The Ghostly Lantern-Bearer of Baychester and Pelham Bridge

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All Hallows' Eve will be celebrated in Pelham next Wednesday evening.  The following day will begin the dark half of the year.

As noted previously in these digital pages, perhaps no other town the size of our little Pelham (population about 12,000) has more ghost stories, more haunted territory, or more ghoulish legends. 

This should come as no surprise.  Pelham is an ancient hamlet, with European settlement as early as 1654 and Native American settlement extending back thousands of years earlier.  More than four dozen different ghost stories arising from the old Manor of Pelham have been documented so far, with many more, undoubtedly, yet to be uncovered.  

Today and on each of the following four business days including Halloween, Historic Pelham will document five additional ghost stories beginning with today's story:  "The Ghostly Lantern-Bearer of Baychester and Pelham Bridge."  This story involves the ghost of a man who can be identified and documented in 19th century records.

For much of his career, no one expected Andrew J. Parker to live a long life.  Over the years he worked as the "chief manager" of a number of dynamite manufacturing facilities in the Town of Pelham near the settlement of Bartow and also in the Baychester section near Pelham Bridge.  Indeed, over the years a number of workers were blown to smithereens during accidents while manufacturing blasting powder or working with the nitroglycerin that was made on the premises in Pelham and Baychester.  

Early in his career, during the 1870s, Parker was a chemist who lived in Bridgeport but worked at such a facility in Pelham.  The facility, named the "Neptune Powder Mill," was blown to bits on October 9, 1878 while workers were making nitroglycerin for use in the powder manufacturing process.  Parker was not on site at the time but two workers who were making the nitroglycerin observed it catch fire.  As they fled, the resultant explosion leveled the facility though both escaped with their lives.  

Yes, no one expected Andrew J. Parker to live a long life.

Parker, however, seems to have defied the odds.  By 1885 he had left the world of dynamite manufacturing and settled in a home with his wife in the Baychester section near Pelham Bridge not far from the Dittmar Powder Works.  

On September 26, 1885, however, Andrew J. Parker died "suddenly" and unexpectedly in his home.  Only days after Halloween a few weeks later, all of Baychester was abuzz.  Indeed, local newspapers reported that all of Baychester was "alarmed" and "much exercised" over the appearance of the ghost of Andrew J. Parker.

James Montgomery, an employee of the nearby Dittmar Powder Works, reportedly was the first to see the spirit.  The New York Herald of New York City reported that Montgomery had "obtained a fair and unobstructed view" of the ghost standing in the doorway of the house where Andrew J. Parker died a few weeks before.  

James Montgomery frequented the bar of a little nearby hotel called the "Baychester House" kept by William Jacobs.  William Jacobs seemed to have his own interest in the world of spirits and ghosts, perhaps because he had lost his own wife, Mary, who had died unexpectedly in her sleep in her bed in the Baychester House only a few months before.

James Montgomery was dumbfounded by the apparition he saw and told his story to his friends and acquaintances in the bar of the Baychester House.  He quickly found himself the butt of their jokes and mockery.  Indeed, any time he tried to describe what he had seen, everyone in the hotel would begin to whistle loudly to drown out his words and insult him.

Montgomery became so furious that he offered a $50 reward to anyone willing to stay in the Parker House all night on any night from 11:00 p.m. until 4:00 a.m.  According to one account, Montgomery placed the promised $50 reward in escrow in the possession of William Jacobs of the Baychester House with instructions that Jacobs pay over the money to the first person who successfully stayed in the Parker house overnight, subject to various conditions.  Jacobs readily agreed to the arrangement.

Within a short time, the people of Baychester were being frightened frequently by the spirit of Andrew J. Parker.  The apparition was beginning to expand its range from the Parker home throughout the Baychester section all the way to Pelham Bridge and, as one report suggested, nearby City Island.  The people of Baychester became alarmed and even "much exercised."

Different witnesses in the region observed different things when they saw the apparition of Andrew J. Parker during those weeks in late 1885.  Some reportedly saw an apparition carrying what appeared to be a lantern while wandering at night "with no apparent purpose, and frightening those who see him out of their wits."  

As alarm spread, more and more people in the region saw the apparition.  Soon local residents were reporting that sometimes they saw the ghost "in the shape of a man with a lantern" while others saw the apparition in the shape of a woman.  

Some said that the ghost was "a production of Jacob's whiskey" at the Baychester House bar.  Others claimed the alarming spirit that wandered the region aimlessly was simply "flesh and blood, and so will be found when captured."  

Two things are certain, however.  First, James Montgomery knew what he saw in the doorway of the Parker house:  Andrew J. Parker weeks after he died.  Second, not one person ever took Montgomery up on his offer to pay $50 to the first person willing to stay overnight in the haunted Parker house for only five terrifying hours. . . . . . .

As you drive from Pelham toward the Bronx along Shore Road and cross the Pelham Bridge at night, look along the bridge.  Once across, look to your right into the distance.  If you can make out the shadowy outline of a man or a woman carrying a lantern and wandering aimlessly, say a silent prayer for the soul of poor Andrew J. Parker -- but whatever you do, don't stop or get out of your vehicle.  

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Below are news accounts about Andrew J. Parker, his death, and his ghost that appeared in local newspapers in late 1885.  Andrew J. Parker is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn (Lot 5908, Section 9).  His will, dated January 17, 1885, left all his real and personal property to his son, Andrew D. Parker, and was proved through testimony provided by his wife, Helen, and another of his sons (Charles F. Parker) on February 2, 1888.  

