The Poltergeist of Phelps Mansion

In 1850, a family living in Stratford, Connecticut, was plagued by a malevolent poltergeist. This unseen force terrorized the Phelps family for months, forcing them to flee their home. During that time, Phelps Mansion became known as one of the most haunted places in Connecticut.

Newspapers ran articles about the “Stratford Poltergeist.” Although the mansion was demolished decades ago, the story of its haunting remains one of the most chilling accounts of poltergeist activity in US history.

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Who Was the Poltergeist of Phelps Mansion?

There are a few theories about the identity of the Stratford Poltergeist. Some speculated it was the ghost of a woman named Goody Bassett, who was hanged for witchcraft in 1661. Others feared a demonic presence because of notes that mysteriously appeared throughout the mansion with names like “Sam Slick,” “Beelzebub,” and “H.P. Devil” written on them.

That said, the poltergeist identified itself during a seance as a law clerk who had defrauded the Phelps family and was trapped in Hell. Whoever the Poltergeist of Phelps Mansion was, their reign of terror captivated the local community.

History of Phelps Mansion

The Phelps Mansion was built in 1826 by General Matthias Nicoll for his daughter Eliza and her husband. The Greek Revival mansion, located at 1738 Elm Street, stood three stories high, with four Doric columns lining the front of the house. Eliza’s husband was a sea captain, so the central hall of the house was the exact dimensions of a clipper ship (12’ x 70’) and featured twin staircases on either side.

In 1848, Eliza sold the home to Reverend Eliakim Phelps and his family. The family included his wife, Sarah; son, Sidney; and stepchildren, Anna, Henry, and Hannah. It was during the time that the Phelps family lived in the home that many of the hauntings were recorded. After they sold the house in 1859, there were two reports of a haunting until the 1940s. 

In the 1940s, the mansion became a nursing home called the Restmore Convalescent Home. Staff reported disembodied whispers, knockings, and doors that opened and closed on their own. At some point, demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren were brought in to investigate the house, but could find no trace of a haunting or poltergeist activity. 

In 1970, a massive fire gutted Phelps Mansion, and it was left boarded up and abandoned. In 1971, police went to investigate the house, which had become a refuge for the homeless. During their investigation, police encountered a little girl who ran past them up one of the main staircases. They chased after the girl, but she had vanished. The shaken police officers believed they had encountered a ghost.

In 1974, Phelps Mansion was torn down due to the extensive amount of damage caused by the 1970 fire and vandalism.

The First Seance

On March 4, 1850, a friend of Eliakim came to Phelps Mansion for dinner. Both had an interest in spiritualism, which had become increasingly popular on the East Coast over the previous two years. Eliakim and his friend subsequently decided to hold an informal seance. However, the only activity they reported at the time was “intermittent, disorganized rappings.” 

Once the seance was over, that seemed to be the end of any poltergeist activity. Less than a week later, the lives of the Phelps family would be turned upside down by an unknown force.

Hauntings At Phelps Mansion

On March 10, 1850, the Phelps family returned to their home and discovered that all of the doors had been opened and the house ransacked. Oddly enough, nothing appeared to be stolen. 

When the rest of the family left for afternoon church service, Eliakim stayed behind, believing whoever had been in the home would return. When nothing happened, he came downstairs and made a bizarre discovery.

In the dining room, Sarah’s clothes had been filled with rags to give the appearance of women standing, sitting, and kneeling throughout the room. There were 11 of these effigies in total, some of which were reading Bibles. In the center of the room, a small puppet that looked like a demon hung from a cord. Eliakim was baffled, and the hauntings only intensified.

Over the next six months, poltergeist activity rapidly increased in the home. Members of the family would be pinched and slapped. Objects would fly across rooms or drop from the ceiling as if appearing out of thin air. Seventy-one windows were broken throughout the mansion.

Elikiam’s 17-year-old stepdaughter, Anna, and 12-year-old stepson, Henry, were the primary targets of the poltergeist. An unseen force would bang on Anna’s door at night, and bruises and welts appeared on her arms. Rocks were thrown at Henry, and the young boy would appear in different parts of the property with no memory of how he got there. 

The poltergeist also left notes throughout the home. When asked why the poltergeist was haunting the family, a note appeared that read, “For fun.” When asked who the poltergeist was, it responded, “A demon, from Hell.”

Haunting or Hoax?

Local newspapers began covering the story of the Stratford Poltergeist, creating a media frenzy. Eliakim called in a fellow pastor, Reverend John Mitchell, to help investigate. Mitchell believed that the children, specifically Anna and Henry, were responsible for the alleged hauntings.

Mitchell locked the children in a room while carrying out his investigation and was horrified to witness multiple instances of poltergeist activity, despite the children being unable to cause any of it. Others would accuse Anna and Henry of creating the hoax, but even when they were sent away for a month, the haunting continued. However, it was notably less severe in their absence.

The Second Seance

John Mitchell eventually convinced Eliakim to conduct a second seance to make contact with the poltergeist. During the seance, the poltergeist identified itself as a law clerk who had defrauded Eliakim years before. 

The law clerk had died and was now trapped in Hell. Eliakim didn’t believe the spirit, but later confirmed the story. Further seances suggested that five spirits were haunting the mansion, with two of them being malevolent. At one point, Anna had seen the apparitions of three men sitting in the parlor when they suddenly vanished.

With no end to the haunting in sight, the Phelps family moved to Philadelphia during the fall and winter of 1850-1851. When they returned to Phelps Mansion in March 1851, a year after the haunting began, there was virtually no supernatural activity in the home. They would live there another eight years. There was no explanation for the Stratford Poltergeist’s abrupt ending.

The Haunted Phelps Mansion

Although the story of the Phelps family and the Stratford Poltergeist can never be fully proven or debunked, the sheer number of firsthand accounts indicates that something besides a hoax was happening in Phelps Mansion.

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Sources:

• https://factschology.com/mmm-podcast-articles/phelps-mansion-haunting
• https://hauntedhouses.com/connecticut/phelps-mansion/
• https://www.judemclaughlin.com/2022/06/27/the-phelps-mansion-haunting/