Sarah graduated in 1877 and spent several years teaching school around the county and elsewhere. At the age of 52, Sarah began what was to be a very short marriage. In June of 1905, she became the wife of I.L. Chrisman, and put her teaching career aside, as married women did not teach in those days. According to court documents, Chrisman apparently left Sarah after only six months of marriage, but it wasn't until 1909 that she formally sought the court to dissolve the marriage, and resume her former last name.
Not much is known about Sarah in her remaining years. Some believe she ran a boarding house for female students out of her residence, which once stood where the former Verona Maple Hall stood. Others believe she made her fortune in wine-making. All is known is that by 1919, she had amassed a healthy estate.
In February of 1919, Sarah's life came to a tragic end. She was found bludgeoned to death in her home. The murderer was never caught, and no motive was ever really established, as very little, if any, valuables were reported missing. Some believe there was a cover-up to protect involvement of a prominent local family, but that information in unconfirmed. In any event, Sarah was buried in the adjoining cemetery.
Five years after Sarah's death, the college purchased the home, and tore it down to make room for Verona Maple Hall, a women's dormitory. Before Verona Maple Hall was torn down in 1978, many of the residents had ghostly encounters that they attributed to "Sis Linn's" untimely demise. When the building was torn down, activity seemed to transfer to Clark Hall, located adjacent to Verona Maple. Many, many witnesses to the activity have come forth over the years to share their strange tales. Other buildings on campus, including Louis Bennett Hall and Pickens Hall also have had their fair share of ghost stories, as well as the cemetery itself, where Sarah is buried, located right on campus. It seems as if early visitors to the campus always find the gate open to the cemetery, even though it is shut tight, nightly. Sarah has also been seen walking through the cemetery, possibly back to the location of her former home.
The school library houses a file containing court records, newspaper articles, and many more tidbits of information on Sis Linn's life and death, and of course the hauntings associated with such!
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Personal Experience from a retired professor
I had went to this college during mt junior year of highschool for a program called college summit. Other teens my age from other school and from my own were also there those who chose to participate. We were there for 4 days and nights to get the experience of college. They alternated male and female on the floors of the old original dorm building known as Pickens Hall. The 4th floor was the one in particular known to be haunted. I surely soon that night found out as didn't the couple of other girls in my dorm room. It has been said that a woman was murdered on the 4th floor and another scenario of a little boy with a bag of marbles in which he slipped on and broke his neck tumbling down the stairs. Late during the first night I and my dorm mate witness some feightening moments. First of all, all the fire alarms on 4th floor would keep setting off and even after the maintenance had disconnected all the alarms, they remained to set of for no reason. As I laid in my dorm bed I kept hearing what sounded as if someone was smacking or thumping on the wall right between my dorm mate and my own bed. That wall was the end of the building and made of centerblock. We had also heard a slight sound of a woman laughing and it sent chills up our spines. We had also heard what seemed to sound like marbles occasionally drop on the hard cold floor. Needless to say none of us girls could sleep after the terrifying experience. The follwing morning around 11am we were getting dressed and ready for some college activity we were about to head out to. As I fixed my hair in the mirror I won't forget that I saw feom the corner of my eye the chair from the desk in our room and slid out from of under the desk. We experienced a lot of eerie sounds and happenings. You should check it out. The only time they use those dorms is for college summit.
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