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THE HAUNTED TAVERN, AND

WITCHCRAFT IN NEW

HACKENSACK.

THE HAUNTED TAVERN.

In the town of East Fishkill stands an old dilapidated dwelling-house, known in the early history of our county as the Haunted Tavern. It is an ancient structure, built more than a century and a quarter ago, and now has the appearance of great antiquity. This house would hardly arrest the attention of the passerby, for there is nothing attractive to the stranger or tourist. The old sloping roof, the huge collar-beams, and oaken rafters, have not been molested, and the same covering and weather-beaten siding, have withstood the storms and winds of more than a hundred winters; but the tradition which has been handed down to us of robbery and murder perpetrated there, if true, would awaken in the mind scenes that would startle every reader of this narrative, and cause a shudder that would fill the very fibres of the soul. The old house was first occupied as a tavern, and dates back to the first settlement of the town. Then there were no thoroughfares like those of the present day, and in

every neighborhood the pioneers would collect in certain localities, where there was a tavern, and spend their leisure hours in taking a social glass, playing at cards, and in other amusements. This old tavern was the headquarters of the people of the surrounding country, where the early settlers would congregate on training and holidays, particularly Christmas and New Year, and would have what then was called "shooting matches," which consisted of different varieties of poultry, such as turkeys, ducks, geese, and domestic fowls, being set up as a mark to be shot at. The owners charged a groat for the privilege of shooting once, and the first blood that was drawn from the bird by the marksmen, won the prize. The highway in front of the tavern was straight and level for a mile, and this was the great race course for the pioneers to try the speed of their horses. The landlord was a very penurious man, and his object was to make all the money he could out of his customers. If an exciting horse race was to come off, he provided for the occasion. His bar was well stocked with liquors, and meals were served, and often many imbibed freely at the bar. A large collection of people could be seen along the highway where the horses were brought out, standing in groups, or sitting on the road fence, anxiously waiting for them to start, and a number of small bets were frequently made in what in those days were called "treats," on which horse would be the winner, and the loser would pay at the bar. No temperance societies then existed, and prohibition was unknown; the use of intoxicating drinks was the prevailing custom of the country, but the reader must not infer from this that

all were intemperate, far from it. There were those who were never under the influence of ardent spirits, but occasionally took a glass.

The old tavern was located some distance from the nearest settler, remote from any village, surrounded with forests dark and dense, and if a traveler was overtaken there by night or weather bound, the landlord would extort all the money he could out of him. When our country was new, traveling was difficult; the utility of steam for propelling vessels had not been discovered, and steamboats and railroads were not known, and the traveling through the country was by a lumbering stage-coach or in a private conveyance over roads that were rough and uneven, consequently the traveler made slow progress, and taverns were more or less benefited and the business lucrative. This old tavern had its share of business, but startling stories at length were circulated throughout the settlement about the landlord-that travelers were often robbed when remaining there over night, and that the landlord always managed to escape detection, denying any knowledge of theft being committed in his house. Many believed that he had large sums of money buried in his cellar, others said when frequenting the tavern unexpectedly, they saw piles of johannas, pistoles, doubloons, and crowns, which then was the currency of the country. But notwithstanding the stories that were current about the country, that the landlord would rob and cheat, he paid strict attention to his business. He encouraged horse racing and card playing, and those who were habitual visitors at his tavern left all their money there. But eventually the landlord was in real

ity rich; whether he made his money by foul means or out of his business, the community were divided.

A story was circulated throughout the country, that a peddler with a pack was traveling on foot, and night had overtaken him at the old tavern. It was in the month of December, and a severe storm of rain, sleet, and hail, had set in, and the night was dark and gloomy. So unpleasant was the weather that what few there were at the tavern, left early for fear they would not be able to reach their home, and before nine o'clock no one occupied the bar-room but the landlord and the peddler. The following morning the storm was unabated, and so dreary was the weather that none ventured to the tavern for several days, and when the storm had subsided, the peddler was almost forgotten. One or two persons appeared to recollect a peddler stopping there the night the storm commenced, but all traces of him had disappeared. Fearful stories were told that the peddler never left the tavern, and strong suspicions against the landlord were indulged in, that the peddler was murdered in his tavern. Others again doubted, and the landlord appeared ignorant of what was said against him. Stories like those related, would form the gossip of the surrounding country during the long winter evenings, and children would listen to their parents for hours, telling them stories of robbery and murder perpetrated there, and that his accomplices in those deeds of horror were the inmates of his tavern, consisting of his wife and domestics, who carefully concealed their guilt. It was said that there were secret rooms in the tavern, where none were allowed to enter, and if a traveler stayed there over night, who was

unacquainted with any one, the landlord would conduct him to one of those secret rooms to lodge for the night, and those rooms were the theatre of atrocious crimes perpetrated on such, which, if true, would make humanity shudder, but as nothing definite was known, the landlord lived there the remainder of his days, and there we leave him.

Whether the stories above related about robberies and murders, perpetrated in the tavern, were true, I know not, we leave the reader to judge. After the death of the landlord, many believed that he had buried large sums of money in the cellar or somewhere on the premises, but the difficulty was to find it, and so superstitious were many at that time, that they believed if they should dig for the hidden treasure, the ghost of the old landlord would appear, for they believed the old tavern was haunted. After the death of the landlord, the tavern was unoccupied for some time, and a story was told of some one passing it in the night, who saw the landlord in the bar-room, holding a light and looking out of the window, and he knowing that the tavern was vacated, and no one had lived there since his death, became so frightened that he put his horses to the top of their speed, and the noise of his old wagon reverberated through the neighboring woods, and might have been heard for a mile. But the desire to obtain the money that was believed to be buried in the cellar of the old tavern, overcame the fear of some of the most courageous, and accordingly two men who professed not to be afraid of anything, neither ghosts nor witches, not even the old Nick himself, determined at all hazards to make the attempt to get the hidden

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