Murder, spirits and a wild, hairy man: Remembering Newfield’s spooky history 

As trick-or-treaters prepare their costumes for Halloween night, the Newfield Historical Society (NHS) is showcasing some of the darker moments and mysteries of the town’s past. From tales of murder and reported spirits to a wild, hairy man terrorizing farmers, NHS volunteers are embracing the spooky season by preserving haunted happenings over the town’s more than 200-year history.

Community members can visit the NHS, as well as the People’s Baptist Church and the Tioga Bank parking lot, for candy during their annual trunk-or-treat event, which is scheduled for Halloween night on Friday, Oct. 31 from 6 to 8 p.m. The Newfield Public Library will also be giving out free books and candy on Halloween night.

Joleen Krogman, the historical society’s vice president, said that there have been many reported ghost sightings at cemeteries across town. She also said that over the years people have desecrated the graves of women who’ve been accused of being witches. 

“We don’t want any disrespect to those who came before us. They forged our path,” Krogman said. “It’s not ‘our’ history. It’s everyone’s history. We’re charged with educating the public on their own history while keeping it safe.”

In the spirit of Halloween, here are some stories that the NHS is sharing to provide a glimpse into Newfield’s spooky past.    

The ‘Wild Man’ of Newfield (1879)

In 1879, a mysterious man was spotted by farmers in the southern part of town. The New York Times published a story about the man with the headline, “A Mysterious Woodsman Who Shoots At Folks And Likes Euchre.” The article, which was first published in The Ithaca Journal, described the individual as a “hairy wild man, so awful, mysterious and formidable that he opens up a new field for thought and investigation.” The article added that the man moved in a “gliding, almost ghost-like” manner and that he was “over 6 feet tall, clad in rough and scanty attire, and wearing a grizzly beard that reaches almost to his knees.”   

The man reportedly chased fishermen away from their spots and attempted to kill a local farmer. The farmer, identified as Payne in the article, said that the man entered his cabin while he and his friends were playing the card game euchre. The man then stretched himself out on a bed before being chased off. The next day, Payne said that he was searching his field for a stray cow when the man shot a bullet that “whistled over his forehead through the rim of his felt hat and through his erect hair.” The culprit was the man, who shortly thereafter ran back into the woods, according to Payne. The article added that a posse of hunters was preparing to track down the man and capture him, dead or alive. It is unclear if the man was ever found.   

“There was a gentleman all covered in hair who would roam the countryside, kind of like a predecessor to Big Foot,” said Jon Armstrong, NHS’s chief researcher.  

The murder of Elizabeth Armstrong (1835) 

Elizabeth Armstrong was 8 years old when she was brutally murdered in a swampy area along Poney Hollow near her home in March 1835. 

According to newspaper accounts, Elizabeth was killed by her cousin, Joseph Armstrong Jr. Joseph, who was 15 years old at the time, was described as “dull, inattentive and uncultured.” He said that he became angry when Elizabeth threw rocks at him and that he stabbed her with a pocket knife.     

Joseph was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 14 years at the Auburn Prison, where he died three years later on Nov. 2, 1838. 

Elizabeth’s father, Aaron Armstrong, had a farm on Connecticut Hill Road near where the road and state Route 13 currently meet, where she is believed to have been buried.  

Jon Armstrong, who said the murder was not in his family, added that this was a major news story that spread to neighboring states, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  

“There wasn’t a lot of local coverage because the Ithaca newspapers were pretty young at that point,” he said. “I think it was such big news because of the sensationalism and the sheer brutality of it.”  

Newfield’s Haunted House (around 1900)

About 125 years ago, there was an old house on the town’s Main Road about where state Route 13 splits and travels up the hill past Robert H. Treman State Park. Several news articles referred to the home as “Newfield’s haunted house” as residents often reported hearing strange sounds on the sides of the house as well as noises in the attic and on the roof. The noises caused at least one family to move out of the house, which was demolished years later.  

However, resident Dora Earl Decker later told town historian and NHS trustee Alan Chaffee the truth behind the mysterious sounds. Decker said that her children, who lived nearby, would conceal themselves around the property and throw rocks at the house. 

“They were just out there messing around, but the people inside thought the house was haunted,” said Chaffee, who noted that Decker died in 1993 at the age of 110.

“I chose this story to highlight because it was unique and kind of fun,” Armstrong said. “It was frivolous, whimsy and cute, I think. It’s not all about death and dying.”

Newfield’s Haunted History Center (2020-present)

NHS volunteers say their own building is haunted. 

The building, which the NHS has occupied since 2020, was constructed by a man named Silas Baker, who moved to Newfield to start a hardware business. Baker constructed the building shortly after a fire caused $80,000 worth of damage to 20 buildings in the center of the community in 1875.

Baker, who worked as a tinsmith, operated a hardware store in the building in the late 1870s and early 1880s, but the business ultimately failed. He then moved to Mecklenburg in Schuyler County, where he launched another failed hardware business, before moving to Pennsylvania, where he died in 1917.    

NHS volunteers said that their security cameras have shown lights mysteriously turning on and off, as well as chairs and other objects moving by themselves, which Krogman believes is Baker’s spirit.     

“I don’t think Silas disapproves of anything we’re doing, but I think he just wants to be involved, so we let him be involved,” Krogman said. “The electrician’s been here, so it’s not an electrical issue, and I’ll say, ‘Good morning, Silas,’ and it stops.” 

Krogman added, “This haunting isn’t something that happened 100 years ago. The history remains with us.” 

The NHS is open every second and fourth Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Newfield History and Activity Center, located at 192 Main St. More information about the town’s haunted history can be found on the historical society’s YouTube channel and website, newfieldhistoricalsociety.org.   

In brief:

The Newfield Town Board voted to adopt its 2026 budget on Oct. 23, following a public hearing. 

The $4.2 million spending plan will slightly lower the tax rate and fall under the state-imposed property tax cap. The newly approved budget increases spending from this year by about $137,000, or 3.4%, while maintaining many town services and supporting projects in the highway and fire departments.  

Last year, the town adopted its 2025 budget, which included a 9% spike in spending and a 3% tax levy increase, exceeding the state-recommended 2.86% tax cap for Newfield.