Ghost

By by Catherine Odson

Thursday, October 27, 2005

The men of Sigma Nu no longer occupy their house at 1501 Sigma Nu Place, but one tradition may linger behind. Virginia, the ghost of Windmill Hill, has resided in the mansion since before the fraternity moved into the former governor’s house.

Sigma Nu fraternity moved in to the house during the 1920s and stayed in the house until its charter was revoked earlier this year. House legend states the young woman was murdered in 1911 and continues to haunt residents and guests to this day.

Former Governor Walter Roscoe Stubbs lived in the Lawrence mansion during his term in the early 1900s. Virginia was a maidservant in the house, but “The University of Kansas Report, Winter 1992,” said Virginia was also Stubbs’ adopted daughter.

Most reports dub Virginia as Stubbs’ mistress and blame his wife for her death.

A 1995 Kansan article said that Stubbs returned from a day trip to Topeka to find his 17-year-old mistress hanging from the light fixture in the ballroom; his wife sat nearby, incoherent.

Jake Finnicum, Omaha, Neb. freshman and former prospective Sigma Nu member, said the death really occurred in her dressing room, now the boiler room in the abandoned house.

Both accounts accuse Mrs. Stubbs of the April 1911 murder; she supposedly lived her later years in an asylum.

Perhaps on a related note, the Legislature appropriated $100,000 for the establishment of a state insane asylum before Stubbs’ tenure as governor ended in 1913.

Another Kansan article said former residents often heard mysterious footsteps or rattling doorknobs.

Finnicum said that the back door to a room on the third floor, nicknamed the “Ward,” was never closed when the Ward’s five freshmen residents awoke each morning.

Despite their efforts to keep the door shut, he said, it would always open.

Despite the random noises and occurrences the house’s male residents experienced, Finnicum said Virginia usually haunted women.

The Kansan reported a former house director woke feeling Virginia’s presence over her bed; she even smelled women’s perfume.

The report said another house director stirred at the smell of smoke and discovered a woman at the foot of her bed smoking a cigarette. In the Stubbs’ era, the room was the smoking porch of the servants’ quarters.

Blair Gisi, Aberdeen, S.D., senior and former Sigma Nu member, said he never saw any reference to a ghost while he lived in the house. He said it had been a while since Virginia appeared.

Much of the lore surrounding Virginia centers on a plaque near the fireplace in a music room that read, “The world of strife shut out, the world of love shut in.”

Advertise Here

Comments

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.

Advertisement