THE ROOM
UPSTAIRS
travelers, mothers, and children lived and died on this prime spot to watch British comings and goings from New York Harbor during the American Revolution.
I visited Spy House in the ‘90s. People said that the house was haunted, but as I walked the grounds and toured the first floor, I felt nothing but balmy salt air sweeping in from the bay -- until I got to the second floor. The moment that I set foot in the nearest bedroom to the stairs my head was slammed with nausea, my body labored to move, and my lungs struggled to breathe the thick and heavy air. I began to feel
more and more dizzy, like I was stuck in the backseat of a weaving car, and my face prickled as if I were lying under an old-fashioned sunlamp. I left the room quickly and ran downstairs.
Spy House has long been the focus of ghost hunters, psychics, and mediums. A medium sensed a man named Tom with pointy shoes, a prominent nose, shoulder length hair, and a mustache. History lists Thomas Whitlock among the original 1648 settlers. Another saw Indians peering through the windows, breaking down the door, and hatcheting people, while another became aware of pirates murdering enemies on the property. A psychic sensed Revolutionary War patriots strategizing on the first floor along with the wandering spirit of a man, hanged nearby for treason.
Another saw American rebels torturing a British spy, while another reported a man standing watch in an upstairs window, and a woman roaming the halls. A docent saw a female float from the attic and wander into a bedroom. Someone saw children, in Dickensian-style clothing, playing outside, while a group of boys reported a man in a black top hat and a long beard. A woman later described the same man. A visitor reported a lady in an upstairs window, gazing toward the bay, after which a medium identified the spirit as ‘Abigail,’ and she didn’t realize that she was dead.
Spy House is occasionally open to the public. So, if you’re interested in gauging your own ability to sense the other side, why not arrange a visit?
© Medium Gail, MediumGail.com