The Lady in Black - Fort Warren, Boston Harbor

In the waters of Boston Harbor, stands Georges Island.  This tiny patch of land is home to Fort Warren, long time protector of Boston since 1850.  It is no longer an active military installation, but legends of the past still linger.

The Lady in Black is said to haunt the grounds of Fort Warren located on Georges Island in Boston Harbor

During the dark days of the American Civil War, a certain Confederate Army Lieutenant Andrew Lanier was captured at Roanoke Island and sent to Fort Warren to wait out the remaining days of the conflict. However, he got word to his wife that he was imprisoned there and his wife was determined to set him free. She headed to Boston and having cut her hair and disguised herself as a man, managed to sneak her way onto Georges Island and into the fortification. Brandishing a pistol, she found her way to her husband's prison cell.  As they attempted to leave through the fort's dark dungeons, legend has it that the commander of the fort got word of their escape and the fleeing couple were soon discovered. Colonel Dimick, commander of the fort, attempted to apprehend them, but Mrs. Lanier did not go to all that effort to get caught.  In the attempt to escape, she fired her old pistol at her Union pursuers and it exploded in her hand, the shards instantly killed her husband standing next to her.

Her husband gone, and having been captured, Mrs. Lanier was sentenced to hang for treason. When the time came for her to meet the gallows, she requested that she be allowed to dress like the lady she was. Having had no woman's clothing of her own, the troops at the garrison found some black robes for her to wear to be put to death in.

Guardhouse (left) and sentry box (right) of Fort Warren circa 1861 - photo found on Public Domain

Fort Warren was an active military installation up until the 1950s. Over the years, soldiers in the fort have claimed to have encounters with a ghostly figure of a woman, dressed in black.  She has been seen roaming about the passageways and parapet where she met her unsung end.  There are documented court martial cases where the soldiers have either deserted their post or fired there weapons at someone or something, claiming it was a female figure dressed in black who would not answer their calls.

The parapet and parade grounds of Fort Warren  - photo credit By Fish Cop (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Location: 42°19'12.84'N 070°55'39.5"W
Latitude: 42.320233  Longitude: -70.927639

View the Index of Haunted Places

References:

http://www.unionparkpress.com/the-lady-in-black-and-fort-warrens-other-halloween-connection/
http://www.suite101.com/content/boston-harbor-ft-warren-ghost-lady-in-black-a170205#ixzz13Kp8I9eY
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Warren_%28Massachusetts%29

House of the Seven Gables - Salem, Massachusetts

In the year 1668 in Salem, Massachusetts, sea captain John Turner built a home at 54 Turner Street that would be later immortalized in a book called The House of the Seven Gables.  The colonial mansion was later sold to another sea captain, Samuel Ingersoll after being in the family for more than 100 years.  

The House of the Seven Gables in Salem, Massachusetts circa 1915

On one of his ventures out at sea, Captain Ingersoll died at sea, never to return to his beloved mansion.  Samuel willed the home to his daughter Susanna.  She was frequently visited at the mansion by her cousin Nathaniel Hawthorne who would refer to it as the House of the Seven Gables and wrote a gothic novel of the same name in 1851. Although the novel was not directly about the house he derived some of his ideas from it.  Almost a century later in 1940, a movie would be made of the same name based on the novel which starred Vincent Price.

Nathaniel Hawthorne author of The House of the Seven Gables

The structure did not originally have seven gables as they were added over time and several of them were actually removed at one point to make it appear like a standard house.  However, it has been restored to its state with seven gables.  The house still stands today as the oldest surviving wooden mansion in New England which was built in the 17th century and is said to be one of the most haunted places in Salem, Massachusetts hosting several ghosts. 

Susanna Ingersol seems to be the spirit that frequents the mansion the most.  She has been seen peering out of the upper floor windows, only to disappear.  Some witnessess have seen her aparition roaming the various rooms and hallways and again, disappear as quickly as she appeared.  Susanna's spirit frequents the outside of the home as well as she has been spotted in the gardens which she loved dearly.

Suzanna Ingersoll, former owner of The House of the Seven Gables

Another spirit haunting the home is said to be that of Nathaniel Hawthorne's son, Julian.  He has been heard on the uppers floors making noise in what sounds like the activity of him playing with toys on the floors.  He has also been spotted peeking over the garden fences on occasion.

