Miss Betty Brown. There is a beautiful historic mansion in Galveston that is called
Ashton Villa. It was built in eighteen fifty nine by a wealthy businessman,
James Moore Brown, and was used to host many spectacular social events. Presiding
over these parties was the master of the house and his colorful, gragious daughter,
Rebecca. The popular young woman was never called Rebecca though to one in
all she was known as Miss Betty. To say that Miss Betty was ahead
of her time would be an understatement. While her Victorian counterparts were concentrating on
property, Miss Betty smoked in public, traveled unescorted, and entertained a series
of suitors. Other girls of the day practiced being demere, but Betty Brown
loved to be the center of attention and often was, as she was an
accomplished pianist and artist. Rumor has it that her outrageous behavior eventually caused a
rift between the independent woman and her father. The two never reunited, and
when Miss Betty eventually passed away, she was living alone in Europe, having
been estranged from her family for several years. To day, however, there
are many who believe that after her death, Miss Betty's flamboyant spirit was drawn
home to Galveston and her beloved Ashton Villa. That theree story Italian brick mansion
was eventually restored to its original lavish state and turned into a museum. Caretakers
were on hand to keep an eye on the expense of property at night.
One caretaker, who lived in the villa's carriage house, had an interesting encounter
with this Betty spirit and an article written in nineteen seventy eight, the man
explained that he had been awakened in three hours one morning by the tickling sound
of a piano. He threw on some clothes and went immediately to check the
villa. Once inside, he was certain that some one had broken in,
for the music was louder and definitely coming from the anti piano in the main
parlor. No, it is the cold room. The caretaker crept quietly along
the corridor and silently unlatched at the door, hoping to surprise the trespasser.
Instead, as he stepped into the room, it was he who gasped and
shocked. Seated at the piano with the shimmering semi transparent of a woman dressed
in Victorian fashion, it took only a moment for both the woman and the
music to dissipate, but the impact of the experience stayed with the caretaker longer.
He admitted that he did not sleep for the remainder of the night and
turned on every single light to calm his nerves. Was the spectral figure at
the piano. Miss Betty. It seems to make sense. The Gold room
is splendidly appointed with many of her most cherished possessions, and music was one
of her favorite pastimes. Other stories about this gentle spirit, though, indicate
that she does not limit her haunting activities to this one room. And the
October twenty ninth, nineteen ninety three edition of the Houston Chronicle, Lucy Testa,
a weekend manager of Ashton Villa, spoke of a number of ghostly happenings
to which she had been privy. In one case, a volunteer reported seeing
a woman in a dazzling turquoise dress posing at the top of the grand staircase.
Testa did not know of anyone whose costume matched the description. She did,
however, know that turquoise had been Miss Betty's favorite color. Testa herself
had experienced some unusual things in her workplace. She noted that in extravagantly decorated
chest that Miss Betty had purchased while on whatever her many travelers tended to lock
and unlock on its own. This was particularly mysterious because the key had been
lost for years. There are stories of unexplainably rumpwood bedcovers in Miss Betty's bedroom,
and rumors of visitors to the house sensing that they were being closely followed
by a presence. And then there were the strange events of February eighteenth,
nineteen ninety one. Lucy Testa was becoming frustrated that day, as a villa's
alarm system had been triggered three times with no apparent cause. Then, just
as she was leaving for the day, the ceiling fan at the top of
the staircase began to make lazy circles in the air. Testa went upstairs to
turn it off and then locked up for the night. The next morning,
the fan was spinn once more. It was then that Testa realized the significant
of the previous day's date. It was the one hundred and thirty sixth anniversary
of Miss Betty's birth, and surely anyone who Loveday Party as much as Miss
Betty Brown would not let her own birthday pass unnoticed.