St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-09


that 1t is given TO some people 10 see
things and others not"
AbOut the year 1912 the inhabitants or
the vicinity were working on the road,
and the roadmaster concluded that the
road ought to be raised or ''turIpiked'.
up. So heavy plough. drawn by two
yoke of oxen, was detailed to plough
deep furrow on each side of the road. One
OF the men had to bear heavily on the
plough-beam to make deep fnrrow
enough. Finally some queer-looking
bones were turned up and thrownItn
one side. Everybody was amazed and
| could not conceive what they were doing
there. AT this juncture physician OF
| Great Darlington came by IN his sulKy.
| He was stopped and one of the men
| handed up sOme of the bones for in
| spection. q
Where did you get these" asked the
| doctor.
The man pointed out the spot. w..
"These are human bOneS," the ply
| stefan said. +.
he took charge of them. and that was
| all that was ever done about the matter.
Dame Rumor had as one of her
| choicest topics about this time and soon
after that certain old and tOlerahly
wealthy man living living between the
haunted spot and Great Darlington
would never go to sleep unless he had
| lighted candle in his room, and that
he never could be got to 90 up that
road on business or pleasure. One OF
| the men previously mentioned, who had
seen the queer sights, said that it was
the belief of many that he never could
die in peace without making Il confess
sion that would be sensational in the
extreme. 1t was also limited that it
would be connected with the disappear
ance of we'll known pedler who used
| to carry silks. watches, jewelry and the
| like, and who was supposed to have
many hundreds of dollars i'll his posses
sion at time.
About two miles southwest of Great
Darlington, and just off the road lead
ing to South Egremont, Mass, and
HillSdale, n. Y. is the Root pond.
so named from the many families of the
name of Root who lived in that neigh
borhood. 1t was sheet of perhaps
sixty or eighty acres. and on nearly all
sides was almost inaccessible OH account
of the swampy ground. On the west
and northwest the shore was COMPARE
lively hard. About 800 feet from the
lake there was, about sixty or seventy
years ago, an old-fashioned farmhouse
known as the "ROot house." The house
had at one time been painted with the
cheap red paint SD common in those
times, but it had finally become nearly
worn off.
From 1880 to 1910 it was difficult to
get any one to live in that house for
any great length of time. When peO-
pie were asked why they moved away
they were reticent. Finally, however,
it came out that strange sights were
In nd oil
equally as strange noises heard.
A man named Willard. living in
North Egremont, three miles awav, SAID
that he was driving along by there one
night when he saw a strange white
object, about two feet square. leave tine
roof OF the old house and go slowly
through the air to the pond. where it
sank beneath the waves. On another
occasion he was passing along quite
late. and he saw man without any
head cross the road AID go to the door
of the house, which invOluntarlly
opened to let him in, and then closed
noiSeleSSiy.
One Wlnchell went one night to sleep
in the house. He prided himself on his
fearleSSneSs, and wished to ascertain
for himself whether there were any
strange sights or noises. He saw moth
ing, but during the night he heard the
clanking of chains and noise like the
pounding of a beam of timber with the
head of broadaXe, as near as he could
describe 1t. His said he was satisfied
that there was something uncanhy
about the place and that no one would
care to live there.
A man named Gorham was driving
past the house one night. when he dis
covered an old woman walking along
just ahead OF him. AS was the custom
in those days. he said. as he overlook;
the traveller. MADAM. won't you ride?"
She turned around as if to get into
the wagon. when. as he reached out his
hand to help her in. he saw that there
was ghaStly wound across her throat,
and the expression of her face was
something terrible. That moment she
vanished, and Gorham experienced a
sensation akin to that of the man who
faces heavy artillery.
About 1886 family who had lived in
the house moved to the western part of
New York, in Steuben county. One
night some neighbors who had been
acquainted with them i'm the East years
before were making an evening visit
when strange noise was heard in the
cellar. A daughter OF the family. a
young lady said in a low tone, but over
nearQ Oy the VlSliOTS.
ma! those same noises that we used
to hear follow us out here. don't they"
The mother gave her warning look
and the subject was dropped.
When the house was pulled down
some years after old brass buttons were
found in the cellar wall, and pieces of
indigo blue homeSpun that appeared to
have been parts of a mans coat buried
many years before. Nothing further
was found and a new house was soon
after built. Nothing untoward has been
seeen or heard on the premises since
the old fabric was pulled down.
Just over the line. In the state of New
York state. as one goes through Mount
Washington. Berkshire county, Mass,
there was once an old wayside inn. 1t
was torn aw Y several years ago, and
there now remains some Stuuted apple
and cherry trees and currant bushes. 1t
is wild, lonesome place, and some of
those who live near there are chary
about going over the road after night
fdll.
Some thirty years ago some yonng
men yet living in COpake, n. Y, who
were young then, assert that they were
passing bv one night about 9 O'clock in
the spring of the year. The house had
not been occupied for a few years.
They were greatly surprised to see the
windows lighted up and hear the sound
of music. When they came closer they
could see men and women dancing.
They thought that party of young peo-
pie wereigetting up an impromptu dance
and they thought they would stop and
join if possible. They came up, stopped,
and were getting out. when, all at once,
the place was in total darkness and a
graveyard silence reigned. They made
the best of their way home, thoroughly
frightened.
About half mile north of North Egg
rement, Mass. on the road to Austerlitz,
n. Y. and close by the JOyner farm,
stood, forty years ago, an old tavern
once occupied by man named Todd.
Strange stories were told of the house,
and one tenant after another ieft.giv1ng
no cause for Its abandonment. An old
gentleman who went by the name of
''Granther" Miller saw one evening,
Just after sunset and before twilight,
an old man with broad-brimmed hat,