Kate Morgan ( – November 28, 1892) was an American woman who died under mysterious circumstances, and is thought by locals to now haunt the

Hotel del Coronado Hotel del Coronado, also known as The Del and Hotel Del, is a historic beachfront hotel in the city of Coronado, just across the San Diego Bay from San Diego, California. A rare surviving example of an American architectural genre—the wooden ...

in Coronado, California. She was buried at nearby Mount Hope Cemetery in Division 5, Section 1.

Background

Kate Farmer was born in

Fremont County, Iowa Fremont County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census the population was 6,605, making it the state's seventh-least populous county. The county seat is Sidney. The county was formed in 1847 and named for the mili ...

, around the year of 1864. Her mother died on September 23, 1865,Gravestone, Mt. Olive Cemetery, Hamburg, Iowa. and at the age of two, young Kate was sent to live with her maternal grandfather, Joe Chandler.Affidavit of Joseph Chandler, August 12, 1879, in the matter of the Estate of George W. Farmer. On November 9, 1870, Kate's father, George Washington Farmer, was appointed to be the Postmaster of

Hamburg, Iowa Hamburg is a city in Fremont County, Iowa, United States, that is the most southwestern city in Iowa, hugging the borders of Missouri to the south and Nebraska to the west. It is situated between the Nishnabotna and Missouri rivers. The popu ...

.National Archives, Old Military and Civil Records. He remarried in 1871, fathered two more daughters and then moved to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

,Biography of Henry Eubank, "Wheatheart of the Plains - An Early History of Ochiltree County, 1969. where he died in 1876.Affidavit of B. M. Burke, County Clerk, McCullouch County, Texas, July 7, 1880, in the matter of the Estate of George W. Farmer. On December 30, 1885, Kate married Thomas Edwin Morgan and they had one child, a boy, born on October 31, 1886; he lived only two days.Gravestone, Utterback Cemetery, Riverton, Iowa. Around 1890, Kate Morgan ran off with Albert Allen, a stepson of Thomas' stepmother, Emily Dennison Allen Morgan.Written statement by Tom Morgan's daughter. This relationship also did not appear to have lasted. Although there are very few records of Morgan's life at this time, the next time she was reported sighted, she was ill and alone. Her next appearance was at the Hotel del Coronado in 1892. She arrived on November 24, checking in under the name "Mrs. Lottie A. Bernard, Detroit." The staff reported that she seemed ladylike, beautiful, reserved and well-dressed, but troubled and very melancholy.

Death

Kate was found dead on November 29, 1892, on the exterior staircase of the

leading to the beach, of what was believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head five days after checking into the hotel. A San Francisco lawyer, Alan May, speculated in the 1980s that her death involved foul play. Evidence for the alleged homicide was a passing statement during the coroner's inquest that the bullet found in her head did not match that of her own gun. There are many theories as to how Kate Morgan died, however none have been confirmed.Alan M. May. ''The Legend of Kate Morgan: The Search for the Ghost of the Hotel del Coronado''

Sightings

There have been many putative

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to re ...

sightings, and other potential

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

events at Hotel del Coronado since then. The official

website even mentions the ghost. The hotel's Heritage Department has published an official book on this subject, written by the hotel's professional historian, titled ''The Beautiful Stranger: The Ghost of Kate Morgan and The Hotel del Coronado''.Official Heritage Dept. Book, ''The Beautiful Stranger: The Ghost of Kate Morgan and The Hotel del Coronado'' . It avoids speculation in its research of historical documents available in local public libraries, historical societies, and university libraries as well as city hall and police files. The Heritage Department's book leans toward the official suicide verdict. There are four other books available. John T. Cullen has written two: his first, updated in 2008, ''Dead Move: Kate Morgan and the Haunting Mystery of Coronado, Second Edition'', is a non-fiction account of the mystery. His second is ''Lethal Journey'', a novel published in August 2009. The third book is ''The Ghost of the Hotel del Coronado, The TRUE Story of Kate Morgan'', by Terry Girardot. Kate's husband, Tom Morgan, was the half-brother of Girardot's maternal grandmother, and his book contains full versions of all articles from the San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco newspapers from that period, along with documents from his genealogy research, including the original telegram sent to Tom advising him of Kate's suicide. Tom's granddaughter provided him with the photograph of Kate seen on this page. A fourth ghost story book is by the above mentioned lawyer Alan M. May. The Legend of Kate Morgan: The Search for the Ghost of the Hotel del Coronado. ISBN 1-122-26574-3. Alan speculated that Kate did not kill herself, while also speculating that she may have been a daughter of one of his own ancestors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Kate 1860s births 1892 deaths Suicides by firearm in California Deaths by firearm in California People from Fremont County, Iowa American ghosts Burials at Mount Hope Cemetery (San Diego) 1890s suicides