The Damned Story: One of the best-known specters in the area is the Green Lady of Burlington, said to haunt Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery in rural Burlington. She allegedly appears to startled visitors as a green mist, which becomes the clearly defined shape of a woman in a green dress, who then gives an otherworldly smile before dematerializing just as quickly.
Of course, in addition to the question of her genuine existence, the Green Lady’s origins and identity have also been subject of debate.
The cemetery itself dates back to at least the 18th century, and over time, a number of the stones have either fallen over or been worn smooth by the elements. One of the only gravestones left standing (although it’s not the original stone) is that of Elisabeth Palmiter, who died in 1800 at the age of 30, and is believed by some to be the Green Lady.
The tale of Elisabeth’s transformation into the Green Lady more or less goes like this: after her husband Benjamin didn’t return from a trip to town when expected, Elisabeth went out into a terrible storm to find him, and then tragically drowned in a nearby swamp during the search. Some people have questioned the story and wonder if Benjamin may have murdered her and covered up his heinous deed with the drowning alibi. Evidence for either story is fragmented; regardless of exactly what caused her demise, she supposedly has been roaming the damned earth for centuries.
As with any allegedly haunted area, there’s also other events accompanying the story of the Green Lady, including reports of other spirits being seen (such as Benjamin Parmiter searching for Elisabeth with a lantern) and curiosity seekers meeting bad ends.
Maybe not so coincidentally, the whole history of the Seventh Day Baptists in Burlington (including the Parmiters) is said to be fraught with misfortune and death — and it’s possible many of the group may have succumbed to smallpox. They left the area in the early 19th century for upstate New York.
As the Green Lady’s fame has grown, she has been investigated by the Warrens and chronicled in Legendary Connecticut. Barry Dillinger of Creepy Connecticut also offers a detailed investigation of the Green Lady, and dispells some of the myths associated with the site. He does claim, however, that he was able to capture an EVP of a young woman humming music.
The Green Lady has also allegedly been spotted at nearby Lamson Corner Cemetery, located at the junction of Route 69 and Scoville Road.
Our Damned Experience: We have yet to step out with the Green Lady, but hope to soon.
If You Go: The Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery is located on Upson Road in Burlington. Due to vandalism, “No Trepassing” signs abound and the grounds are not open to the public; if you are interested in visiting, you have to request permission from the town. Trespassers will be arrested.
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18 comments
ive made many many trips to green lady( as it was the next town over) and never found anything….even before you needed town permission
There is no actual historical evidence to suggest Elisabeth Palmiter was murdered, or drowned. The claim is an insult to her and her husband’s memory. This story was told by a summer camp guide, several decades ago. It was all for “shits and giggles” to scare some kids. What is unfortunate is the fact that these rumors have most likely resulted in a great deal of increased curiosity about the cemetery and many more visitors, some of whom have AXED ALL THE GRAVES down to about six inches above the ground, except for one (Elisabeth’s-which has now been stolen), spray painted on the graves, and littered things like dirty condoms, broken glass, plastic, and all other types of garbage at these people’s grave sites. Well done people. I am not trying to discourage having fun and partying, but there is no need to DESTROY THESE GRAVE SITES and throw your garbage everywhere in the process!!! The whole thing is a classic example of a rumor being blown out of proportion. I am sure that we all would not like to have OUR family’s grave sites be a dumping place, where people shatter their bottles, and dump their McDonald’s cups. Of course, the town could also put a garbage can there, but they have failed to. Children and animals can be seriously injured from broken glass. There are rivers nearby with ducks, otters and other animals, that can die from ingesting loose plastic. Aluminum and plastic are carcinogens when leeched into the soil & water. Please show some respect, and you can certainly still have your fun in the process.
the link:http://www.curbstone.org/index.cfm?webpage=111, is no longer relevant.
Went there last night with a friend. He caught orbs on his camera. I thought nothing of it. We went to two other spots that night, no orbs. That caught my attention. We went back again, no orbs. Pretty strange!
I will add that I know all the woods in town really well, and the woods behind the cemetary are very creepy looking and swampy.
Been by this place a hundred times both day and night… never seen a thing i would consider odd or vaguely scary.most locals will tell you the same.
Wonderful cemetery. No ghosts, but a great ghost story.
I filmed my visit in fabulous HD which brings out the lush, green of the wetlands. Please check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki9TsHNgcLU
Me and my team The Ghost P.I.T. Did the Green Lady Cemetery. We where a group of 6 and got the OK from Burlington police department to be there from 11PM to 3AM. Are we picked up one EVP which was nothing to brag about but we had this one amazing photo which I rather not talk about but some how it got deleted off my laptop and I tried different software to get it back but know luck. I made us jump out of our seat when we saw the photo. Makes us want to go back for more :-).. The road at this time is blocked off but u can go around it careful. u can only get in throw the way where Camp Shade is. I made it in with my car but i did complete bottom out and got very small damage under my car but o’well. the other was is much easier to get in but u need a truck b/c after the hurricane hit the road washed away and there is a huge hole across the whole road that a car cant not pass threw. If you have a facebook check out are work so far. http://www.facebook.com/The.Ghost.PIT
Oh Jeez…I grew up in Burlington (and Harwinton). I have been here a million times. This place is so far from haunted it’s ridiculous. There aren’t even any stones left. It’s very small and unremarkable. The road is NOT closed off. Maybe it was for a little while after the hurricane, but I was just there a couple weeks ago on a joy ride. The only thing keeping you out is a stone wall about two feet high. I agree the woods behind the cemetery are creepy, but most wooded areas are. I did however (once) see weird things at the camp right at the end of the road. Someone standing in the window, and it being opened, then as we leave it’s now closed even though at the time the camp had been closed for years (when I was a teen). But, with all the “green lady” hype, it was probably teenagers or squatters. As far as “Elisabeth Palmiter”, her name and story have changed so much through the years you can’t believe a bit of it.
