Update! Posting in error. See this.How many 21st century Americans can see (in person or on the internet) the residences of their 19th century ancestors? Probably not many, but I've uncovered the second for those lucky enough to be descended from the Hooper and Harris families!
First there was the Hooper House in Belle Plaine Minnesota, world famous for its second story outhouse. And now there is the General Wayne Inn in Merion, Pennsylvania, even more world famous (infamous?) than the Hooper House! This post will provide a little information about the General Wayne Inn, and in my next post I'll detail the sources for the Harris connection.
Now a synagogue, the General Wayne Inn dates to 1704. Plenty of famous guests spent time there, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and William Penn. Edgar Allen Poe supposedly wrote The Raven at the Inn.
For two centuries, the General Wayne Inn has been famous for the legends of its ghosts. Its been the subject of serious investigations, including this one (can someone please read it and let me know if they believe there are ghosts there?) There's also this YouTube video, from NBC's Unsolved Mysteries series. Lots of photos and a detailed history of the Inn and the ghosts here.
The A&E series "City Confidential" featured the Inn in its story on a 1996 murder involving the property's owners. Here's a synopsis of the show and the crime.
(photo from the Lower Merion Historical Society)
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