The Ghost of the Murdered Traveler Who Wanders the Bartow-Pell Grounds

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The black-hearted crime was dastardly and brutal.  Worse yet, it was murder.  

The details are unknown.  No reliable account of the murder has yet been located.  Likely a hapless colonial traveler returning from Pelham Neck toward New Rochelle along the ancient colonial road we know today as Shore Road was accosted by a cruel and remorseless highwayman while resting along the roadway beneath the spreading branches of a giant oak -- a very special giant oak.  

The name of the brutally-murdered traveler is unknown.  His dastardly murderer fled the scene after fiendishly robbing and killing the poor traveler beneath the spreading branches of the Pell Treaty Oak.  That giant oak once stood along today's Shore Road on the grounds of today's Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum.  

Since that black day in the mid-eighteenth century, the ghost of the murdered traveler is said to wander the region in the darkness.  He often can be seen near the place the grand oak once stood.  The specter is an angry ghost, said to be searching vengefully for the murderer who sentenced it to an eternity of wandering and searching.

The grounds of the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum are among the most ancient historic spots in all of the Manor of Pelham.  A Native American village once stood near the gated driveway entrance to the grounds.  Native American remains and artifacts have been excavated near the water's edge on the Sound side of the mansion grounds.  Oyster midden left long ago by Native Americans still can be seen at the water's edge near the mansion.  

On the grounds of the mansion is a circular iron fence that once protected the Pell Treaty Oak that stood near the mansion.  Beneath that oak, according to legend, Thomas Pell and other Englishmen met with Native Americans on June 27, 1654 to sign the deed by which Pell acquired the lands that became the Manor of Pelham.  In the early 1670s, Pell's nephew and principal legatee, John Pell, built a manor house not far from the Pell Treaty Oak and lived there until his death in or shortly after 1702.  The home is believed to have stood until it burned either during the American Revolutionary War or shortly thereafter.

The Pell Treaty Oak once stood near today's Shore Road which passes the Bartow-Pell Mansion.  Shore Road runs along an ancient Native American footpath that traversed the region parallel to, and only a few yards away from, Long Island Sound.  It likewise has an ancient pedigree as a roadway.  It is one of the few roads in the area that existed during colonial times.  By the mid-eighteenth century, the well-traveled road had widened from a simple footpath to a comparatively busy roadway used by many as they traveled along the coastline back and forth between Pelham Neck, New Rochelle and other settlements along Long Island Sound.  

No record of the dastardly crime that forms the basis for the legend of the Ghost of the Murdered Traveler has been located.  Nor does there seem to be any extant description of what the wandering ghost looks like (or sounds like).  There are, however, countless recorded accounts of highway robbers who preyed on travelers along the lonely, unlit roadway known variously as Pelham Road, the Road to New Rochelle, the Westchester Turnpike, and Shore Road.  Many such accounts describe violent confrontations and brutal robberies by highwaymen who attacked local residents and others merely passing through the region even as late as the last years of the 19th century.

When you next find yourself on the grounds of the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum (or driving past it on Shore Road) particularly as dusk settles over Pelham Bay Park, pay close attention to the wooded areas near the roadway.  Look and listen carefully.  You may see or hear the Ghost of the Murdered Traveler who wanders the region searching for, and seeking vengeance against, its murderer.  Make certain to pass quickly, though.  You would not want to be mistaken as the one for whom the ghost is searching. . . . 

"Clarina Bartow and children, Bartow Mansion,

Pelham Bay Park, circa 1870, Bartow-Pell

Mansion Museum."  Source:  New York City Department

of Parks and Recreation, Before They Were Parks

Bartow–Pell Mansion and Pelham Bay Park, Bronx

(visited Aug. 27, 2016).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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A newspaper article published in 1906 regarding the fire that finally killed the Pell Treaty Oak makes reference to the legend of the Ghost of the Murdered Traveler.  The text of the brief article appears immediately below, followed by a citation and link to its source.

