History & local legend
Grumblethorpe began as the country home of John Wister, a German immigrant who built it in Germantown in 1744. The house stood among gardens, orchards, and farmland. During the Battle of Germantown in October 1777, British troops occupied it while members of the Wister family were elsewhere.
The house’s best-known haunting is associated with British General James Agnew. After being mortally wounded in the battle, he was carried into Grumblethorpe and died in the front parlor. Later stories place his ghost in the house, linking its supernatural reputation to that wartime death.
