MADISON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Visitors to White Hall, a 10,000-square-foot, 44-room mansion in Madison County, can see how the Clay family lived when they were one of the most powerful families in the country.
Centuries later, the stately home is still standing, but some say ghosts remain.
"There's the typical haunted house stuff, shutters opening themselves, the doors opening and closing, furniture being moved," said head tour guide Stephanie Thurman. "Hearing footsteps in the house, or hearing whistling in the house."
Who could be haunting these halls?
Thurman says it's most likely Cassius Marcellus Clay, the well-known abolitionist who lived in the home his father Green Clay built in 1799. Green is also a possibility, as well as Cassius' wife Mary Jane Warfield.
"She's the one who built this newer section of the house," said Thurman. "And considering how much money she put into it, I can't stay I blame her for not wanting to leave."
Thurman says she herself has experienced multiple haunted encounters, from hearing her name in an empty house, to wax candles falling out of their holders with no explanation.
Others have reported hearing music from a family piano, which no longer works.
Thurman says the phantom presence does not bother her.
"I have been here long enough that as long as there are no messes for me to clean up, I don't really care," she told LEX 18. "And as long as they don't touch me."
The house is open to the public for tours and events. On Oct. 11 and 12, White Hall is hosting a special Halloween tour called the Ghost Stories and Scandals tour. For more information, visit the White Hall State Historic Site Facebook page.
