![]() ![]() Ostentatious, defiantly public and expensive, mourning for Victorians was about displaying to the world the depth of your grief in tangible, material means.īy the time Sarah Winchester died in 1922, mourning had changed dramatically. Specially-ordered gloves, scarves, hoods, and hatbands could alone easily take up a third of the funeral bill, to say nothing of the coffin and hearse, horses and mourning coach and attendants. Middle- and upper-class families spent lavishly on funerals, which would include not just silk winding sheets and coffins made of hardwood or brass, but also hired attendants waving black ostrich feathers-the more the better. A grieving widow was expected to wear full black, crêpe-trimmed attire for two years following the death of her husband mourning dress was fashionable, changing with the seasons and updated per the latest trends, which meant that, for those who could afford it, it was expensive. When her husband died in 1881, the rituals of Victorian mourning we’re still in full swing. As the story goes, she moved from New Haven, Connecticut to San Jose, California, where, besotted by grief, she took on a massive renovation project that would consume the remainder of her days.Īs someone who’s spent the last decade researching and writing about Sarah Winchester and her house, her story has captivated me not just because of its oddness, but because of the unique period she straddled. Winchester’s father-in-law founded the rifle company that bore his name and earned his family millions, but she lost her only daughter in infancy, and her husband to tuberculosis 15 years later, leaving her alone for the next four decades of her life. Sarah Winchester, heir to the Winchester Rifle Company’s riches and builder of perhaps the strangest mansion in America, has always been seen as our gun-obsessed nation’s sin-eater. Eating bread and drinking ale over the grave of a recently deceased, Manslow and other sin-eaters would take on whatever was left un-confessed, embodying these sins so the departed could enter Heaven with a clean slate and pure conscience. ![]() Sin-eaters were usually poor people who provided a service for the newly dead: In exchange for a meal, they would agree to “take on the sins” of the deceased, particularly among those who had not had a chance to receive last rites. Though she received an inheritance of $20 million - as well as partial ownership of the family's firearms company - she never remarried and was alone for the rest of the her life.1906 was the year England’s last known sin-eater, Richard Manslow, died in Ratlinghope. In the early 1880s, her father-in-law passed away, and then her husband succumbed to tuberculosis a year later. From that point on, Sarah's luck only worsened. Tragically, Annie died just a month later from marasmus, or severe malnutrition. ![]() Several years later, Sarah gave birth to a daughter, Annie. In her early 20s, she married Oliver Winchester of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Sarah Lockwood Pardee was born in New Haven, CT, around 1839. So, what do you need to know about the eerie history surrounding the infamous real-life home? Though it's been a fairly well-known tale for some time, it's attracted more attention due to the upcoming thriller Winchester: The House That Ghosts Built, starring Helen Mirren as the titular character. The story of Sarah Winchester and the Winchester Mystery House is bizarre, intriguing, and spooky as hell. ![]()
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