Sarah Winchester

Sarah Lockwood (Pardee) Winchester was born to Leonard Pardee (1807 - 1869) and Sarah W. Burns (1808 - 1880) in the summer of 1839 (or 1840 - records vary). She had six siblings: Sarah E., born 1831; Mary Jane, born 1834, Antoinette "Nettie", born 1834; Leonard Jr., born 1827; Isabella "Belle", born 1843; and Estella Lillian , born 1845. When she was about 20, on September 30, 1862, Sarah married William Wirt Winchester, the only son of the owner of Winchester Repeating Arms Company. They had one daughter, Annie Pardee Winchester, who was born on June 15th 1866 and who died on July 25th of the same year. She was thought to have died of marasmus, a disorder that creates malnutrition and at that time lead to death. They had no other children. Sarah's husband, William, died about 15 years later in March of 1881 of TB. Since William's father had died the year before, Sarah inherited $20 million and 50% ownership in the Winchester company, as well as an income of $1,000/day. To put this massive inheritance in perspective, $20 million in 2020 dollars would be over half a billion and $1,000/day would be about $25,500/day) Sarah was devastated by the loss of her family and moved across country to the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1886, she bought a small farmhouse in San Jose, California called Llanada Villa (this property is now known as the Winchester Mystery House) and a couple of years later she bought 140 acres of land in what is now downtown Los Altos, California, to use as a ranch. (She also bought a farmhouse - now called the Winchester Merriman House - for her sister and her husband in Los Altos. ) And she bought a houseboat which was nicknamed "Sarah's Ark" that she kept near a eucalyptus grove on Winchester Road which burned down in 1929.) If you know Los Altos today, you know how valuable those 140 acres would be now! All of this property was in the San Francisco Bay Area. The story about the "Winchester Mystery House" is that Sarah was told by a psychic that losing her husband and daughter was the result of the vengeful ghosts of people who had been killed by Winchester guns. The only way to protect against these ghosts was to continuously build, night and day. So that's what she did - she had builders 24/7 working on her small farmhouse in San Jose until the day she died - and so the Winchester House is what we see today. As someone who is native to San Jose and its environs, I believe something quite different. Sarah was clever and innovative (if you visit the house, you will see many interesting features that she invented). But she wasn't an architect so there are stairs that lead nowhere and steps that are too shallow, as well as doors that lead nowhere. I also think that she was agoraphobic. I think that she kept building and creating because she couldn't leave her house - so she built her own world. (The only known photo of her at that time is the one below in her carriage - she would ride in her carriage on the grounds. ) She could certainly afford to indulge her whims - or limitations. When Sarah died in 1922, she was first buried in California and then her remains, as well as those of her sister, were moved to New Haven Connecticut. She was ultimately buried next to her husband and child. Her will, in 13 sections, signed 13 times (yes, she was superstitious about the number 13, too) left the "Winchester Mystery House" and the contents to her niece, Marian Marriott. After Marian took what she wanted, the rest of the furnishings, as well as the house, were auctioned off. Since February of 1923, the house has been a tourist attraction. The rest of the estate was left to charity. See Winchester House. Also see Sarah Winchester: Obituary.