The 140th Anniversary of Sallie White's Murder

3/30/2016

Who was Sallie White?

African American Chambermaid

Sallie White was a chambermaid at the Menger Hotel when she met an untimely death on March 30th, 1876 by the hands of her common law husband-Henry Wheeler. Henry was said to have been a very jealous man and didn't like the attention his attractive mulatto wife would receive from other men. They would often get into arguments that would escalate and leave poor Sallie running in fear for her life. Their arguments were said to have reached a boiling point when Henry eventually shot and killed his wife near the Menger Hotel. Below is a newspaper article that talks about the murder:

"ANOTHER OUTRAGE
Malicious and Probably Fatal Shooting of a Negro Woman by her Crazed Husband

The peaceful neighborhood to the rear of the Menger Hotel was yesterday morning suddenly disturbed by pistol shots, succeeded by the shrill shrieks of a female. A negro by the name of Henry Wheeler was murdering his wife. The tale runs thus:

Wheeler and his wife have been very quarrelsome for some time, and complaints of abuse from her husband have been carried to the Recorder's court, where the offender has met justice. Monday evening, Wheeler seemed to be very angry about something, and finding that his wife was absent from home, proceeded to search for her in the surrounding neighborhood. He was successful in his search, and immediately upon meeting her, began to abuse her to the extent of his calumnious capacity. On returning to their dwelling, Wheeler made the open and bold declaration that he would murder her-storming and swearing all the while. The woman could bear his threats and abuse no longer, and sought the protection of the police. The house was searched, but no arms found, but still the woman said, "he will kill me if I stay here tonight." Finally, arraignments were made for her to spend the night at the Recorder's office, where she went in peace, and slept until yesterday morning, undisturbed. She awoke between the hours of six and seven, and proceeded to go home. Arriving near the dwelling, she was again met by her husband, who, with a six shooter in his hand, proceeded to carry out the determined work of her death.
He seized her, he fired, the ball wounding her severely in the bowels. She ran, and after her he went, firing two other shots and felling the partner of his bosom on the south side of the Menger Brewery. The act from beginning to end is a revolting one, being actuated by pure malice aforethought, making him, it would seem, if the woman dies, subject to the highest punishment the criminal offender has to bear."

- San Antonio Daily Express March 29th, 1876

Sallie's Death

In the newspaper article above, it mentioned that her husband Henry would be punished if Sally died. Unfortunately it took poor Sallie two days to die from her wounds! In the meantime Henry took off and left town and was never heard from again nor prosecuted for her murder. Because the Menger had loved Sallie White and the great employee she had been, they paid for her funeral costs of $32.00. The receipt can still be seen today inside of the lobby in a glass display case.

Sallie Haunts the Menger Hotel Today

They say Sallie White's spirit can be seen today, roaming the hallways of the Menger Hotel and carrying on with her normal chambermaid duties. Guests that stay the night at the hotel have reported to see a maid in an old fashioned uniform coming into their rooms and disappearing right in front of their eyes. One woman saw a maid at the end of the hallway and approached her to ask for more towels, but when she called out to her, she ignored her! Perplexed, she walked closer to the maid who then turned and walked into an empty room. When she approached the room and looked inside there was no one in it. The maid had disappeared!
A few months back one of our staff members had just finished a Dinner and Ghost Tour inside of the Menger Hotel. As they were putting the remaining supplies into the storage closet, the door suddenly slammed behind them. Startled they turned and saw the door knob begin to twist and turn violently. They approached the door, turned the still moving knob, and slowly opened the door. But they found no one in site! Perhaps this was Sallie continuing on with her daily duties.

A hotel ledger displayed inside of the Menger today, shows the cost of Sallie White's funeral.

Lobby of the Menger Hotel

The Menger Hotel

The Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours visits the inside of the Menger Hotel on the Dinner and Ghost Tour and Haunted Ghost Bus Tour.

10 Comments

Laurie Anderson

7/2/2016 04:55:09 pm

I saw Sallie at the Menger in May 2007. I have no doubt that she was standing right in front of me just looking at me. No alcohol or drugs (on my part) were involved.

David

1/21/2018 08:49:05 pm

I saw her too. It was during the day on the second floor in the room towards the front. Her uniform was old fashion. Light blue. She gave me eye contact for a couple of seconds. Wasn’t aware that I saw a ghost until I started reading about the Menger hotel later that week. It was like seeing a regular person. Why would a women wear old fashion uniform that didn’t match everyone else’s uniform? I thought to myself. The articles I read described her perfectly. I’m still freaked out about it.

Lupita

10/24/2018 05:29:14 pm

One summer we stayed at this hotel. During the night I had a dream of a chambermaid coming to my room to clean. I didn’t really pay much mind to the dream until my daughter told me the story of Sallie and showed me a picture of her. It was the same person of my dream!!!!

Jon

7/24/2019 01:17:44 am

I just read this. I had only ever told some of the wait staff at breakfast on a different visit. , But I have 2 instances out of several stays over 15 years once when staying in the Victorian section . I was awakened by the feeling of sheets being tucked at foot of bed, and felt a hand touch my rt leg .through sheets. I first thought it was family , but then came awake enough to remember I was traveling alone. I looked and could see no one but could still feel sheets moving. Knowing the history. I called out. Sallie I'm in this bed. I don't need you to make it. Goodnight! Then everything stopped. I was both rattled and amused but just went back to sleep. .About five years later a loud knock at the door at 10pm again in old section of hotel. A voice said Your coach is ready. Puzzled, I called valet to complain that I had not called for my car. Baffled they assured me they had the keys, and my car was parked. Reflecting on this I recalled they said coach... not car. Further, they had knocked instead of using phone. I laughed. Thought just another night at Menger, and went back to sleep.

