Moon Mausoleum
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The infamous haunted Sallie House is said to be one of the more haunted places in Kansas. What happened inside the house where it is said that the life of a young girl ended after a botched operation. Is she really lingering and haunting the house to the point of hurting people?
The infamous haunted Sallie House is said to be one of the more haunted places in Kansas. What happened inside the house where it is said that the life of a young girl ended after a botched operation. Is she really lingering and haunting the house to the point of hurting people?
One fateful day, a terrified mother arrived with her six-year-old girl to the house of Dr. Finney in Atchison, Kansas. Sallie, as the little girl was named, was suffering from a severe case of appendicitis and had collapsed from the terrible pain. In a desperate bid to save her life, as the appendix would burst at any moment, Dr. Finney attempted emergency surgery.
But the anesthesia failed, or perhaps he didn’t have time to wait until it took effect before cutting into her. As the scalpel sliced into her abdomen, she awoke to searing pain, her screams piercing the walls before she succumbed to shock and blood loss.
Her screams suddenly stopped as she died, her last memory being in excruciating pain and the image of a man cutting into and torturing her.
In the heart of Atchison, Kansas, 50 miles northwest from Kansas City along the Missouri River. It’s a town known for its famous female pilot, Amelia Earhart, it is also known for its ghostly lore. Some believe Sallies restless spirit remained behind, forever tethered to the place of her suffering. Left of her is only the infamous residence of where she died—the Sallie House on 508 N. Second Street, right up the street from Amelia Earhart’s birthplace.
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A place where shadows move of their own accord, unseen hands scratch the skin, and the air hums with a presence both tragic and malevolent. Some say it is the most haunted place in Kansas, if not in the country! Many have dared to step inside, but few leave without an unsettling story to tell.
The Sallie House, built in the mid-1800s or perhaps at the turn of the century or perhaps somewhere in the middle like 1871, the sources vary by Michael Finney who had a son, Charles in 1865.
By 1903, Dr. Charles Finney and his family are listed as the city directory as residents. The Sallie House is a basic two-story home built in the mid-1800’s with a basement. The front served as office space and examination rooms, while the doctor and his family lived upstairs. In the early 1900s, operating from one’s private home was still common in the U.S.
Some believe that the home doubled as his medical practice, where he examined and treated patients in the lower rooms while his family occupied the upstairs.
Though architectural details have led some to question whether the house was ever used as a clinic, the legend persists, fueling the eerie reputation that shrouds the building. The operation of Sallie has never been confirmed but it is mostly stated to have happened around 1905 and according to stories, Charles moved out from the house in 1906 after the surgery.
His family are said to have lived in the house until 1947 and more than one member of the family died in the house. Michael C. Finney in 1872, James Finney in 1900 and Kate Finney in 1918., all of natural causes though.
So what happened to Charles though? He actually ended up as mayor for a while, although he had to step down after an alcohol scandal. When he was elected mayor in 1913, the Globe’s headline said that the mothers of Atchison had elected him, as he had officiated at so many births
Although the locals had already deemed the house haunted, it wasn’t until 1993 when the legend about it took full effect. When the tragedy of Sallie is said to have happened, the house had already passed through many hands. On 2nd Street in December of 1992, a young couple moved into it and they started to notice strange things happening after a month or so.
Debra and Tony Pickman moved into the place with their little baby and dog, thinking to live a peaceful life, but the house had other plans.
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Their dog started to growl at nothing, especially in the upstairs rooms they used as a nursery. Around the place where the operating table had been, it started to grow cold and objects would move. Mold started to grow out of nowhere after their son was born and the activity increased. Voices started to seep from the walls without a source. This was said to only happen to the man in the house, never his wife or his baby.
One day however, they returned home and entered the nursery room. There, they found all of their son’s stuffed animals in a circle on the floor.
The strange things escalated until it turned violent after that day, leaving scratches on his chest and across his abdomen. Even fires were said to break out when candles lit themselves. During the birthday party of their child, a doll was said to have caught fire for no reason as well.
When they reached out to Past owners Kelly Elias and Les Smith said that they also had some experiences while they lived in the house. Two years in, the Pickams moved out.
The echoes of Sallie’s agony are said to reverberate through the house to this day. Male visitors have reported the most violent encounters—deep scratches appearing out of nowhere, burning sensations crawling across their backs, and unseen forces pushing them. This has led to the chilling moniker “The Man-Hating Ghost.” Some theorize that, in her final moments, the young girl associated all men with pain, her spirit now lashing out at any male presence in the house. People have stated that they have seen the apparition of a young girl as well.
Electric equipment stops working, battery drains are only some of the things that paranormal investigators claim to experience. But is Sallie the only ghost haunting the place? According to some, the house seems to be a magnet for supernatural activity, drawing in forces that may be far more sinister than a child’s lingering spirit.
Some simply don’t believe that young Sallie would be behind the violent attacks and there are reports of a middle-aged woman who is said to be behind the frightening attacks. She is said to have been seen standing in the windows when people are passing by.
In addition to Sallie, the story gets intermingled with the tragic story of Frank Jr. He was a child who died in Kansas City a year after Sallie died when his mom botched a suicide attempt that killed him but that she survived.
James Finney, the older brother of Charles built a house next door in 1889 and deeded it to the child’s mother. Joanna Barnes who was his mother was divorced, had three previous children and had also been sent to an asylum for being violently insane. She gave birth to Frank Jr at the institution.
She was then discharged, believed to be cured of her affliction. On September 24 in 1906, she turned the gas stove on and laid down with her five year old who died of the fumes. She survived, but is still haunting the place according the stories.
Johanna is also said to haunt the place, appearing as a “dominant female” who lived next door to Sallie House until 1906 and whose ghostly voice was allegedly captured on audio.
Despite the compelling stories, no historical record confirms the existence of a young girl named Sallie who died in the house. There are many theories and versions of the legend now. Was Sallie the result of an affair with Dr. Finney and her mother were black maids and because of this, they couldn’t go to the hospital.
Some skeptics argue that the legend was concocted as a tourism stunt to put Atchison on the map as one of America’s most haunted towns.
Ethel Anderson owned and lived in this home from 1958 to 1990. Until her death in 2000, she insisted that the home was not haunted. Debra Pickam published a book about their experiences, so they certainly had monetary motives for fabricating a story like this.
After the Pickman’s moved out Gloria Fish and her family moved in. They claimed nothing paranormal occurred when they lived there.Paranormal investigators said that the ghost must have moved on or followed the Pickman’s as they had experienced scratches after moving into their new home.
Today, the Sallie House stands as both a curiosity and a challenge to the boldest of ghost hunters. Public tours, overnight investigations, and eerie personal accounts continue to cement its reputation as one of the most haunted locations in the United States. They keep finding strange things about this house.
In the early 2000s it was said that a pentagram was drawn on the basement floor of the home and that satanic things for a ritual have been found. When doing a luminol test, blood splatter was discovered in the closet of the master bedroom and a bloody sweater was said to be found in the attic.
Some believe that both the mother and Sallie is not found, because they are still on the property after the doctor buried them there, or perhaps even in the basement.
Whether the haunting is the tortured soul of a little girl or something far more malevolent, one thing is certain—the Sallie House does not rest. And although you must sign a waiver before entering, there hasn’t been a reported incident since the last tenants left in 1993.
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