy fire from two directions and were finally forced to retreat, having already lost 60% of their number. This skirmish, famously known as “Pickett’s Charge” is considered a major turning point in the battle and consequently, the entire Civil War. General Lee was eventually forced to withdraw and reconsider his attempt to reach Washington, D.C. via Pennsylvania. During the charge, Confederate Brigadier General Lewis Armistead had been mortally wounded. Armistead was carried back to the Sleepy Hollow Lodge, where he soon died.
Union Army Captain Elon Farnsworth had been promoted to Brigadier General a mere four days ago. Only twenty-five at the time, his promising military career would prove fleeting. As the Confederate forces retreated towards Emmitsburg Road, he was ordered to engage their right flank with a handful of men, all that remained from the 1st Vermont Regiment. The numbers and terrain favored the rebels. They sheltered behind trees, rocks, and fences and picked off the Union’s charging cavalry, including Farnsworth, who was struck five times and thrown from his steed. Nearly all of his men perished. Elon Farnsworth was the son-in-law of the inn’s first owner, John McFarland. In tribute to the young General’s valor, the Farnsworth House Inn now bears his name.
While the battle raged and young men died by the thousands, the Sweney’s basement was used to store the Confederate bodies before burial. At one point, it was estimated that twenty-one cadavers lay heaped against the eastern wall of the fieldstone cellar. On the third day of fighting, the Union forces stormed the building and killed or dispelled the rebel sharpshooters. Late that night, in heavy rains, General Lee gathered his forces and began their long retreat, under the cover of darkness. Union soldiers took over the building and once again, the lower floor was converted to a makeshift field hospital. Army surgeons were often assisted by local residents as they bandaged soldiers’ injuries, or hacked off wounded arms and legs, often with the same bloodied saw. Ordinary townsfolk with little or no medical training found themselves first-hand witnesses to the terrible cost of war.
Unable to identify the many spirits that frequent the inn, the current owners have assigned them names. Walter is the bearded, Union soldier most often seen in the basement. Sissie is the matronly woman usually found in the kitchen, and Jeremy is a small child, considered to be the most active ghost at the inn.
Several visitors at Gettysburg have taken exterior photographs of the Farnsworth House Inn, only to discover that their candid photographs revealed a strange anomaly, the pale, scowling face of an 18th-century woman peering out of a second-story window. This is the Sara Black Room, the most active location at the inn. Late at night, frightened guests in the Black Room have experienced disembodied voices, soft footsteps, and the pungent scent of perfume. Many visitors claim they are being watched, sometimes objects move around or go missing, or they feel a general heaviness within the room. One corner in particular seems to exhibit very unusual phenomena. It is often many degrees colder than the rest of the room and occasionally, the haunting specter of an old woman is seen standing in the shadows, glaring at the room’s startled occupants.
The dining room and kitchen are said to be haunted by a matronly figure who has been known to push cooks and waitresses out of her way, as if impatient to get on with her tasks. She is often observed leaning over the shelves, deep in thought and possibly planning her next meal. Workers have encountered her in the hallways, dressed in 19th-century clothing and appearing as solid and substantial as the hotel guests. Perhaps she served as headmistress of the inn during her day. And now, she remains at the old tavern indefinitely, making sure the meal preparations are to her liking. She has been known to pull on apron strings, sometimes hard enough to spin a staff worker around. Imagine their consternation, as they turn to express their anger and find there is not a soul in sight. But, the crew has gotten used to their spirits. They really don’t have much of a choice.
For those brave enough to sleep in the Sara Black Room, which is situated beneath the attic once occupied by Confederate snipers, they may find themselves serenaded at 4:00 AM by the eerie sound of a jaw harp. Perhaps the specter of some lonely, rebel sentry stands guard just twelve feet above their heads, passing the time by playing the somber tunes that he enjoyed in life. Three rebel soldiers were killed in the attic as they fired upon the Union troops at Cemetery Hill. Very often, patrons in the Black Room hear their cadavers being slowly dragged across the floor. In the Eisenhower Room, you’re likely to experience the strong scent of cigar smoke. A grizzled officer in the gray uniform of the Confederate Army will often make an appearance, usually in the dead of night.
Loud, banging noises are frequently heard in the corner room on the second floor. Its spectral visitor is an eight-year-old boy known to have been killed at the site. He has been seen in other areas but seems to favor that one room, so the Schultz family named it after him. In the Jeremy Room, patrons describe the chilling sound of childhood laughter, and thumping footsteps running down the hallways at ungodly hours of the night. Coins left on the dresser are moved around, and occasionally found neatly stacked in the center of the room. Some visitors bring toys and leave them out for Jeremy. In the morning, they are found spread across the floor.