Michael Lemasters

9/12/2019 10:24:47 am

I saw here one evening while visiting the hotel on business. I actually took a photo of her standing at the end of the hallway on the second floor. She was wearing a blueish-gray dress form the 1800s and was carrying what looked like towels in her hand. She wasn't fully opaque, but was standing in a ray of light in the photo.

Ashley

10/1/2019 11:09:30 pm

I took a tour of the hotel as part of the "ghost bus tour" last week and believe I may have snapped a photo of her standing in one of the windows. It was pitch dark outside but I noticed it later when I was going through all of the pictures I took that night with my phone. I was expecting to see something near the front of the lobby, where I heard she had died, but this was at the end of a hallway on the second floor, near a stairwell. The most terrifying thing about the photo are what appear to be demons or demon like faces on either side of her apparition. It gave me the absolute chills when I saw it. The other thing I noticed immediately as I entered the main lobby was a strong pressure on my head that quickly turned into a headache, although strangely enough it disappeared as soon as we left the building. I also felt like someone had tried whispering in my ear, but I wasn't able to pick up what they were saying. It was definitely one experience I will never forget!!

Stacey

8/8/2020 08:13:34 pm

I stayed at the Menger in July 2020 on the third floor. I took pictures throughout the hotel. I have a full body picture of Sally. She has on a dress and bandana in the picture. Seems she is pointing at a picture. When we go back, we will see what is in the picture. I have complete belief in ghosts now. Something happened to Sallie White that keeps her there at the hotel. Perhaps there is more to her story?

Lee Marshall

3/12/2023 07:49:42 pm

Hi Stacey, I work for Sister’s Grimm ghost Tours. I would love to see your photo. I am i. The Menger every day and can locate the area and pic that Sally is pointing at.

K Davis

9/28/2020 12:03:48 am

I am co-founder of a paranormal group and I have been pushed, tripped, and this is only a couple of incident's. But the Menger Hotel is the first time "I EVER FELT FEAR", but I know there's also a protection spirit there.

My daughter's and I had a all girl vacation, and chose the Menger for their haunted reputation. After arriving I decided to take a long bath, and my daughter's decided to leave and go for a walk. During my bath I kept hearing something hitting the wall, and the first couple of times I saw nothing. The next time I heard it I opened the curtain quick enough to see the cord of the hair dryer on the wall flop up hitting the wall. I wanted that bath, and since I have experienced supernatural activity my whole life I made the announcement "I don't care if you are in the room, I will not leave my bath" (everything stopped).

I decided to go for a walk with one of my daughter's around midnight, and we headed to the older section. There's a women's bathroom next to the elevator so we went in, we was in the setting area when my daughter asked if I heard a door slam. We walked in the stall area and no one was in there so I asked "If someone was in here with us" after no answer we left.

As we walked out my daughter asked if we were takeing the stairs or the elevator, the elevator doors opened with no one in it so I said "It look's like we are taking the elevator. The elevator felt ice cold, after we reached our floor I said "Thank You". My daughter looked stunned, and ask if any of that bothered me (I did not know why it should). After walking around a while we noticed we was on a different floor, but we never took any stairs to get there. We opened a door that had stairs, but we heard a man and woman argueing so we moved on. We did in fact see a woman pushing a cart around a corner, we decided to follow her to find a way down. As we turned the corner a man was walking towards us, and stopped to ask if we were looking for ghost's. I said that we were, but I love old building's and this was a beautiful one "He agreed". My daughter asked were the man went, I said he probably went into a room (she said he did not have enough time).

I woke up with a horrible headache and needed my makeup bag in the bathroom to get something for it. I did not wake my daughter's, and decided not to turn on light's. To get to the bathroom there was a dressing area, a very dark area. As I got out of bed I started to feel weird, as I was about to turn the corner to the bathroom I started to feel total FEAR. Then I heard a voice say "Keep your head down, and don't look in the mirror". I heard the warning two times before I reached the bathroom. I did not turn on the light, I kept my head down, grabbed my bag, walked back to my bed slowly (I tell people showing their fear is a sign to the spirit they can control you), and decided going to sleep fast was my best bet. I had been in building's falling apart, at times in bad area's, and never felt one ounce of fear. But like I told so many in investigations "Where there are bad spirit's, there are good one's who want to help", that one incident proved I was right.

When we went through pictures and recordings a few days after we got home, we never expected to find what we got. As we entered the lobby/front doors we got what sounded like a party, and could hear music. As we entered the little hall tunnel to get to the old part, we noticed on video a shadow of a man walking in the area. In the bathroom you here us taking and as I sat diwn, a woman's voice says "ouch". Then you here me asking if someone was in the room with us, a man's voice can be heard saying "I wish". Later you can hear my daughter asking "mom what floor are we on", you hear me say I don't know", followed by me saying "how did we get on this floor". Then came what we did not hear. We did not get the argueing on the stairs, and the man who ask if we was looking for ghosts.

Would I go back to the Manger "Yes", both for the supernatural and the beauty of the hotel.

Elizabeth link

10/15/2020 08:22:01 am

Just reading these comments make me want to go and I just got to ask did you see Sallie White.

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