Brooklyn Daily Eagle
22 June 1884

The Ghost Story of the Mansion in Melrose Park.

Colonel AXTELL and the Dark Lady 
The Secret Door and the Concealed Stair 
What Greeted the Gallant Soldier on His Return from an Indian War.


       Just above the tollgate, on Flatbush avenue, opposite the site of the 
redoubt held by the Americans during the Battle of Long Island, is situated 
the romantic home of the famous Colonel AXTELL, a descendant of an officer in 
CROMWELL's army.  History and tradition have thrown a vail of mystery around 
Melrose Hall, and now that the old mansion, with its spacious grounds and long 
avenues of pines, is to be transferred, many seek the interesting place to catch 
a glimpse of the hall, as it was before the work of renovation is complete.  

	   The Town of Flatbush, formerly called Midwout, or Middlewood, one of the 
oldest settlements in America, is situated on a slight inclination extending from 
the fo?? of Prospect Hill to the sea, and was for years the County seat.  Many 
of the homes of the old Dutch burghers are still standing, forming a strange 
contrast to the modern residences of the merchants and professional men, who 
are rapidly availing themselves of the advantages which the picturesque village 
offers for their country seats.  A short distance from Melrose Park, is the 
Dutch Reformed Church, the oldest on Long Island; 


Erasmus Hall, with its antique roof and shingled walls studded with innumerable 
windows, is interesting from the fact that here the college, now flourishing in New Brunswick, was first established.  

	   Among these old time institutions stood the Melrose mansion, 
gloomy, deserted and surrounded by the superstitious dread with which tradition 
has clothed it.  The hall, the only ancient dwelling of English architecture in 
Flatbush, was built in 1749 by one Lane.  Its solid hand hewn timbers have 
withstood the wear of more than a century, and to-day the building is in a 
perfect state of preservation.  The mansion is a grand structure, two stories and a 
half high, with old fashioned gables and wide weather boarding.  No plan seems 
to have been followed, the edifice being an agglomeration of immense rooms, 
secret passages and innumerable hiding places.  A massive oak door, double 
bolted and divided horizontally into two sections, opens upon a large waldscotted 
hall, extending the entire depth of the house, while in the center is a 
fireplace large enough to roast an ox.  To the left, a broad mahogany staircase 
leads to the rooms above.  On each side of the house are large wings; the right 
containing the ball and banqueting halls and the left the dining rooms and 
library.  Above the banqueting hall is the haunted chamber, around which the 
traditions of Melrose have gathered.  Until recent investigation divulged a secret 
staircase, opening into a closet on one side of the fireplace in the hall, the 
only mode of access to the haunted chamber was through the small stained glass 
window near the roof.  In this room the beautiful Isabella, subsequently 
referred to, is said to have perished from starvation.  What appears as a handsome 
buffet in the dining room, is in reality a hidden door.  The back moves by 
the action of a spring concealed in the panels, and a dark passage is disclosed 
leading into the slaves' quarters.  Deep alcoves, formed by the gables in the 
roof indenting the rooms and narrow hallways, afforded ample means of 
concealment to those who wished to be unobserved, and all the apartments are 
connected by secret passages behind the panels and tapestry. 

       Beneath the mansion are the dungeons, dark vaults into which the light 
of day never penetrates, where prisoners were confined during the Revolution. 
 After the death of Coloner AXTELL, a human skeleton is said to have been 
found in the dark cell, the frame entire, though the skull was fractured, 
probably in an attempt at suicide, and the clothing had long since moldered into 
dust.  Such was the home in which the famous old loyalist lived and died.  The 
haunted chamber has a strange story connected with it:  Colonel AXTELL having 
procured the command of the colonial forces, moved into the new home, with his 
family, consisting of a wife and two small children, together with a retinue of 
servants, among whom was an old slave who had gained the confidence of her 
master.  Just before the arrival of the family a strange woman made her 
appearance, and took up her abode in the secret attic above the ball room.  
The few who saw her described the stanger as a tall, dark woman of wondrous beauty 
and kindly manner.  Her presence in the isolated room was soon forgotten, as no one 
ever visited the mysterious stranger, except Miranda, the faithful slave, who 
upon her arrival immediately took charge of the dark lady upstairs.  The fact 
of her being there was carefully kept secret from the Colonel's wife, and the 
superstitious negress dared not mention her name above her breath.  Thus 
matters went on for some time, when the colonel was unexpectedly called away to 
command a dangerous and probably prolonged Indian campaign.  

       For some unaccountable reason the summons filled his mind with alarm 
and fearful forebodings, and he resolved after the family was at rest to send 
for the fair prisoner, communicate to her his apprehensions, and persuade her, 
if possible, to return to the home of her childhood; or at least to abandon 
the concealment of her prison room, now that his arm was no longer present to 
protect his guilty love.  At midnight, their usual time of meeting, while 
sitting in an easy chair before the flickering fire in the hall, the secret catch 
was sprung, and the panel slid back admitting the dusky form of the slave, 
followed by the dark eyed Isabella, who at once took her accustomed place on the 
stool at the Colonel's feet, the slave retiring to a corner to be a mute witness 
of the parting scene, or to sleep, as best she liked.  Taking the willing 
hand the Colonel kissed the proffered lips.  After a moment's pause, he said:

       "Isabella, I have been ordered to take immediate command of an 
expedition against the Indians, who have again attacked the frontier pioneers, 
and in a few days I must leave you.  Fate has decreed our separation, perhaps 
forever.  I cannot, dare not, leave you here in your present condition, without a 
soul knowing of your existence except Miranda, for she might prove false or 
might die, and escape from that prison room would be impossible.  Fly, I pray you, 
fly !  Here is gold, the womand will attend your every want, but you must not 
stay here to die."

