A Deeper Dive into Franklin Castle

I decided to create another blog post on Franklin Castle back to popular demand and to fill in some details I glossed over for the stories in the first post.

The Deaths of the Teidemann Children

So, to reiterate, Emma died in the winter of 1881 from diabetes. What stirred up stories of Hannes being a murderer was the fact she didn’t get buried until a couple of months later. People speculated that it was to cover up a heinous crime, but in reality, it was due to a lack of technology during the period and gravediggers dug by hand. This is why they waited till spring to bury her finally. Meanwhile, her casket was housed in the basement of a church. 

As for the three infant children (Wilhelmine d.1863, Ernst d.1870, and Albert d.1873), there were some unusual arrangements with their burial. It was not uncommon for children to die during infancy at that period. Unable to afford a plot for burial, his brother-in-law offered him to use their family plot. It was when Emma passed away Hannes was able to afford a family plot at that point and the deceased children were moved there. A square graver marker is in the family plot for the children, and their names are listed on the family monument. While none of the Tiedemann children died in Franklin Castle, I did find a weird coincidence that there was a 13-year-old boy named Albert Muhlhauser who died in Franklin Castle and happened to share the same name as one of the Teidemann children. 

The Secret Passages

One of the rumors that fill people is that the house has secret passages. It also fueled the rumor that Hannes used it to do his evil bidding, i.e., a wild story where Hannes killed a servant girl named Rachel after she told him she was marrying a man and did so in a fit of jealousy. There are no records, however, stating there was a servant girl named Rachel. Other than the stairs to the second-floor foyer, Franklin Castle has no secret passages. Servants used the stairs so they wouldn’t have to traverse through the second floor to answer the door. 

How the Arsonist Started the Fire

I got two versions of how the fire started, one from the book and the other from the caretaker. Both of them start with the same premise. A Yahoo employee bought Franklin Castle in the late 90s, and before she was scheduled to go back to California for work, she threw a Halloween party. During the party, a sinister guest came to the party. This is where two different stories come into play. 

According to the caretaker on the tour, the arsonist cracked open the window slightly from the inside in the kitchen on the first floor. When the employee left a week later, he came in through the window, went to the hallway door, set the ground with gasoline, and set fire to the place. He survived the fire and was arrested. Supposedly, he told the police that he did it because he believed the house was evil.

In the picture above, the hallway with the cement floor is where the fire allegedly started.  (It was behing me where I took this photo.)

The second version of the book Haunted Franklin Castle states during the party, the back door to the boiler room got broken. When the owner left a week later, the arsonist broke through the coal room door and set the fire there. He was intoxicated and suffered first-degree burns.  The damage to the coal room was so bad that it was beyond repair and had to be demolished. All that remains of the coal room is a white square on the back of the house. 

There are tons of more stories about Franklin Castle. Let me know if you want me to go into detail in the comment section below. I plan on eventually doing a third blog post on this. I love revisiting and analyzing the history of the place.

Book for research:

Krejci, William G., Myers, John H. (2017). Haunted Franklin Castle.

    Charleston, SC: Haunted America