Druse Ghosts

The Murder of William Druse- Part 6
Druse Ghosts

The Ghost of Mrs. Druse
Sullivan County Record, Jefferson, NY, July 15, 1887

We thought we were through with Mrs. Druse. But it seems not.  An exchange says:  "The ghost of Mrs. Roxalana Druce, the Herkimer County woman who was hanged for the murder of her husband, now pays nightly visits to the cell in which she was confined, and frightens all the jailers by moaning from midnight till dawn.  Or so the jailers say.

DeRuyter Gleaner, June 30, 1887

A Herkimer correspondent claims that the ghost of Mrs. Druse now haunts the cell in the Herkimer jail in which she was last confined, and tells of moans and murmurs and cries of "Oh! Oh!" such as Mrs. Druse uttered when the black cap was drawn over her head.

Elmira Daily Gazette and Free Press, August 28, 1891

The following article clipped from an exchange...will be of interest.  The article says the recent order of the Central railroad company requiring brakemen to ride on the decks of their trains when nearing Herkimer, on account of the numerous accidents that have occurred within the past year in that vicinity, intensifies and superstition among railroad men that the ill luck of Herkimer dated from the execution of the murderess, Mrs. Druse, in that village.

It seems a silly superstition, but it is told for a fact that some of the engineers believe that the ghost of Mrs. Druse causes trouble on the railroad, and they watch for her appearance at every curve.

The Ghosts of Druse House

Oswego Daily Times, January 15, 1892

A correspondent furnishes one of the New York papers with a sensational story to the effect that the old Druse residence which was the scene of such a frightful tragedy, is haunted by the ghost of the murdered man.  The correspondent says:

On a rise of ground sloping toward a swamp fringing the more northern of two bodies of water known as the Little Lakes, in the town of Warren, Herkimer county, stands a dilapidated frame structure, whose story of blood some half a dozen years ago appalled the civilized world.  Here it was that Roxalana Druse, assisted by a daughter of 17, and abetted by two shiftless nephews, butchered, hacked and chopped her husband, William Druse, and then boiled, roasted and burned the remains and scattered the ashes in the swamp adjoining the premises. The story is a familiar one.  And now it is said the old house is haunted.  It is said that upon storm swept nights, the place is visited by the wraiths of the murdered Druse and his demon wife. There are sounds of pistol shots and groans, of wild yells and curses. There is the noise of the failing body, the pleas for mercy followed by the dull thus of an ax, chop, chop, chopping off hands, arms, legs. The whole horrid tragedy is again enacted. A brief silence ensues, and then issues forth from the house a ghostly apparition, which glides around to the rear of the building, follows a path swampward, and disappears. It has been noted that the spook appears to be that of a woman, and it carries concealed a package of some character. This is supposed to be the ghost of the murderess, and that the package she carries contains the head and cremated remains of the murdered husband.