Bringing Back Sligo

In the spirit of Halloween I thought I might post something a little macabre.  Quite a few months ago I was researching people who might have died in the house, specifically women.  As we all now know the original house was a small pox hospital at least twice, there were slaves on the property, and the Civil War played out to some extent on the property so there are some unknown factors when it comes to all of the deaths at the house.  However, for the families that owned Sligo, their deaths were documented and it turns out (not surprisingly) that a number of women and a few children died at Sligo…and may still be there *oooOOOOooooo* (those are ghostly “Os.”)

All of the information below I retrieved from Ancestry.com.  I’m beginning to know a lot more about Sligo’s families than I do my own at this point.  One day I’ll start a family tree for myself.  Anyway, the following women or children died at Sligo, in order from most recent to the oldest recorded death.  I have yet to go beyond the beginning of the 19th century because that is when the history of the house starts to get really muddled.

• Nora Fitzpatrick Shannon died age 63 at Sligo in 1937.  She was the second wife of Price L Shannon.
• Lavinia Harrison Word Ferneyhough died age 43 at Sligo in 1889.  She was the wife of George T Ferneyhough.
• Mary Ferneyhough (possibly died 1880, the initials “M. V.” are listed in the 1880 census) and Lillie Lancaster Ferneyhough both died in infancy at Sligo.  They would have been the children of Lavinia and George.
• Frances Ferneyhough was 73 when she died in 1861.  However, she was married to an Adams and it is possible she did not die at Sligo.  She was the daughter of John R Ferneyhough, Sr. and Margaret Walker.
• Mary Ann Ferneyhough Chesley was born 1814 and died around 1853 (age 35) because by 1860 her daughter Fannie (born circa 1852) was in the custody of Mary Ann’s father, John Ferneyhough, Jr.  Whether she died at Sligo or not is a mystery but she was married so it is possible she died elsewhere.
• Mary Francis Gilbert died in 1830 at age 40.  Fun fact, she was John Ferneyhough Jr.’s cousin and first wife.
• Margaret Ferneyhough was born in 1801 and died in 1827 at Sligo.  She was the daughter of John R Ferneyhough, Sr. and Margaret Walker.

I wonder if any of these ladies are still spending time at the house?  If they are I hope they are prepared for the chaos that we will bring once we move in…they may want to consider moving on…