Phantom Fishermen of The Andrew Johnson

In 1886 the fishing schooner Charles Haskell sailed out of Boston, Massachusetts for Novia Scotia.  The ship reached the treacherous George's Banks when a hurricane hit.

Artist rendition of a schooner caught in heavy seas

A fishing vessel, The Andrew Johnson was navigating through rough seas caused by a hurricane off New England when suddenly a ship appeared out of nowhere and was on top of them.  The Charles Haskell, the other fishing vessel trying to escape the storm, was at the wrong place at the wrong time and literally cut The Johnson in half, sailing right through it.  Ten sailors on board The Johnson quickly went down with the ship.

The following Spring The Charles Haskell put out to sea again.  They sailed neared the area of the mishap with The Johnson at George's Banks, when crew members claimed to see shadow figures that looked like fishermen, emerging from the sea.  They climbed up the fishing nets and boarded The Haskell.  Some of the sailors on board The Haskell were filled with such fear that some them jumped overboard.  The phantom men then began to work the nets as if they were fishermen. The ghostly sailors continued their work through the night until dawn.  They then climbed back overboard into the sea.

Minot's Ledge Lighthouse - Cohasset, Massachusetts

The jagged Cohasset Rocks feature the unique Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse.  Unique in that it is not constructed on land, most of the Cohasset Rocks are under water.  The rocky sea ledge and lighthouse has had a troubled history.  The nearby Quonahassit Indian tribe believed that the rocks were home to an evil spirit or demon who if angered would bring destructive storms down on their tribe.

Over the years, the rocks claimed hundreds of ships and many more lives as there seemed no feasible place to put a lighthouse as the shallow rocks are continuously hammered by huge waves.  In 1847 it was finally decided that in order to reduce the loss of life, something needed to be done.  After many pleas, grants were finally provided by the government to study the feasibility and construct a lighthouse on Cohasset Rocks.  It was decided to build a lighthouse on steel legs attached to piles drilled into the rocks. It was believed that the tremendous waves would pass right through the steel legs of the structure. Even during the construction of the lighthouse, the rocks claimed several ships including the Alabama.  The 70 ft tall lighthouse was finally lit in 1850 for the first time and it was the first lighthouse of it's kind in the United States.

A painting of the original Minot's Ledge Lighthouse built in 1850

The keepers complained that the structure was unsafe and that when a wave rocked the lighthouse, it would move and shake violently.  The first keeper and his assistants resigned from duty about 10 months afterward.  John Bennett took over as keeper and soon was also unconvinced that the tower was safe.  About a year after the tower was completed in 1851, the keeper went ashore and left his two assistant keepers in charge of things.  A severe gale moved in and the main keeper was unable to return to the lighthouse.  On the night of April 16th the last light from the lighthouse was seen around 10pm. Around 1am, the townspeople on the mainland could hear the fog bell in the tower begin ringing and then continuously all night.  Whether it was a call for help or the pounding of the waves that drove the bell to ring, it is unknown.  However, the next morning the main keeper went to the edge of the shore to find wreckage from the lighthouse washed up on shore.  At some point the assistant keepers Joseph Wilson and Joseph Antoine dropped a bottle into the water with a note that read 

"The lighthouse won’t stand over to night. She shakes 2 feet each way now.
J.W. + J.A".  

The body of Antoine was found soon after the storm passed at Nantasket Beach.  The remains of Joseph Wilson would not be found until October on a small island about a mile from Minot's Ledge.

In 1860, a new lighthouse was constructed on a 40 ft solid granite base and stood 97 ft tall and still stands to this day.  However, there has been trouble maintaining keepers in the lighthouse.  None of them seem to last very long.  Unusually high waves pound the structure from top to bottom and ice freezes doors shut.  Keepers have been driven insane.  Many have reported sightings of ghosts in the tower lantern room.  Some say that in the days were the sea is calm, the reflection of the water reveals the faces of Joseph Wilson and Joseph Antione in the doorway to the tower. 

The modern Minot’s Ledge lighthouse built of granite replace the steel lighthouse that was destroyed in 1851