Balladeer’s Blog presents another neglected American horror legend in honor of Halloween Month.
THE GRAVEYARD IN SAINT PAUL’S
Manhattan in the 1600s
This story dates back to around 1661, when New York was still New Amsterdam and the Dutch still controlled it, not the British.
A Dutchman named Dirck Van Dara would often drink and carouse in the taverns with his friend Jahn Rooney until late at night (for the time period). At eleven o’clock one night a tavern on what is now Wall Street was empty of all customers except Van Dara and Rooney (“Did ya ever notice how this guy always puts Rooney’s name after Van Dara’s?”).
The two drinking buddies left and set out to find a tavern that might still be open. A cold autumn drizzle was falling and not even Broadway showed lights on in any of its establishments. The chill and the rain were even forcing the scattered guardsmen to seek shelter in doorways.
Van Dara and Rooney decided to make for their homes on Leonard Street, a route which took them past Old Saint Paul’s. When they were directly across the street from the graveyard adjacent to Saint Paul’s they heard the unmistakable sound of screams issuing forth from among the tombstones. Continue reading
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