Tri Town Post Article

Tri Town Post

Not everyone happy with legend of Green Lady ghost

Historian says vandalism is the real tragedy

By: Terry Sutton, Correspondent

10/15/2008

When it comes to hauntings and ghosts, the legend of the "Green Lady" in Burlington is one of the most well known. Throughout the years, people have claimed to see the spirit, which sometimes manifests itself in the form a green mist and figure of a smiling woman. She has been written about in the book by David Philips, "Legendary Connecticut," and even investigated by famous ghost hunters, the Warrens. An Internet query on a search engine of the terms "Green Lady" and Burlington reveals several websites with information about the apparition.

It is folklore that the ghost of the Green Lady is that of a woman named Elisabeth Palmiter who died at the age of 30 in the year 1800.

However, not all people believe this legend to be true. Town Historian Len Alderman remains a skeptic and firmly believes that the rumors of the ghost have caused much damage to the Seventh Day Baptist cemetery located on Upson Road.

"I consider myself to be an open minded person when it comes to ghosts, but I think the legend of the Green Lady is just a ghost story, nothing more," Alderman said. "Sadly, this is a case of a ghost story that has caused harm in a different way."

Alderman stated that many of the rumors about the origin of the ghost are untrue. For example, one legend states that Elisabeth Palmiter, the alleged ghost drowned in a swamp that was located near the graveyard while trying to find her husband. According to Alderman, there is no swamp that is nearby where she had lived. There is also a myth that she may have been killed by her husband. Alderman believes that if it were true, there would have been some written documentation about it.

Alderman states that ghost stories similar to the "Green Lady" were told at evening campfire settings through out the world. He believes that the legend may have started at the old New Britain Fresh Air Camp that was located on Upson Road near the cemetery. He believes that some of the children in attendance at these campfire tales could be the ones responsible for the birth of the legend of "Green Lady of Burlington."

Still there are some that claim they have evidence that supports the existence of the "Green Lady." Barry A. A. Dillinger is the founder and an investigator of the website CreepyConnecticut.net. According to Dillinger, his group has done investigations of over 50 hauntings in six and a half years. Only once in all of their investigations have they ever recorded electronic voice phenomenon. They have a link to the daytime video at the Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery on their website.

"While running video around the [Seventh Day Baptist] cemetery, we inadvertently captured a female voice humming four notes of a song," Dillinger said. "While this normally wouldn't be that big a deal, this site was, in fact, emphatically pronounced to be "not haunted" by the infamous Warrens [ghost hunters] in the 1980s."

Dillinger also pointed out that in several of his investigations they have come across areas that they do not consider to have paranormal activity. However, they concluded that the Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery is definitely haunted.

When questioned about the death of Palmiter, Dillinger replied, "The true account of Elisabeth's death is really up to interpretation. Because the records are so old and so sparse, we can only make assumptions on much of what is implied and recorded."

Dillinger also points out that there are other mysteries involving the cemetery. He cited that after Palmiter's death, several of the church members died from strange accidental deaths.
"After nearly 20 years, the Seventh Day Baptists abandoned Burlington for Armenia in upstate New York and never returned. They left behind everything, Dillinger said. "One of the few remaining structures of the Sabbatarians [What the Seventh Day Baptists were called] is the Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery and the mystery of the Green Lady.

Alderman disputes this and states that the Sabbatarians left for religious reasons. Regarding the strange noises that Dillinger and other people claim to have heard at the cemetery, "I say the woods have all sorts of sounds anytime, mostly at night."

He is far from convinced that the Green Lady haunts the cemetery and feels that the living is actually haunting the dead.

"The real tragedy with the ghost of the Green Lady is the amount of damage that has occurred to the Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery," Alderman said. "The real mystery about the cemetery is not the alleged ghost, but what happened to at least 35 gravestones. A few years ago, they were all smashed and or ripped from the ground including one that was 10 feet high!"

The only gravestone still standing without any real damage is that of Elisabeth Palmiter and it was one that was refurnished in the 1980s. Her husband's as well as the other stones are either all gone or damaged beyond readability. Alderman wonders what became of many of the gravestones and why people would do this to an old burial ground.

"Someone probably took a truck, loaded up the gravestones and dumped them somewhere," Alderman said. "The real horror story regarding the Green Lady and other ghosts like it are that many of these alleged haunted cemeteries are being vandalized and the deceased are not being allowed to rest in peace."

The one thing that Dillinger and Alderman do agree on is that graveyard vandalism is a nationwide epidemic.

State Police stationed in Burlington have taken notice of this problem and have made it no secret that they will arrest people caught trespassing on the Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery grounds.

Sadly, other cemeteries in Burlington have fallen victim to vandalism. On July 13, 2002, there was a serious act of vandalism at the Lamson Corner Cemetery, which is located off Route 69. The cemetery, like the Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery, has a reputation of being haunted. The Burlington Cemetery Association has a $1,000 dollar reward for information leading to the arrests of the persons responsible for the damage.

