set foot into Holcroft, even though he had no knowledge that a ghost was believed to be
residing there.
Don Dangremond, vice president of University Relations, also used to work in Holcroft.
One night he went back to the house to do some work. He had been there a few hours when he
began hearing odd noises, like someone walking around outside his office. When he got up to
investigate, the noises stopped. He assumed it was the heating system and went back to work.
Then the footsteps came back, and when he looked out in the hallway, no one was there. Intent
on finding the source of the noises, he walked through the entire house, turning on the lights in
each room to see if anyone was there. Finding nothing, he went back to work, making sure to
leave the lights on in the hallway. Ten minutes later he heard the noise again. By this time he
became determined to find out what was going on. He went to the door of his office and saw
that the lights in the hallway were now shut off. This was very odd, but he assumed that there
had to be some sort of logical solution. He checked the switch and the circuit breaker, both of
which were fine, so there was no explanation for the lights being shut off. Soon after he decided
to leave.
Similarly, many of the custodians who clean Holcroft have had experiences with the
ghost. One woman entered the empty house to clean it as usual, when she heard a noise. When
she looked to see where it came from, she saw the hem of a woman's skirt quickly go up the
back staircase of the house. She was frightened but went on to do her work until she fell off a
stepladder in the midst of her cleaning and broke her wrist. Shortly after this incident, she asked
to be transferred to a different building.
In January 1986, a "ghost-watching" at Holcroft was scheduled by a group including Ed
and Lorraine Warren, a husband and wife team of professionals who study ghosts. Also invited
were a reporter and photographer from the
Watertown Daily Times
, and a psychic from
Ogdensburg. However, the University stopped the event before it could take place. Clarkson
officials stated that "spirits have no place in a well-known university that concerns itself with
science, engineering, and management." To this day no such event has been rescheduled.
Today, the ghost still keeps active. She seems to be most interested in electrical gadgets,
like the copy machines, lights, and telephones. It is difficult to say why. Perhaps she is
interested in science and engineering. She is at the right place if she is.
Currently, many of the people who now work in Holcroft House believe that the ghost
takes the form of a raven, which often perches on top of the house. Some even go so far as to
say that when you call out the name "Elizabeth," the raven will crow.
