THE STORY
Reported Haunting
The Beekman House's haunting tradition centers on Duryea Beekman, whose apparition is reportedly seen in the house along with self-opening doors, moving shadows and unexplained whistling of his favorite song.
The Beekman House is a Greek Revival mansion built in 1835 by Nicholas Beekman for his family in Middleburgh, New York. Nicholas's son Duryea Beekman was born in the house in 1840 and died there in 1924. Duryea later became a prominent local banker and railroad executive, and the home's paranormal tradition centers largely on him. Owners and guests have reported an apparition resembling Duryea dressed in a turn-of-the-century banker's suit. He is said to appear upstairs before moving toward a closet beneath the main staircase and disappearing. The closet reportedly unlocks and opens on its own, while doorknobs turn and shadows appear beyond closed doors. Children have described an older bearded man beneath the stairs, and unexplained whistling of the nineteenth-century song "Linger in Blissful Repose" has reportedly been heard around the house, particularly before sunrise.