The Mohawk River winds through upstate and central New York, and along its meandering path residents and visitors have encountered the supernatural. In Utica, ghosts grace the stage of the Stanley Theater. Spirits of Revolutionary War soldiers still march on the Oriskany Battlefield and linger in Schoharie's Old Stone Fort. And some former residents of Beardslee Castle in St. Johnsville, Boonville's Hulbert House and the Seashell Inn of Sylvan Beach have resisted vacating. Here, authors Dennis Webster and Bernadette Peck, along with the other members of Ghost Seekers of Central New York, uncover the mysteries behind these and many other haunted places of the Mohawk Valley. Dennis Webster is a paranormal investigator with the Ghost Seekers of Central New York. His previous works include "Haunted Mohawk Valley," "Wicked Adirondacks," "Wicked Mohawk Valley," "Klock," "Adirondack Mysteries" Volumes I & II and "Daisy Daring & the Quest for the Loomis Gang Gold." He has a bachelor of science degree from Utica College and a master of business administration (MBA) from the State University of New York Institute of Technology (SUNYIT) in Utica/Rome. Bernadette Peck, founder and lead investigator of the Ghost Seekers of Central New York, lives in Vernon, New York. For fifteen years now researching and investigating ghosts has led her to a very profound view of life after death and the knowledge that comes with the spiritual side of life. Haunted Mohawk Valley By Dennis Webster, Bernadette Peck The History Press Copyright © 2011 Dennis Webster, with Bernadette Peck All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-60949-266-3 Contents Preface, Acknowledgements, Introduction: What Is Ghost Seeking?, The Stanley Theater, Herkimer County Courthouse, Old Stone Fort, From the Files of the Ghost Seekers of Central New York, Hulbert House, Morley Gristmill, Mary Connor Residence, Oriskany Battlefield, Beardslee Castle, Herkimer's 1834 County Jail, Wayside Inn, Erie Canal Village, Seashell Inn, Munn's Castle, Roscoe Conkling Mansion, Saratoga County Homestead, Appendix I: Ghost Gear, Appendix II: Ghost-Seeking Protocol, Appendix III: Ghost Glossary of Terms, Sources, About the Authors, CHAPTER 1 THE STANLEY THEATER Utica, New York, November 2008 The marquee in front of the Stanley Theater noted, "Players of Utica Presents Scrooge, December 12th," yet it wasn't a live actor show I was there for, but rather a performance of another kind — a performance of the spiritual, one on electronic magnetic field (EMF) recorders, digital tape recorders in the form of electronic voice phenomena (EVP), motion detectors and digital film. It was to be a theater of the ghost. The Stanley Theater was opened on September 10, 1928, and is located in Utica, New York. It is one of the city's downtown landmarks. The architect, Thomas Lamb, designed the 2,945-seat theater with "Mexican Baroque" styling. The interior is a lavish display of gold leaf columns and staircases adorned with cherubs, lions and Indians. The staircases are wide and inviting, with the legendary "Grand Staircase" possibly designed to represent the grand staircase on the ocean liner Titanic. The elegant, brooding and rich interior is complemented by the jutting Art Deco marquee, inviting all lovers of entertainment into the Stanley Theater's artistic bosom. The Central New York Community Arts Council Inc. (CNYCAC) purchased the Stanley Theater in 1974 and has upgraded all facets of the operation, from electrical and safety systems and the new carpeting that replicates the original patterns to the plush, velvet-covered patron seats. The Stanley Theater moved beyond being just a place to show movies when it started hosting live events with Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Broadway Theater League, the Utica Symphony and the Mohawk Valley Ballet, all displaying world-class entertainers. The Stanley Theater sits in the heart of downtown Utica, New York, a city that was incorporated in 1832 and has more than sixty thousand residents in the midst of the Mohawk Valley of Central New York. It's a marvel inside and out, and the CNYCAC granted permission to the Ghost Seekers of Central New York to conduct the first-ever spiritual investigation of the theater. The Stanley Theater has enthralled and entertained hundreds of thousands of Central New Yorkers and has hosted hundreds of world-class entertainers since its establishment, including a skinny boy who watched Star Wars for the first time for one dollar in the late 1970s. I was hoping that the Stanley Theater would be a hotbed of psychic and otherworldly activity, especially those spirits that so enjoyed the theater in this world that they wished to continue their theatrical pursuits in another. The Stanley Theater has had a long reputation of being haunted, especially the legendary "ghost row," which is the last row straight from the stage, seats 101 through 113. Tales have been told of one h