![]() I'm kicking off the History Behind the Hauntings with a bit of a cheat. As I said, the thing that irks me most about ghost stories is that they never seem to be based in historical fact. However, this ghost is known. In fact, the ghost that haunts room 3327 at the Hotel del Coronado is famous. Not because the ghost was a celebrity during their lifetime, but because (1) she was a young woman who killed herself and (2) the ghost can be traced to a real, documented person. Kate Morgan, the most famous ghost at the hotel, was definitely a real person, but in the aftermath of her death, she was nearly misidentified. Twice! A woman arrived at the hotel alone, with no luggage, on November 24 (Thanksgiving Day), 1892. She signed the register as "Mrs. Lottie A. Bernard" of Detroit. She mainly kept to herself over the next few days, but she did share with the housekeeper that she was waiting for her brother to meet her there. Oh, and that she was suffering from stomach cancer. The evening of November 28, she was seen going onto the ocean-facing veranda. The next morning, a hotel employee found her body on the steps leading to the beach. There was a bullet wound on her right temple and a revolver near her right hand. Local officials deemed it a suicide, probably brought on by the physical suffering and despondency she felt due to cancer.[1] It didn't take long for the newspapers to suggest other reasons for the suicide. It is now thought that the woman registering at the Hotel del Coronado as Lottie Anderson Bernard, By December 4th, a new identity for the victim emerged: Lizzie Wyllie of Detroit. According to Lizzie's mother, Lizzie had disappeared about 5 weeks previously and it was assumed she had gone off to California with a married man she knew named John Longfield.[3] They had to twist this story a bit to make all of the parts fit, however, as it had already been confirmed that Lottie Bernard had telegraphed an acquaintance by the name of Mr. Allen in Hamburg, Iowa for some money.[4] It was now supposed that the couple must have stopped by Hamburg on their way to California long enough to make a friend from which Lizzie could borrow money.[5] Just four days later, the newspapers reversed course again. Hamburg, Ia., Dec. 6.—It is not believed here that Mrs. L. Anderson Bernard, who killed herself By this time, newspapers across the country were carrying the story of the mysterious woman who killed herself. And the story of who she was and why she committed suicide changed daily. The Los Angeles Daily Herald confused things even more with their story of December 9. A trunk marked "Mrs. Kate Morgan" was taken to the central police station on yesterday from the The paper went on to say that Kate Morgan was definitely not the Coronado suicide victim. There was a photograph of Kate in the trunk who was, according to them, entirely too unattractive and coarse looking to be the beautiful, refined woman who could afford to stay at a first-class hotel.[7] However, that same day, other papers admitted that the suicide's name was most likely Kate Morgan. The story was that she had been working as a domestic in Los Angeles the last couple of months. She did not share much about her past with her employer for fellow domestics, but she did state that she was married to a gambler and that it was an unhappy marriage. In her trunk was a marriage certificate for one Kate K. Farmer and Thomas E. Morgan, married in Hamburg, Iowa on 30 December 1885.[8] After this, it was agreed that her name was Kate Morgan, of Hamburg, Iowa. Finally, on December 14, a telegram was received in San Diego from Riverton, Fremont County, Iowa. Your telegram received regarding Kate Morgan, nee Farmer. Bury her and send me statement. ![]() Lottie/Lizzie/Kate could finally be buried. J W. Chandler was her grandfather, however neither he nor any other family member ever visited the morgue to identify her body or attended her funeral, though there were relatives living in California at the time. So, who was Kate (Farmer) Morgan? Kate was born 23 September 1868 in Hamburg, Fremont County, Iowa.[10] Her mother, Elizabeth Philamena Chandler, died shortly after giving birth to Kate and was only 23 years old when she died.[11] Her father, George Washington Farmer, seems to vanish from the picture at this point and Kate was raised by her maternal grandparents. Kate married Thomas Edwin Morgan around 1885 and their only child, also named Thomas, lived just three days.[14] What events occurred between 1886 and 1892 that led to the separation from her husband and ultimate suicide so far from home? I will try to get to the bottom of it next time… [1] "By Her Own Hand," San Diego Union, 30 November 1892, p. 5, col. 3; digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 4 October 2019), Newspaper Archives.
[2] "Death Brought Relief," Fresno Morning Republican, 1 December 1892, p. 1, col. 3; digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 4 October 2019), Newspaper Archives. [3] "Identified," San Diego Union, 4 December 1892, p. 1, col. 1; digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 4 October 2019), Newspaper Archives. [4] "By Her Own Hand." [5] "Identified." [6] "Further Evidence," San Diego Union, 8 December 1892, p. 8, col. 3; digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 4 October 2019), Newspaper Archives. [7] "Not the Coronado Woman," Los Angeles Daily Herald, 9 December 1892, p. 6, col. 1; digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 4 October 2019), Newspaper Archives. [8] "The Girl Suicide," San Francisco Chronicle, 9 December 1892, p. 4, col. 4; digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 4 October 2019), Newspaper Archives. [9] "Darker Than Ever," San Diego Union, 15 December 1892, p. 2, col. 1; digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 4 October 2019), Newspaper Archives. [10] Find A Grave, database with images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 4 October 2019), memorial 7966, Kate Kathleen "Lottie A. Bernard" Farmer Morgan (1868-1892), Mount Hope Cemetery, Coronado, San Diego County, California; gravestone photo added by Terry Girardot. [11] Find A Grave, database with images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 4 October 2019), memorial 8116096, Elizabeth Philamena (Chandler) Farmer (1844-1868), Mount Olive Cemetery, Hamburg, Fremont County, Iowa; memorial added by Graveaddiction, no. 46528400. [12] 1870 U. S. census, Fremont County, Iowa, population schedule, Madison, p. 5 (written), p. 477 (stamped), dwelling 36, family 36, Joseph W. Chandler household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 October 2019), citing National Archives microfilm publication M593, roll 392. [13] 1880 U. S. census, Fremont County, Iowa, pop. sch., Riverton, Enumeration District (ED) 65, sheet 81C (stamped), dwelling 101, family 105, Joseph Chandler household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 October 2019), citing National Archives microfilm publication T9, roll 341. [14] Find A Grave, database with images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 5 October 2019), memorial 73983646, Thomas Morgan (1886-1886), Utterback Cemetery, Riverton, Fremont County, Iowa; memorial added by Graveaddiction, no. 46528400. I admit it - I'm a sucker for a ghost story. When I walked into the library as a kid, I made a bee-line straight to the 133s (Dewey Decimal, in case you are interested) where the "true" ghost books were shelved. One thing I have often noticed about ghost stories is how there never seems to be any historical fact to back up the tales. The ghost is always a woman in white named Mary or some generic thing. So I decided I am going to start investigating these hauntings and try to put real names, dates, and places to the stories.
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