Strange new england
His daughter Arathuza died childless at the age of sixty-four . His son William Jr . grew to manhood and married . His mother , Silence Dale Hayden , still living in Albany , died in 1872 at ninety-four . This was the end of the first generations of the Hayden family curse . William Jr . married and started a family of his own but was bewildered as his wife , Azubah , gave birth to all daughters . Finally , the fifth child , William Henry , was born , and he was sure that the now decades-old curse was nothing more than a bunch of bunk perpetuated by unfortunate coincidence .
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William Henry ( known as Henry ) became successful in business , building a great house with a suspended ballroom on the top floor to entertain the socialites of the day . Will and Azubah ’ s five children — Henry , Julia , Mary , Azubah and Alvina — marked the third generation of William Sr . Hayden ’ s family , the target of Mercie ’ s curse . That was when the curse took its final hold on the Haydens . All of Will and Azubah ’ s children either died young or failed to produce male heirs . The only son , Henry , began to exhibit signs of insanity yet managed to marry , having three girls and one son . All of them died without producing another generation of Haydens , his son dying in 1871 at the tender age of five .
William Jr . grew old and feeble , watching the family fortune erode under the unstable Henry ’ s control , the last male heir of the family name . Henry died in 1910 of a cerebral hemorrhage . The last person of the family lineage alive was his daughter Armenia Mamie Hayden . On February 20 , 1927 , she died poverty-stricken , unmarried and alone , thus ending the Hayden name and fulfilling the family curse . The old mansion still exists and is now a private residence . There are stories and accounts for the possibility of it being haunted , but they may just be stories to accompany the impetus of the curse . Subsequent owners have attested that there is nothing paranormal within the mansion , which may strengthen the curse ’ s power that wiped out the Hayden family forever , including their ghosts .
LENNY K .
VTMAG . COM FALL 2021 47