"DIED. . . . 

PARKER. -- Suddenly, at Baychester, N. Y., September 26, 1885, ANDREW J. PARKER, in the 63d year of his age.

Funeral private.  Will be interred in Greenwood Cemetery."

Source:  DIED, N.Y. Herald, Sep. 27, 1885, No. 17,933, p. 15, cols. 1-2.  

"BAYCHESTER ALARMED. -- The people of this place are alarmed over the stories told of a 'spook' appearing in the vicinity of a building near the depot in which Andrew J. Parker formerly proprietor of the dynamite works, died.  His death had been very sudden.  The 'spook' is said to appear with a lantern, and wanders about at night with no apparent purpose, and frightening those who see him out of their wits.  After dark now the people of this place go to and from the depot by a roundabout way."

Source:  BAYCHESTER ALARMED, The Yonkers Statesman, Nov. 13, 1885, Vol. III, No. 617, p. 1, col. 4.  

"LOCAL INTELLIGENCE. . . . 

-- The people of Baychester are much exercised over the reported appearance of an apparition in the neighborhood of a house in which Andrew J. Parker died recently.  Some persons saw it in the shape of a man with a lantern, and others maintain that it is a woman."

Source:  LOCAL INTELLIGENCE, New Rochelle Pioneer, Nov. 14, 1885, p. 3, cols. 1-2.  See also [Untitled], The Recorder [Mount Kisco, NY], Nov. 13, 1885, Vol. XII, No. 32, p. 8, col. 2 (same text).  

"THE GHOST AND THE DYNAMITER.
-----

Considerable mirth has been occasioned in the vicinity of Baychester recently on account of the presence of an alleged ghost, said to have made his appearance in the doorway of the house where A. J. Parker died a few weeks ago.  James Montgomery, an employé of a dynamite manufactory, is the only man who has obtained a fair and unobstructed view of his ghostship, but whenever Montgomery commences to talk about the ghost in the little Baychester hotel kept by Mr. Jacobs all hands commence to whistle.  This has so angered Mr. Montgomery that he has offered $50 reward for anybody who will stay in the house from eleven o'clock until four in the morning.  There are plenty of young men ready to earn the money, but Mr. Montgomery, it is said, places such restrictions upon them that they do not care to accept.  It is not likely that much more will be said about the ghost."

Source:  THE GHOST AND THE DYNAMITER, N. Y. Herald, Nov. 18, 1885, No. 17, 985, p. 8, col. 6.  

"THEY DO NOT WANT TO SEE IT. -- The 'spook' stories continue to interest the people of Baychester and City Island, and in order to test the spunk of the community James Montgomery has deposited $50 with Mr. Jacobs, the proprietor of the Baychester House, to be paid to any one who will submit to being locked in the house in which A. J. Parker died, and which is said to be haunted by his ghost, from 11 o'clock p. m. till 4 a. m.  Thus far there are no callers for the prize."

Source:  THEY DO NOT WANT TO SEE IT, The Yonkers Statesman, Nov. 18, 1885, Vol. III, No. 621, p. 1, col. 4.  

"WESTCHESTER.

The Baychester ghost is one of flesh and blood, and so will be found when captured. . . . 

It is currently reported that Mr. Montgomery Howe has deposited with Mr. Jacobs, of the Baychester House, near Pelham Bridge, $50 to be paid to anyone who will submit to being locked in the house said to be haunted by the spirit of the late A. J. Parker.  The party accepting must consent to be locked in from 11 P. M. till 4 A. M.  At present there doesn't appear to be any takers, and probably won't be.  It is the general impression that the ghost is a production of Jacob's whiskey, and the only wonder is that devils have not been seen instead of ghosts.

Source:  WESTCHESTER, Chronicle Supplement, Nov. 20, 1885, p. 1, cols. 2-3 (one-page supplement to the November 20, 1885 issue of The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Vol. XVII, No. 844).  

"COUNTY ITEMS. . . . 

-- Mrs. Mary Jacobs, wife of William Jacobs, who keeps the Baychester House, on the Sound, was found dead in bed Sunday morning.  She is supposed to have died of neuralgia of the heart, from which she had been suffering for some time.  She was fifty-five years old.  Coroner Tice held an inquest."

Source:  COUNTY ITEMS, Supplement to Eastern State Journal [White Plains, NY], June 5, 1885, p. 1, col. 3.

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I have collected ghost stories and legends relating to the Town of Pelham for two decades.  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).

Thu., Oct. 25, 2018:  The Ghostly Lantern-Bearer of Baychester and Pelham Bridge.

Tue., Oct. 31, 2017:  An Eyewitness Account of the Headless Apparitions of the Haunted Cedar Knoll in Pelham.

Mon., Oct. 30, 2017:  The Ghost of Captain Kidd Guards His Treasure on an Island Off Pelham.

Fri., Oct. 27, 2017:  An Unusual Account of the Dark Spirit of the Devil and His Stepping Stones: A Pelham Legend.

Thu., Oct. 26, 2017:  The Cow Rustler Ghosts of Pelham Road.

Mon., Oct. 31, 2016:  Pelham Was Overrun by Ghosts for a Few Months in the Winter of 1887-1888.

Fri., Oct. 28, 2016:  The Old Stone House Has At Least One More Ghost -- The Ghost of Mrs. Parrish is Not Alone.

Thu., Oct. 27, 2016:  Did Google Maps Camera Capture the Ghost of the Elegant Lady of the Old Stone House at 463 First Avenue?

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.
Order a Copy of "The Haunted History of Pelham, New York"
Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."