       Indignantly she spurned the offered purse.  Rising with flashing eyes 
and face livid with suppressed passion, she exclaimed:  "What!  is this the 
end; is this the love you offered me; is this the reward for which I forsook my 
God, my home, my very self?  Am I then only the toy of a moment's pleasure, 
flung aside, when the idler has wearied of his plaything?  Offered money in 
return for all that woman holds most dear.  Do you look on me as a mandicant, whom 
a purse of gold can purchase?  Oh, faithless man, why, why have I loved you, 
followed you over seas, to be flung aside despised and paid?  Cannot your 
affection stand the test of a few months separation, or is this a mere pretext to 
sever the relations which you have so soon tired of?"


       "Be calm," he replied, "for God's sake be calm and quiet yourself, or 
we shall be discovered and both forever lost.  Isabella," he continued, "you 
cannot doubt my love?  What have you given that I have not dearly repaid?  For 
you I have wronged myself, my wife risked my chance of heaven, and for you I 
would die  Such words from you are cruel; once more I beg you, go.  Death 
lingers in these fatal walls.  Life and happiness may be found beyond the sea."

His entreaties were in vain; the weak woman, strong in her love, remained in 
the secret chamber -- remained to die.  A year rolled by, and the Colonel was 
expected home in a few days.  With untiring zeal the faithful Miranda had 
tended her charge, and the lady wanted for nothing.  Only a week before the 
welcoming feast was to be given to the successful commander, the kind old negress 
suddenly sickened and died, worn out by the strain of a hard life.  She lingered 
but a day.  Her last efforts were to explain the nature of the hidden 
chamber, but her warnings were taken as delirious wanderings and passed unheeded.  
Isabella wondered why the attendant so long delayed her coming.  the usual time 
for the visit passed -- she patiently awaited the coming midnight, but no 
Miranda.  Days passed and none came to relieve her hunger.  She bagan to realize 
her fearful fate and that the room where so many happy hours had been passed 
with her lover was soon to be her grave.  

       On the evening when the Colonel was expected to return, the hall 
was brilliantly lighted and everything in readiness to give him a cordial 
welcome.  Though not expected until late, it was midnight before the 
carriage reached the hall.  Long ere the arrived guests assembled and 
were in the full tide of social enjoyment, and on his alighting he was 
met by a host of admiring friends eager to welcome the returning soldier.  
To the casual observer this was indeed a happy moment for the Colonel.  
Yet if one had observed him closer, he wore a look of unrest.  Once or 
twice he rose nervously from his chair, and paced up and down, seemingly 
unconscious of those about him.  Suddenly he darted out of the hall, 
through the library into the slaves' quarters.  Though warmly greeted 
he did not respond to the delighted blacks.  Beckoning to an old negress 
he asked where Miranda was.  When told she was dead he staggered back toward 
the hall without a word.  As he entered a sight met his fixing gaze which 
froze the terrified man to the spot.  In the midst of the gayety and 
dancing the candles had suddenly gone out and in their place a sickly, 
glow worm light shone on every object in the room.  Low and unearthly 
noises were heard throughout the house, then died away mingling with
the sighing of the wind through the tall pines.  Suddenly the secret 
passage opened and the spectral form of Isabella entered.  The face 
was ashen pale, each vein strongly defined on the emaciated features, 
her long black hair hung drooping over her shoulders to the floor, and 
she seemed clad in airy gossamer.  The apparition bore the look of 
unutterable sorrow, and the hands were clenched in an attitude of woe.  
Noiselessly the glided through the hall -- her sightless eyeballs bent 
on the petrified form of the colonel, while the lips moved in a ghastly 
smile as the bony hand pointed to the trembling wife.  Nearing the 
entrance to the secret stairs she turned and with her finger wrote 
the word "Betrayer," then vanished.  The dismal light gradually faded 
and glimmered out, leaving everything shrouded in darkness.  For a 
moment all was still.  Then an agonizing shriek through the hall, 
accompanied by the heavy thud, as if a body had fallen.  The fearful 
sound was echoed by the frantic slaves and the howl of the dogs, as 
the wind blew the windows open and swept through the room.  Again the 
strange glow appeared, lingering just long enough to illuminate the 
prostrate figure of the Colonel lying before the secret entrance and 
the spectral woman bending over him with the same heartless smile upon 
her lips, pointing to a bleeding wound near his heart, which the maddened 
man had inflicted with his own sword.  As the bell tolled the midnight 
hour, the light died out and the specter once more vanished.  

       When lights were brought, every attempt was made to save the Colonel's 
life, but he only lived a few hours, and his last entreaties were to have the 
house sold and his family return to England.  Nor were his wishes opposed, 
for none cared to risk another such night, and as soon as the funeral was over 
the hall was closed.  The hall came into the possession of an American officer 
who had married the Colonel's sister, and for that offense was dismissed from 
the hall.  After him the estate passed through several hands until at length 
it was bought by Mr. Mowatt for his child wife, the gifted Anna Cora Mowatt, 
afterward an authoress, and the most successful actress of her day.  The young 
girl took a fancy to the romantic place and it was bought for her soon after 
their marriage.  The entire nature of the park was changed; the dismal chamber 
was closed, the vaults were locked and the grounds laid out in beautiful floral 
designs.  On Mr. Mowatt's death the estate was again sold, several families 
living there in succession until it was finally bought by its present owner. 

End of article.  


Transcribed for the Brooklyn Info Pages by Kate Fitzpatrick.
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