John May bought the property in 1855. In 1856 he donated 15 acres to the county as a county seat. Mr. May lived in the house with his wife, Marena, and their daughter. After their deaths (his wife during child birth and his daughter at age 3) he remained for awhile and remarried, but eventually moved. The house was sold to Dr. Sheldon Stringer, who added on a room for his patients and added a special exit out of that room so the patients would not disturb his family. Jessie May was the daughter of John and Marena May. She was born in the house which is now the Hernando Heritage Museum. She also died there, when she was about 3 1/2 years old. Numerous people over the years have heard her crying for her mother. The docents have noticed that toys on display in the dining room area have been moved into the foyer or placed in different positions in front of the fireplace. On more than one occasion toys have been rearranged by a volunteer to be displayed on the floor in front of one of the fireplaces. This is done right before the museum doors are locked for the night. When the volunteer returns the next morning, the toys are arranged in a different way from how they had left them! Now, docents think that perhaps Jessie doesn't always like the way they are arranged, and fixes them to her liking! Right before one Mother's Day Tea the docents had displayed two teacups on the small table in front of the wood mantle. The next day there were three cups , and the day after there was four. The cups had been moved from the china cabinet to the table and no one knew by whom! Both Jessie and her mother are buried on the grounds of the museum, however there are no markers to indicate where. Jessie was the daughter of John and Marena May. She died when she was about 3 and a half years old. One day recently, a volunteer came in about 7:30 in the morning, long before the museum was to open at the noon hour. She heard loud noises in the attic. The strange thing was this volunteer knew nobody else was in the house! She suspects that Jessie was upset to be disturbed so early.  Also, sometimes on windy days, you can hear a faint, sad voice calling "Mommy....Mommy". It may be the wind whistling through the rafters. Or, it could be poor Jessie, calling for her lost mother.