Charles Gulden

popular name: Oliver Winchester

date_of_death: December 10, 1880

age: 70

cause_of_death: Long term illness

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: Oliver Fisher Winchester was an American businessman and politician, best known as the founder of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in New Haven, Connecticut. Interesting to note that repeating rifles were used to some extent in the American Civil War. However, the United States Army at that time did not use many repeating rifles as they were expensive and too advanced for the outdated tactics used in the war. Repeating rifles were not widely used until after the war when they became increasingly popular with civilians. Military authorities concentrated primarily on perfecting breech-loading single shot rifles for many more years. With thousands of rifles in the hands of the average pioneer, the Winchester repeating rifles gained a reputation as "The Gun that Won the West". Oliver Winchester was also active in politics, serving as a New Haven City Commissioner, Republican Presidential elector in 1864, and as Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut from 1866 to 1867.

popular name: Alva Vanderbilt Belmont

date_of_death: January 26, 1933

age: 80

cause_of_death: Natural Causes

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: Alva Vanderbilt Belmont was a prominent multi-millionaire American socialite and a major figure in the American women's suffrage movement. She was noted for her energy, intelligence, strong opinions, and willingness to challenge convention. In 1909, she founded the Political Equality League to get votes for suffrage-supporting New York State politicians, wrote articles for newspapers, and joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). She was married twice, first to William Kissam Vanderbilt, with whom she had three children, and secondly to Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont; both men were millionaires and members of socially prominent families in New York City. Alva was known for her many building projects, including: the Petit Chateau in New York; the Marble House in Newport, Rhode Island; the Belmont House in New York; Brookholt in Long Island; and Beacon Towers in Sands Point, New York.

popular name: Sarah Winchester

date_of_death: September 5, 1922

age: 83

cause_of_death: Congestive heart failure

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: Sarah Winchester was an American heiress who amassed great wealth after the death of her husband, William Wirt Winchester (son of Winchester Repeating Arms Company founder Oliver Winchester). Her inheritance included $20 million ($606.5 million in 2022) as well as a 50% holding in the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, which made her one of the wealthiest women in the world at the time. Sarah Winchester was, supposedly, so racked with guilt and haunted by the spirits of those killed by the Winchester firearms that she started building a house in California because a medium advised her that endless building would appease the dead. Construction, which continued 24 hours per day 7 days a week, only stopped when she died. The only problem with this narrative is that it is 100% completely false. And to make matters worse, the owners of the Winchester Mystery House continue to this day to repeat this myth to thousands of visitors every day to the home in San Jose. The fact of the matter is Sarah Winchester was not a crazy, guilt-ridden millionaire who sought guidence from ghost whispers, but rather she was highly educated, spoke multiple languages fluently, and moved to California for her health. She purchased a modest (by her standards) farmhouse and started work on her architectual marval. Aside from its immense size and Victorian style architecture, the House has a number of unique characteristics. To begin, it is undeniably a labyrinth. There are literally miles of maze-like corridors and twisting hallways, some of which have dead ends—forcing the traveler to turn around and back-up. There are also some centrally located passages and stairways that serve as shortcuts allowing a virtual leap from one side of the House to the other. Although Sarah’s labyrinthine House serves the same function as the ancient prototypes, her labyrinth is more a symbolic introductory step into her puzzle. The greatest test for the initiate lies in his ability to understand and identify Mrs. Winchester’s remarkable mix of symbols and numbered code. Sarah’s love of Geometry and specific symmetric numbers is prominently displayed throughout the House. When Winchester died in 1922 the house had 160 rooms, 2,000 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 stairways, 47 fireplaces, 13 bathrooms, and 6 kitchens.