The Haunted Cedar Grove Mansion Inn, Vicksburg: The Klein Family Ghosts

Cedar Grove is one of the grandest houses in Vicksburg: a Greek Revival brick mansion above the Mississippi River, furnished with period antiques, with a ballroom, a library and a cannonball still lodged in the parlor wall from the siege of 1863. John Alexander Klein began it in 1840 and enlarged it with new wings in 1852 and 1858 for his growing family.

It has had a rocky few years, closing after a sale in 2020 and reopening under new owners in November 2022. Through all of it, the stories have stayed the same. Guests report pipe tobacco near the Gentlemen’s Parlor, Elizabeth Klein on the stairs, and the sound of children roaming the halls. It is one of the best-known haunted inns in Mississippi.

The ghosts of Cedar Grove

John Klein and the pipe smoke

John Klein spent his evenings in the Gentlemen’s Parlor, and guests say he still does. The most repeated report at Cedar Grove is the smell of pipe tobacco near that room when nobody is smoking. OnlyInYourState lists it as the house’s signature story, and a book of Mississippi ghost tales reviewed in the Jackson Free Press describes Mr. Klein as a smoker who cannot quit even after death. Some visitors say they have seen him.

Elizabeth Klein

Elizabeth Klein married John as the house was going up, and she raised her family here. Guests describe a woman they take to be Elizabeth coming down the stairs and moving through the rooms as if she still lived here, going about her day and paying the living no attention.

The Klein children

The Kleins had ten children, and four of them died young, which is the grief at the center of the house’s stories. Two died as infants and a daughter died of a childhood illness. A 17-year-old son was killed when his own gun fell and went off, shooting him in the back. Guests report hearing children roaming the halls, and the same book of ghost tales mentions a guest room, the Bonnie Blue room, where little ghosts are said to play.

Soldiers and a young woman

After the city fell in 1863, the house was used as a Union hospital, and guests have reported phantom soldiers on the grounds and in the house. OnlyInYourState also tells of a young woman, a former resident, who took her own life in the house and is seen on the anniversary of her death. We could find no record of who she was, so treat that one as legend.

The most haunted rooms and places to look

• The Gentlemen's Parlor: Pipe tobacco smell and sightings of John Klein.
• The stairs: Where Elizabeth Klein is said to be seen coming down.
• The upstairs halls: Children heard roaming when no children are staying.
• The grand parlor: Home to the Union cannonball still lodged in the wall.

History of Cedar Grove Mansion Inn

John Alexander Klein came to Vicksburg from Virginia in 1836. He started as a jeweler and went on to sawmills, a cotton compress, railroads and banking. In 1840 he bought 66 acres running from the river to the bluff and began building Cedar Grove for his bride, Elizabeth, and on their honeymoon in France in 1842 he bought mantels, chandeliers and furniture for the nearly finished house. A south wing with a library, ballroom and bedrooms followed in 1852, and a north wing with a dining room and more bedrooms in 1858.

The house’s own history says Elizabeth was related to William Tecumseh Sherman and that Sherman helped her leave the city while she was pregnant before the siege. She named her son Willie Sherman Klein in his honor.

Vicksburg was the key to the Mississippi, and in 1863 Grant’s army besieged it for about seven weeks until the city surrendered on July 4. Union gunboats hit Cedar Grove at least twice: one cannonball tore through the roof, and another came in through the front door and lodged in a parlor wall, where it remains. After the surrender the house served as a Union hospital, and Grant and Sherman are believed to have stayed here.

In 1960 the house nearly fell to development. The Vicksburg Little Theatre saved it and used it as a tour home and stage until 1981. Herbert and Terry Kinsman bought it that year and opened it as a bed and breakfast in 1982. Ted Mackey owned it next, then GPS Investments of Natchez from 2003 and Pride Hospitality from January 2018.

In September 2020 Pride sold the mansion to THEP Corporation, whose owners said they were direct descendants of the Klein family. Staff were laid off, bookings were canceled and the inn sat empty. In April 2022 Harley Caldwell and Dr. Steven and Kendra Reed bought it, and it began taking overnight guests again in November 2022 with 15 rooms and suites, a renovated ballroom and library, and the Chandelier Lounge with its pink Murano glass chandelier.

Tips for a haunted stay

• Ask the staff to show you the cannonball in the parlor wall.
• Book a room in the main mansion, where the Klein stories are set; the river view suites are in a separate building.
• Spend time near the Gentlemen’s Parlor in the evening and see if you notice pipe smoke.
• Check the lounge hours; the happy hour tour on weekend evenings has been a good way to see the house.
• Visit Vicksburg National Military Park to understand the siege that shaped the house.
• Vicksburg has more haunted stays, including the Duff Green Mansion a few minutes away.

More haunted hotels nearby

• The Duff Green Mansion, Vicksburg: a Civil War hospital turned inn, with a one-legged soldier by the fire
• Monmouth Historic Inn, Natchez: General Quitman’s 1818 mansion
• Linden, Natchez: a c. 1785 house with a phantom carriage
• Haunted hotels in Mississippi

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.

• The Inn at Cedar Grove: official site
• SAH Archipedia: Cedar Grove
• Vicksburg Post: Cedar Grove Mansion open to the public
• Vicksburg Post: Cedar Grove Inn sold, employees laid off
• OnlyInYourState: This Mississippi inn is among the most haunted places in the nation
• OnlyInYourState: 9 haunted hotels in Mississippi
• Mississippi Free Press (Jackson Free Press): Ghostly Tales

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