In 1886, 18-year-old kitchen worker Matilda 'Tillie' Smith was raped and murdered near campus; janitor James Titus was convicted and confessed — her ghost is said to haunt the dormitories
400 Jefferson Street, Hackettstown, NJ 07840
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Campus is generally open to visitors for self-guided walks. Theater productions and special events may be ticketed.
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Wheelchair OK
Flat campus grounds with paved walkways.
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Photos OK
Est. 1867 · Site of the 1886 murder of Matilda 'Tillie' Smith — widely covered Victorian-era criminal case · James Titus convicted and confessed; case documented in contemporary NJ press · Centenary Stage Company productions memorializing the case · Reader's Digest listing among ten most haunted colleges in America
Centenary Collegiate Institute opened in 1867 in Hackettstown, Warren County, as a Methodist-affiliated college preparatory school. By the mid-1880s it enrolled several hundred students and maintained a domestic staff that included kitchen workers and janitors.
On the morning of April 9, 1886, the body of 18-year-old Matilda 'Tillie' Smith was discovered in a field behind the campus. She had last been seen alive the previous evening. Post-mortem examination established that she had been raped and strangled. The crime generated immediate press coverage and significant community alarm.
Suspicion fell on James Titus, a campus janitor. Titus was arrested, tried, and convicted of murder. The case was contested — Titus initially maintained his innocence — but he eventually provided a confession. He was sentenced and served time in state prison. The Tillie Smith case attracted coverage from papers in New York, Philadelphia, and across New Jersey, making it one of the most widely reported criminal cases in the state's Victorian-era history.
The campus continued to operate through the 20th century, transitioning from a preparatory school to a full four-year institution. It is now known as Centenary University. Centenary Stage Company, the university's professional theater company, has produced work exploring the Tillie Smith case and its resonance in New Jersey memory. Reader's Digest listed Centenary among the ten most haunted colleges in America, a distinction tied directly to the 1886 murder and subsequent ghost reports.
Sources
The haunting tradition at Centenary is anchored in a documented historical crime rather than vague atmospheric suggestion. Tillie Smith was a real person — an 18-year-old kitchen worker murdered in a field behind the campus on April 9, 1886. Her killer, James Titus, was convicted and confessed. The specificity of the crime, the victim's age, and the campus setting created the conditions for a persistent haunting tradition.
Weird NJ documented student and staff reports describing Tillie's apparition in the dormitory corridors, usually characterized by period dress and a sudden appearance and disappearance in hallways during evening hours. Additional reports place a female presence near the stage areas of the performing arts building. The campus's long institutional history — continuous operation since 1867 — means the buildings have cycled through multiple generations of student occupancy, each accumulating its own layer of accounts.
Centenary Stage Company's decision to produce work memorializing the Tillie Smith case brought the 1886 murder back into campus discourse in 2017, as documented by BroadwayWorld New Jersey. The production engaged with the historical record of the crime and its aftermath, giving contemporary students and audiences direct exposure to the case's details.
Reader's Digest named Centenary among the ten most haunted colleges in America in a national ranking that drew on the combination of documented violent history and sustained paranormal reporting. The Tillie Smith case remains the most frequently cited source for that designation.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Self-guided walk of the Centenary University campus, which has operated continuously since 1867. The grounds include buildings dating to the 19th century, and interpretive context for the 1886 Tillie Smith case is available through local historical resources. Campus exterior accessible to visitors.
Centenary Stage Company, the university's professional theater, has produced work memorializing the Tillie Smith case and its legacy. Ticketed productions run seasonally at the Sitnik Theatre.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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