Mark Twain House
The old Connecticut home of writer Mark Twain may still be haunted by his cigar smoking specter
Paranormal Activity at
the Mark Twain House
- Visitors and workers have reported the smell of cigars throughout the house
- The apparition of a lady in white has been seen
- A figure of a lady in black has been spotted around the house
- Lights turn on and off without known cause
- Disembodied voices have been heard
- A man’s figure has been seen in windows from outside
- Objects have been tossed around rooms by unseen hands
History of the Mark Twain House
Travel down Farmington Avenue in Hartford, Connecticut, and you’re sure to spot a few historic homes and buildings on your way. But one old brick mansion has a one-of-a-kind history, shaped by a truly one-of-a-kind historical figure.
The Mark Twain House, a spacious and stately home with expansive porches, is now a museum dedicated to the life and times of its memorable namesake.
Mark Twain lived a storied life, including two decades in the home now named for him. And though he didn’t die in its walls, the memories he made in his Connecticut home may have tethered him to it forever in spirit.
Timeline of Mark Twain House's History
Swipe or use timeline points to see Mark Twain House through the years
1873
In the early 1870s, Samuel Clemens, the writer best known by his pseudonym Mark Twain, was a newly married newspaperman in Buffalo, New York. His wife, Olivia, came from a wealthy family, which allowed them to move to Harford early in the decade.
By 1873, they were shopping around for architects to build a large family home. And in August of that year, the first bricks were laid in what would become the Mark Twain House. Eager to start life there, the family moved in in 1874, even though the house was unfinished.
1891
While living in the Hartford house, Twain penned some of his best known works. The tales of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and The Prince and the Pauper all came from Twain’s era in the home. At the same time, his family also grew, coming to include daughters Susy, Clara, and Jean.
And though everyone in the family adored the spacious house, they weren’t destined to keep it. By the early 1890s, financial trouble had hit the family. This forced them to move out of the Connecticut home and sail to Europe in 1891.
1903
Twain kept the Connecticut house as a rental unit while the family lived in Europe. But the Clemens clan themselves would never again live in its walls. The death of their daughter, Susy, in 1896 is said to have made it simply too emotionally difficult for the family to return to the Hartford home.
They eventually sold it completely in 1903. It moved through a few owners for the next few years, and even had a stint as a boys school in the late 1910s. By 1922, the home was sold again, this time to a developer hoping to make it into apartments.
1929
In 1929, Mark Twain’s former home was purchased by Katherine Day, who founded a commission to restore it. From 1930 to 1956, the commission rented part of the home to the local library. All the while, the rest of the home continued to be rented out as private apartments.
For many years, it seemed as though the old home would remain a collection of apartments and downstairs business space. But in the early 1960s, the restoration that Day’s commission once hoped for started to come to life.
1963
Restoration of the Mark Twain House began in 1963, when the home was named a National Historic Landmark. It took over a decade, but all major rooms in the home were opened as part of the Mark Twain House & Museum in 1974. And though the property has been a museum since then, it may be that a few ghosts returned to the home alongside its historic restoration.
Visitors and museum workers alike have reported ghostly encounters in the home. These include claims of Mark Twain himself, finally back in Hartford, if only in spirit.
Is The Mark Twain House Haunted?
Paranormal claims have swirled around the Mark Twain House for decades. Many people first learned of the home’s hauntings from Syfy’s Ghost Hunters.
But to museum workers and tourists around Hartford, the ghost stories go back much further.
One of the most common claims around the house is the sudden and intense smell of cigars.
Mark Twain was a habitual cigar smoker in his life, with some estimates suggesting he smoked as many as forty a day. Given that, perhaps it is only normal that his ghost keeps that habit up.
Who is the Lady in White at the Twain House?
Another popular ghostly report at the Mark Twain House is of a woman in white. The woman’s smokey apparition is so named for the white dress she’s always seen wearing. The young woman’s figure is sometimes seen wandering through the home, and then slowly disappearing as she continues on.
Despite frequent appearances, no one has ever heard this mysterious figure say anything. And while some say it’s the specter of Twain’s lost daughter, Susy Clemens, no one can truly say for sure.
Apparitions at the Twain House
The lady in white isn’t the only ghostly figure you might encounter at the Mark Twain House either. At least one person has seen a man’s figure in the windows from outside. A lady in a black dress has also been seen taking walks around the house at times.
But while some people claim to know the identity of the woman in white, the black-clad spirit is more mysterious. To date, no one is quite certain who she is. But, given the dark colored attire, perhaps it is Olivia Clemens returned to mourn for Susy?
Knocks, Bangs, and Ghostly Sounds
A whole host of other paranormal activity has been encountered around the house. In at least one instance, objects have been tossed around rooms by unseen forces. Lights in certain rooms will also purportedly be turned on and off.
Additionally, sounds of knocks and banging have been heard around the home. It’s as if there’s some work being done or servants still traversing the halls. Or, could this be the phantom of Mark Twain himself, still knocking around his old house to get a rise out of visitors?
Paranormal Voices in the Corridors
Going along with all that spectral racket, ghostly voices have also been reported from the house. These disembodied voices have frequently been heard all throughout the mansion, never localized to just one place.
Numerous investigations, including those done by the Ghost Hunters crew, have turned up possible recordings of these haunting voices.
Over time, purported EVP recordings have become one of the Mark Twain House’s more common reports.
But, as with many hauntings, the voices still remain elusive. You’ll have to keep your ears peeled if you hope to hear the specters whisper through the mansion’s corridors.
History with a Haunted Twist at
the Mark Twain House
Ghost stories remain a big part of the Mark Twain House today. The public’s interest in the ongoing hauntings have driven a lot of museum activity in recent years.
The museum now hosts regular Graveyard Shift Tours throughout the year. These touch on the home’s history but focus mostly on the ghostly happenings and Mark Twain’s involvement in spiritualism and seances.
Private ghost hunts aren’t a regular offering of the Mark Twain House. But based on some of the spooky tales within, a ghost tour might just be all you need to have a spiritual experience at the historic house.
So while Mark Twain wasn’t famous for ghost stories in his life, it seems he is quickly becoming a famous ghost story himself.
