Ghost story: The haunting of a Staten Island catering hall by the ‘lady in the portrait’

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Bubbly conversation and clinking glassware sounds generally play in the backdrop at The Historic Old Bermuda Inn. Although sometimes at the Rossville catering hall, rumors of its resident ghost slip into the lively chatter.

“It’s the spirit of Martha Mersereau, they say. She’s the lady in the portrait,” offers Cindy Brennan, the Old Bermuda’s general manager.

Mersereau once lived in the antebellum-period mansion around which the modern structure is built, Brennan explains.

According to Advance records, Mersereau died in her home in 1860. Depending on the source, her husband’s name varies: it could be Peter, John or William. But anecdotal accounts are in accord: the lady of the house suffered from a broken heart when her man never returned from the Civil War.

With that nugget of history, a haunting tale begins on Staten Island.

An archived Advance article notes, “Stories have been told of seeing the young woman walking through dining areas and appearing on the stairs. Some say that you can feel as though she is there watching over you. Cold wind and shattering lights are just some of the things that witnesses have reported.”

As per CitySignal.com, some thing purloined items from the kitchen. Past guests and staff claim witness to a woman peering down from an upstairs window.

In the past few decades, Brennan says paranormal experts have camped out in the Inn overnight. She’s watched ghost busters hunt for cold spots, physical phenomena supposedly connected to the ethereal.

One account by GhostQuestUSA on YoutTube lists Old Bermuda Inn as Number 10 on its list of “Top 13 Most Haunted Places on Staten Island.”

Its narrator prattles, “Her spirit is often seen by guests throughout the Inn especially on the second floor in the bedroom where she died. Workers performing renovations on the Inn also report…