Tucked into the heart of Oneida, New York, on the corner of Main and Stone Streets, stands a striking brick mansion that feels as though it belongs in the pages of a gothic novel. The Farnam Mansion, with its towering belvedere, ornate bracketed cornices, and arched mahogany doors, has drawn historians, ghost hunters, and curious visitors for years. Listed within the city’s Main-Broad-Grove Streets Historic District — itself on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983 — the mansion is both an architectural treasure and, according to many who have walked its halls, something more. Whether you’re a seasoned paranormal investigator or simply drawn to places where history feels a little too alive, the Farnam Mansion offers more than just a snapshot of the past — it might just offer a brush with the beyond.
The History
The Early Years of the Farnam Mansion
The Farnam Mansion was constructed circa 1862, making it one of the older standing homes in Madison County, New York. It was built for Stephen Head Farnam, a prominent and well-respected Oneida businessman. Farnam was a man of many enterprises — he owned a hardware store, served as president of the National State Bank, ran the Little Falls Axe Factory, presided over the Glenwood Cemetery Association, and helped organize and direct the Oneida Gas Light Company. His obituary would later describe him as “a self-made man and the architect of his own fortunes.”
Built in the elegant Italianate style that was fashionable in mid-19th century America, the mansion’s exterior features a low-pitched roof, projecting eaves supported by large decorative cornice brackets, tall windows with ornate pediments, bay windows, and a wrap-around porch. A square belvedere with a mansard roof and trios of arched windows sits above the east side of the house like a sentry keeping watch over the street below. Inside, the home boasts eleven-foot ceilings, ornate plaster ceiling medallions and crown mouldings, tiger-oak paneled doors, marble fireplaces, and an original cut-crystal gasolier in the main parlor that has never been converted to electricity. It was, and remains, a house built to impress.
A House That Has Seen Much of Life — and Death
What sets the Farnam Mansion apart from other grand old homes is the sheer number of people who have lived and died within its walls. Stephen Farnam’s first wife, Elizabeth, died in the home in 1885. Their son Frederick James succumbed to consumption there in 1892 at just thirty-one years old. Stephen himself suffered a fatal stroke in the house on November 17, 1897, at the age of seventy-five. His sister Sarah Robinson also died in the mansion the following year.
In 1913, Stephen’s widowed second wife sold the house to Mary Dyer Jackson, a notable early activist in the women’s suffrage movement — the first woman in Central New York to circulate a petition asking the state legislature to grant women the right to vote. She sold the mansion just five months later.
In 1914, Dr. Robert Lewis Crockett, a distinguished physician, surgeon, and one-time mayor of Oneida, took ownership with his wife Mabel. Dr. Crockett was also an avid naturalist who set up a botanical laboratory in the mansion’s basement, where he studied plant specimens collected on expeditions to Mexico, South America, Canada, and the Adirondacks. It was in that very basement laboratory, while examining specimens with his wife, that Dr. Crockett was struck by a fatal heart attack on May 27, 1946. His mother had also died in the home two decades earlier.
The mansion later passed to Dr. William M. Hummer and his wife Shirley — both of whom also died in the house during the 1980s. In all, at least eight documented deaths have occurred within the mansion’s walls, spanning more than a century.
New Life for Old Walls
The mansion was eventually converted into a bed and breakfast, with new bathrooms and rooms with Jacuzzi tubs added to the second floor. After that venture ended, the house was used as a single-family rental for a number of years before changing hands again in 2010. The new owners painstakingly restored the mansion to its former Victorian glory, stripping away layers of later modifications and reviving the home’s original character. They reopened it to the public as a bed and breakfast called the Collinwood Inn, themed after the 1960s gothic soap opera Dark Shadows and decorated with antiques and memorabilia from the show. Guests could choose from rooms named after the program’s iconic characters.
The bed and breakfast ceased operation in 2013, and the mansion returned to use as a private residence. However, the owners have continued to host occasional private paranormal investigations and séances in the home. In 2023, a portion of the house was converted into a family-run antiques and collectibles shop called Victorian Lady Antiques, opening its doors to a new kind of visitor.
The Haunt
Paranormal Activity in The Farnam Mansion
Given the mansion’s long history and the number of deaths that have taken place under its roof, it is perhaps unsurprising that reports of unexplained phenomena have accumulated over the years. Guests of the former bed and breakfast, visitors, and paranormal investigation teams have all described experiences they could not easily explain.
Among the most consistently reported phenomena are shadow figures — dark shapes seen darting along the walls, particularly in the front parlor and near the exterior wall. A lamp in the main parlor has been known to turn on by itself, with no apparent mechanical explanation. Disembodied footsteps and muffled voices have been heard coming from the bedroom directly above the parlor when no one is upstairs. Doors and other objects have reportedly moved without being touched.
One of the mansion’s more distinctive claims involves a spectral white cat. During a midnight séance conducted in 2011, participants reported hearing heavy footsteps running across the halls — and then witnessing what they described as a white, ghostly cat appearing on the attic stairs.
The attic has been the source of other curious incidents as well. After the space was thoroughly cleaned and vacuumed, a small slate board was discovered there some months later bearing the name “Edna Selcraig.” Research revealed her to be the granddaughter of Stephen Head Farnam, the mansion’s original owner. No one could account for how the slate came to be there, as it had not been present during the earlier cleaning. The owners interpreted it as a kind of thank-you from the spirits for restoring the house.
Another frequently told story involves an old clock in what is used as a séance room. A figure has reportedly been seen standing beside the clock when it is running down and in need of winding. Once the clock is wound, the figure is not seen again — until the next time the clock begins to slow.
Photographs taken inside the mansion have occasionally captured unexplained anomalies, including orbs near the base of the staircase and unexplained mist forming near people in the room. In one widely shared photograph of a guest bedroom, a dark, unexplained shadow was visible that could not be accounted for — when the image was lightened, the chair, side table, and floor behind the shadow were all clearly visible and unobstructed.
Investigations
The mansion has been investigated by paranormal research groups. During one investigation, the team reported witnessing a shadow figure activate the parlor lamp, hearing footsteps from an unoccupied second floor, capturing light anomalies near doorways, and observing shadow movement in the attic. The mansion was also featured on Haunts and Legends of New York, a regional series exploring historic and reportedly haunted locations in Central New York.
The mansion’s owners have described the spirits as friendly and, at times, playful — drawn to crowds and energy rather than intent on frightening anyone. Activity reportedly increases around the anniversary dates of the deaths that occurred in the home, and during events when many people are gathered inside.
A Place Where the Past Lingers
Few historic homes can claim the combination of architectural beauty, documented history, and persistent reports of the unexplained that the Farnam Mansion offers. Its story is not one of dramatic horror but of quiet persistence — the sense that those who lived and died within its walls may not have entirely moved on. Whether you visit for the antiques, the Victorian craftsmanship, or the chance to experience something you can’t quite explain, the Farnam Mansion is a place where the boundary between past and present feels remarkably thin. Just don’t be surprised if someone — or something — seems to be watching from the top of the stairs.
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