This photograph was sent to us by a Lemp Mansion Dinner Guest earlier this year.   She managed to capture an apparition wearing turn of the century style clothing standing at the top of the main staircase.  We believe this ghost to be that of Julia Feickert Lemp.

In 1868 Julia’s parents built the Lemp Mansion as their summer home.  Julia had a strong attachment to the mansion, and in 1878 it was sold to her and her husband, William Lemp Sr.   Many people have seen this spirit haunting the second floor and have mistaken it to be the ghost of William Lemp Sr. or Charles Lemp.  Personally, I believe it to be Julia’s ghost that haunts the second floor.  She died of cancer on the second floor and was known to have a great love for the mansion.  Many of the improvements to the Lemp Mansion were made under her supervision.  

Some have also claimed that this could be the ghost of Lillian Handlan, better known as the Lavender Lady.  This isn’t a real possibility because Lillian Handlan never lived at the Lemp Mansion.  When she was a member of the Lemp Family, she and her husband lived in a suite at the Chase Park Plaza.  So why would Lillian haunt a mansion?

Regardless of whose apparition this is, she has been reported to haunt the second floor of the Lemp Mansion for decades.  Many unsuspecting guests have seen a woman standing at the top of the main staircase, only to find out later that they actually saw a ghost.