The Pink Hill Legend

In Chenango County, New York, there's an old hotel located at the corners of County Road 12 and Route 26. It started out as a hotel where dances were held and was later a store and post office, before being converted into apartments. In front of the building is a sign with the following:

PINK HILL LEGEND - ZELLA DROFF WAS MURDERED IN 1870S BY HUSBAND FOR ATTENDING DANCES HERE AT FORMER PITCHER HOTEL. HER GHOST RETURNS TO TRAVELERS ON PINK HILL ROAD.

The marker was sponsored by the New York Folklore Society and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation in 2018. The Pomeroy Foundation's website explains "the legend".

According to the legend, the story began in 1870, when a middle-aged farmer named Ezra Droff married a young woman named Zella, who was only about 18 years old. He was old enough to be her father, and he acted like it too. Zella was prohibited from participating in picnics, socials, and dances. Young Stella, though, yearning for excitement, would sneak out at night to attend dances at the Pitcher Hotel after her husband fell asleep.

One night, Ezra awoke in the middle of the night and discovered she was gone. He sat and waited for her to return and when she did, he ended her life with a butcher knife. Nothing more is known of Ezra Droff or his fate. The legend claims his home was abandoned with all its contents.

The legend goes on when years later, a traveling salesman went to stay at the Pitcher Hotel. Set among beautiful rolling hills, the salesman was driving along the country roads when he saw a beautiful young girl walking. He stopped the car to talk to her and was surprised to hear she was headed to the Pitcher Hotel for a dance. He offered her a ride and in return, she offered him a dance. Naturally, he agreed. He took a turquoise shell comb from his case and gently placed it in her hair, a token of his admiration. When the night was over, he drove her back to the same spot where he first saw her. She insisted she could walk the remainder of the way home.

The next day, Zella was still on the salesman's mind. He drove out to the road where he met her and tried to find her home, but he only saw an abandoned house and a cemetery. Confused, he went back to the hotel where the clerk told him the story of Zella's murder. He explained that she is buried in Pink Hill Cemetery. The salesman couldn't believe it. He had spoken to her, given her a ride - twice! And he had danced with her! He drove to the cemetery in disbelief and there he saw it - her tombstone. As he approached it, he saw something familiar - the turquoise shell comb sitting on the stone.

I'm all for local history, so I was eager to share this story. First, I tried to find news articles to corroborate the story. I couldn't find any news articles containing the names Ezra or Zella Droff and I couldn't find them on the census or cemetery records, so I'm not sure this legend is a true one. I did find one story of a murder in Pitcher, though. The tragedy happened in July of 1931 on Pink Hill. A middle aged man shot his wife after she locked him out of the house for coming home drunk. (Cincinnatus Review, July 10, 1931, front page).

Pink Hill was named after the Pink family, some of whom are buried in Pink Hill Cemetery. I visited the cemetery out of curiousity to see if there were any Groff burials there, but unfortunately most of the stones are too worn to read. Nothing further has been found. If you have knowledge of this story, please share!