This week’s photo features the oldest house in Manhattan, the Morris-Jumel Mansion. Built in 1765 by Roger Morris, the mansion was used as a temporary headquarters for General George Washington after he and his army were forced to flee Brooklyn Heights after the Battle of Long Island. Later on in the war, it served as the headquarters to British Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton, and the Hessian commander Baron Wilhelm von Knyphausen. Stephen Jumel and his wife Eliza Jumel purchased the house in 1810, and after Stephen’s death, Eliza married the controversial ex-vice president Aaron Burr who lived at the house briefly in the 1830s. After Burr’s death in 1836, Eliza lived in the house alone until she died in 1865.
Today, the mansion is rumored to be haunted by the ghosts of Eliza Jumel, Stephen Jumel, and Aaron Burr. And let’s not forget such paranormal mainstays as the Revolutionary War soldier and the jilted maidservant, who supposedly committed suicide in the house.
All photos in our Photo of the Week series are taken by New York Paranormal Society team member Laura Pennace, who is a New York City wedding photographer specializing in city hall and courthouse weddings, as well as engagement and proposal shoots. You can see more of Laura’s work at Pennace Photography (www.pennacephotography.com)
