Ghost busting the Ashton Villa Mansion

I haven’t done my homework this week because:

I picked up a new hobby.

“Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!” That’s right – I was a ghost hunter this week.

I never really believed all the paranormal stuff. That is, I didn’t until I visited the Ashton Villa, a historical museum that was built from 1861-1865 on Galveston island.

The house itself is full of history and interesting facts – it’s generally agreed that it was the first brick house in Texas and it also served as headquarters to both confederate and union armies during the civil war – but Bettie’s ghost is what attracts many visitors to the site.

Bettie, born Rebecca Ashton Brown in 1855, was the oldest daughter of house’s builder, James Moreau Brown, and one of its original occupants. She was a rich, unpredictable and considered to be quite independent for a woman of her time.

The stories of the Villa’s haunting began shortly after she died in 1920 and only grew bigger and more persistent with time.

It is still believed to be haunted today, and oh, man they aren’t kidding. I was pretty close to having to change my undergarments, which wouldn’t have been so bad since I had just gone to Walmart and purchased new ones.

As I made my way towards the entrance, my knees started shaking.

Every step I took inside the mansion gave me the chills. There was an ominous feeling draped over the entire house. It honestly felt as if someone was glaring at me the entire time.

The mansion keeps many of Bettie’s belongings in the Gold Room – which is also frequently described as the most haunted room of the house. The tour guide said this was because Bettie loves to be near her treasures.

In all honesty, the Gold Room was most eerie room of them all.

There were a few sections of the mansion that I couldn’t go in at all. Which, of course, made me very curious as to what was hidden in those sections. I pretended to go to the restroom. I wandered off like a lost puppy, because I had literally no idea where I was, and then I headed off toward one of the rooms that was off-limits – but, of course, it was locked. I figured they were all locked, so I didn’t even bother with the rest.

As I started walking away the doorknob jolted. I don’t know if this was someone playing a trick on me, but I bolted as fast as I could from there.

Didn’t even finish the tour.

Ran right out the first door that I managed to find (by some miracle). I didn’t even care that a cute girl saw me running away from the house. The Ashton Villa Mansion was a creepy and frightening experience. I give the mansion eight Bettie ghosts out of ten!