"FIRE IN THE PELL OAK.
-----
The Historic Tree Incurs a New Peril -- Once Struck by Lightning.

The old Pell oak, which stands at the intersection of the New Rochelle road and the Split Rock road in Westchester, took fire Saturday night from burning grass.  Policeman Booth of the City Island substation, who was patrolling the New Rochelle road about 8 o'clock Saturday night, saw sparks leaping from the trunk of the venerable tree.  He turned in a still alarm, which brought Engine Company 70 from City Island.  Meanwhile a dozen or more people living along the New Rochelle road hurried with buckets of water to the burning tree.  The firemen and volunteers worked for hours before they managed to make the water reach the part of the inner trunk where the fire was.

For the last ten years the old oak has been little more than a noble trunk ten feet high and four feet in diameter.  It was struck by lightning during a heavy storm and all but about ten feet of the trunk broke off.  New branches appeared at the top of the stump and formed an umbrella shaped growth, which increased and throve.  The fire Saturday night destroyed most of the new growth and charred the hollow trunk, but the old residents who take much pride in the historic tree, believe that it can be saved if proper care is given it.  It is believed to be nearly 350 years old.  

There are many stories told in Westchester about the Pell oak.  It is said that Sir John Pell, second lord of the manor, who came over in 1670 and was the first Judge of the Court of Common Pleas from 1683 until 1702, signed a treaty with the Indians under the oak [sic; it was his uncle, Thomas Pell], which was then in its prime.  There is another legend of Westchester that the son of Sir John, Thomas Pell, who married a daughter of an Indian chief, wooed her under the oak.  There is a ghost story, too, about the old tree.  Somewhere near the middle of the eighteenth century a traveller [sic] was murdered and robbed under its branches.  The body was found, but the murderer was never caught.  The private cemetery of the Westchester Pells, where Sir John and his son are buried, is about 400 feet from the tree.  The old Bartow mansion is within a short distance of it.

Yesterday afternoon people from all the region visited the old oak, and the older residents commented somewhat mournfully on its reduced state."

Source:  FIRE IN THE PELL OAK -- The Historic Tree Incurs a New Peril -- Once Struck by Lightning, The Sun [NY, NY], Ar. 9, 1906, p. 4, col. 2.  

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I have collected ghost stories and legends relating to the Town of Pelham for more than fifteen years.  To read more examples that now total in the several dozens, see: 

Bell, Blake A., Pelham's Ghosts, Goblins and Legends, The Pelham Weekly, Oct. 25, 2002, p. 1, col. 1. 

Bell, Blake A., More Ghosts, Goblins of Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 43, Oct. 29, 2004, p. 12, col. 1. 

Bell, Blake A., Archive of HistoricPelham.com Web Site:  Pelham's Ghosts, Goblins and Legends (Oct. 2002). 

Bell, Blake A., Bibliography of Pelham's Ghost Stories and Legends (Oct. 2002).

Wed., Oct. 26, 2016:  The Ghost of the Murdered Traveler Who Wanders the Bartow-Pell Grounds.

Tue., Oct. 25, 2016:  The Suicidal Specter of Manger Circle.

Mon., Oct. 24, 2016:  The Fiery-Eyed Phantom of Pelham Heights.

Mon., Sep. 19, 2016:  The Dark Spirit of the Devil and His Stepping Stones: A Pelham Legend.

Fri., Oct. 30, 2015:  The Shrieking Ghosts of Execution Rocks: Yet Another Pelham Ghost Story.

Thu., Oct. 29, 2015:  The Apparition of Wolfs Lane:  Another Pelham Ghost Story.

Wed., Oct. 28, 2015:  The Shadowy Specter of James Street:  A Pelham Manor Ghost Story.

Tue., Oct. 27, 2015:  The Ghostly Gardener of Bolton Priory:  A Pelham Apparition.

Mon., Oct. 26, 2015:  The Ghostly Matron of the Manor Club:  Even a Ghost Whisperer's Nightmare!

