Albany Hauntings: Fact or Fiction?

By: Meg A. Senecal

ALBANY, N.Y., December 5th, 2007- Stories of haunting on The College of Saint Rose campus have been around for several years. But are these stories true? Hauntings can be fueled by stories, sightings and historical facts but who really knows what happened at Saint Rose?

There is no proven knowledge of spirits here not only on campus but around Albany , yet stories are still surfacing. Many of the houses on campus are said to be haunted by different spirits. Charter, Fontbonte, Morris Hall, Carey Hall and Quillinan are the houses on campus that are most often mentioned.

Amanda Rodriguez has been a resident assistant in Carey Hall for two years. “I personally have never had any encounters with ghost of this house. One time when I was telling a resident a story I had heard about this house, a shade went flying up, but we chalked it up to the shade wasn’t pulled down properly from the get go. But who knows,” said Rodriguez who has heard several accounts of stories about the house she lives in. “I’ve heard that a mother’s spirit is still in this house because her baby died in this house very young. I’ve also heard that the spirit of a man who went off to war but had grown up in this house remains. I’ve also heard that there is a gardener or a little girl. As I said, there isn’t a consistent story.

“I like to believe that we are protected more than haunted” said Rodriguez. “I'm sure there is some other presence in the house simply because of some of the stories I've heard from previous residents--not my own.  I don't like to consider this a scary or a haunted house though.”

            Ralph Wiggum, who investigates the haunting around Albany as part of the Paranormal Research group states that not only is the Saint Rose campus haunted but so are The University of Albany, Russell Sage College, and The Capitol building have also had some evidence of paranormal happenings.

“A custodian was killed in a fire many years ago and comes back to haunt the capital building,” states Wiggum who has been trying to solve the mysteries of the Albany haunting’s. Mohican and Pierce Hall at the University of Albany are also haunted.

“In Mohican Hall a young ghost is said to wander the halls late at night and has startled many residents of the dorm, the first sighting was in 1994,” said Wiggum. The fine arts building at Russell Sage is also said to be haunted by child ghosts. Although there was not one at either UAlbany or Sage to speak on this topic.

            “There are four houses reported here to be haunted. Three of them have been identified to some extent. One is a 7-year-old girl killed in a fire, another is a priest, another is a musician who committed suicide in Chicago and another is a gardener. The Dean of students has the details and gives a presentation on it every year. Many students have witnessed several things,” said Wiggum about Saint Rose.

Dennis McDonald, vice president of Student Affairs has been working at the College of Saint Rose for 22 years. McDonald was interested in learning about the hauntings after speaking with Sr. Dorothy Flood, who was a faculty member in the Music Department at Saint Rose for many years and is now retired. Flood has had an experience in Carey Hall.

“I cannot speak to whether the campus is haunted or not.  There are stories of hauntings, and students have over the years come and shared their experiences with me.  I have never witnessed any of them myself, “said McDonald who later shared some of the stories that he has heard.

“There was a time when students in Morris Hall used to see the image of a priest in the common room (formerly a chapel when the building was a convent for the Sisters of Mercy.  A renovation that divided the room with a wall seems to have put an end to that experience,” said McDonald. “Upon investigation there is no one there.”

Matt Scherr, vice president of Student Association at Saint Rose gave tours of Charter, Quillinan, Carey and Morris Halls for the annual Harvest Fest. “I learned about them (the houses) through having extensive conversations with Dennis McDonald and Chris Oertel. I started talking with them because I have been planning this year’s Harvest Fest at Saint Rose and I wanted to uncover the real stories of what has gone on here to inform and educate the students of the hauntings.”

“Quillinan used to be the home of a family with a little girl. There was a devastating fire in the basement that killed the little girl. In the 70s and 80s it was reported that a little girl would show up in the house playing jacks, asking residents if they'd like to play,” said Scherr.

Proof of evidence to the fire exists, “when it was being renovated the underside of the stairs going from the first to the second floor were all charred, indicating that a fire had taken place.  This was not discovered until after the story of the little girl was told.  She also likes to play practical jokes, locking residents inside a particular room.  The lock won’t function until someone comes and unlocks it from the outside,” McDonald said.

            Although there have been several “stories” about the hauntings who really is to tell if they are true, sure people can say that they have witnessed several things but as Rodriguez said. “I have heard the stories. The problem with them is that they are all different. No one has a consistent story or idea about what happened in this house. It makes me hesitate to believe them.”