BEARDSLEE CASTLE ENCOUNTERS

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 IT'S HISTORY

Beardslee Castle (Manor) is located on Route 5 between Little Falls & St. Johnsville in the Mohawk Valley. It is a world reknown restaurant and bar, famous for it's ghostly lore.
  Stories range from the ghost of a shadowed figure, a woman in white, a prior owner, a child, to Indians & soldiers.There has been many claims of people seeing strange lights along route 5 which runs in front of the estate. There has also been many stories, told from prior people whom have worked there.
  MVGH frequents the lovely castle and it's grounds.There is a full sized photo album of ghosts from the castle,taken by Susan and some of the members. Various ghost photos are on display in the foyer area taken from people who have captured a spirit or two at the old estate.
  We have been asked on many occasions, to tell of the tales, that have taken place on the grounds.
 The story begins back in the 1700's, when there was a British Fort, that was on the grounds, where the castle stands today.The fort held munitions for the British. Tales claim that the local Indians had stumbled upon the fort. At some point the Indians and British had run into eachother and a scuffle began. We are not sure exactly what happened, whether a lantern had been knocked over, a possible torch the culprit, or even the firing of the soldiers arms, but something ignited the gun powders and inturn blew up the entire fort, taking along with it the soldiers and Indians. He also got ahold of some Sioux war bonnets. He then brought the lovely artifacts home, and displayed them. This could be another possible reason behind some of the ghostly activity.

Later on in time following the Revolutionary War,in the late 1700's  John Beardslee moved to the area. He was a very popular person in the eye of the people.Being a mechanic, an architect and civil engineer John had built a mill for the state & the Oneida Indians to use. He also built the first bridge, across the Mohawk River in Little Falls, and a grist mill.There were other grist mills he built in Van Hornesville, and one for the Herkimer Courthouse & jail. There was even a small little village named after him, which now has since been disposed of. All that is left is a few gravestones, which are in great despair.
  In 1801 Augustus Beardslee was born to John and his wife. John passed on in 1825, and Augustus  inherited the estates. He was a county judge for some years, and afterwards decided to settle down. He then constructed Beardslee Castle (Manor), and had George Heller build it.
  Eventually Augustus had a son,whom they named Guy. Guy was much like his grandfather, with alot of ambition. He built a hydroelectric station to give power to the estate and to the entire village of St. Johnsville. This is where one of the ghosts may come into play.
 Domini Jake was a man that helped out with the hydro electric station. This man was eventually found hung in one of the underground tunnels under Beardslee Castle and the surrounding grounds. Why, we will probably never know.
  Another infamous story is the death of Guy Beardslee's child. It is not cetain as to whether this child was a boy or a girl, all we know is the childs name was Pardy. It is believed though that it was a little boy.
  On day while working outside, one of the handymen that worked for Guy, brought him the body of his lifeless child. It has been said that Pardy died in one of the surrounding waters. The child was buried in the family mausoleum a mile back behind the castle, on the otherside of a hill from the hydroelectric plant.
  In February 1919 a mysterious fire started. Ethel Beardslee, John's wife, was awakened by a strange voice. She thought it was the voice of their dead child Pardy. This actually saved their life! There was never a known cause as to how the fire started.
  There have been rumors that Guy experimented in creating a machine, that could be used to talk to the dead. Whether this is actually true we do not know.
  In more years to come another mysterious death occured.
In those days mail would be delivered by train. One of the hands used to walk along the railroad tracks to the station. On one particular day the man did not come back. Another one of the hired hands went out to find him. To his shock and horror, he found the body of the man, but no head was attached to it! Story has it, that the train, had hit him full force. As far as we know his head was never found.
  There is also talk, that Guy himself, while in the army,

  Once Guy Beardslee had passed away, his wife split up and sold the properties to various people. The castle itself was sold to Mr & Mrs A.M. Christiansen. The Christians decided to make the place into a restaurant.
  After some years, owner Pops Christiansen, was diagnosed with cancer. Some say, he could not handle it, and hung himself up on the top floor of the establishment. The place was again on the market.
  There have also been stories of a woman that had died on the property grounds. Some say she choked. There have been spottings of a woman in white that walks the lavish grounds.
  In some time, another gentleman bought the estate and opened it as a restaurant. Once again another unexplained fire destroyed the estate sometime in the eighties. There were no deaths due to the fire, but the question was, what started, the fire? The building sat vacant until the early ninties.until it was once again, made a restaurant.
  Point of the matter being, there is numerous stories on many tragic deaths, at this reknown location, thus has caused many ghost hunters and paranormal investigators to make a stop to the hauntingly bizarre restaurant. In the latter part of the nineties, the History Channel, filmed a segment at the lovely estate, in hopes to find a ghost or two. While there was no ghost found, a psychic did determine, some sad entities there.
 

