By KARA L. RICHARDSON
STAFF WRITER
BERNARDSVILLE ? A ghost hunter will stay up all night next month attempting to meet Phyllis Parker, who reportedly haunts the old Bernardsville Library.
Nelson Jecas, of Bernardsville, said he first learned about ghosts 12 years ago when he lived in a North Plainfield home that he said was haunted. There, he saw a smoke-colored figure of a woman in his home, which was once a hospital. He now teaches a three-week ghost hunting class through The Jointure, a Raritan Borough-based community education program.
Jecas will bring about a dozen people with him Jan. 5 during his ghost hunt for Phyllis in the old Bernardsville Library, 2 Morristown Road (Route 202).
The building, which dates to the 1700s, was once the Vealtown Tavern. It was "a stopover for the weary and thirsty, an inn for passersby, and, for a time, served the officers and men of the Continental Army," according to the Bernardsville Public Library's Web site, www.bernardsvillelibrary.org.
Phyllis Parker, a barmaid, was the daughter of tavern owner Capt. John Parker, Jecas said. According to legend, Phyllis fell in love with Dr. Byram, a patron who was hanged for being a British spy.
Jecas said the story goes that Phyllis saw the body of Dr. Byram and went crazy. Ever since her death, she's haunted the building, which housed the Bernardsville Library for more than 90 years.
Jecas isn't the only person who has tried to find Phyllis. Jecas said ghost hunting fascinates many people because "a lot of people want to see it for themselves."
Famed psychic Jane Doherty investigated the old library, according to previous reports. It is listed in the book "Haunted Places: A National Directory." There is a book about Phyllis in the library, Brodsky said. Eileen Johnston, a member of the library's local history committee, wrote "Phyllis ? The Library Ghost?"
Jecas said he's holding his ghost hunting event Jan. 5 because that's near the anniversary of when Phyllis' lover was killed. Anniversaries of traumatic events are a prime time for spiritual sightings, he said.
"We'll see what we see," Jecas said about the overnight search in the building, which now holds offices. They'll also be listening for creaks and other unusual sounds.
There have been reports of the sound of a woman weeping for her beloved in the old library's meeting room and public reading area.
Karen Brodsky, director of the Bernardsville Public Library, knows of one "credible" person who has claimed to have seen Phyllis.
The director has never personally seen the ghost during her five-year tenure in Bernardsville. She has only worked in the new building, which is across the parking lot from old library, one of the oldest buildings in Somerset County.
Brodsky said jokingly, "If someone had seen her, I would fill out an instant report. . . . If the ghost attempted to check out materials without a valid card, I might intervene."
http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl ... S/71219004
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