Raleigh, NC Part II - Mordecai House
- The Senders
- Nov 27, 2018
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 7, 2019
October 23, 2018
Built in 1785, by city founder, Joel Lane, the Mordecai House stands as the oldest residence in Raleigh still on its original foundation. As a wedding gift to his son, Henry, Lane built the 1.5 story, 4 bedroom plantation home on a sprawling 2,000 acres. Seemingly perfect for Henry, his wife, Polly, their four daughters and the 14 enslaved African Americans that worked on the property.
Henry died at the age of 33, leaving behind his wife and daughters, who would inherit the home, land and slaves after Polly's death in 1813.
The daughters did not remain at the Mordecai House, instead choosing to live with their Grandfather in another part of the city. The home was rented out and in the next five years, would drop out of the history books.
In 1817, the eldest daughter, Margaret aka "Peggy" married Moses Mordecai, thus bestowing the Mordecai name upon the home. An ambitious young attorney, Moses and Peggy would return to the home, along with Peggy's three younger, unwed sisters, Temperance, Harriet and Nancy. In the years that followed, Moses' brothers would also come to reside at Mordecai House, in order to study law under their brother and the Mordecai land would be turned into a successful cotton plantation. At one time, the land was the center of one of the largest plantations at the county, totaling 5,000 acres.
Moses and Peggy also welcomed the birth of three children, however, Peggy would never live to see them grow. She died in 1821, only four years after their marriage, due to complications in childbirth. Four years later, Moses would marry his youngest sister-in-law, Anne "Nancy" Willis Lane, resulting in the birth of their lone child, Margaret. Sadly, baby Margaret would never meet her father. Moses Mordecai died just six weeks before her birth.
In light of Moses' passing, the newly widowed Nancy would bring life back into Mordecai House with a massive expansion. Completed in 1826, the renovation transformed the modest home into a Greek Revival mansion with eight rooms in total.
Moses' eldest son, Henry, would inherit the entire estate and bestow a new generation upon the home with his new wife, 16 year-old Martha, and their four children. Tragedy would strike again, though, with the death of their only son at the tender age of 4. Once again, the Mordecai House would be inherited by women. After Henry's death in 1875, his widow and two of their daughters, Patty and Mary, would remain at Mordecai House.
Shortly after, it had become apparent that the estate could no longer function as a plantation. The equipment was sold, the land divided and the Mordecai House would fall out of the family line forever.
Patty would be the last Mordecai to inhabit the home, along with her older widowed sister, Margaret Mordecai Little, and her five sons.
Throughout the rest of her life, Patty would continue to sell off parts of the Mordecai land and investing in properties throughout the city. Patty eventually died in 1949 at the age of 89.
Mordecai House then passed onto Burke Little, the youngest of Patty's nephews, and he would be the last of the Mordecai family to ever reside in the home. In 1967, just several months before Burke Little's death, the city of Raleigh purchased the property for preservation as a historic site. The house and surrounding Mordecai Historic Park became open to the public for the first time in 1972.
The Stories
Mordecai (pronounced Mor-da-kee) is often referred to as the most haunted home in all of North Carolina, yet reports of spirit activity all seem to be linked to one person, Miss Martha "Patty" Willis Mordecai.
Tales of a piano that can be heard playing when no one is in the parlor. Stories of a picture of Patty Mordecai that mysteriously topples over when offensive words are spoken in its presence.
Park staff reports unexplained events in a bathroom and of a ladder being pushed out from underneath one of the workers, causing her to break her leg. Audio recordings have revealed a man's voice in a room with only females in it.
The legend of the haunting of Mordecai House draws in hundreds of people every year, hoping to pick up on any of the energies that may lingering there.
The Facts
Interestingly enough, of the five generations of family and countless number of slaves that worked the estate, there are no recorded deaths at the Mordecai House. It seems as if every generation suffered loss, information found provides only age and cause of death...not the location.
