The Residual Haunting at Pres. Lincoln's Summer Home

LINCOLN'S SUMMER HOME IN WASHINGTON, DC -
Recently, we went to visit "Lincoln's Summer Home, in Washington, D.C. It was a summer home originally built by George Washington Riggs, born 1813. Riggs had the home built north of Washington, DC to get away from the downtown area (at the time). Now the city has swallowed the area around it. Riggs was a co-founder of Riggs Bank, member of the board of aldermen of the District of Columbia, and a board member of the Corcoran Gallery. When William Wilson Corcoran retired in 1854 and Riggs bought his interest and, under the firm name of Riggs & Company (since 1896 Riggs Bank), directed the business until his death in 1881.
Riggs was the original owner of a 34 room cottage on a hilltop overlooking downtown Washington, D.C. The Gothic-Revival style cottage was built for Mr. Riggs in 1842 on a large estate that served as his "country seat." In 1851, the U.S. government purchased the property to establish quarters for disabled war veterans (a purpose the property serves to this day).

Now known as "President Lincoln’s Cottage at the Soldiers’ Home," it is a National Trust Historic Site, and a private, non-profit organization. The Cottage is the most significant historic site directly associated with Lincoln’s presidency aside from the White House. During the Civil War, Lincoln resided seasonally at the Soldiers’ Home, just over three miles north of the Capitol. He lived at the Soldiers’ Home for a quarter of his presidency. Here he thought through the course of the war, re-election, and emancipation. We learned a lot about how President Lincoln used the home to get away from the union soldiers who were lined up and drilling outside the White House. Lincoln and his family enjoyed summers at this home.

While we were touring the house, I got a dull headache in the back of my head, indicating that there was a ghost or spirit there. When we went into the lefthand living room (where there is a fireplace) I immediately got stomach pains, indicating that there was a ghost there that was conveying to me how they passed. I couldn't tell if it was male or female. When I left that room, I didn't feel the stomach pains anymore. I didn't feel the ghost anywhere else in the house but sensed that it was residual energy of a person that passed there from stomach problems. It was not an intelligent haunting.
At the end of the tour, I asked the docent about anyone passing while living in the house. She mentioned that one of George Riggs' daughter's had passed in the home, but couldn't tell me what she died from. I think it may have been one of the wounded civil war soldiers that were living in the adjacent soldier's home. I'm waiting to hear back from the docent to find out who may have died from stomach-related issues.
For the President Lincoln’s Cottage official website, go to http://www.lincolncottage.org/