I grew up in a Long Island town that was so old, it had a familial graveyard next to the elementary school. At eight years old, I could swear up and down that I had seen a ghost in the elementary school building. And that town, Sea Cliff, NY, is just one square mile of Long Island. The island is also home to the Amityville Horror House and Kings Park Psychiatric Center. In short, Long Island is absolutely dripping in ghost stories.
When I moved to Buffalo, I figured there was no way that Western New York would be just as spector-filled.
But I was wrong.
So in the spirit (wink, wink) of Halloween, I wanted to showcase a few of the spooky historical attractions Western New York has to offer.
I’m not here to make you believe in ghosts. Either you do, you don’t, or, like me, you believe sorta-kinda-ask-me-again-later. But if I can help folks get into the Halloween spirit this fine October, then I’ll be happy to. So grab a blanket, turn off the lights, light those candles Campus Living doesn’t know about and get ready for some local macabre moments in Western New York.
President Found Dead: William McKinley’s Death Site
Many have died in Buffalo, shock of all shocks. But Buffalo holds the odd historical honor of being the assassination site of 25th President William McKinley.
McKinley’s death was its own work of history. The Pan-American Exposition was hosted here in Buffalo, and it was only fitting that McKinley — an Ohio-native and avid fan of blaming the Maine on Spain — would appear at the celebration of alleged American excellence.
It was at the exposition that McKinley was shot on Sept. 9, 1901, which led to his eventual death on Sept. 14, 1901.
McKinley’s decline into gangrene and eventual death brought famous Buffalonians to his aid. I doubt Buffalo wanted to be known as the first place outside of Washington D.C. to have a successful presidential assassination. (Note: James Garfield died in New Jersey but was shot 79 days earlier in Washington D.C.)
McKinley’s surgery was in part conducted by Roswell Park. Yes that Roswell Park, the cancer physician and guy whose name is on all those comprehensive cancer centers. Park took care of McKinley’s medical affairs, and for a moment, it looked like the surgery he’d helped organize and conduct had saved the president’s life.
But McKinley wouldn’t be so lucky. He succumbed to his wounds at the Milburn House, paving the way for Theodore Roosevelt to be inaugurated as the 26th president. While I have found no records of McKinley’s ghost walking around the Milburn House, his name looms over Buffalo on schools, streets and memorials.
Buffalo is the not-so-proud title holder of a presidential assassination site, and that legacy will continue to haunt it.
Dead Man Knocking: American Spiritualism in Rochester
For a more directly ghost related story, let’s turn our attention to Rochester, NY. Rochester was the birthplace of American Spiritualism, a religion defined by its relationship with spirits and ghosts. The phenomenons of spirit rapping (knocking to communicate with spirits) and séances captivated both believers and skeptics alike. The history of this religion and its impacts are long and complicated. However the story of its origins begins when two young girls, Catherine (Kate) and Margaretta (Maggie) Fox started a religion by communing with the dead.
One night in 1848, the young Kate and Maggie were sitting in their beds when they heard knocking in their bedroom. They were able to communicate with the spirit of the house, and the rappings only occurred when the girls were present. With hopes that Kate and Maggie, ages 11 and 14 respectively, would be free of the pressures to commune, they were sent to Rochester to live with their sister, Leah Fox Fish.
Once the girls arrived in Rochester, their claims of mediumship were put to the test by skeptics. In 1849, the girls performed their feats at Corinthian Hall to put their abilities under scrutiny. Even UB got in on the paranormal investigation. Examiners excluded spiritual causes instead proposing that the girls were causing the noises with their joints.
It fascinated a wide variety of people from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to Harry Houdini to Sojourner Truth to Rochester-legend Fredrick Douglass, whether they believed it or not. Later in life, Maggie Fox renounced her spirit rappings, declaring them a prank done by two little girls who could pop their joints and stomp their feet. She later recanted this confession. Despite the uncertainty in its origin, American Spiritualism took root. If you want to learn more about the religion, both historically and in the present, I highly recommend giving Ghost Church a listen.
UB’s Own Haunting History
For our last stop on this haunted history tour, I’m taking us back home to UB’s own South Campus. South Campus used to be the site of the Erie County Almshouse and County Hospital, which was an insane asylum as well as a poor house.
Like at many asylums of the time, deceased patients had to be buried rather frequently. UB researchers estimate that as many as 3,000 people may have been buried at the site.
UB has been dealing with the remains ever since. The anthropology department has been researching them since 2012, and the university reinterred 372 individuals on Grand Island in 2017. But that wasn’t the first time UB encountered remains on South Campus. While building Clement Road in 1964, the university removed 170 burials, though there is no record of what was done with those remains.
Some have claimed to see ghosts on South Campus. We can’t verify these claims, but either way, South Campus is home to an unnerving history that UB has taken steps to remedy.
Hopefully, these ghost-related stories have helped get you into the Halloween mood, whether you’re a profound believer in ghosts or a happily unhaunted skeptic. Happy Halloween!
Darcy Winter is a fact-checker and can be reached at darcy.winter@ubspectrum.com
