Schmidt House Ghost
Is Emma Pfitzenmeyer the Schmidt House Ghost? Emma was brutally murdered in Chester on December 4th, 1890, but the only suspects ever brought to trial in the case, her sister and brother-in-law, were acquitted.
The story of Emma’s murder is rather long and quite confusing at times, so I’ll summarize briefly. Emma lived with her sister Caroline Schmidt, in whose house her lifeless body was found by Caroline and her husband Henry.
Numerous theories were proposed as to who murdered Emma, and why. It turned out that Emma had been intimate with someone within the 24 hours prior to her death, so an already odd case became even more so. Ultimately, The authorities ruled out any former suitors and settled on her sister and Mr. Schmidt.
Caroline and Henry were charged with her murder but were found not guilty during their trials. To this day, the case remains unsolved, as far as I cam tell. Could this have been traumatic enough to cause her ghost to return to the house where she died? The Rumford family who lived there 2 years later certainly came to believe it was Emma.
Chester Folk Have A Ghost
Murdered Young Emma Pfitzenmeyer’s Spirit Now Turns Up
Hair-Raising Experience of Members of the Rumford Family
They Visit The Room In Which The Pretty Girl Met Her Death and Have A Lively and Very Interesting Time With A Spook
Special to the Inquirer
Chester, Feb. 26. — The Schmidt residence, where that pretty German girl, Emma Pfitzenmeyer, lost her life after she had returned from a dance, has leaped into prominence again, and this time because the “ghost” of the murdered girl insists upon roaming about to the great consternation of those in the neighborhood.
Emma wasn’t the kind of girl that would be likely to trouble the living, but after her tragic end it was some time before the owner of the Schmidt residence could get a tenant. Those persons who happened to be looking for a house were not afraid of ghosts, no indeed, but they didn’t like to live in such places.
No Fear of Spirits
Finally a family came along that didn’t care a cent for spooks, rather liked the idea, in fact. So a short time ago, John Rumford, his wife and 19-year-old daughter Mattie moved in. It wasn’t long before Mrs. Rumford and a married daughter began to tell their friends about the unusual scenes in the house. They went so far as to say they had seen the ghost of some girl meandering around in the rooms. Mattie and her father laughed. “Rank nonsense,” they called it.
Tuesday evening, however, the final blow came. It was about 9 o’clock when Mattie was asked to go upstairs and get a wrap for her older sister. Mattie started, and what followed can best be told in her own words. Here is the story as she told it to the Inquirer correspondent this evening:
She Saw Something
“There is one gas jet in the room and this was lit and turned down very low. As I entered the door of the room something came from the closet. It had long waving hair, and resembled Emma Pfitzenmeyer. I held out my hand to see if it was not some mistake and it uttered the most piercing shrieks. I made a rush from the room, and as I put my foot on the first step I am positive I felt some one take hold of my arm.
After that I remember nothing until I recovered consciousness.
Her mother here related how they had picked her up at the bottom of the stairs unconscious, bleeding profusely from the mouth, and one of her feet badly sprained. The other members of the house are equally as positive as Miss Mattie, concerning the presence of soem mysterious being in the house.
She Saw Emma
Mrs. Rumford said, “I have seen the form of Emma Pfitzenmeyer, that ill-fated German girl, standing at the foot of my bed. I did not know the girl in life, but as she appeared to me she was of medium height, with light hair which hung loosely over her shoulders. On another occasion my husband was in the room with me. I called his attention to it, and as I did so, it vanished, leaving only a ring of smoke. He saw this and nervously opened the door to see where it had gone. At various times I have seen the hand and arm of a woman in different parts of the room. I do not believe in ghosts, neither do any of the family, but this has given us a terrible shock.”1Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/27/1892
I’m still looking for more information about the Rumfords, so stay tuned.