The Luminous Lantern-Bearer of Baychester and Pelham Bridge

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Heinrich Nieman made a single mistake.  Actually, it was a teeny-tiny mistake.  Even a teeny-tiny mistake, however, typically is disastrous in Nieman's business.  

Heinrich Nieman, you see, worked in the acid house of the Dittmar Powder Works in Baychester, not far from Pelham Bridge.  There, workers were expected not to make ANY mistakes as they handled nitroglycerin and made gunpowder, dynamite, and other explosives.

As soon as Nieman made his teeny-tiny mistake, a chill enveloped him.  His first instinct was to flee.  Before he could turn toward the door, however, a light luminous wisp of smoke arose from the vat.  There followed a tremendous flash and an earth-shaking explosion.  The blast broke windows throughout Baychester and Pelham.  It blew the acid house and much of the remainder of the facility into teeny-tiny pieces that soon rained from the sky.  

Heinrich Nieman was no more.  He was "blown to atoms" as one report stated.

Nieman was one of a long line of employees of local explosives manufacturers in Pelham and the surrounding region who were blown to smithereens.  Indeed, by the time of Nieman's gruesome death, such manufacturing facilities already were known as "earthquake factories."  One article, published shortly after the explosion that killed Nieman, stated:

"New buildings for the manufacture of gunpowder and other explosives are nearly finished at Baychester, in Westchester County, and it is said that the operations of the powder company will be carried on more extensively than ever.  The first enterprise of the kind was established near the junction of the Harlem and New Haven Railroad, and it was destroyed by an explosion attended by the loss of five or six lives.  The company was prohibited by the town authorities from resuming business in the town.  The next giant powder factory was established near the railroad station at Pelhamville, and was destroyed by fire.  The operations of the company under a new name were then located at Baychester, a short distance north of the railroad station.  The works were destroyed by an explosion and resulted in the loss of several lives and injuries to others.  New workshops were erected and the manufacturing operations resumed.  Another explosion took place and several persons were seriously injured.  A resumption of operations at Baychester creates some alarm, for, although the neighborhood is sparsely populated, persons while waiting for the arrival or departure of trains from the railroad station, will be exposed to great danger."  

Source:  STORY OF EXPLOSIONS -- People Object to an Earthquake Factory In Their Midst, The Republic [Columbus, IN], Jan. 23, 1884, p. 1, col. 3 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).

Of course, those at the Dittmar Powder Works who survived the blast that obliterated poor Heinrich Nieman grieved his death.  All who worked at the facility knew him well.  All loved him.  Moreover, everyone thought much about the poor fellow's death because, to a man, each understood "There but for the grace of God, go I."  

Within a short time, new buildings for the manufacture of gunpowder and other explosives were completed and operations resumed at the powder works.  Almost immediately, workers on the night shifts began reporting a most unusual occurrence.  

The first worker to experience the oddity could not believe his eyes.  He stepped out of one of the oppressively-hot manufacturing buildings late one winter night to take a brief break in the cold air.  In the distance, he could make out the glow of a bobbing light.  It clearly was a lantern being carried through a wooded area near the facility.  As the bobbing light approached, the worker became increasingly alarmed.  The open flame of any lantern was a terrible risk to the explosives manufacturing facility.  It had no business anywhere near the powder works.

The worker stepped into the darkness and walked toward the lantern bearer, hoping to stop him and keep him away from the powder works.  In the distance, the lantern seemed to cast an odd, luminous glow that lit the hazy figure from head to toe without lighting the surrounding countryside.  

As the worker approached the lantern bearer he stared at the figure's illuminated visage.  The hair on the back of the worker's neck stood up.  He blinked and rubbed his eyes in disbelief.  The figure carrying the lantern was poor Heinrich Nieman!  More accurately, the figure carrying the lantern was a luminous figure that seemed to glide along the ground with a shimmering face that once belonged to Heinrich Nieman.  That face seemed angry and singularly-focused.  Indeed, it seemed to stare right through the worker while focused on the powder works behind him.

The worker stumbled backward in terror until he fell.  He scrambled to his feet to flee the apparition.  The ghostly lantern bearer continued to glide toward the worker even as he fled.  Not knowing the spirit's intentions, the worker ran past the powder works and continued into the night, utterly terrified that the phantom was there to ignite the facility and kill all inside.  The worker never returned to the facility.

This merely was the first sighting of the ghost of Heinrich Nieman.  Most workers at the facility who worked in the evening or night hours soon reported seeing the apparition carrying its lantern.  The sightings frightened so many that a number quit their jobs.  One local newspaper reported that "the ghost of the man blown up has been seen perambulating about the premises at night, carrying a lantern, and the workmen, not caring to be in company with that kind of 'spirit' have all cleared out."  Another local paper reported "Since Heinrich Nimen [sic] was blown to atoms by the explosion of dynamite at Ditmar's works at Baychester, there are some persons who affirm they have seen his ghost about the works at night.  Some of the employees have left in consequence."

For years, explosions at Dittmar Powder Works continued to rock the Baychester and Pelham Bridge region.  For example, on September 30, 1886, a massive explosion killed four workers and scattered their body parts throughout the grounds.  On April 5, 1890 another explosion tore through the running house of the facility and killed two men and rocked houses at Pelham Bridge, in Bartow-on-the-Sound, and on City Island.  Some claimed that on each occasion the spirit of Heinrich Nieman carried its lantern into the facility, causing an explosion.

To this day the spirit of Heinrich Nieman wanders the Pelham Bridge and Baychester region.  Though explosives manufacturers no longer dot the heavily-populated region, the luminous phantom continues to search for powder works, apparently hoping to use its lantern to ignite a blast to blow all within to atoms -- exactly the fate that befell poor Heinrich Nieman more than 135 years ago.  

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Below are transcriptions of various brief newspaper references that relate to today's ghost story.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"An explosion occurred in the acid house about three years ago, and Heinrich Nieman, one of the workmen, was killed. It was said at the time that the explosion was caused by carelessness on the part of Nieman, and this explanation was generally accepted."

Source:  GIANT POWDER LET LOOSE -- FOUR MEN KILLED AND EVERYBODY STARTLED FOR MILES AROUND -- A Thousand Pounds of the Explosive Ignite in the Dittmar Works -- The Shock Felt on the West Bank of the Hudson and Across the Sound -- Mistaken for Wiggins's Quake, The Sun [NY, NY], Oct. 1, 1886, Vol. LIV, No. 31, p. 2, col. 5.

"WESTCHESTER. . . .

The Ditmar powder works at Baychester, have been abandoned.  Recently the ghost of the man blown up has been seen perambulating about the premises at night, carrying a lantern, and the workmen, not caring to be in company with that kind of 'spirits' have all cleared out. .. ."

Source:  WESTCHESTER, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Mar. 19, 1886, Vol. XVII, No. 864, p. 1, col. 5.  

"THE COUNTY. . .
-----
A GHOST SCARE. -- Since Heinrich Nimen was blown to atoms by the explosion of dynamite at Ditmar's works at Baychester, there are some persons who affirm they have seen his ghost about the works at night.  Some of the employees have left in consequence."

Source:  THE COUNTY -- A GHOST SCARE, The Yonkers Statesman, Mar. 20, 1886, Vol. III, No. 722, p. 1, col. 4.  

"An explosion occurred in the acid house about three years ago, and Heinrich Nieman, one of the workmen, was killed. It was said at the time that the explosion was caused by carelessness on the part of Nieman, and this explanation was generally accepted."

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