Fri., Oct. 31, 2014:  Ghosts in Pelham! Yet Another of Many Accounts of the Haunted Cedar Knoll.

Mon., Sep. 08, 2014:  In 1888, The "Ghost of City Island" Upset the Town of Pelham.

Fri., Jan. 17, 2014: The Phantom Bell Ringer of Christ Church in Pelham Manor.

Fri., Jan. 30, 2009:  Article Published in 1901 Detailed Ghost Stories and Legends of Pelham.

Mon., Feb. 19, 2007:  Another Manor of Pelham Ghost Story: The Whispering Bell.

Fri., Aug. 18, 2006:  The Ghost Gunship of Pelham: A Revolutionary War Ghost Story.

Wed., May 03, 2006:  Another Pelham, New York Ghost Story.

Thu., Oct. 13, 2005:  Two More Pelham Ghost Stories.  

Wed., Oct. 14, 2009:  1879 News Account Provides Additional Basis for Some Facts Underlying Ghost Story of Old Stone House in Pelhamville.

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.
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Slaves Likely Were Held, and Forced to Work, at the Shrubbery, Once Located Near Split Rock Road in Pelham

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On February 26, 1790, Aaron Burr purchased a 146-acre farm in Pelham commanded by a mansion that stood near today's "Split Rock Road" and Boston Post Road known as "The Shrubbery".  The home, built in the mid-18th century, was a Pell family homestead owned for many years by Joshua Pell Sr..  The 146-acre tract was part of a larger farm owned by Joshua Pell Sr. the Revolutionary War.  Joshua Pell Sr. had a son, also named Joshua, who served as a British officer in upstate New York during the Revolutionary War. 

During the 1780s New York State's Commissioners of Forfeiture sold the 146-acre tract to Isaac Guion for 988 pounds.  The land had been confiscated from Joshua Pell "Jr." after it was bequeathed to him by his father.

The will of Joshua Pell "Sr." entitled his children to receive monetary legacies when his entire farm (including the 146-acre tract) was divided in half and devised to two of his older sons: Joshua Pell "Jr." (who was entitled to receive the northern half) and Edward Pell (who was entitled to receive the southern half).  

The children of Joshua Pell "Sr." filed a lawsuit in which they were represented by Aaron Burr.  As a consequence of the lawsuit, in 1789 the New York State Treasurer paid Joshua Pell "Jr." 988 pounds in compensation for "wrongful taking" and paid Isaac Guion 125 pounds for his expenses. 

Significantly, in 1790 Aaron Burr bought the very 146-acre tract at issue in the lawsuit. He bought the northern half of Joshua Pell Sr.'s original farm -- the Joshua Pell "Jr." tract -- from Nicholas and William Wright.  He acquired the land subject to the right of dower of Phoebe Pell , the widow of Joshua Pell "Sr."  (For the complete text of this deed, see Wed., Jun. 14, 2006: Text of Deed by Which Aaron Burr Acquired Pelham Lands in 1790.)  Burr soon sold the tract to his step-son, Augustine J. F. Prevost. 

Prevost and his family lived in the home for many years until some time after November 17, 1813.  During that time Prevost was a slaveholder. For example, the U.S. census of 1800 shows that Prevost owned four slaves.  Additionally, manumission records of the Town of Pelham show that in 1807, Prevost manumitted a male slave named Job who was between 21 and 22 years old. The 1810 U.S. census shows that he owned one slave.  

It seems likely that others who owned the home known as the "Shrubbery" before Prevost also owned slaves who worked on the estate.  Joshua Pell, Sr. built The Shrubbery during the 1750s.  Both he and his wife were slaveholders.  

The New York Slave Census of 1755 indicates that Joshua Pell, Sr. owned two slaves.  A record of transfer of ownership shows that Phebe Ward Pell received three slaves from her father.  Moreover, the March 1, 1758 will executed by Joshua Pell, Sr. bequeathed slaves named Michael, Arabella and Hagar to various family members.  It seems likely that some or all of these slaves worked on the estate known as the "Shrubbery." 

