The restless dead of the War of 1812

It was the winter of 1813, after a brilliant naval victory in September that secured the strategic waters of Lake Erie for the American forces, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry weathered out the harsh winter at Presque Isle’s Little Bay.

But fate would turn the safe harbor of Little Bay into what we would know today as Misery Bay.

Small Pox had begun to spread onboard Commodore Perry’s Flagship, the Niagara. But being quarantined in the bottom of ship’s hold did little to stem the tide of the disease and the plague was quickly spreading ship wide. When those of his crew were struck down with the disease, Perry ordered that their bodies be buried at sea in the lagoons of the pond near the bay. Now, as the plague’s ferocious force began to unleash itself upon all the crew Perry made a radical decision to bury all those infected with disease at the bottom of the adjacent pond. There was little hope for them; Perry did what he had to do in a remote region of the then wilderness with little help coming for a long time. He buried the dying who yet had the breath of life into the little pond; tying stones around their bodies he surrendered them beneath the waves before death had the chance to naturally take their lives.

It was a harsh but relatively quick death.

Some saw it as a mercy killing.

Others saw it as an abominable act that had no vindication.

But it was done.

And the war was over within a year.

England and America were no longer at war, and both the Niagara and the Lawrence (Perry’s initial Flagship that was abandoned due to heavy damage during the Battle of Lake Erie), were sunk into the depth of Misery Bay after the conflicts ceased.

The Lawrence was raised in 1875 for the 1876 Centennial Exposition but would later be consumed in a fiery fate later that year.

The Niagara was raised in 1913 and the portions that were restorable were on display at the port of Erie until 1995 when a fully restored Niagara would once again sail the tempest lake where it gained its renown for securing early American sovereignty.

The forgotten dead who forged the fate of a newly born America on the other hand, wait to be raised since their untimely fate in the bottom of that small pond which is now called Graveyard Pond.

What should be a nationally honored graveyard for the veterans of the Battle of 1812 has instead become forlorn site, abandoned by time, forgotten by those who bath in the rewards that were bought by sweat, blood and bone.

And the dishonored dead through the centuries past have made themselves manifest so that those in the present ages do not forget their sacrifice and the horrid fate they earned in the service of their country.

It is not easy getting first hand witnesses of the ghost’s of Graveyard Pond. The pond is situated in Presque Isle State Park, and visitors are only allowed to drive the roads after dark, but they are not allowed to park after dark. And as it is in so many haunted locations, the dead only seem manifest in the dark. So most who might witness any activity are in moving vehicles, since Graveyard pond is situated by a bridge and off the road by as much as 60 yards in heavy brush in most places.

But in a bustling town with many teenagers, rules are broken, and the Peninsula of Presque Isle is the frequent site of many a teenage rendezvous  on the beaches on by the shore, and it seems of many an encounter with the unexplained.

Ted’s teenage days are long gone, having faded with the ducktail haircut and the poodle skirts of the 1950s. Now in his 70s, he still remembers his wild days of youth, and the many romantic encounters he shared with beautiful young girls at Presque Isle after dark. He also remembers a frightening encounter near the Perry Monument one summer evening in 1956. He and his date had ridden their bicycles into the park just before dusk, and sat hidden on the shoreline of Misery Bay for a few hours cuddling and enjoying the lights of the city from a distance. He doesn’t remember the exact time, but it was soon after the evening fog rolled in from the bay that they felt as if they were being watched. The fog billowed in rolling waves and inundated the entire area, leaving a blanket of haze about three feet above the ground. Nervous and feeling eyes upon them, they looked to and fro as they got up and made their way to their bikes.

Inside the mist across the road, something began to move. Thinking it was a park officer, and not wanting to be caught in the park after hours, they quickly hid themselves behind the brush. What they saw before them was very odd, in Ted’s own words. The mist seemed to coagulate into a solid form, the dark form of a man dressed in old torn clothes. He slowly walked in their general direction but did not seem to be aware of them until he was almost in the center of the road, when the man quickly turned in their direction and made a muffled moaning sound…and disappeared.

So did Ted and his lady friend once they regained their wits, and not only did Ted never again woo a young lady at that same site, but he regretfully told me that he was never able to get that same girl on another date again.

The claims of the specters of the dead and dying who found their graves in the cold waters of Cemetery Pond have been whispered about Erie Pennsylvania for over 100 years.
There are stories that Joe Root, the hermit and squatter of Presque Isle in the late 19th Century often saw some phenomena around the pond that he called ‘Perry’s Will O Wisps’ and thought they were the spirits of the dead sailors buried beneath the water coming back to roam the land looking for revenge on Perry for abandoning them there before their time.

And it seems the phantom phenomenon is as active today as it was over 100 years ago in Joe Roots time.

In early June of this year a group of people packing up late in the evening after a pleasant day at beach 11 on Presque Isle (the nearest beach to Graveyard Pond) saw something quite similar as to what Ted and his girlfriend witnessed over 50 years ago.

The fog had rolled in, and as the group of people put their picnic supplies and furnishing in the trunk of their car, a figure solidified in the fog. It was transparent and slightly luminescent. A few claimed it looked like a man dressed in a bathrobe. But those present who knew their history saw it as a sailor in a full dress uniform. It was the uniform of a sailor of the era of the War of 1812. The phantom walked on unseen legs and melded back into the fog from whence it came. Frightened, one of the witnesses immediately went to the ranger station and filed a report. In talking with one of the park rangers this June, they were sure that the man had indeed seen something that had frightened them half to death. There was little doubt with the park police that the man was truthful and had been traumatized by the incident. In fact it has become one of the conversational hot topics of the Parks employees all summer long.

The crew of the Niagara suffered horribly in the winter of 1813, and the name Misery Bay does little justice to the horror that some of the sailors experienced as they were dropped beneath the waves by their fellow servicemen. Weak and helpless they were weighted down and died an unnatural and ignoble death.

Do their restless spirits rise from the murky waters of Graveyard Pond to try to find their way back to the Niagara? The restored vessel is now docked right across the bay from Graveyard Pond near Dobbins Landing, in clear view of the watery graves. Millions were spent restoring the Brig. Thousands were spent on a memorial in 1926 that only briefly mentions the suffering and shameful burial of the fallen sailors who defended an infant United States. But there is no memorial honoring the dead, no mention of the names of those who lie in the muck and mud beneath the pond. Is the reported haunting because dishonored dead are still incensed at the way they lost their lives and how their mortal remains were treated?

It would not surprise me, I would be upset too.

They deserve better just for the humanity of the situation, let alone their status as real war heroes during our nations infancy.

God rest their souls.