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Ghosts in the old carrollton jail
Not far from where the old-time streetcars still run in Uptown New Orleans, stands the site of the old Carrollton jail. Now long gone, it once housed an alleged vicious criminal accused of murdering his wife. The police enraged at his crime, allegedly beat him to death in the jailhouse. Near a wall where the alleged wife-killer died, in his final words, the man promised to come back from the grave.
In 1899 there were several accounts that indicated that the beaten man had returned as a ghost. A woman in the station house who was near a wall (ostensibly the same wall where the above suspect died) was suddenly tossed from the wall by an unseen force. The surprised woman went back to where she was standing and leaned against the same wall three times, and three times she was mysteriously tossed off. Others in the room attempted to lean on the wall, and they too were tossed off.
Subsequent events suggested the wall contained some supernatural power. Later that week a police officer rested on a couch near the wall. Suddenly, both he and the couch were tossed away from the wall. This was confirmed the following evening, when another officer on the same couch was tossed away too.
The wall also affected other objects upon it. A portrait of Admiral Dewey was seen mysteriously spinning; and a painting of General P. G. T. Beauregard (of Shiloh's fame), without warning, dropped from the wall breaking on the floor. It was claimed that both these objects had been securely attached to the wall, and their falling by natural causes was highly improbable. After these events occurred, people began to believe that the wall was truly haunted.
In addition to the haunted wall, there were other paranormal occurrences in the jail. A policeman heard the sounds of ghostly footsteps; heavy paperweights flew from desks into the air. And a ghost attempted to kill a policeman by strangulation -- so it was claimed. A police officer who had been dead for many months was seen alive in the building, but then suddenly disappeared. Prisoners also complained of being beaten by ghosts in their cell.
Finally, the jailhouse was torn down in the 1930s, but the ghosts had the last say. Workmen at the scene reportedly saw ghosts laughing as the jailhouse was destroyed.
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