Post by Joanna on Aug 8, 2015 17:57:58 GMT -5
Haunted Onondaga County
Neil MacMillan, of North Syracuse, explores the historical basis for the area's ghost stories in his book, Haunted Onondaga County. Published as a local edition of the Haunted America series by History Press, the book breaks down Central New York's ghostly lore chapter by chapter. "I've always been a fan of ghost stories," says MacMillan, who lives in North Syracuse. So in writing the book, he scoured the Internet, newspaper records, historical association archives and more to cast light on the ghost stories he had known since childhood – and a few he hadn't.
The best known, he says, is probably the story of the bride and groom who haunt the 13 curves of Cedarvale Road in Marcellus, after crashing there years ago on their wedding night. But for MacMillan, this one seems unlikely because he couldn't find any newspaper articles concerning a crash, let alone the splashy front-page stories he would have expected following such a tragic event. "Did it happen?" he asks. "Honestly, I don't know."
But other ghost stories, he claims, have stronger historical connections. For example, as recently as the 1970s, residents of Jordan, N.Y., reported seeing Abraham Lincoln’s train on the anniversary of his death. The actual funeral train really did stop in Central New York for around a half-hour, MacMillan says.
Published this month, Haunted Onondaga County is available online, at some local stores such as Nichols Supermarket in Liverpool, and at the Onondaga Historical Association, where MacMillan is a member.
Source: Nicki Gorny, Syracuse.com, August 7, 2015.