It is also possible that Isaac Guion, who owned the estate during much of the 1780s, may have had slaves on the estate.  He was a known slaveholder. It is possible that the reference to “Isaiah Guion” as owner of one slave in the 1790 census is a reference to Isaac Guion, but that has not been established.  

Immediately below is an image of the Shrubbery before it burned in the 1890s.  It seems likely that slaves held by Augustine Frederick Prevost and Joshua Pell, Sr. – perhaps Michael, Arabella and Hagar – trod the floorboards of this 18th century home and worked in the fields and outbuildings that surrounded it.

The Shrubbery, Home of Joshua Pell, Sr., Isaac

Guion, and Augustine J. Frederick Prevost Before

It Burned in the 1890s.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Detail from 1868 Beers Atlas Map Showing Location of

"THE SHRUBBERY" (Lower Left) Just Off Today's

Boston Post Road in Area Between Today's Split Rock

Road and Today's Boston Post Road.  Source:  Beers,

Frederick W., "City Island, Pelham Township, Westchester

Co., N.Y. [With] Town of Pelham, Westchester Co, N.Y." in

Atlas of New York and Vicinity from Actual Surveys by and

Under the Direction of F. W. Beers, p. 35 (NY, NY:  Beers

Ellis & Soule, 1868) (NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge).

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I have written on numerous occasions regarding slavery in Pelham.  For examples, though there are many more, see:

Bell, Blake A., Slavery in the Manor of Pelham and the Town of Pelham During the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries (paper prepared for and presented to the 28th Annual Conference on New York State History on June 8, 2007).  

Bell, Blake A., Records of Slavery and Slave Manumissions in 18th and 19th Century Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 27, Jul. 9, 2004.

Thu., Jan. 07, 2016:  The 1790 U.S. Census and What It Reveals About Slavery in Pelham.

Wed., Dec. 16, 2015:  The Will of Joshua Pell Sr. of the Manor of Pelham Dated March 1, 1758.

Tue., Feb. 09, 2010:  1755 Census of Slaves Older than Fourteen in the "Mannour of Pelham."

Mon., Jun. 18, 2007:  Information About Slaves Owned by Joshua Pell, Jr. of the Manor of Pelham.

Tue., Mar. 27, 2007:  1791 Will of Benjamin Guion of the Town of Pelham.

Mon., Mar. 26, 2007:  Will of Elizabeth Guion of the Town of Pelham Made in 1789 and Proved on October 5, 1791.

Thu., Mar. 22, 2007:  Abstract of Will of John Hunt, Owner of Land on "Mineford's Island" in the Manor of Peham Prepared in 1776 and Proved June 17, 1777.

Tue., Mar. 20, 2007:  Abstract of 1768 Will of John Pugsley of the Manor of Pelham, Proved December 31, 1768.

Mon., Mar. 19, 2007:  Abstract of 1768 Will of Caleb Pell of the Manor of Pelham, Proved April 9, 1768.

Fri., Mar. 16, 2007:  Abstract of Will of Thomas Pell of Eastchester, Owner of Lands in Pelham Manor, Prepared in 1753 and Proved in 1754.

Wed., Apr. 12, 2006:  1712 Census of Westchester County Documents Slave Ownership in Pelham

Mon., Apr. 3, 2006:  1805 Will of William Bayley of Pelham Included Disposition of Slaves

Fri., Feb. 17, 2006:  Runaway Slave Notice Published by John Pell in 1748 Comes to Light

Wed., Jul. 19, 2006:  Pelham Manor Runaway Slave Notice in June 30, 1777 Issue of The New-York Gazette; And The Weekly Mercury.

Mon., Jul. 18, 2005: Pelham Manor Runaway Slave Notice in August 29, 1789 Issue of The New-York Packet

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