In preparation for an investigation Woodlands Paranormal is doing with the public in October we went down to Galveston last weekend to do some preliminary work. We are excited to be able to get into this historic property for a few nights! I wanted to share our the research we have on the property. I will also put the information on our group website and facebook incuding our photos. We were able to get some very interesting pictures.
The Ashton Villa is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a recorded Texas Historic Landmark. It is located on the corner of 23rd and Broadway in Galveston, Texas. The mansion was built by James Moreau Brown in 1859 before the Civil War by one of Texas’ wealthiest businessmen.
The story of this family begins with Mr. Brown. He was born on September 22, 1821 in Orange County, New York as the youngest in a large family of 16 children. Between the ages of 12-16 he was the apprentice of a brick mason. He left New York around 1838 and arrived in Galveston in the mid 1840s. He then opened a hardware business which was the largest store west of the Mississippi. In 1846, Brown married Rebecca Ashton Stoddart of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1855 he purchased a slave named Alek who was also a brick mason. On January 7, 1859 Mr Brown purchased four lots on Broadway in for $4,000. The house building then soon began.
He closed the hardware business in 1859 as well and became president of the Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad. He kept this position through the Civil War and also served as a purchasing agent in Mexico. He resigned as president of the railroad and re-entered the hardware business after the war. The 1870 census placed his financial worth as $175,000 in real estate and $100,000 in personal assets, making him one of the richest men in the state.
Mr Brown chose to build a 16,500 square feet Italianate villa, with wide overhanging eaves and ornate cornice brackets. The house found in a architectural pattern book that was published in 1851 by Samuel Sloan who was a architect in Philadelphia . Brown did change some of the elements of Sloan’s design. He kept the basic square shape and added the dramatic wrought iron veranda. It is said the veranda probably came from the firm of Perot and Wood of Philadelphia who also supplied the fence and gate. The 3 story structure is constructed of brick and cast iron and was one of the first brick structures in Texas. The walls were made thirteen inches thick, to help protect against humidity and to add strength to the structure. The family then occupied the house by 1861.
James Brown and his wife Rebecca Ashton Stoddart Brown raised 5 children. They were John Stoddart (1848), Moreau Roberts (1853), Rebecca Ashton, known as Bettie (1855), Charles Rhodes (1862) and Mathilda Ella (1865). Bettie and Mathilda were the most dominate personalities of the house.
Bettie was a rather independent woman for her generation. She was a tall beautiful blonde who almost always wore her hair up. She was intelligent, artistic, and fun-loving. In many ways she was even somewhat eccentric. People were often surprised by her smoking in public. Enjoying her lavish life with her family she decided to never marry although she found no shortage of suitors. She seldom if ever was without an admiring escort at the many gala events of the island city. Much of the artwork and impressive paintings throughout the house were done by Miss Bettie herself. She was a rather accomplished artist during a time when women were only allowed to dabble in painting china. It is sad but at that time women were not to actually paint seriously. She studied art in Paris. She loved to travel and often journeyed alone to the far reaches of the world, including Morocco, Jerusalem, Egypt, China, Japan, and India.
Mathilda was the youngest child suffered through an abusive marriage. She came back to Ashton Villa in 1896 after she divorced her husband Thomas Sweeney. She returned to live in the house with her three children. I will save her story to share at a later time. Just know Mathilda is a sad story that contributes to the history of the Aston Villa itself.
Mr. Brown lived in the house until his death at the age of 74. He died on Christmas Day in 1895. Mrs. Brown died in 1907. The house then went to Bettie, who lived here until her death in 1920. Mathilda inherited the house and left it to her daughter Alice in 1926. The house was then sold to the Shriners and was used as offices. In 1970 the house was taken over by the Galveston Historical Foundation and opened it to the public in 1974.
