The Ghost from My Childhood

When Harriet Douglas visited her Uncle Sir William Douglas' residence, Gelston Castle, in Scotland as a young girl she vowed to one day build a replica of her own. As members of her family died, Harriett gained possession of the Henderson land in Jordanville N.Y. and resolved to make her lifelong dream a reality and had a stone mansion built next to her mother's cottage in 1833. To accomplish her unusual and unique design she insisted it be built with stone blocks to resemble the houses of Scotland, and had them carried all the way from Little Falls, "fourteen miles in the snow." It was published that Gelston Castle contained over 20 rooms, including ten bedrooms and three sitting rooms. They used the large hall as a dining room and the basement had five rooms, a kitchen and sitting room. The castle was adorned with fireplaces throughout. At some point in time, an inspiration struck the grande dame: Her heart - and the rest of her too - could remain at the Henderson House forever. She ordered granite from Scotland for a grandiose sarcophagus. It was duly carved and installed in readiness for Harriet's demise and her instructions were spelled out in her will. It is thought that the "frustration of her spirit" may have been caused by the change in her plan for burial. Harriett was felled by her heirs. When the eighty-two-year old Douglas died in 1872, her family broke her will and gave her a thoroughly conventional burial at the family plot in a New York City churchyard. It was wondered what to do with the sarcophagus? Some practical soul had it hauled out of the cellar and installed outside, where it became a water trough for horses. Eventually the sarcophagus disintegrated. Some say years of freezing split the granite into pieces, while others report its destruction was due to a bolt of lightning. Harriett Douglas would have, no doubt, preferred the latter explanation. After her death, "Aunt Harriet" became a renowned poltergeist of the Mohawk Valley. Today the castle may not stand on its foundation any longer, but the ghost of Aunt Harriet still roams the grounds. And some believe she is accompanied by other spirits with a sinister plan.