Tug Hill Annie

Like many towns, Montague, NY has their very own local legend. This one involves a young woman who died in a fatal car accident. Anna Joan Machowski was born on February 2, 1917. Her life wasn't exactly a fairytale but little did she know, her death would be the fuel of legend and rumors for years to come. At the age of 24, she married a man named Alfred and gave birth to four children. Her marriage wasn't always the happiest and she often drowned her sorrows in alcohol.

On June 14th, 1954, she and friend, Jan Winiarski, jumped in to Jan's 1949 Studebaker truck and drove to Barnes Corners to purchase wine. With Anna at the wheel, they sped along Sears Pond Road. She raced towards a curve. An onlooker watched in fear they wouldn't make it and he would be right. The truck went off the road and flipped several times until coming to a rest upright on its wheels. The witness raced to the scene. When he arrived, he found Anna's body lying next to the wrecked truck, her head completely severed six inches from her body. Jan walked away from the crash bruised and in total shock.

Shortly after the accident, reports began to surface about a female ghost seen walking along Sears Pond Road. The legend grew and by 1960, Anna was being referred as "Tug Hill Annie". As with any legend, facts become buried among piles of rumors. Apparitions have been seen along State Route 177 and often associated with Anna despite the fact that the physical description doesn't match her and that State Route 177 is miles away from the crash site. One local paranormal investigation group decided to put the legend to rest once and for all.

Northern Paranormal Society led by David J. and Kimberly A. Andalora investigated the crash site in Autumn 2008. They expected to find nothing but their investigations have turned up pictures with mysterious mist, personal accounts of strange lights/sounds and EVPs. With the help of medium Danyelle Barrett of Amsterdam, they performed a "crossing over" ceremony on Sept. 20th after the first investigation. The Andaloras feel their mission was successful. Anna is now resting in peace on the other side. Their second investigation was performed on Oct. 3rd, 2009. They reported no personal accounts, EVPs, or abnormalities in photos.

Personally, I don't think this absolutely proves Anna, if she is or was haunting Sears Pond Road, has crossed over. Some ghost hunters can investigate a haunted location and pick up nothing on their equipment while others at the same location discover tons of evidence. Is it possible the ceremony worked and she indeed moved on? Of course but the answer will only be revealed in time.

Comments

Mike Clark said…
Nice blog. I found you in my google search. Keep up the good work.
12:30 AM
Andrea Allison said…
Thank you for stopping by!
12:30 AM
Anonymous said…
A group of us went up to the general location of the accident on the anniversary date 2010. I dont think the crossing over worked.
12:58 PM
Anonymous said…
I heard of one of a sighting when they saw her carrying a birthday cake. Can you tell me if she had one of her children in the car... or if it was Jan's birthday at the day?
7:08 PM
Mike said…
I hear she is at rest? she not even there anymore
6:54 AM
Anonymous said…
I've been around the tug hill region, specifically montague, NY, for most of my life. A friend of mine told me a story of when he was out coyote hunting at night alone. Apparently he heard a sound like two metal pipes being hit together twice, "bink bink" is what he said it sounded like. He said he would hear it every five to ten minutes, not being able to see it with a spot light and notknowing what is was, he shouted, "who's there?" Obviously there was no answer, but he said the sounds kept coming closer. He got scared and started to run and right before he got to his camp, the sound stopped. I always thought it was a joke, until i stepped out behind my camp one night to take a whiz and heard the same sound.I immediatley went back inside and got my family, but when we went back outside the sound was gone. Much of tug hill is a wild place, and i'm not saying that it was a ghost, but theres deffinatley something up there in the woods. My friend had another story about hearing an old car pull up to his camp, and when he went up there, nothing was there. I can't confirm this story, but i don't doubt it either.
3:36 PM
Anonymous said…
None of her children were in the car. Her four children are my Aunt and Uncles.
12:35 AM
Ronald Eberts said…
I own the curve and have a camp there by the creek on that property. The big stone that she hit was recently pushed farther into my woods due to the fact that many have imbibed too much and crashed into it--I have found many pieces of cars and snowmobiles around the rock over the past 20 years after the winter season. funny story though is that I put 2 small solar lights in my camp --one over the outhouse and one on my shed and have had people stop and claim we scared the crap out of them when they saw the lights at night while driving by when I wasn't there. also it gets kind of crazy when people go looking for her when im trying to be up there for the peace. My little cabin used to be hidden in the woods and unknown or seen until 3 years ago when my other half wanted it landscaped and beautified and is now clear around the cabin for all to see. But I have never seen Annie in almost 30 years of going there--strange sounds yes --but hey ---it is the woods after all
8:45 PM
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