One of the historical fact about the home is that it became the headquarters for the Confederate Army. It served in that capacity for the entire war, except for a brief period in the fall of 1862. Galveston was surrendered to the Union Army who chose to make Ashton Villa their headquarters. It was re-taken by the Confederates during the Battle of Galveston in January 1863. On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its slaves. Surrender took place in the Gold Room. While standing on the balcony of Ashton Villa, Granger read the contents of “General Order No. 3”:
The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere
This house has gone through and survived numerous storms including the Great Storm of 1900. That storm killed well over 6,000 people which left the island virtually abandoned and was described as “the worst recorded natural disaster ever to strike the North American continent.” During the 1900 Hurricane, Mrs. Brown is said to have acted to save the home and her family’s lives by opening up the doors and windows on the lower floor and allowed the flood waters to flow all the way through the home exiting out the back door so that the home would not be pushed by the waters and possibly damaged. The negative impact from the 15.7-foot storm-surge over the island was the basement filled with sand and also partially buried the six-foot cast iron fence. There is a story that one of the youngest daughters of the Browns sat on the main staircase that faces the front door and the water was as high as the 10th step up flowing through the home like a river. The daughter just sat there and watched the flowing water apparently with much fascination! The basement of the house was permanently filled in with sand when the entire town of Galveston was lifted by as much as seventeen feet with sand pumped from the Gulf floor to protect from future storms. That process also buried much of the fence which appears quaintly short. Even with the grade raise Hurricane Ike brought 30 inches of damaging water and mud back into the first floor.
Today lovely antiques, family heirlooms and original art fill this stately mansion. It is also filled with artifacts gathered during Betties world travels. Perhaps all the artifacts and history has led to strange activity in the mansion. The Ashton Villa is often called the “most haunted building in America.” There are many ghostly stories about this place. It is reported that the ghost of Bettie Brown has not left and is seen from time to time dressed in a beautiful turquoise (her favorite color) dress. She is seen standing in the Gold Room and at the top of the staircase which leads to the dayroom. This was the only room where Bettie could go without wearing her “stays” and she apparently spent a lot of her time there even to this day. She is sometimes heard playing the piano at one of her famous music recitals. She is known to abruptly stop a certain song from playing in the mansion.
Not all of the strange activity is from Bettie. During the civil war the Ashton Villa was also used as a hospital for Confederate soldiers. There are rumors of marching soldiers moving through the house and on the grounds. People have reported feeling a presence joining them on the tour.
Other activity surrounds a chest of drawers purchased in the Middle East and stands in Bettie Brown’s dayroom. It reportedly locks and unlocks spontaneously even though the key has been missing for years. Ceiling fans have been known to turn themselves on. One bed refuses to stay made. No matter how many times a day the sheets are straightened they get messed up would end up on the floor by something unseen. Furniture moves and inexplicably clocks are stopped. Others have experienced an exotic smell of jasmine and roses throughout the air which is said to be Betties favorite scent.
Perhaps the haunting could be from the numerous deaths which include Both Mr. and Mrs. Brown and Bettie who all died in the house
The Haunted Areas
1. Stairway – Bettie’s presence is felt most intensely on the central stairway and in the hallway on the second floor landing by sensitives
2. Second floor landing – Full apparition was seen by a guide on the second floor landing. She was wearing a turquoise evening gown and holding one of her fans (an ornate Victorian one)
3. The Gold Room and surrounding area where her fans and favorite possessions are on display is another strong area for her prescience. Perhaps it is all of her things on display calling her there? There is a story I will share that I cannot confirm at the moment. One day a caretaker we will call Mr T was awakened by the wild barking of the his dog thought that someone was trying to break into the Villa. He said he heard a man and a woman arguing in The Golden Room. When he entered he saw woman, sitting on the piano stool dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. She was looking at an man who was standing up looking at her and appeared angry. He said the man had dark curly hair and a beard and that both were dressed in costumes from the 1800s. It sounded like they were taking through a radio and he heard “It is foolish for any man to talk to you about marriage. You couldn’t really love anyone, for you are too absorbed in your own pleasures, your collections of meaningless objects, and most of all, your looks.” She answered him: “Harrison, do you really believe this? I won’t listen to such hateful words.” She started to play the piano then heard a creaking sound behind him in the hall so he turned to look. When he looked back the man was gone and the lady was crying while laying her head on her arms on the piano. He said she walked over to her fan collection near to where he was hiding and picks up a fan. Then walked to a wall mirror, she said, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of all.” She drops the fan, and slowly dissolves into thin air.
4. whole house – The furniture moves by itself and the clocks stop working for no mechanical reason
5. Windows – Bettie has been photographed staring out of the second floor window through the curtains
6. Outside – Soldiers are seen marching from time to time
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