The Haunted Hart Stepp House - New Madrid, Missouri's Oldest Home with Inhabitants from the Past

Overview

The original two rooms in the house were built in 1832 by Abraham Augustine and it is believed to be the oldest home in New Madrid. The house has been moved twice because of the encroaching waters of the Mississippi River. The home has seen many owners including the Augustine, Dawson, Hunter, Hart, and Stepp families. The home was donated to the New Madrid Historical Museum in 1993 by Elsie Stepp. Plans are currently under way to turn the house into an art museum.

Deaths

There have been several deaths in the home. It is believed that Abraham, his first wife Polly, his second wife Mary, and most of the Augustine children died in the home. The family cemetery was located where the New Madrid golf course now sits. Robert Ann Augustine died at the age of 5 in 1850. Her headstone remains on the grounds, though it is not known if her body or the bodies of the Augustine family are still there. A fragment of the headstone of young Mary, Robert Ann's little sister, is also still on the golf course.

Other deaths that have occurred in the home are Ruby Hampton, died 1915 at the age of 14. She was living with her grandparents, in the Hart-Stepp home, at the time. She was accidently burned and thought she would recover from her injuries, but she died approx one week later. John Hart died in the home in 1911 at the age of 66, he died of natural causes. It is believed that Josephine Hart died in the home at the age of 79 in 1935.

Paranormal Activity

Reports of activity include people being touched, whispering in ears, men having their ears tugged, and an EVP of a female spirit saying "I'll never leave." Semo Spirit Seekers, a paranormal investigation group located in New Madrid, has been investigating this location for two years and feel confident that this is a haunted location. In researching the home and it reported haunted history, a man who rented the home claimed to have seen the apparition of a black woman holding a rolling pin. This could be the slave that shows up on the 1850 census, who was living with the Augustine family. As further research the home, the property, and the families who lived there, is completed, I will update this article with my findings.