Welcome to the History Corner!
Celebrating the rich history of Port Byron, New York, an old Erie Canal village in the Town of Mentz. This site is dedicated to the legacy and heritage of our community as well as a variety of regional historical tidbits. I hope you enjoy your visit and will stop by again.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Ghost of Aunt Eliza

For the past several years, I have been contacted by ghost hunters and other paranormal agencies looking for places to evaluate for sightings in the Port Byron area.  While several books have been written about this topic, despite having long ties to the community, I have never encountered anyone who experienced anything out of the ordinary.  Even with several generations of Port Byronites in my family, nothing about ghost sightings has ever been passed down orally.

Today I was browsing for something else and stumbled onto an interesting article about Eliza Button whose spirit was terrifying the locals:

 Clyde NY Democratic Herald 1888-1890  
In checking census records there was an Eliza Button living here in 1850, in the same household as Edwin Button.  I also found a couple articles about a person of this name in 1879 moved out of town due to charges of running a disorderly house.

Auburn NY Evening Auburnian 1879

Is this article a case of sarcasm or a paranormal sighting?  That we shall leave up to the ghost hunters.

Happy Halloween Port Byron!