Jeremy died in 1866. He had been hanging out with a group of older boys, who enjoyed playing a dangerous game of “horse tag.” The young teens would wait for a horse-drawn carriage to come by, then run into the street and slap the lead horse on its hind quarters, causing it to bolt forward or suddenly rear up. When it became Jeremy’s turn, he ran out and struck the horse but lost his own footing in the muddy street, tumbling underneath the carriage, where he was trampled. The townsfolk carried Jeremy into the foyer of the inn and called for a doctor, but the poor child bled out before he could be helped. He remains at the building where he tragically expired, playing mischievous pranks on the unsuspecting patrons of the inn. Jeremy’s mother had passed away at a young age, and tour guides have noted that he often is drawn to young girls with blonde hair. He enjoys pulling on their locks or gently stroking their honey-sweet hair.
In the McFarland Room, the spirit of a woman wearing a long, white dress sometimes makes an appearance. Sleeping patrons have reported being awakened at midnight by the sudden movement of their beds, as if some phantom figure had just sat themselves down on the end of the mattress. The mysterious woman is younger than the matronly cook and a lot more friendly, but the phantom specter does not seem to be aware that she has passed beyond this mortal coil.
The basement is the most active area, by far. On the first day of battle, the Confederate troops had managed to drive the Union lines all the way back to Cemetery Hill, where they took a stand on the high ground. The townsfolk found themselves in the middle of the fray, and those who had been roaming the streets scrambled for shelter. Harvey Sweney opened his doors to rescue twelve neighbors. When the Confederates soldiers took control of the building, they forced the tenants down into the cellar, illuminated only by candlelight. The rebels carried their wounded men into the front parlor and stabilized them to the best of their abilities. As the injured soldiers lay dying, their lifeblood seeped in-between the floorboards and dripped down into the basement, forcing Harvey and his guests to endure a literal rain of blood. The wounded rebels that died were carried down to the cellar and piled up in a small, storage room.
This gloomy chamber was open to the public until 2005, when two different tour groups emerged from the room with scratch marks on their bodies. Cynthia called in the famous psychic and paranormal investigator, Lorraine Warren. Lorraine validated the presence of harmless spirits within the Farnsworth House, but in that basement room she felt something profoundly threatening, and she heard the guttural sound of a growling animal. Since that night, the storage room has been locked and barricaded.
You can tour the Farnsworth House Inn without having to spending your night in a haunted room. The cellar display alone is worth the price of admission. The Gothic Victorian decor includes a wall of framed, period photography, a stuffed vulture, a stone gargoyle, and a 19th-century funeral scene containing a black, wooden casket complete with a ghastly corpse.
To the side of the coffin is a large mirror with an ornate frame and a sordid history. It once housed the portrait of young Clarence Collins, a troubled man who lived an extremely violent life and committed murder in 1918. His pious, Puritan parents disowned the man, tearing out his portrait and then bringing the frame to a local merchant, who converted it to a mirror. As soon as they brought the mirror back into their home, they were tormented by knocking sounds, disembodied voices, and dark, spectral figures. They sold the cursed object to an antique dealer, who held it in storage for seventy years. Cynthia Codori-Schultz came across the artifact and purchased it for display in the inn’s haunted basement. It has not let her down. Frequently, photographs taken at the mirror display ghostly faces, or the apparitions of soldiers in Civil War uniforms.
Numerous paranormal investigators have tried their hand at identifying the Farnsworth House spirits. April Busset, known as “The Psychic Housewife of New Jersey,” heard the message, “Help me” through her Spirit Box. When she asked, “How can we help you,” she received a clear reply, “The sickness!” Psychic medium William Stellman caught the image of a spectral woman in the haunted mirror, and Ami Bruni of the paranormal series “Kindred Spirits” theorized that the mirror serves as a portal to the spirit world.
I spent a single night at the Farnsworth House, sleeping in the Sara Black Room. Although I recorded audio and filmed for seven hours with infrared cameras, I captured very little evidence. Ghosts appear on their own schedule, not ours. In the morning, I enjoyed a delicious breakfast served in the Sweney Tavern, tastefully decorated with Civil War memorabilia. The Farnsworth House Inn is a veritable treasure. Filled with Victorian-era antiques, ornately framed paintings, and vintage photographs, the venue will transport you to the 19th century. And, you may also encounter a spectral entity that hails from the distant past.
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