Case file · Haunting
Harpers Ferry ghosts
John Brown's raid of October 1859 and the Civil War fighting that followed left Harpers Ferry with a large stock of ghost lore, including the ghost of Dangerfield Newby, a raider killed in the street.
1859 CE · 39.32, -77.73 · status: legend
The account
Newby, a freed man, joined the raid hoping to free his wife and children, who were still enslaved in Virginia. He was among the first raiders killed. Local ghost tours tell of a figure in a slouch hat in 'Hog Alley'. The town's role in the war (it changed hands repeatedly) feeds many other stories.
The sceptical view
The stories are local tradition, much of it gathered or shaped for ghost tours. No documented investigation exists.