Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The Haunting of the Old 76 House

The Haunting of the Old 76 House

By Kevin Jones


200 years ago Major John Andre of the British Army took off his uniform, put on civilian clothes and walked behind enemy lines. He was captured and on October 2, 1780 he was hanged, at what is now referred to as Andre Hill. On the night of October 1, 1780, Major John Andre was held in the store room of the local tavern. 200 years later people say his ghost haunts the restaurant we now call "The 1776 House".

 

Going back at least 75 years, there have been reports of weird voices, delicate things falling and staying intact and men sitting or walking and then vanishing before people's very eyes. The first story I heard about takes place a long time ago. Rob

Nordon, the owner of the restaurant, and an employee named Bobby were closing up one night. When Rob went to turn off the fireplace, he noticed a man sitting in the corner at Table 11. Rob apologized and offered the man a drink. When Bobby handed Rob the drink the man was gone. When the same situation happened a little over a week later, Rob was sure that there was something strange about the place.

 

Some people, when it's dark and quiet, have seen a more memorable sight. I was walking alone by Table 2 one night, when I saw a tall man in a hat and cape just walk and vanish into the wall. Some say it was a ghost and some say it was that of Major John Andre.

 

Since I'm the type of person who can't resist a good ghost story or a chance to pretend I'm the guy from Ghost Hunters, I packed my camera, tape recorder (and just in case an extra pair of underwear) and went to Tappan, New York, the town in which the alleged hauntings have occurred. I myself had lived in Tappan until I was 8, and in that time the only thing haunting the town were lawyers from a firm down the street.

 

On the night that I went to visit the restaurant, a band was performing who took great pride in being loud enough to scare stray cats (that's why they never have to worry about pests.)  Trying to ignore the music, I began taking notes and noticed that the restaurant was covered in colonial items. From muskets on the wall, old war uniforms hanging by the door and many more things to numerous to mention, it's hard not to believe that an old place like this might be haunted. Evidence points that a large number of hauntings occur because the possible spirit holds a strong connection to either a building, part of a building or an object in that building. In fact, sometimes a spirit's connection with that item is so strong that if you move the item the ghost will move to.

 

Once the band decided to take five, I decided to see if I could get what's called an E.V.P. or Electronic Voice Phenomenon. In order to get one you first need some form of voice recording device, second a round of questions to ask, third an open mind and finally nerves of steel. Once everything was setup I asked the first question, "Is the Spirit of Major John Andre here?" I waited a few minutes, turned off the recorder, rewound the tape and listened to see if I got anything - nothing. I decided to ask another question a few minutes later and the tape actually began rewinding on its own. When it finished I turned the tape on, what I heard I'll never forget:

 

Kevin: Is the Spirit of Major John Andre here?

Recorder: 60 seconds of white noise and then "Yes."   


 

There was nobody in the room and I knew I was out of range to pick up the closest person's voice. I continued my investigation and talked to some of the employees and there appeared to be certain consistencies in their stories.  The most common occurance  is forks, knives, spoons and other objects falling off the table and onto the floor. Included in these items are candle lit lamps that would most certainly fall and break but instead are usually perfectly intact. In fact, the day after I did my research, a customer told Rob Nordon that according to him, many spirits visited the restaurant - Andre was just a usual. When I said my goodbyes and left, I reviewed my evidence and I found that all my pictures were gone. Through this adventure all I have to show is one E.V.P., equipment that kept doing the opposite of what I told it to, and most importantly, a restaurant full of people who are convinced something is strange with the old 76 house.

 






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