Looking back through the history of the house, one can say that the Mordecai family truly loved it...raising generation after generation within its walls. It would be safe to assume that for a family that lived every moment of their life there, would spend even the moments leading up to death there as well. Here's a brief look at the deaths throughout the Mordecai House history and all the information I could gather about them:
Henry Lane - born 1764, died 1797
Polly Lane - born 1766, died 1813
Children:
Harriet - born 1788, died 1848
Temperance - born 1792, died 1874
Peggy - born unknown, died 1821
Anne "Nancy" Willis - born 1794, died 1854
Moses Mordecai - born 1785,died 1824
Margaret "Peggy" Lane Mordecai - see above
Children:
Henry Lane Mordecai, I - born 1819, died 1875
Ellen Mordecai - born 1820, died 1916
Jacob Mordecai - born 1821, died 1867
Moses Mordecai - see above
"Nancy" Lane Mordecai
Child:
Margaret Lane Mordecai - born 1824, died 1910
Henry Lane Mordecai, I - see above
Martha Hinton Mordecai - born, died
Children:
Martha "Patty' Mordecai - born 1860, died 1949
Mary - born unknown, died unknown
Moses - born unknown, died unknown (age 4)
Margaret - born unknown, died unknown
Margaret Mordecai Little
Dr. William Little
Children:
Henry Little - born unknown, died unknown
George Little - born unknown, died unknown
William Little - born unknown, died unknown
Alfred Little - born unknown, died unknown
Burke Little - born unknown, died unknown
The Visit
It was a beautiful, warm day in the city of Raleigh and the sun was beginning to dip just below the trees. I stepped onto the curb on Mimosa Street and was hit with a warm wind carrying the sweet smell of fruit trees and the rustling of leaves carried across the pavement. Towering above a long brick wall, in all its yellow splendor, stood the Mordecai House. As I looked up at its Grecian columns and grey-blue shutters, the house looked back at me...and smiled. The feeling here was not a frightening one, not one to inspire stories of ghostly figures and haunted pianos. I felt warm and welcome, as if I was already invited to stay. Perhaps this was the secret to Mordecai House, the secret that kept a family from ever leaving, generation after generation, until they no longer existed.
I walked up the path, passing benches and streetlights, through towering walnut trees still baring fruits and the crunch of walnut shells beneath my feet. Although the park itself holds many buildings, my eyes never left the house. The cracked, uneven front steps beckoned me...calling me to the large of set of double front doors. I walked across the small porch, my hand reaching up to the handle...my eyes landed in front of me. Within inches of my face, the bold, powerful letters of a name inscribed on the doorknocker...MORDECAI.
I stretched out my arm in front of me, my hand reaching for the doorknocker and something stopped me. My fingers barely brushed the metal and an overwhelming feeling came over me.
Turn around...
Without hesitation, I listened to the words in my head. I turned around on the porch and looked around. There was no one else in sight, no movement, no sound.
Walk forward...stop
I took two steps forward and stopped in the dead center of the porch. I looked down and around me. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, in fact I'm not even sure why I was stopping to look around. I took a deep breath in and closed my eyes, the warmth of the sun on my face. When I opened them again, I had to squint...then the feelings rushed over me...feelings that weren't my own.
A feeling of pride swelled within me and I smiled. I stood up straighter and looked around. My eyes saw the walkway, the benches and the lamps...but my mind saw something different. I saw nothing but wide open land...green fields. The words came in flashes:
This is my house. My home. Beautiful. Mine.
I stood for a moment, waiting for more words, more feelings, but there were no more. I turned around again to the door and no longer had the desire to enter. It's not as if I was unwelcome or the feeling was unpleasant. I just knew that it wasn't my home and I respected that whatever, whoever, remained in the house was protective of it. I respected that it was their home. I nodded toward the door, a gesture of both acknowledgement and gratitude. I looked down, another feeling came over me...they were nodding back. I was thankful for what I was shown, the feeling I got to experience. I smiled, turned and walked away.
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