Читать книгу Ghosthunting New York City - L'Aura Hladik - Страница 19

THE WORD BOWERY comes from the Dutch bouwerie, meaning farm. That’s exactly what this place was when Petrus Stuyvesant was lord and master of the land and first governor of New Amsterdam, now known as New York. Stuyvesant arrived in the New World in 1647. Having lost a leg while fighting for the Dutch in Curacao, he had a wooden leg complete with silver studs, which earned him the nicknames “Peg Leg Peter” and “Old Silver Nails.” Stuyvesant used a cane for stability, which gave his walking gait a distinct sound. While he was not known as the kindest man, he did maintain order and contribute to the development of this area of Manhattan. He had a small chapel built on his estate, and in 1672 he died and was buried in the family crypt beneath the chapel. Eventually that chapel was torn down, and on May 9, 1799, a new church was completed and dedicated on the same site. St. Mark’s is the second oldest church in New York City (the oldest is St. Paul’s, which also has a chapter in this book).

Petrus Stuyvesant’s spirit didn’t rest too long in the family crypt. Within days of his death, servants reported seeing a specter roaming the property. They concluded it was Petrus because they heard the tapping of his cane and his wooden leg. Several stories of sightings have come down to us; the stories are set in different time periods yet have common elements. The first version of the story takes place during the Civil War. A church sexton encountered the ghost of Petrus and was so frightened he ran screaming into the street, but drowning out his screams were the peals of the bell in St. Mark’s tower. When a few brave men went into the church to see who had rung the bell, they found no one there—and the rope had been torn off too high for any human to reach and pull. The next day, they found the other piece of the bellrope on Petrus’ grave. In another version of the story, the events are essentially the same but transpired during the 1960s, according to an article in the November 17, 2004, New York Sun newspaper.