In 1862, a Confederate soldier was executed by Union forces beneath the window of the student who hid him; her apparition is still reported searching Senior Hall's corridors, and the ghost of former drama head Maude Adams haunts the auditorium.
1200 E Broadway, Columbia, MO 65215
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
The campus is accessible to visitors. Senior Hall and other buildings are not generally open to the public except during events.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Urban campus with paved walkways; building interiors vary.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1833 · One of the oldest women's colleges in the United States, founded 1833 · Site of the Sarah Wheeler / Isaac Johnson Civil War legend (1862) · Former drama department head Maude Adams (1872-1953) — celebrated stage actress, original Peter Pan — taught here from 1937 until her death
Stephens College traces its origins to 1833, making it one of the earliest women's colleges west of the Mississippi. By the outbreak of the Civil War, the college was operating in Columbia, Missouri — a city that sat in contested territory as both Union and Confederate forces moved through the region in 1861 and 1862.
The story attached to Senior Hall holds that in 1862, a student named Sarah Wheeler found and concealed a wounded Confederate soldier, Isaac Johnson, in the building to protect him from Union patrols. When Union forces discovered Johnson, they removed him from the building and executed him by firing squad, reportedly within sight of Sarah's window.
Sarah Wheeler's fate after the incident is documented inconsistently in available sources. Some accounts hold that she died of heartbreak after witnessing the execution; others claim she drowned at Hinkson Creek in a state of grief. No independent historical record has been located to confirm the event, Isaac Johnson's identity, or Sarah Wheeler's subsequent fate — it should be understood as a well-established campus legend rather than a confirmed historical event.
A separate and more verifiable thread involves Maude Adams, who served as head of the Stephens College drama department from 1937 until her death in 1953. Adams was one of the most celebrated stage actresses of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, best known for her portrayal of Peter Pan on Broadway from 1905 onward. She is buried elsewhere, but her connection to the auditorium has generated ghost stories involving footsteps and the sound of recited Shakespeare.
Sources
Senior Hall's paranormal reputation rests on the Sarah Wheeler legend, which has been retold in Columbia for generations. The version documented by Inside Columbia magazine and Legends of America describes Sarah as a student who risked her safety to hide a wounded Confederate, only to watch helplessly as Union soldiers found and executed him outside her window. The shock and grief of this event, the tradition holds, bound her spirit to the building.
Reported phenomena in Senior Hall focus on a female apparition — understood to be Sarah — seen moving through corridors, particularly at night, as if looking for something or someone. The specificity of her motivation in the legend makes this one of the more narratively coherent campus ghost stories in Missouri.
The Maude Adams haunting is distinct and less dramatic. Adams — a major theatrical figure who played Peter Pan on Broadway beginning in 1905 and taught drama at Stephens from 1937 to her death in 1953 — is associated with the college auditorium. Reports describe footsteps moving across the stage when no one is present and, in some accounts, the sound of Shakespeare being recited in an empty room. Adams was known for her dedication to classical theater, which frames these particular phenomena in the tradition.
Neither haunting has been independently investigated with documented evidence. Both reflect the pattern of Civil War and prominent-figure legends that cluster around historic women's colleges in the border states.
Notable Entities
Walk the historic Stephens College campus, noting Senior Hall — the building at the center of the Sarah Wheeler Civil War legend — and the auditorium associated with Maude Adams. Exterior viewing only; interior access depends on campus schedule.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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