I knew someone who grew up in this house in the 50s and 60s after moving from the Carolinas at a young age. He had written an account of his childhood and his close relationship with his sister who later died of AIDS in a notebook and I typed the manuscript for him. Sadly, I lost his contact information when my laptop crashed last year. His story was unfinished at the time I typed it and I'd love to know how it really ended.After working on that manuscript, I decided to look for the house based on his description of a white-columned brownstone and, once I located it, I just had to do a little research. The house, which stands on Ten Broeck Street (see my previous blog about another house is this area), was built in 1859 by a George Dawson who was associated with the venerable Albany printing and publish firm of Weed, Parsons, and Company.
My friend told me the house was haunted. He and his sister were afraid to go up to the top floor because there was a ghost there. To him, the man in the metal helmet looked like a conquistador. But I'm wondering if this ghostly resident of 49 Ten Broeck might not have been a 17th-century Dutch soldier from one of the earliest forts. Exactly how and why a ghost from the 1600s found his way to the upper floor of a house that wasn't built for another two hundred or so years, I don't know. But it does make more sense that a Spanish conquistador haunting an upstate New York row house and the metal helmet makes me think of Dutch soldiers helmets I've seen in local museums.
(Yes, I do believe in ghosts. Not because I'm superstitious or want to believe, but because I've experienced hauntings often enough to convince me.)
The house is not in the best of shape now. The brown sandstone was cut and laid vertically which, unfortunately, leads to large pieces flaking away. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception across town suffers from a similar problem and is currently undergoing a massive restoration. The house's white columns are also showing signs of rot. But the last time I walked by, I was cheered to see that the old place is no longer vacant. The windows were open and one had a building permit pasted to the glass and a worker was moving around inside.
Hello there...was searching for information on this house - my great-grandfather lived in it with his family between 1908 and 1912. He was a tea and coffee merchant and his store was at 25 Howard Street. Thanks for posting the picture.
ReplyDeleteAs im researching my family tree my great grandfather and family resided in this home
DeleteI have seen this property many times while parked on Ten Broeck. I love brownstones. The apparition seen on the top floor of 49 Ten Broeck might be a psychic imprint of a memory that was born of a significant emotional response of a living individual. These are known as "place memory" or "residual hauntings". If this apparition resembled a soldier, and did not communicate with the witnesses, it sounds (to me) like a residual haunting. Residual apparitions will dissipate over time, but the fact that the description of the apparition was seen hundreds of years later coincides with the pseudoscientific theory that psychic energy imprints by high emotional situations (stress, anger, sadness; sometimes positive vibrations) - if this apparition is an imprint of a soldier, then perhaps the energy is still standing in a fort, or on top of a hill before or after battle, or as a lookout. This would mean that when the apparition turned to look at the children, it wasn't actually acknowledging them (think like a person on TV looking directly at you).
ReplyDeleteI research the paranormal, especially older properties, local, and ones personal connections have told me about. This story intrigues me very much. It would be great to get in touch with the witnesses, or even the author of this blog.