The Ghost with the Jingling Keys

by M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
In the early morning hours of March, 1911 a fire started on the third floor of the New York Capitol Building in Albany. Before long it reached the fourth and fifth floor. The only person who stood between the destruction of the entire library was 77-year-old Samuel Abbott, a civil war hero who was the night watchman. 

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Presentation to Lt. Abbott (sitting) c.1861

​SAMUEL’S STORY

Samuel Junius Abbott started in Company E of the 12th New York State Volunteer Infantry as an ensign and rose to the rank of second lieutenant between May 13, 1861 to August 2, 1861, at which time he was promoted to first lieutenant. On September 19, 1861, four years before the end of the Civil War he left the army for unknown reasons. The Albany Evening Journal said he "had an enviable war record."

Afterward he was employed as a state civil servant for 50 years, and in his late 70s he started working as the night watchman at the Capitol building, guarding the New York State library which was housed on the 4th and 5th floors.

Five architects, took over 32 years (1867-1899) to finish the building completely, and it cost more than $25 million back in the late 1800’s. There are more than 70 recognizable famous faces carved throughout the building, some are touted as the "Capitol’s Unknown" which remain unidentified to this day. Over 500 stone carvers, many brought from Europe were allowed to carve a face of their choosing, some chose historical figures, others family, and some perhaps images from their imagination.

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Abbott’s body was found by where the broom is placed in the picture c.1911

On the night of the fire, Samuel Abbott started his shift at 9 p.m. To safeguard the half million books and 300,000 manuscripts he would lock himself in.

​The fire started in the Assembly Library, and climbed to the New York State Museum and State Library where thousands of books and artifacts were destroyed, as the flames burned and smoldered for two days.

Abbott died only a few steps from salvation. Two days later his body was found in a hallway with his silver-handled cane at his side. Inside his pocket was a key to the locked door, which would have allowed him to escape if he had managed to reach it.

Jennie, his wife of 44 years died only two months before on January 1, 1911 from typhoid fever.

​The main stairway melted, and 10,000 archaeological artifacts stored in glass cases were lost. Over 500,000 books were destroyed, which included 270,000 colonial and early American documents.

​Witnesses reported that Abbott instead of seeking refuge outside, opened windows trying to save records in the Education Department.

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The Great Fire of 1911

The blaze was referred to by the newspapers of the day as The Great Fire of 1911.

The charred body of Abbott was found inside the locked library, and it was his son George William who identified his remains after recognizing a pocket watch his father always carried with him.

Lawmakers gave Abbott's son George, 35, $280 to cover funeral and burial costs. A large crowd turned out for for the funeral at St. Peter's Church.

It took three months to clear the debris, and more than a year to reconstruct the portion of the building that was destroyed.

Life continued, however lawmakers and staff who worked in the new building swore that Abbott was still making his rounds. The jingle of his keys and doorknobs rattling could be heard after hours when all was quiet.

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Demonic face carved by a disgruntled mason when the Capitol Building was originally built

According to employees in the Capitol Building, the ghostly apparition of Samuel J. Abbott, the only victim of the fire wanders the fourth floor, leaving a trail of smoky smell, and the sound of his keys jingling. He died outside of what is now the state senator's office. 

The communication director in the senator's office said, “State troopers have even said they’ve seen it. Staff people have sincerely claimed that they have heard keys jingling, and have seen lights flickering while working late at night and on the weekends. But this man’s valiant actions and bravery closing doors and keeping the fire from spreading, shouldn’t be reduced to a simple ghost story."

On the night of the fire Abbott made sure no person was trapped in the building when the libraries on the west side caught fire.

According to the superstitious the origins of the fire were attributed to a curse placed by a disgruntled mason, who on a wall near the Million Dollar Staircase carved a small demonic face. Present day this area is by the Dunkin' Donuts.

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Factory workers c.1911

But perhaps there is more than one unquiet spirit wandering the interior of the Capitol Building.

Early in the morning of April 17, 1890 a woman saw a man leap from the Senate floor railing to fall about 70 feet. Other women who were ascending the staircase saw a dark object swoosh down through the stairwell. Their screams brought the watchman running. He found William Thorn a sidewalk fruit dealer with his "head crushed to a jelly" at the foot of the staircase. He was 57 years old and had been committed to an asylum in the past. His act was attributed to a moment of insanity. His ghost has been spied as a man with long gray hair moving along the 4th floor corridor.

It was noted this was the first suicide committed at the building, but it certainly was not the first death.

On October 28, 1878 Patrick Stanton was working on a scaffold on the inside of the high globe roof over the Assembly chamber. The supports gave way and he fell to the stone floor, 18 feet below. He was taken on a stretcher to the city hospital, but was expected to survive.

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Factory workers c.1911

A second accident occurred on the same day but in the afternoon. John Hunt a laborer was removing covers over the ventilating holes in the assembly chamber, inexplicably he fell forward through the opening and struck the stone below. He seemed to have internal injuries which were more serious than Stanton's. He died two days later. Apparently coverings had been placed over the ventilation holes due to the earlier death of a man named Riley.

​Only four days before the fire that consumed the Capitol Building, just after 4:40 PM on March 25, 1911 a crowd gathered to see the plumes of heavy smoke drifting from the 8th, 9th and 10th floor of the Asch Building in Greenwich Village, New York where the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was located. They employed mostly immigrant women. The conflagration claimed 146 lives.

​In 2018, a plaque was unveiled where Samuel Abbott's body was found to memorialize his sacrifice along with his picture.

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