The Sallie House is located in Atchison, Kansas. Built in the mid-1800s, it is said to be haunted by the ghost of a young girl who died in the house while undergoing surgery for appendicitis. The story gained national attention after it was featured on several paranormal television shows.
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History
The Sallie House was built in the mid-1800s, commissioned by the Finney family and home to Dr. Charles Finney. He practiced medicine from the house, using the bottom floor for surgery and examination, and a bedroom as an office. The Finney family lived upstairs until moving out due to a lack of space.
The house was listed on the real estate website Zillow for $1 million in February 2016, dropped to $499,000 in August, and taken off market in November 2017.
The story about Finney is completely untrue, however. His mother lived in that house and he never practiced medicine there. Also, there’s no record of a little girl named Sallie living in the town, let alone dying there. The house was constructed in 1890 so the stories that the house was built in the early to mid 1800s is also untrue.
Haunting
The Sallie House is reported to be haunted by the ghost of a young girl who died there. However, census records show no Sallie was living in Atchison during the time period that is now claimed. No Sallie was born, nor died in Atchison, period, let alone in this house. The Atchison Hospital had already been built by this time, and Dr. Finney did not practice medicine here. According to the legend, a child named Sallie was brought to Dr. Finney's house by her mother for severe abdominal pain. He thought that she had appendicitis and began emergency surgery, as he believed that Sallie's appendix was about to rupture. However, he cut into her before the anaesthetic took effect, killing her as a result. However, Finney’s reputation (ruined by these lies) was good until the 1990s, and Finney actually served as elected mayor of Atchison. Surely a child murderer wouldn’t have held such high esteem in the community. Furthermore, there are no contemporary accounts of the Sallie rumor until Tony and Debra Pickman invented it.
No former or subsequent tenants have reported any paranormal activity. The Pickmans allege the opposite, claiming by male residents and visitors have been scratched until they bled, which has led to Sallie being dubbed "The Man Hating Ghost".
In the 1990s, the house was featured on the paranormal investigations television show Sightings. On January 17, 2015, it appeared on an episode of the Travel Channel series Ghost Adventures.