The first excursion to investigate the castle, was unique. It was in the evening and a wedding ceremony was taking place on the front lawn. The bagpipes from the ceremony, were sad and seeemed to portray a mournful moan, with each note played. I walked around the beautiful sunny grounds, with my polaroid camera. I avoided interrupting the wedding and decided to make my way over to the right entrance of the building. I clicked away with my camera hoping to capture anything. Low and behold, a large white spot, started to form on the photo! It was not the shape of a human but rather, a bright white  spot, that seemed to hover twelve feet above the ground, as if intent, on watching the ceremony.
  I went inside with my two guests, and we sat to eat dinner on the ground level floor, and discussed what had devloped in the photo. We ended up leaving, and I was bound and determined, to return once again, for another photo shoot.
  Winter, had finally come upon us, and as I was surfing the web one day, I came upon a presentation, that was going to be held, by some ghost hunters, from the Central New York Chapter. I called with inquiries, and made my reservation.
  The day finally came and I was thrilled, to be returning to the lovely establishment. I sat intently listening to the speakers explain what photos they have captured in the past there. I also learned, that where I had taken my previous ghost photo, many more ghostly photos had been taken in the same location.
  When it was time for the groups to split up and walk throughout the building, I chose to go outside & hunt myself.

I walked down the third floor stairs, and felt an overwhelming chilly feeling. Being a ghost hunter, cold temperatures could mean a ghostly presence, was in the vicinity. I could feel the hair on my arms stand stright up. I scurried as fast as I could to any escape route. I managed to get out the main entrance. I could not understand how all these people dining, did not seem to be affected by what was lingering in the building!
  I made my way out to the front lawn of the carriage house. I met up with another gentleman, whom later became one of MVGH members. Together we walked a short while and took photos.
  It was about 10 minutes later I started to feel very sad. I then started asking any possible spirit if they would mind, if I took their photo. There it was! With each flash from my camera we both saw flashes of white mist! I started feeling heavy and even more sad, almost to the point of being depressed. I felt genuine pain and heartache for the lost souls. I asked if I could get a photo of one of the Beardslees. To my astonishment, I saw a face, right in my own face as my camera flash went off ! I jumped back with alittle fear. The other gentleman, could not believe what we both had just experienced! He grabbed his camera quickly and also started shooting pictures.
  My sadness had diminished and excitement,  overtook both of us. With every flash of our cameras, we captured faces, white mists, and round spots called orbs.On particular occasion we saw a bright flash, light up, the entire area with a bright green mist. I went through every roll of film I had, which ended up being 5 rolls.. It was the most excitement, I had ever felt while ghost hunting, and I planned to return again soon.

The next time I returned, I came with the same man I had met with, on the prior occasion, and another one of the members from the group. Both men were as excited as I was to get snapping photos.
  Once again, we took the same path out onto the front lawn of the carriage house.As I walked up the rounded drive, I said to the ghosts, "I'm back." Instantly I felt an intense force rush right up to me! This presence managed to somehow slam into my front stomach area,and  fly right out of the middle of my back! What a welcoming! It felt as though, I were a cartoon character, and someone threw a softball through me, leaving a hole in my stomach! I gasped out loud, as it knocked me right over backwards with a strong force! Both men grabbed my arms and caught me before I hit the ground! They walked me over to one of the stone benches and sat me down. I could not believe what had just happened. The men both said they felt the rush of air swirl up, as if someone were running past them.I gathered my senses and proceeded to the front lawn.The air felt thick and cool as evening was approaching, and sadness lingered over us. I remembered that feeling of despair, and knew inside myself, that it was going to be another eventful evening. As I took my camera out, I started talking to the spirits. I explained I knew the lonliness they felt and I was there to keep them company, for a short while. I asked if any of them would like to have their picture taken. The flash of the camera went off and there were lighted orbs everywhere. They were there and they were responding to each and every word, I spoke.
  Again I brought with me 5 rolls of film, and with every flash something was present.

