I used to live in this house (a very long time ago.)
http://www.cooperstownghost.com/greencrest.htm
Some houses, while beautiful in appearance, just look more haunted than others. Such is the case with one particularly striking residence on River Street. In a continuing series about the ghosts of Cooperstown, local author and historian Bruce Markusen examines the legend of the house known as "Greencrest."
Greencrest
It is both one of the most unusual and most beautiful homes found in the village of Cooperstown. Perhaps it’s only fitting that it has acquired its own memorable nickname, making it known simply as "Greencrest."
Located on River Street next to the old stone retaining wall, Greencrest was once the home of John Worthington, who had earlier married Jenny Cooper, the niece of famed writer James Fenimore Cooper. Sadly, the marriage of John and Jenny did not last for very long. It was not a lack of marital bliss that doomed their existence there; instead, it was tragedy. While on their honeymoon in Newport, Rhode Island, Jenny died unexpectedly. Jenny was both young and seemingly in good health, making her passing all the more mysterious.
John later moved into the large three-story house, highlighted by its green wood exterior and elaborate window designs. As a tribute to his wife, John commissioned a New York state artist to create a large portrait of his bride. The portrait, a nearly life-sized rendering of Jenny, was hung on the second floor of the house. Prominently displayed on the house’s south-side stairwell wall, the portrait greeted residents and visitors as they scaled the stairway toward the rooms on the second floor.
After an appropriate period of mourning, John eventually remarried. Not so surprisingly, his second wife did not take kindly to the portrait of Jenny that so dominated the second-story wall. Feeling uneasy because of the artistic presence of her predecessor, Mrs. Worthington removed the portrait and placed it in one of the house’s storage rooms where it remained hidden from plain sight.
Shortly after removing the portrait from the wall, the second Mrs. Worthington encountered a strange nighttime visitor. The visitor, both loud and enraged, made her displeasure with Mrs. Worthington readily apparent. Mrs. Worthington was left duly frightened by the visitor, whom she interpreted as the spirit of Jenny Cooper. Angry that her beautiful portrait had been removed from its place of prominence, Jenny scolded her disrespectful successor and demanded that action be taken.
The second Mrs. Worthington quickly informed her husband of the ghostly visit and instructed him to fetch the painting and reinstall it on the stairway wall. John not only did what he was told, but took extra measures by bolting the painting to the wall, so as to make future removal more than a little difficult. He wanted to ensure that future generations would keep the portrait in its rightful place.
Despite Mr. Worthington’s efforts, the painting has been removed by subsequent residents from time to time. Each removal has usually been followed by strange sounds heard in the hallways of the house and a run of bad luck that includes household objects falling and breaking for no apparent reason. Within a short time, the residents of the home would realize that the unwanted noises and accidents had started directly after the painting’s removal, prompting them to return the portrait to its second-floor wall.
According to the best available research, the painting was last taken down during the 1960s, but was put back up shortly thereafter. It has remained in place ever since. Those who pass by Greencrest in the daytime hours will notice the two large metal bolts protruding from the south-side wall of the house. Those who are lucky enough to enter the home and make their way up the stairway will quickly take notice of the massive portrait of Jenny Cooper Worthington. According to some, the portrait’s eyes tend to "follow" visitors as they make their way up and down the stairway. It’s almost as if Jenny’s spirit inhabits the framework of the painter, forever guarding against another unwanted removal.
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The painting in question was not there at the time. I was very young, but the house had a very creepy feeling and both my brother and I had frequent nightmares. My mother, who is not usually prone to such things, claims to have seen the Mrs. Wothington walking through the house. I can't find them just now, but I've seen pictures on the net of both the house and the painting.
Not mentioned in this story is the graveyard next door. There was a Native American buried in one corner, who kept kicking a rock out of the middle of a retaining wall. The city would come by, put it back, cement it up, and a couple of months later it would be back out of the wall and sitting on the sidewalk.
The house on the other side of us contained the ghost of a slave that committed suicide while headed North in the underground rail road.
