The Legend Of The Starr Hill Cemetery Rocking Chair

If you grew up in Central New York, you've heard about Starr Hill road, Starr Hill cemetery, and of course the legendary rocking chair. What is the paranormal history on this classic story?

The legend you may have heard is similar to this: Legend has it that an old man used to live in a small house by a graveyard and that he had a rocking chair he would sit in. Later this old man would die and his rocking chair would be left alone and guarded by his spirit. So naturally in the afterlife, he is sticking around for his chair.

It is said that sometimes if you look, and see his rocking chair there, everything is okay, but if it not there, then the spirit is very mad and that you better leave."

Through the years it seems that stories become warped together. Some legends become myth, while others have actual facts to back it. For example, another version of the rocking chair involves death. It is local legend that anyone who sits in the ghostly rocking chair will meet a mysterious death. Many have gone to search for this chair, and many have been disappointed.

I went to Starr Hill many years ago and there is a stone chair in the cemetary that it is said if you sit in the chair you will die. I never sat in it needless to say but I was right next to it. Spooky!

I've been on Starr Hill Rd in Steuben. There is nothing there and nothing to fear. It is very direspectful to be up there screwing around. There is a memorial site for a fallen soldier in that area. There is also a graveyard where people have been burried. I know I would not want people running around where I am burried would you?

There is an interesting ghost story connected with the road itself. In the late 1800s, a Welsh immigrant named Dr. Roberts settled off of Starr Hill Road with his wife. Dr. Roberts was a respected physician, and was soon consulting the majority of injuries in the Remsen/Steuben area. He was always willing to help out his neighbors in a time of need. Late at night, while rushing to the aid of one of his neighbors during a horrible rain storm, Dr. Roberts was involved in a riding accident, and was killed.

It is reported by locals that Dr. Roberts continues to help others even in death. There have been many reports of people sighting the glowing lantern of Dr. Roberts moving up and down the length of Starr Hill Road. Perhaps if you are on Starr Hill Road late at night, Dr. Roberts will come to help you as well…

Starr Hill was the site of the Potato Hill Killer. Bernard Hatch,  has been in prison since 1975, when he was sentenced in Oneida County to 25 years to life in prison for killing Mary Turner. He killed her after he strangled and dragged behind a car along Potato Hill Road in the town of Steuben. According to the Utica OD, Her torso was found under a foot of mud, and her hands and feet were buried separately nearby.

Often this story is blended in with the story of Starr Hill Cemetery, and Starr Hill road. Have you ever seen any lanterns, crazy cars, or ghosts in this region?

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