ANNIE’S ART

On the extreme eastern edge of downtown Cincinnati lies a building with a past as grand as its architectural perfection. It is the Taft Museum of Art, and it has a long and colorful history, including a few resident ghosts. This has been the former residence of some of the most prominent names in Cincinnati’s history.

In 1812, a nine-acre plot of land on Pike Street was purchased by Martin Baum. He was twice the mayor of Cincinnati and is credited with founding the nation’s first public library. Baum made his fortune through several enterprises, including real estate, a sugar refinery and the steamboat industry. He had a home built on the site that was completed in 1820. Today, it stands as the oldest surviving wooden structure in the city and is one of the finest examples of Palladian-style Federal architecture in the country. Baum was directly affected by the Panic of 1819, an economic downturn that saw bank failures, foreclosures and widespread unemployment. By 1825, he was forced to sign the deed for his home back to the Bank of the United States.

The home was purchased by Nicholas Longworth, a prominent politician who held several offices, including Speaker of the House for the United States House of Representatives. He redecorated the interior of the home extensively and named it Belmont. Landscape murals still exist in the foyer from the time when he lived in the house. Longworth hired Robert S. Duncan to paint the murals. They stand today as one of the finest suite of domestic murals ever painted prior to the Civil War.

The Taft Museum of Art in 1940. Courtesy Built in America Collection, Library of Congress.

Industrialist David Sinton bought the home in 1871. He was in the iron business and owned two iron furnaces, which put out as much as five hundred tons a year. Sinton would produce the iron at ten dollars per ton and would sell it for eighteen. When the Civil War began, Sinton had seven thousand tons of pig iron stockpiled. Suddenly, the demand for iron pushed its market value through the roof. Sinton sold his iron for seventy-five dollars per ton as he raked in enormous profits. Through all of his success, Sinton was always known as a penny pincher. His frugality was apparent to all who met him. After purchasing the home on Pike Street, he was able to walk to his office. On his walk he passed his favorite saloon, at which he would order a double shot of whiskey each morning. A double shot was cheaper than two individual shots, so he would take half of his drink in the morning and the other half on his way home in the evening. He was also known to order a headless beer. The beer would be filled to the top so the foaming head wasn’t taking up so much space. Some bars in Cincinnati offer some version of a “Davey Sinton” today. Sinton continued to build his fortune with the elegant Sinton Hotel in downtown Cincinnati. When he died in the home in 1900, he was the richest man in Ohio, leaving $20 million to his daughter Annie.

Sinton’s daughter Annie had lived in the home with her husband Charles since 1873. Upon Sinton’s death, Annie inherited the home. Charles was the half-brother of President William Howard Taft. In 1908, William Taft stood on the steps of the home as he graciously accepted his party’s nomination for president. Charles worked as an editor for the Cincinnati Times-Star, later known as the Cincinnati Post. The Tafts followed in the footsteps of the Lytle family as the most prestigious and elegant family in the city. Annie and Charles found it important to begin a collection of porcelains, old paintings and decorative European arts so the community was able to study the fine arts. When Charles died in 1929, Annie made a $2 million donation to the University of Cincinnati as a memorial fund in her husband’s name. In 2005, the fund was transformed into the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center. Annie Taft died in 1931, leaving the historic home and the entire private art collection to the people of Cincinnati. It has operated as the Taft Museum of Art since 1932. Ultimately, their hope was that Cincinnatians would be able to apply a fine arts background in their own lives and in their jobs. The collection consists of 690 of the finest pieces the Tafts could gather. The most important piece is an ivory virgin from Paris that dates back to about 1280. According to the Louvre in Paris, it is the single most important Gothic sculpture in the world.

Anna Sinton Taft, who is said to haunt her former home. Courtesy Don Prout.

Being as old as it is, the home is treated as part of the art collection. The museum faces all of the problems associated with an old wooden home but continues to be maintained in an elegant manner despite this fact. Installed in a domestic setting, the collection is reminiscent of a time when citizens were enlightened with a sense of courtesy toward one another that is not commonly found in today’s society.

Many people claim to have seen Annie’s ghost in and around her former home. One afternoon during a concert in the backyard garden a security guard was surprised by what he saw on a second-floor balcony, which was inaccessible to the public. He radioed up to the guard on that level, who looked out on a beautiful woman in a pink dress tapping her foot to the music. It was Annie who was enjoying an afternoon of music in the garden. Employees have arrived in the morning to find that one of the gallery rooms is locked shut from the inside by a chair being placed under the doorknob.

Several visitors to the museum have reported being tapped on the shoulder by an unseen presence. In the gift shop, books have been known to fly off the shelves for no apparent reason. Some guests have reported seeing an apparition of David Sinton inside the house. While waiting to pick up a security guard, a person claimed that someone was standing inside the home waving out the window. When telling the guard about seeing them wave, the guard replied that no one was in that part of the house as it was under alarm. According to staff, the ghosts seem especially active during the times when exhibits are changed. With such a beautiful home and collection of art, it seems that several former residents aren’t quite ready to leave.

During our visits to the Taft, we have come in contact with a curious ghost visiting us near the gates on numerous occasions. We have experienced cold spots and high electromagnetic field readings that are accompanied with photographs of orbs and mists. It seems that someone has stayed behind to look over their beloved home. With a rotating display from the Taft’s personal art collection, perhaps Annie and others come here to find solace through the art they so loved.

HAUNTING ACTIVITY SCALE

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Type: apparitions, intelligent ghost, poltergeist, historically familiar ghost