It was a cold and dreary Friday Fall night. They say she shows up every year, right on time, without a word. With her cane in hand, she drags it across the road as oncoming traffic comes to a screeching halt. Then, suddenly and without warning, she lets out a blood-curdling scream, making everyone stop in their tracks. She points at the fire and staring back at the group are two men left with a look of horror and shock, as if they had just seen a ghost.
The stage was set for a spooky evening of local haunted history. Stories of murder, death and suicide, rooted in fact, were told throughout the streets of downtown Ithaca. From the “Heathens on the Hill” in 1879 to the arrest of George Curly Barnes in 1931, Sherri La Torre, Ithaca Heritage Ambassador, weaved her way through centuries of local haunted history during the first night of the Haunted History Tours. As for the creepy lady that trailed the group the whole night, she was a volunteer who says her sole purpose is to scare event attendees and keep them safe.
The tour drew 12 adult attendees, the max capacity this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The annual event, sponsored by The History Center in Tompkins County, was created 12 years ago. La Torre has been volunteering her time to the tours since they began.
Zoё Van Nostrand, History Center marketing and visitor experience coordinator, said the Haunted History Tours have looked different in years past, with volunteers dressing up as historical characters and acting out a monologue from the characters life during the tour.
“This year is, of course, going to be very different just because it is two volunteers,” she said. “That is a much smaller group size that has to stay together, but also stay distanced downtown to maintain safety.”
Simeon DeWitt, the “Father of Ithaca,” died of pneumonia while staying in room nine on the third floor of the Clinton House on North Cayuga Street. DeWitt’s body was buried on land he owned on Buffalo Street, but during a bad winter storm, DeWitt’s casket rose and his bones scattered. He was then brought to Albany and buried at the Middle Dutch Church. To this day, people who stay in DeWitt’s room in the Clinton House hear suspicious activity such as shuffling and objects being moved around. Some believe it’s Simeon’s spirit finding his way back to Ithaca. (Ithaca Week/Madison Moore)
The History Center staff was not originally planning to hold the Haunted History Tours this year because they didn’t want to ask volunteers to put themselves in a situation they were not comfortable with. However, La Torre approached Van Nostrand and Ben Sandberg, History Center executive director with the idea.
“She was like ‘Hey, I actually think we can do this in a safe way and I’m really excited to try,’” Van Nostrand said.
As museums around the world struggle to open back up due to the coronavirus pandemic, The History Center received municipal funding from the city and county as well as through grant money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Humanities New York.
“Our financial outlook here at The History Center is strong given the state of the world right now, but museums broadly, the next 24 months to 36 months are going to be real tough and we are lucky to be in the community that we are because there is such a broad swath of support,” Sandberg said.
According to Forbes, a July report by the American Alliance of Museums shows that up to a third of all American museums are at some risk of closing permanently if they do not receive additional financial relief.
La Torre said she has always been interested in haunted history and was drawn to these tours because she likes to wander graveyards.
Looking for an outdoor, socially-distanced Fall activity to do? Look no further! The Cemeteries of Tompkins County History at Home Activity Set offers fun, local cemetery history, a scavenger hunt, plus pre-visit and post-visit questions and drawing prompts. You can stop by The History Center for a booklet. (Ithaca Week/Madison Moore)
“When I was new to town, just knowing the history of what was now my home was interesting…” she said. “I’ve found all of the graves of most of the people and just trying to be connected to them and the more I find out about them sometimes the harder it is to do the tours because sometimes I have too much information.”
La Torre said one of her favorite stories to tell during the night is the story of Hazel Crance, an Ithaca teenager who went boating at Stewart Park one night in 1919 with her boyfriend Donald Fether, a Cornell senior. Within 45 minutes people started to hear screams and splashes and Fether returned to the shore alone, without his pants. He said a wave had knocked them in and that he tried to save Crance, but was unsuccessful. When fishermen went to look for Crance’s body the next day, they caught something heavy on their grappling hook, but it wasn’t Crance. It was the pants tied in a knot. Fether was arrested, but later set free because the body was never found. The knotted pants still live in The History Center archives to this day.
If you missed out on the Haunted History Tours, have no fear. Due to popular demand, Sandberg has added five additional tours with the next tours taking place Thursday, Oct. 22 through Saturday, Oct. 24 and then the following weekend from Thursday, Oct. 29 to Saturday, Oct. 31. The event is $15/person and attendees must register online beforehand at thehistorycenter.net/October.
Your donation will support the student journalists of Ithaca College. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.
