10/28/2026
⭐️⭐️ With Halloween just days away, I wanted to share some local haunted history along with a few photos I snapped myself.
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Perched high upon the crest of a rolling hill in Brooksville, Florida, stands the May-Stringer House, a four-story, seven-gabled Victorian "Painted Lady" that has quietly watched the world pass by since before the Civil War. Its towering facade hides a deeply tragic history, where the foundation of a grand family empire was slowly replaced by a legacy of heartbreak, premature (d)eaths, and shifting shadows.
The story begins in 1856 when a pioneer named John L. May traveled from Alabama with his wife, Marena, their two young daughters, Annie and Matilda, and Marena’s mother. Seeking wealth and a fresh start in the untamed Florida wilderness, May purchased the land and constructed a modest, solid, four-room home to shelter his family. Yet, the frontier was unyielding. Only three years after hammering the final planks into place, John L. May succumbed to tuberculosis, then known as the devastating "consumption", leaving Marena to raise their children alone in a vast, isolating territory.
Marena May fiercely protected her family and held onto the homestead through the brutal years of the American Civil (W)ar. When the dust of (w)ar finally settled, a returning (C)onfederate (v)eteran and prominent local figure named Frank Saxon swept into her life. They fell in love and were wed in 1866, filling the lonely four-room house with a renewed sense of hope and purpose. However, a dark cloud seemed to linger over the property. Their first child, a baby boy named Frank Jr., survived only a few fragile weeks before passing away. Grief-stricken but determined, the couple tried again. In 1869, Marena gave birth to a daughter, whom they named Jessie Mae Saxon. But the joy of new life was instantly cut short. Just six weeks after bringing her daughter into the world, Marena May Saxon (d)ied from childbirth complications. Left without a mother, little Jessie Mae was a delicate child. She clung to life for only three short years, tragically passing away in an upstairs bedroom in 1872 from unknown childhood ailments. In a span of less than two decades, the house had claimed the lives of a father, a mother, and two innocent children...
Devastated by the loss of his entire family, Frank Saxon sold the homestead. In the 1880s, the property was acquired by Dr. Sheldon Stringer. The prominent local physician transformed the tragic four-room pioneer cottage into the sprawling, 14-room, multi-story Queen Anne Victorian mansion that stands today, adding elegant spindle work, a massive attic, and a medical wing. Though the Stringers filled the home with life for three generations, the spirits of the past refused to be built over.
Because the family did not use a traditional town cemetery, they were laid to rest in private plots on the estate. Over the decades, as the land was bought, sold, and restructured, the original grave markers vanished. Today, nobody knows exactly where the May and Saxon family members rest. Furthermore, historical records show that the May family brought approximately 40 to 50 en(s)laved laborers with them from Alabama to clear and harvest the wild Florida terrain. Modern researchers and historians believe that dozens of unmarked graves of these en(s)laved workers also rest in the soil across the former plantation grounds, their names and exact resting places lost to time...
The house is often described as one of the most haunted locations in Florida. Reports of paranormal activity include unexplained cold spots, moving shadows, orbs of light, and the sound of a crying child. The most well-known spirit said to reside in the home is that of Jessie Mae, the young daughter of Marina May and Frank Saxon, who (d)ied in the house at the age of three. Her former bedroom is a focal point for ghost tours and paranormal investigations, with visitors frequently reporting sensations of being touched or hearing whispers.
Additional stories of hauntings stem from the home’s long history, including its time as a medical practice under Dr. Sheldon Stringer. Some accounts describe spirits of former patients and family members lingering in the building. The attic is also associated with a particularly unsettling presence that has become part of the home’s folklore.
⭐️⭐️Today, the May-Stringer House,operates as a museum run by the Hernando Historical Museum Association. It features period Victorian rooms, a military history room, a 1900s doctor's office, and early communications equipment. They also offer several evening and night ghost tours and paranormal experiences.
