Phyllis, Bernardsville Library's Ghost

Bernardsville Public Library, formerly housed in the Vealtown Tavern on Route 202, is famous for its ghost Phyllis Parker. As legend has it, Phyllis, the innkeeper’s daughter, fell in love with a doctor who was revealed to be a British spy. She reportedly went mad when she learned he had been hanged, and has haunted the building ever since. Learn what we do and don’t know about Phyllis, historical background, and sightings in a program in the newer Bernardsville Library building at 1 Anderson Hill Road on Saturday, October 8 at 2:00 pm. Readers Services Manager Pat Kennedy-Grant and volunteers from our Local History Room will answer your questions. It’s all part of the Library’s One Book Bernardsville series of programs in October which will celebrate ghosts all month and focus on the short story, “The Ghost of Canterville” by Oscar Wilde.

The Local History Room will be open for visitors after the talk. In it are a multi-media collection of historical paraphernalia, including photographs, postcards, family histories, newspaper articles, old medicine bottles, crockery and other treasures found in people’s attics and files. Inquiries are regularly received from people far and wide searching for information about ancestors, obituaries, Bernardsville history, or even famous local estates. Often, items are donated to Local History by people who come across things by happenstance and want to insure that they are preserved. Local History volunteers meet in the library twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday, from 1:00 to 4:00 pm and are available to answer questions or provide assistance during those hours.

There is no charge to attend the program on Phyllis, but advance sign-up is requested. Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org and follow the link from Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.