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Extraordinary Cincinnatians and Haunted Houses
Two intriguing topics — all revolving around the Queen City’s incomparable legacy — await at our Heritage Village Museum class. The first celebrates a rarely heralded Cincinnati success story. In the early 1800s, Edith and Joseph Fossett, trounced slavery to become role models for self-employment as well as respected Cincinnatians. Their saga has so many peaks and valleys, thus no embellishment is needed for dramatic effect.
The Fossetts’ extraordinary lives will be chronicled in a historic setting that is appropriate to their lifetimes: the 1852 Hayner House. Both were born enslaved at Monticello Plantation. Joseph was a blacksmith and Edie learned cooking skills in Thomas Jefferson’s White House. After the President’s death, the Fossetts’ most dreaded fear struck when Edith and their children were sold to different owners. The ever-resilient Joseph, who had been freed, toiled long to secure his wife and children’s freedom. In the late 1830s, the no-longer-enslaved Fossetts settled in Cincinnati, and Edith taught culinary expertise to her growing children who began their own business.
By the late 1800s, the Fossetts became Cincinnati’s premier caterers. Envision soirees right out of a scene in the Gilded Age series where Queen City notables enjoyed Fossett-catered events and especially a then-novel desert. Ice cream aficionados take note; the Fossetts often served their special dessert which popularized the French sweet in a very Germanophile Cincinnati. Long before the Civil Rights movement one especially enterprising Fossett won a case similar to Rosa Park’s trailblazing action in the 1950s.
Such 1800s ambiance brings up a subject about historic sites that guidebooks often overlook. How many of us while touring landmarks have wondered: “Are there any ghosts here?” No better place than in the circa 1820 Vorhes residence to find out. Paranormal historian, Violet Shindler, who hosts “Spirits by Starlight '' at HVM. We will visit several houses in the Village. The pictured Elk Lik House may look like a Monet painting. But Ms. Shindler says it is full of paranormal activity. It seems Music Hall — allegedly very haunted — has some paranormal competition at Heritage Village.
Event Links
Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/2439475-0