We finished taking pictures and headed inside to warm up. Upon walking into the bottom basement bar area, called "The Dungeon," I overheard some local television station crew chatting. Apparently  one of the female broadcasters, while walking down the stairs,she felt someone playing with her hair and breathing on the back of her neck. When she went to turn around to tell the person to stop, there was not a single soul in site. I understood what she had felt, as this place was quite an active hot spot for strange events.
 It was time to head home, as it was dark and chilly, and the end of March. I said my traditional "Good Bye" to the spirits and headed on my way, vowing to return again.
  The following day upon getting my pictures developed every picture out of 5 rolls once again had something in them. I planned on returning , yet again, to meet up with my ghostly friends.
  Since then there have been unexplainable happenings throughout the entire building. One of the employees mentioned that when guests come to stay in the carriage house, they can hear people holding a conversation on the other side of the wall. There is no other room on the otherside of the wall! While sleeping in the bed, in one of the rooms, they can feel the bed start to shake and tremble.
  On one occasion after closing, the employees  were using a Ouija Board. One of the employees, were thrown back about six feet! Needless to say they never returned to work again.
  The next morning upon returning to work the employees found silverware thrown all over. The chairs were stacked in a strange way also. The use of Ouija Boards apparently does not entice the restless spirits of Beardslee Castle. The Mohawk Valley Ghost Hunters have concluded that there has to be over 30 spirits present at the castle. In one photo alone there were 30 some odd, strange anomalies.
  What are those orbs of blue & white lights seen on route 5, that passerbys see coming out into the road, and also bouncing  within the trees? Could it be Guy Beardslee looking for his lost child? Is it the handy man whom went to fetch mail?
  It is hard to say which spirits are present at Beardslee, but we do know that a man in black clothing resides there as with a man and woman in period  clothing. They have come up in various ghost photos.  Are these dark cloaked figures the long lost soldiers? Could one be Domini Jake the handy man? Could they be the spirits, of the restless  Beardslees,or is it from an earlier time, of the men whom lost their lives during war? One can only assume ......

Beardslee Mausoleum

LOTS MORE STORIES COMING SOON!

The First Presbyterian Church It's History & Ghosts

The First Presbyterian Church & adjoining church house are one of the lovliest buildings in Utica.Located at 1605 Genesee St, one would think, there would be much hustle and bustle, but this is not so. The setting is quiet and reserved almost as if, it was in a world of it's own.The staff are always courteous and greet you with a warm smile, which always makes, a ghost hunt fun.Their knowledge of the history of the establishment could keep one busy for hours listening to, what the prior owners have encountered.

The church and church house have not always belonged to the church. Somewhere around 1898 Robert McKinnon had the lavish house built for his family of seven. The home was beautiful, furnished with a ballroom on the thrid floor and and a sunken garden below, where the church is now located.

As with any family, there were some problems. It has been said that Robert's daughter Molly,was taken in by a gentleman, whom claimed to be a European Count. They had an exquisite wedding and reception. The reception was believed to be held on the third floor, in the ballroom of the estate. Of course it was lavishly put together.

Follwing the wedding, the new couple moved down to New York City. It was there that Molly learned her husband was not at all, a European count. It has been said that she and her husband lived in a low income area, and she spent her days secluded from her family. We do not know, the entire story, as to why she did not contact her family. Maybe because she was embarrassed by their financial state. We do know that in the mothers will, that should Molly be found, she would get an expensive piece of jewelry. Though her sister searched for her, she never was found. We do know she was buried in a cemetery on Long Island, Ny.

There is also a story that one of the other Mackinnon girls by the name of Isabelle married a plantation owner.Isabelle ended up moving to Jamaica with her husband. While living in Jamaica, Isabelle had fallen and died from the fall. In Jamaican custom, it is believed that if a woman dies from a fall, she died of complications from a pregnancy.Far fetched as it seems, that is their belief.

At some point, after Molly & John Mills were married, her father had lost all his money, due to poor judgement in business. After numerous times in court, the lovely estate ended up being sold to another family by the name of Borst.

Charles Borst bought the estate around the early 1900's. He was another, well to do man, whom owned mines in Clinton, NY. He and his wife had two daughters,whom lived in the estate.His mother also stayed there, but it is not mentioned, as to whether she stayed there once she became ill, or if she had lived there the entire time,but His mother did die in the home .

As with tragedy in every family TB had stricken one of their daughters, and she ended up dying of at a young age,leaving behind some children.Their daughter Beatrice raised the children, after her passing. Beatrice ended up writing a book about their life, and included in it, how she would look out at the lovely sunken garden from the library window above.

Sometime down the road the estate was sold to some lawyers, whom planned on making it into apartments. Instead of this happening, they sold it to the Presbyterian Church in 1920.

The church has been located there, since it's purchase. MVGH investigations at the First Presbyterian Church and church house, have been ongoing since 2001. The apparition of Molly has been seen in the establishment, as with voices calling out peoples names. There is also stories of alarms going off in the middle of the night. Once the proper people get there to check on it, they find the buildings empty. What would cause such a disturbance to set off the alarms? This is where the ghost hunters have come in to investigate.

Ghostly Encounters