{"id":62043,"date":"2020-10-01T14:26:27","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T18:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=62043"},"modified":"2026-09-17T17:17:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T21:17:51","slug":"the-ghosts-of-dents-palace-in-maryland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/the-ghosts-of-dents-palace-in-maryland.html","title":{"rendered":"The Ghosts of Dent\u2019s Palace in Maryland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry searches old newspapers and digs into historical records to learn about the ghosts haunting Dent\u2019s Palace in Maryland. <\/em>Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com<\/a><\/em>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

During the 1960s the Barnett family of Dentsville, Maryland, made headlines from reports of nebulous sightings and strange tapping sounds in their home \u201cDent\u2019s Palace.\u201d The bogey crew haunting the house: a Continental Army officer; one young female; a Confederate soldier; and one yellow feline.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Dent\u2019s Palace, Dentsville, Maryland. Credit: Maryland Historical Trust.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To find out more, I searched GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>. For example, one article published in the Evening Star<\/em> in 1960 by Jim Birchfield was quite entertaining. I also did some digging into the Maryland Archives and historic preservation records on the home.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 21 February 1960, page 192<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Arnold William Barnett purchased Dent\u2019s Palace in 1958 with his wife Lillian Bowling Middleton Barnett, one of Maryland\u2019s biggest socialites. She was known around the circles as \u201cCotton Tops\u201d or \u201cCotton\u201d because of her sparkling taffy hair. Her mother Mary (Mrs. Swaim) lived with the family. The mother-daughter team opened the home for garden parties and occasional historic tours for the Daughters of the American Revolution.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Lillian \u201cCotton\u201d Bowling Middleton Barnett. Credit: Robert L. Barnett.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The \u201cpalace\u201d is a 12-room brick mansion built about 1720, and the grounds had the setting for a good haunt \u2013 which included a family burial plot dated before the American Revolution. The original locks, doors, and floors were still intact, and Cotton never made renovations because she did not want to disturb \u201chousemates.\u201d The Barnett\u2019s children (William, Beverly, Robert, and Chris) either witnessed the specters or felt a presence.<\/p>\n

According to Cotton, at least two ghosts were explainable, and she had \u201cfamilial\u201d ties to the phantoms. Her ancestor Martha Burch married the builder of the home, Captain Hezekiah Dent, in 1774. Cotton identified one apparition who visited frequently as Ann Dent Bean, Hezekiah and Martha\u2019s youngest daughter, who \u201cis buried in the family burying ground nearby.\u201d Cotton said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ghost\u2019s clothing seems to be of that period, and she resembles descriptions of Ann. She has appeared in several different dresses, and she always has her head covered by something resembling a scarf.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Cotton first saw the ghost in the kitchen. Cotton\u2019s mother Mary said of another ghostly visit:<\/p>\n

\u201cI, too, was in the kitchen, when I saw this girl standing beside the dining room table. She had a scarf over her head, and her hair looked as if it had been blown by the wind.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 21 February 1960, page 193<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cotton\u2019s son Robert spotted the ghost in the stairway one morning. Robert said:<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was standing by the stair-rail. She was just standing there, and she had on a long white dress. Her head was covered, just like when the others saw her. I was wide awake, ready to go hunting deer when I looked out of my bedroom door, and there she was.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 21 February 1960, page 193<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ann\u2019s husband Thomas Owen Bean acquired the property in 1826. Cotton claimed Ann died in the home from childbirth about 1839; however, records show that Anne died in 1877. A daughter, Amelia, died in the home in 1840 at age 19; I found her obituary in the National Intelligencer<\/em>. She had returned home from a long absence at school and became ill for many weeks before succumbing.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Daily National Intelligencer (Washington, D.C.), 22 September 1840, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With a revival of interest in folklore in the 1970s, especially in the area of witches and ghosts, Philip Love of the Evening Star<\/em> covered the spectral appearances in Dent\u2019s Palace and interviewed the family in 1971.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 27 December 1971, page 34<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Love\u2019s article covered all four of the Dent\u2019s Palace ghosts. Of the first ghost, he wrote:<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 27 December 1971, page 34<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Which brave Dent hero was feeling a little chilly on the other side? It is hard to say \u2013 many brave Dent heroes were known to be hot-tempered patriots and fought in the Revolutionary War.<\/p>\n

About Ann (or Anne), the second ghost, Love wrote:<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 27 December 1971, page 34<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Love reported this about the third \u201chuman\u201d ghost, the Confederate soldier:<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 27 December 1971, page 34<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Love also wrote about the fourth ghost \u2013 the \u201cnon-human\u201d ghost \u2013 a cat:<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 27 December 1971, page 34<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With four ghosts roaming their house, wasn\u2019t the family frightened? Apparently not, as Cotton explained:<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 27 December 1971, page 34<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Create a free account<\/a> at GenealogyBank for 7 days to start your journey and discover the stories your ancestors left behind.<\/p>\n

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