Trying to find the name of a movie from early 1970s where a couple
build a house on the grounds of an olg gallows.  A woman who was hung
there for stealing food to feed her children haunts them.  She appears
in the mirrors and laughs.  At the end of the movie she is inside
their new baby making her menacing laugh.  Can you help?

Your movie is "Ghost Story" (also known as "Double Play"), a TV movie
which was adapted in 1972 from two episodes of a TV series. The TV
series, known by the names "Ghost Story" and "Circle of Fear," was
hosted by Sebastian Cabot. The pilot episode of the series, "The New
House," is what you are remembering. The young couple were Barbara
Parkins and David Birney, and Jeanette Nolan played the vengeful
ghost.

"A woman wonders if it was a good idea to move into a house built
where gallows used to sit. Not as chilling as some would like but
still well done with an ending that?s reminiscent of fingers on a
blackboard. Parkins is perfectly cast as the whining wife. Strange
though that the haunting starts after she buys a statue which looks
like the ghost in question. Yet, for some reason, she doesn?t even
consider getting rid of it."

Magus Television Anthologies: Ghost Story / Circle of Fear
http://www.ethereal.net/~magusxxx/anthology/television/ghoststory/ghoststory.htm

"A young couple (Parkins and Birney) move into a home that is haunted
by a girl who had been hanged there many years ago and vowed never to
be evicted from the site."

Internet Movie Database: Ghost Story
http://imdb.com/title/tt0146793/

"THE NEW HOUSE (pilot) 
 17Mar72 
(shown as half of the NBC TV movie "Double Play")
A young family purchases a house that is standing on a site where an
innocent woman was unjustly hanged. The woman's spirit eventually
takes over the family's newborn daughter."

WebSpawner: Ghost Story / Circle of Fear
http://www.webspawner.com/users/tazonline/ghost.html

My search strategy was simplified by the fact that the plot was very
familiar, and I racked my brain until I recalled that Barbara Parkins
had played the woman. Once I remembered this, a Google search led me
to the details of the film:

Google Web Search: "barbara parkins" gallows
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22barbara+parkins%22+gallows

I hope this is precisely what you need! If not, please request
clarification, and I'll gladly resume the quest.

Best regards,
pinkfreud