In regards to the vandalism of the town’s cemeteries, Alderman refers to the gravestone of one Burlington's founders, Jared Covey. The gravestone had been stolen from its gravesite and eventually returned and is now in the basement of the Burlington library. It reads:

"Stop; look at me as you pass by
As you are now so once was I
As I am now so you will be
Prepare for death & follow me"

"Maybe the next time someone comes into a cemetery with the intent to vandalize it, they should heed what Covey says."

Barry A. A. Dillinger's response to the Tri Town Post article:

When I was originally approached about this article, I was not immediately aware that it would be a point-by-point debate between Mr. Alderman and myself. However, following my written statements to the journalist, I was given an advance copy of the article and discovered only then the nature of the piece. I wrote another e-mail to the reporter, in essence disputing much of what Mr. Alderman had said regarding the history of this cemetery. I was told that there was no room in the constraints of the article to print my objections. Therefore, in the spirit of presenting a more thorough look at this article's assertions, I have written a point-by-point examination of Mr. Alderman's statements.

1. "One legend states that Elisabeth Palmiter, the alleged ghost, drowned in a swamp that was located near the graveyard, while trying to find her husband. According to Alderman, there is no swamp that is nearby where she had lived."

FACT: The entire area is riddled with swamps, streams and rivulets. As stated in our investigation, team GHOST has recently located what we believe was the original home, stable and storage shed of the Palmiter residence and it lies within the swamp areas indicated.

2. "There is also a myth that she may have been killed by her husband. Alderman believes that if it were true, there would have been some written documentation about it."

FACT: It is not a myth that she may have been killed. It is an opinion based on the evidence regarding her death. Alderman has no information to dispute this theory other than the fact that he has seen no written documentation about it. Regardless, the simple fact of the matter is that Benjamin came from an influential family in Bristol and if he had indeed killed his wife while providing a pretty convincing alibi, the local authorities would not have spent too much time trying to prove otherwise. Let's not forget that these locals despised the Sabbatarians. Elisabeth's death, while tragic to the Seventh Day Baptists, may not have been a blip on the radar with the locals. As for the written documentation, team GHOST discovered a book in the Burlington Room of the library which made reference to there being doubt by the authorities in Benjamin's account of her death. Nevertheless, he was let go.

3. "Alderman states that ghost stories similar to the "Green Lady" were told at evening campfire settings throughout the world. He believes that the legend may have started at the old New Britain Fresh Air Camp that was located on Upson Road near the cemetery. He believes that some of the children in attendance at these campfire tales could be the ones responsible for the birth of the legend of "Green Lady of Burlington".

FACT: Just because Mr. Alderman "believes" something does not make it fact. In just this one paragraph, the author has made it clear that Mr. Alderman "believes" quite a few things, including that the children "could" have been the ones responsible for the birth of the legend. Well, if believing something makes it fact, then Creepy Connecticut "believes" that she was murdered.

4. "Alderman disputes this and states that the Sabbatarians left for religious reasons."

FACT: The Sabbatarians left because there were so few of them left in Burlington, not for religious reasons. While it's probably true that the main church thought that this was a losing venture (and indeed it was) there is no doubt that these people were harrassed and intimidated while they were here. When there were so few of them left here in the very early 1800s, the pressure upon them must have been tremendous. And with all the mysterious deaths, there's no reason to believe that these people felt at home and safe here.

5. "Regarding the strange noises that Dillinger and other people claim to have heard at the cemetery, 'I say the woods have all sorts of sounds anytime, mostly at night.'"

FACT: Aside from stating the obvious, it is more than apparent that our investigative report was not looked at carefully enough. The report is demonstrative in its assertions that the day was completely absent of wind, it was overcast and there was no traffic. The video reveals no nature sounds (birds, animals, rustling of leaves, etc.) and the only sounds that can be heard are the footsteps of the videographer and the soft humming voice. As was also stated in the report, this sound was not heard by anyone present and radio wave frequencies were ruled out. What is left is either the sound of the equipment (internal motor sounds [also ruled out]) or people's voices (only two people were present during the filming of this video and the other person was across the cemetery doing quiet research). That being said, this sound was chalked up to an unexplained phenomenon. Besides, it's not like Creepy Connecticut staffers go around claiming to hear voices at every haunted site. This was, as emphatically mentioned in the article, the one and only genuine authentic EVP we've ever recovered that we felt was legitimately unexplainable.

6. "Her husband's as well as the other stones are either all gone or damaged beyond readability. Alderman wonders what became of many of the gravestones and why people would do this to an old burial ground."

FACT: Elisabeth's husband, Benjamin, was never buried in Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery. He left the church, remarried weeks later, and rejoined his former church. Checking the burial records of Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery, you will find no Benjamin Palmiter among those interred. As to why people would do this, it is actually quite simple. Some teens and pre-teens are neither wise, nor taught manners at home. In the 1970s, there was a spate of these types of vandalizations going on all over the U.S. This place just happened to be one of the victims. At a time when the U.S. government was not yet interested in the preservation of historical sites, and contractors nationwide were bulldozing remnant and abandoned structures, it's no wonder that kids developed a sense of disrespect regarding our history. This is a no-brainer to me. My kids will never grow up this way.

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