Haunting of Snowball Mansion

This weekend I had the pleasure of meeting a couple at an open house who wondered if the home we were in was haunted or not. Since the house I held open was from the late 1800's the question was a good one and an intriguing one.

They weren't the only people to ask actually, and another woman told a story about her sister's late 1800's home being quite haunted. ((shivers)). I am pretty glad that the open house was successful and there were no eerie screams or bizarre occurrences. I may not be a believer in the supernatural but I think that is simply because I haven't experienced it.

I did have to talk about the Snowball Mansion to them because word is that it is most definitely haunted. Also, it is on the market. So is the Snowball Mansion haunted and what is with the name? If you aren't from here, let me explain. From the beginning actually.....

More than 4 billion years ago the earth was nothing like it is today. In fact, the atmosphere contained little if any oxygen. Wait, I went too far back. Let's keep it in the 1800's. Specifically, 1853 and a man named John Wells Snowball, Englishman and successful gold miner. He moved to Knights Landing in 1853 and established the first store which was pretty bright because he became quite wealthy and was the Judge in these parts.

They say he held court under the sycamore tree still on the property and was most likely a wise and gentle judge. Or a mean and unfair one. No word on that, because he's not the ghost so is not the main character. His wife is the ghost and you have to imagine that she thought she hit pay dirt marrying such a successful and most likely intelligent fellow. A fairytale story with Mr.Snowball plunking down huge money to hire Seth Babson, the same architect that designed well-known Crocker Museum in Sacramento, to build a mansion for his young bride Lucy.

Lucy and John Snowball were the proud parents of a new baby when tragedy struck. It is said that the baby died in the night and Lucy never recovered. When she passed away her ghost is said to have lingered on in the three story mansion. Some have said that her ghost wanders the halls towards the nursery and windows will rattle. Some say that if you mention the Snowballs in the rooms that a cool chill will take over you.

I'm not sure if any of this is true. But, I will say that when I first moved here I went to the cemetery here in town as anyone should. There are pioneer graves and many are wonderfully preserved. Older cemeteries will hit you with the fact that life was a whole lot more difficult and dangerous back then. Before penicillin and c-sections, before life jackets and blood transfusions, people died young and that includes many, many babies. As a mother it hurt to see the graves of young children and babies but before I ever knew about the Snowball Mansion or even the name Snowball, I was struck at the grave site by an overwhelming sadness that the Snowball's experienced when I saw that little grave. I remembered the name and I remembered being so sad for that mother. Maybe the ghost is lingering out here in Knights Landing with a hurt that time cannot heal.

Nobody knows, obviously, but what we do know is that the property has been beautifully restored and is back on the market waiting for new owners to find out for themselves if there is a ghost in the house or not.