History & local legend
Vicary Mansion in Freedom has accumulated stories about a sealed bridal chamber, a secret tunnel to the river, and a haunting. Researcher Roger Applegate examined these traditions for Beaver County's Milestones journal and found that some had been circulating since the nineteenth century.
The bridal-room tale claimed a lavish bedroom remained closed for forty years after Captain William Vicary's death in 1842. But in an 1899 interview, Vicary's granddaughter Anna Harvey rejected the story. She believed it had grown from memories of the family's large four-poster bed and its white curtains.
Applegate also examined the proposed river tunnel. Work around the foundation revealed no entrance, and the basement walls showed no sign of one. He found no firsthand ghost account among the volunteers he consulted.
