EPIC PARA-BLOG

On historic High Street in Mt. Holly, New Jersey rests the Burlington County Prison & Museum. Constructed in 1811 and until it’s closing day in November 1965, the prison remained the oldest continually run institution in the United States. This historic landmark has seen over 150 years of tortured souls, some guilty, some insane, and some just without hope. Hundreds of hangings have taken place in the prison yard over the years, several murders and ultimately DEATH all around. Today the prison is overrun with spiritual activity including disembodied voices, howling screams, spine tingling moans, electrical interference such as flickering lights and drained batteries, slamming doors, orbs, full bodied apparitions and other such spectres, just to name a few. Some chalk this paranormal phenomena up to the fact that the prison has remained completely intact, from the inmate’s writing on the walls, the recorded sound of everyday prison life which plays on constant rotation over the loudspeakers, and the mannequins of men precariously placed about the cells.

The Burlington County Prison’s young architect Robert Mills later went on the design the Washington Monument, US Treasury Building, Patent Office and first US Post Office. The prison is a 2 story, stone, brick and mortar building with basement. Originally meant to hold only 40 prisoners, the jail eventually came to house over 100. The “Death Cell” is located on the third floor and served as a means of solitary confinement. It is here where prisoners were deterred from digging or escape and were held naked and chained to an iron ring upon the floor. Unlike other cells, it was without a fireplace and therefore held no warmth come winter. Both male and female prisoners were jailed alike, for crimes ranging from homicide and prostitution to failure to pay debts. At one time the Warden’s quarters were located on the second floor, with a small home later constructed outside the prison with access via an underground tunnel.

During the early days of the 19th century, laws were in place which required that all criminals guilty of capital crimes were to be executed in their convicting counties. In the prison yard here in Mt. Holly, gallows once stood where public hangings often took place and drew tremendous crowds. The two earliest convictions of murderess Eliza Freeman and murderer Joel Clough were held nearby on public land. Eliza Freeman was a poor drunken woman and former slave who cut her sleeping husband’s throat one night in 1832 with a razor blade. History claims she was somewhat mentally unsound and when asked if she had any regrets she exclaimed “I’m sorry that I spoiled my uncle’s floor.” It is estimated some 5,000 people were in attendance for her hanging, which was held nearby on the Mt. Holly road as the Sheriff was unable to find any land owner willing to let the execution take place on their property for fear of superstition. It was also exceedingly difficult for him to find any workers to erect the gallows nor was he able to arrange a burial plot for the same reason. Eliza Freeman’s body was buried in the prison yard late one evening in secret after protests from the inmates stemmed from the same superstitious beliefs. Was Eliza a witch woman? A conjurer of sorts? Perhaps she has something to do with the prison’s vibrant spiritual activity.

Joel Clough, Burlington County’s most infamous inmate, was a jilted lover and at the age of 27 was convicted of stabbing Mary Hamilton to death in nearby Bordentown. Joel rented a room in a boarding house from Mary’s father and quickly fell madly in love with the woman. He showered Mary with gifts, wrote elaborate love letters and tried in every way to please her, but to no avail. Although Mary was always polite to Joel, she did not return his feelings of romance and twice denied his proposal of marriage. After refusing to accompany him to a local ball, Joel went away to New York on business. He spent his time there drinking and galavanting around the brothels, and ended up being arrested  for stealing jewelry from a prostitute. He returned home to New Jersey broke and in a state of depression, only to learn that Mary had become engaged to another man in his absence. After hearing this he confronted her, stabbing her to death and claiming all the while “If I can’t have you no man will.”  Joel Clough was sentenced to execution and although he managed to escape the prison, he was caught within a matter of days and spent the last day of his life on the upper floor in the “Death Cell.” He was hung on July 26th of 1833 and was buried on the prison grounds alongside Mrs. Freeman, the only woman ever executed at the prison. Shortly after his execution, prisoners and guards alike reported hearing disembodied moaning sounds, sobbing and screaming as well as the rattle and clanking of chains. It is for these reasons Clough is considered to be the primary haunt of this location. Other incarcerated alumni include Albert DeSalvo, a visitor to the Garden State arrested on lewd charges of indecent exposure. Mr. DeSalvo would later come to be known as “The Boston Strangler.”

Many violent murders and other deaths took place at the Burlington County Prison. More than one guard was strangled and stabbed or beaten to death by raucous inmates in their attempts at escape. Upon extensive research of this location, I have found literally HUNDREDS of cold hard EVP’s (digitally recorded Electric Voice Phenomena.) They are widely available for your listening pleasure on several websites across the net. Many photographs of orbs, anomalies and other light spectres as well as pages and pages of documented first hand accounts are also easily found. Burlington County Prison & Museum welcomes paranormal groups, and is no stranger to the goings-on behind the walls. The Prison is located at 128 High Street, Mount Holly, NewJersey and is open Thursday through Sundays for tours, $4 for adults and $2 for students, children and seniors. During the month of October the Burlington County Prison extends an extra-special treat of a haunted house and is widely accepted as the best around. Happy Haunting!