Pierre L'Enfant's Vigil

"I'm just a ghost in this house
I'm shadow upon these walls,
As quietly as a mouse
I haunt these halls."

- Allison Krauss, Ghost in This House

From the time that it was built, the Capitol building has been the center of many tales. Legends involve at least fifteen ghosts roaming the halls during the gaslight era.

The most notable and constant of these is that of the French engineer Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the original architect for the city of Washington D.C. His ghost is said to wander the basement, waiting to be paid for a bill submitted two centuries ago.

He had been commissioned by President Washington to plan the new nation's capitol. His designs were excessive but Washington endorsed them anyway. Pierre ordered a wealthy landowner to remove his new house and when the owner refused Pierre had it demolished anyway. President Washington fired him and had others finish the plan. Congress wouldn't pay Pierre for his work.

From the time of death the ghost of Pierre has been seen walking around with a sheaf of papers under his arm. Whenever a street change is proposed they say the ghost moans and cries.

John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams' ghost has been seen in the Statuary Hall, which used to be the House of Representatives chamber. It was here, on February 21, 1848, that he rose to give a speech only to collapse.

Two days later he died of a cerebral stroke. Does President Adams return to deliver the speech that he didn't get the chance to on that fatefull morning? Those that have seen him say that he appears in the exact same spot where his desk was.

James Abram Garfield

He was only in office for four months when he was assassinated. On July 2, 1881 he was waiting for a train when a shot was heard. He staggered back and fell to the floor; he had been shot in the back. The assailant, Charles Guiteau, was arrested and taken away quickly so there wouldn't be a chance of a mob lynching him.

President Garfield died in New Jersey on September 19, 1881. His body was taken to the Capitol Rotunda and view by thousands of mourners. Guiteau, a rejected office-seeker, had been following the president for some time before he got the nerve and opportunity to shoot. Guiteau was found guilty of murder and hanged on June 30, 1882.

There have beens several reports of President Garfield's ghost in the halls of the Capitol while his body stilled layed in state. The ghost of Guiteau has been seen in one of the stairways in the Capitol.

Henry Wilson

Henry Wilson was vice president during Grant's second term as president. He died in 1875, halfway through his term of office. It seems he was determined to finish his service and is sometimes seen in the Senate wing where he died.

His death was untimely. He died of pneumonia after bathing in the Capitol's basement Italian marble bathtubs. He was fond of using these tubs in the late afternoon or evening hours. It seemed to relax him and clear his mind so he could continue working.

Shortly after his death, security guards reported hearing a strange coughing and sneezing outside of his office-when no one was present. Sometimes a damp chill appears in the doorway and the smell of old soap is present also.

Gen. John Alexander Logan

As a U.S. Senator, Logan, a veteran of the Mexican and Civil wars, had chaired the Senate Committee on Military and Militia during the 1890s. His ghost appears at 12:30 a.m. at the door of the room that was used by the committee. It listens to late-night hearings, and has a frequent frown as if he didn't like some of the decisons made there.

He has also been seen in the a subbasement, possibly looking for his horse. Its unknown whether his horse died in battle or of old age. It's body was mounted to be put on display in the Capitol, but the workmen made a mistake and put it in a storage room.

Workmen's Ghosts and Others

During the construction of the Capitol, a carpenter supposedly had an argument with a concrete mason and threw a brick at the mason's head, killing him on the spot. It is said that the carpenter sealed the body of the mason in the walls to keep the crime a secret. The mason's ghost is heard scraping the mortar with a trowel, perhaps trying to get out or to let someone know that he is there.

The Library of Congress was in the Capitol originally. In 1814 part of the collection was lost when the British burned the city, another fire in 1851 ruined half the Library's assets. The Library kept expanding and in 1897 moved into a bigger building across the street. There are still stories of two employees that had worked in the library when it was still in the Capitol.

Mr. Twine was a hard worker even into death. It is said that he often visits his office. Guards have heard him stamping the books with a rubber stamp. A coworker of Twine's died shortly after hiding $6,000 in government bonds in the pages of books that were hardly ever used. He didn't trust banks so he saved most of his paychecks for his retirement in the books. After his stroke and death guards have reported hearing the riffling of pages as if someone was looking through them for something. The money was never found.

For over a century workers at night have had run-ins with the "Demon Cat" that is said to roam the subterranean corridors. One night a guard on patrol happened upon the cat. It came toward him purring softly. As it came closer it's body got bigger and bigger until it was the size of a tiger. It's eyes glowed and it started snarling. It lunged at the guard with claws extended, the guard covered his face but, to his amazement, he felt nothing. He uncovered his eyes and looked down the corridor, there was nothing there.

Other guards have supposedly fainted when they saw the apparition, a worker even ran from the building when it came near him.

It is said that it was the last cat that was used to control the growing rat population. After the rats were disposed of the cats services were no longer needed. Most of them became house pets and others just wandered off. Only the Demon Cat stayed, no one had adopted him and they say he's looking for revenge.