The Watson-Curtze (pronounced like curtsy, like the action of….) Photo credit http://www.eriecountyhistory.org/museums-exhibits/watson-curtze-mansion/ and apparently Richard Lindenburg :)
It’s now the Erie Museum. It’s absolutely beautiful inside and out. It’s another one of those places that just feels haunted. It was built in 1891
The biggest story that comes from the mansion is the Mad Anthony Wayne story.
Of course, Anthony Wayne was a Revolutionary War hero, he died in 1796, just under 100 years before the mansion was built.
I will have to edit later when I find the exact location, but Wayne died of Gout in December of 1796 at the Block house at Fort Presque Isle. He was buried in the graveyard there in a bit of a rush to bury him, I’m guessing because they said the weather was pleasant when he arrived, which, for Lake Erie in December is possible, but can turn fast, I’m guessing the weather was turning. So they stuck him in a plain coffin in the graveyard, there he stayed for 12 years.
Now, here I’ve heard that he was too tall to fit in his coffin and they had to break his legs to get him in. Because his death was sudden and they buried him quick. I’ve also seen stories that don’t mention this.
Wayne’s son, Isaac, at the plees of Wayne’s daughter (?) Peggy drove up to Erie from Radnor PA (almost 400 mile drive… and by carriage!) to retrieve the General’s body and bring it back to the family plot at St David’s Church in Radnor. Isaac took a little two wheeled carriage and a box for the bones.
Now, after 12 years and probably no prep for burial, you’d think there would be nothing much but bones of old Mad Anthony. (And honestly, this bit is fact, not myth, at least to an extent)
When he was exhumed, much to everyone’s surprise, there was little decay (though there are claims there was some decay in one leg).
Isaac only had a box/chest for the remains and a tiny little carriage, not enough room to carry back an entire body, flesh and all. So the doctor who there, Dr Wallace, had to employ drastic measures.
A common practice by the Native Americans was to dismember the body and boil it to remove the flesh. So that what he did, got a big cauldron and boiled Wayne’s remains until the flesh slid off.
He wasn’t happy about the practice. He gave Isaac the bones then the clothes and remaining flesh went back into the coffin and back into the ground at the Blockhouse.
Isaac took the bones back to Radnor.
Part of the myth here is that on what is now Rt 322, at the time, a bumpy, jostley drive, Isaac, distraught at having to have done that to his father and would have rather left him in Erie (this isn’t leading to anything sinister) didn’t notice that the chest his father’s remains were in had come open and some (or all) of Wayne’s bones bounced out from the bumpy ride and got left behind on the road.
So it’s said that on New Years Day, Wayne’s birthday (at night) Wayne’s restless ghost can be seen going up and down Rt 322 between Erie and Radnor looking for his lost bones.
The Blockhouse was destroyed in 1853 and the grounds leveled, what remained of Wayne was lost, he was never dug up until later… 1878 when it was discovered (yeah, they forgot it was there, because for the most part everyone knew that Wayne had been interred in Radnor). The Historical Society… the Watson-Curtze Mansion, has the coffin lid with it’s brass tacks, remnants of clothing and the dissection instruments. They’re also said to have in the basement the cauldron they boiled Wayne in.
Versions of the story say that Wayne haunts the Watson-Curtze mansion… well more specifically the cauldron (if it is in the basement, I don’t think anyone has OFFICIALLY said they have it, or even if it had survived if it could specifically be traced back to being the one used for Wayne), in the least, if he’s haunting RT 322 because of his bones, he’s probably a little attached to his clothes and original coffin.
Now, that’s the biggest ghost story of the mansion, but, in general, the mansion doesn’t really feel haunted. Except the nursery.
I’ve never heard of anything bad happening in the nursery, but honestly, even the last time I was there (probably about 12 years ago) it still felt creepy, but in a good way.
And if ANYONE can track down a picture from the Erie Times from 1991 that was taken in the Watson-Curtze Mansion Nursery (picture was taken in the fall, I think it ran in the winter, January maybe, but I really don’t remember but it was a couple months after the picture was taken) when they had a doll exhibit going, I will be eternally grateful. (I should call mom and see if she still has a copy of the article).
Gannon University owned the mansion for awhile. In the 90’s. They ran an article about the exhibit of dolls from the family that they were showing. The nursery has this little balcony thing, a few steps up with a very loose railing. It’s roped off because it’s too fragile for people to go on, but I have been up there. The picture I was talking about I was in. They used me for scale, really, and a more humanization (wanna see 90’s clothes and hair? :p ). They had me sit on the stairs and hold a doll. It took some time and a few shots so I was up there for a bit. There was a presence there that I didn’t notice anywhere in the building (though the parlor is a bit creepy, I was told Wayne’s cauldron is located directly underneath in the basement). It’s not evil, it’s not mean, it’s just like some impression still remains with those dolls and space. Like fond memories and happy times.