The Albino Lady

Not to long ago my sister-in-law, Bonnie and her daughter, my niece Sherry had stopped by.  They told me that they read my blog and mentioned that I should do an article on the Albino Lady.  Now I had long forgotten the legend of the Albino Lady, which I probably heard from Bonnie in the first place. I was reminded of this conversation from a Facebook page on You Know your from Catasauqua or North Catasauqua if you remember.  I was told if you walked through the old train tunnel  she would chase you.   Later it was mentioned that she was on Canal Road, which I confirmed with my friend Cathy. 

After I got done talking with Cathy, Parke says to me, we had a similiar urban legend which kind of combines with another urban legend "The Hook" , except the foul play was done by an Albino family that lived in Richland.   So where are all these albinos in the legends and where do these legends come from?

In the early 1800s, the White Lady and her daughter were supposed to have lived on the land where the Durand Eastman Park -- part of Irondequoit and Rochester  -- now stands. One day, the daughter disappeared. Convinced that the girl had been raped and murdered by a local farmer, the mother searched the marshy lands day after day, trying to discover where her child's body was buried. She took with her two German shepherd dogs to aid in her search, but she never found a trace of her daughter. Finally, in her grief, the mother threw herself off a cliff into lake Ontario and died.   After death, the mother's spirit returned to continue the search for her child. People say that on foggy nights, the White Lady rises from the small Durand Lake which faces Lake Ontario.


Another story from Topeka, Kansas has her as being a real lady who being an Albino came out at night and walked the country roads near her house.  Once spotted by some teenagers looking for a secluded spot, she became the goal of  nights out.  After been sought after by many a drunk teenager she was taken away by her family, but legend grew and still it is said that her ghost roams the northern parts of Topeka.


Further legend from the Rochester Cemetary  in Topeka -  The legend goes that there was this lady who lived nearby this cemetary. She was shunned from society (mainly by kids who loved to poke-fun at her.) She never came out during the day because the sun touching her sensitive skin could cause serious pain; so she mainly walked and roamed during the night. It was like this until she died.

Sometime in between 1980-1990 this took place. A teenage couple decides to park in the cemetery .  They went on until they heard a laugh, cackle..etc. The girl looks up and sees this white Albino lady peering in through the window of the car. The boy tries to start the car...but fails to do so. I doubt the following is true....but supposedly the Lady took this to her advantage, ripping the roof of the car off....followed by the head of the girl...which she them proceeds to give this new treasure to her ghostly pooch. (reports have gone from a collie to a poodle...to a pitbull.) The car starts...and the boy drives off with the headless body of his once significant other.

Closer to home is Ghost Mountain (Buckwampum, Bucks County) According to the Lenni-Lenape legends, Buckwampum Hill  (known by locals as Ghost Mountain) was the site of the final showdown between the Indians and the mammoths of old. More recent urban legends have placed albino cannibals on Ghost Mountain.  One is even supposed to live in a glass house on the hill, and will give chase if you get too close to his house.

So I have an albino woman, albino family and now albino cannibals.  Why? Well with all things misunderstood comes stories.

Albinism is a cogenital disorder characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to absence or defect of an enzyme involved in the production of melanin.  Lack of skin pigmentation makes the person more susceptible to sunburn and skin cancers, thus the roaming at night.

If the Albino Lady of Catasauqua ever existed, I do not know, but it makes for a good story.  And if ever on a dark stormy night, on your way back from an Iron Pigs game,  your car breaks down on Canal Road;  should hear a tap tap tapping or perhaps a scratching don't look because....it's another day in Catasauqua.