We have been living in Burlington for7 years and just heard of the green lady cemetary so of course we needed to check it out. They just did some grading on the road so you can easily drive down Upson. I would never go at night too creepy. I did go during the day today and we saw the swamps before the cemetary and like others have said it was hard to even tell it was a cemetary as all the stones were really low. The creepiest thing to me was the deserted camp shade at the end of the road. This place looked like a ghost town. Everything is the way it was years ago, basketball hoops so old and roofs of the cabins with much debris on them. Seems so weird it is like it is frozen in time. I was more interested in finding out more about the old camp which had a sign which said boys and girls club of New Britain. My research regarding this old camp continues
I heard her stonne was stolen
Oh I could write a book on this place with all of my experiences! It’s a great place to ghost hunt. Be careful when you go though because of cops. We mainly stay in the car, and most of what we experience takes place in the woods across from the graveyard. So that’s where we park. Apparitions, orbs that aren’t dust or water, voices, mist, etc. The best time to go is when there’s a thunderstorm or rain. Even the night after a storm works well. Awesome awesome place!
I got proof no lie I went with my friend and it was dead dark no light. I really do swear. I got a pic of my friends gf with a crazy orb on her leg if someone tells me how I’ll post a pic it really creepy
Green lady is an interesting place i got to say. It’s always a good time weather you experience anything or not. I swear once a long time ago, i went with my friend Rick and at one point i saw something strange in a tree (big tree @ that) so i pointed it out to Rick. Way up in the crotch (ha ha crotch!) of the tree is what appears to be a silhouette of a woman standing on the limb in what looks like wearing a dress, tattered along the bottom. We stared for a long while, frozen almost, we looked at each other, ran in the car and tore off like bats out’a hell! I returned the next day and i could clearly see what we mistaken for a woman. weeks later went at night with another friend. As i was laughing it off explaining to her the mysterious image we saw, we heard a loud howling sound, so we thought at first and turned in to a mad laughing woman! it clearly sounded like a human laugh coming from the woods directly behind the cemetery. IT was crazy but the only time i ever experienced anything paranormal there.
I recently moved here from Alaska. I am staying right down the road from this cemetery so when I heard it was haunted I had to check it out. I have gone a total of 5 times and each time I recorded and captured multiple Evps of voices and other strange noises that sound like voices. I also captured a white mist with what looks like a face. And took a picture in the dark with no flash and it appears in the photo to have multiple faces looking at me. A few with distinct eyes nose jaw line and hair line. I don’t always get a odd feeling but on 2 occasions I got sudden heavy feelings and feelings of intense emotion and fatigue and a feeling similar to injesting to much caffeine. When I was standing over one if the graves I captured what sounds like a faint “stop it. Get away”. The clearest one I got is when I announced the my brother was coming in, I hope that’s okay, and got a very clear very enunciated “he better”. Maybe it depends on the person and their personality weather or not they are able to make contact. I’m sure the spirits choose who they do and don’t communicate with. Go check it out for yourself I guess and open your mind to it before trying. I did not however capture anything involving Elizabeth or how she may have died. If I do I will post it because I will return.
I lived in harwinton for about 15 years went there a few times. Back in the1990’s I heard that devil worshipers would practice in the woods across the dirt road from green lady. That may account for some of the activity.
Honestly, i can’t tell you how many times i’ve been on upson road. after a while, it actually gets old. it’s extremely creepy at night when you turn all your lights off in your car, but that’s about it. we never saw anything paranormal. the creepiest thing though is camp shade, i’d really like to find out about that. the only story i have from the green lady is around the 10th time i went there, my friend was driving and she was doing a k turn to go back down upson road. there were four of us in the car and at the same time we all noticed the same streetlight, and that streetlight was not on (it was around midnight so it should have been on) and we all mentioned that the streetlight was out. just as we mentioned it, the streetlight popped on. it was pretty creepy but that was the only weird thing that has happened to me there. there’s never any cops and the road is never closed. i do want to check out the camp though.
FYI, there are generally cops checking out the road to make sure no one is doing anything bad. You are not suppose to be there after dark without the proper permission. As for camp shade, I do not believe it is haunted. I’ve never heard anything about it, or felt anything. Please do not go in there without permission. It gives us paranormal investigators a bad name. Just a heads up. Sorry if that sounds rude, not trying to be!
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