Ghostly Gonian: Whaleyhouse

It was a brisk February night the first time I encountered a ghost. I was on a trip to California with my high school art department and during a stop in Old Town San Diego, some friends and I decided to visit the most haunted house in America.

The Whaley house was built in 1857 on the former site of the town gallows. Before the Whaley family built on the land and met their own tragic ends, there were already plenty of untethered tenants on the property. My encounter was with Violet Eloise, the fifth of six children of Thomas and Anna Whaley. 

My friends and I were on a tour led by a guide named Hunny. When we entered the home theater, Hunny was setting up Violet’s story. As he was speaking, I felt a squeezing, burning pain in my chest. When the pain started, I told my friend Arielle that I was uncomfortable and a little scared. I was thinking about exiting the tour when Hunny started talking about Violet’s death. 

Violet had returned home to San Diego after being abandoned by her husband. He had revealed himself as a con artist who only married Violet for the dowry he expected from her father, only, he never got that money. Ashamed and shunned, Violet returned home and attempted suicide. After her failed attempt, Thomas placed her under close supervision and Violet seemed to be recovering from her “bout of melancholy,” as the doctor called it. Unfortunately, Thomas’ watchful eye was not enough to save his daughter. One evening, while the family was eating dinner, Violet took her fathers handgun to the outhouse and shot herself. 

When Hunny finished Violet’s story, we went downstairs to the parlor room. As soon as I was through the threshold, the pain stopped. I was completely fine. Then, Hunny told us that this was the room in which Violet took her last breath. She had been found and moved inside by her father and died surrounded by her family inside of the home. 

Later on at the end of the tour, I asked Hunny where on her body Violet had shot herself. I did not know if the connection I felt to Violet’s story was paranormal or not, but I did not think that it was from the guide’s words alone. Hunny’s answer was simple, he said “point blank in the chest” and pointed at his heart. I could not believe it. I made up my mind then, that I had a real, tangible encounter with the ghost of Violet Whaley. Standing in her home, I felt her heartache and her final pain. 

Before my visit to the Whaley House, I was not completely sure where I stood on ghosts. Sometimes, I still cannot piece together exactly what I think about the idea of spirits living among us, but I choose to believe that I made a friend in the soul and the memory of Violet Whaley that night.