Mad Massachusetts

[Mighty_Emperor]

Easton's eerie past explored at NRT Spooky Nights

By Paula Vogler/ Correspondent
Friday, October 15, 2004

The fact that Easton is an historical community rich with stories of its founders and architects of buildings is a well-documented fact. What may not be so well known is the fact that, at least according to some, Easton also has a past that some might consider falls into the realm of the supernatural.

Are the Moth Man and Bigfoot who purportedly stalk the Hockomock Swamp fact or fiction? Do you believe the eyewitness accounts of Thankful Buck, an Easton resident and reputed witch, or Fred Ames, who, by many reports, continues to haunt the grounds of the Stonehill College Campus? Did the Devil actually leave his footprints on the Center School Grounds?

Presentations and perhaps an appearance or two by those involved in these strange occurrences will be shared at NRT's first Spooky Nights being held on Friday, Oct. 22 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. If you are curious about these and other legends of Easton, NRT's Sheep Pasture is the place for you to be on that night.

Historical Commission member Ed Hands is coordinating the effort to bring some of these little known stories to life as part of a fund-raiser for the NRT. Hands has researched many of the stories that are reported in "Chaffin's History of Easton" published in 1880 as well as the more recent sightings.

Hands said that Thankful Buck was a real person who lived in Easton in the 1800s who practiced witchcraft and foretold the future. She was known for a black cat that was reported to be her "familiar," a spirit that attends or serves a witch, usually in an animal form.

The story is told of neighbors who threw a rock at the black cat, hitting it in the head. The next day, Buck was seen sporting an eye patch.

"She also made a neighbor's hay wagon stop in front of her house," said Hands. "The horse wouldn't move until Thankful called a black cat out from under the wagon."

Hand's also said that Thankful's husband wasn't immune from her witchcraft. After he had returned from the store without what she had sent him to pick up, Thankful was said to have cast a spell that wouldn't let her husband cross the threshold of their home until he went to the store to retrieve what she wanted.

Another well-known name is the subject of the Blue Mist legend. Fred Ames died in a plane crash and is said to appear always surrounded by a blue aura in the dorms and rooms on Stonehill's campus. Tradition has it that Ames crashed on the campus site but Hands said that is not true.

"He actually crashed in Randolph," said Hands. "His gravestone has a picture of the plane on it."

Some say that the legend began soon after the school began using new streetlights on campus. Instead of the old-fashioned yellow lights, these lights turn a fog blue. Hands disputed that reasoning saying that sightings have been documented before the change over to the new streetlights.

"The kids' story is that (the apparition) is a guy without his arm who stalks the Stonehill campus looking for his missing body part," said Hands.

Hands said the real story from the early 1960s involved a person dressed in an aviator uniform who made appearances in the dorms, scaring people. "It was a faceless ghost but it had all its body parts," Hands said. "It's the kind of ghost story that's hard to dismiss because its been reported by multiple persons."

Another more modern ghost appearance that is not recorded in Chaffin's book is the so-called Lady in White. This legend began in the last 50 years and her most famous appearance at the Wheaton House on Bay Road was reported in a major Boston newspaper in the 1970s.

"Someone driving down Bay Rd. saw a woman carrying a lantern," said Hands. "She walked into the carriage house without opening the door."

According to Hands, the lady also made other appearances at the house according to people that lived there. A young girl arriving home from school heard someone whistling "Yankee Doodle Dandy".

"She searched the house but the song was always in the next room," Hands said. "Other passersby have seen the lady standing in the window above the front door."

Another story spread through town is that of a visit by the Devil himself, an 18th century story used to explain the abundance of rocks scattered in the fields around town.

"He popped out of the ground with an apron full of rocks and went around town dispersing the rocks," said Hands.

Whether these stories are fact or fiction, only you can decide but a visit to the Spooky Nights program may help you make that decision. Registration for the program is ongoing and should there be rain, the program will run Saturday night instead.

Cost of the program is per person for members and per person for non-members. The program is considered suitable for children ages 8 and above. To register or for more information, call 508-238-6049 or sign up at the NRT office.

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Spooky Nights

WHEN: Friday, Oct. 22, 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: Carriage House, Sheep Pasture

http://www2.townonline.com/easton/artsLifestyle/view.bg?articleid=104292

 

[TheQuixote]

Bizarre Berkshires: tales spooky and otherwise
By Joe Durwin - October, 27 2004

Most residents of Berkshire County know that nestled in the scenic wooded hills of Western Massachusetts is an area heavily steeped in history and culture. But it should also perhaps not come as too much of a surprise that a place that has been host to such wild imaginations as those of Herman Melville, Edith Wharton and even Nathaniel Hawthorne should also be quite rich in odd stories, anomalies, and downright bizarre lore. Some of it goes back centuries; other tales have surfaced quite recently.

In the early days of our nation, the town of Cheshire was well known for its delicious cheese. So when Thomas Jefferson was elected president in 1800, Elder John Leland, pastor of Cheshire’s Baptist Church and a passionate supporter of Jefferson’s anti-Federalist politics, proposed to the people of Cheshire that a massive wheel of cheese be made to send to the new president as a gift. Leland found considerable local support for this idea, and farmers donated an impressive yield to the effort, resulting finally in a wheel estimated to be roughly 900 pounds. The cheese was stored at the cider mill of one Captain Brown, in preparation for shipping.

Now, at the same time, according to legend, there lived on Mount Greylock an old Indian medicine man by the name of Hokaposset. This old shaman was viewed with much trepidation by locals, who attributed vast powers to him, including the power to kill a stag merely by pointing a rifle at it and to cause mysterious deaths to befall his enemies. The old native sorcerer, as the story goes, had but one living relative, his granddaughter, Shonoma, also known as “Humming Bird.” Humming Bird was much in love with, and loved by, a local boy by the name of Ichabod Rannolds. But Pastor Leland advised the boy’s mother to forbid the match.

When Ichabod, a dutiful son, broke the bad news to Humming Bird, she became furious. She warned him of her grandfather’s powers and that he would cause suffering to those who caused pain to his only granddaughter. Ichabod did not relent, and the next day, Pastor Leland was shocked when one of his deacons brought him some bad news from Captain Brown — the entire cheese wheel had disappeared! Ichabod, suspecting the culprit to be the old shaman, went with some other men to the mountain to confront him, but when they arrived, Humming Bird said her grandfather was very ill and was indeed near death. She begged him to leave and let him die in peace. Hokaposset, who was indeed quite sick, died that very night. That morning, when Captain Brown opened the door of his cider mill, he was shocked to see that the cheese wheel, completely intact, had mysteriously reappeared!

While that story is more than a little amusing, more sinister “vanishings” have occasionally been known to happen in the area. In fact, Charles Fort, perhaps the most famous of all chroniclers of strange happenings, makes note of one such strange disappearance in, or over, the Berkshire Hills. According to a story in The New York Times, a pilot by the name of Captain Mansell R. James, took off from Lee on May 29, on route to Mitchel Field in Long Island, and was not seen again. Search parties scoured the area, and later, on the 4th of June, Army planes arrived to continue the search. Despite these and other efforts, not to mention much media attention, no trace was ever found of Captain James.

But the Berkshires have not only been the scene of strange disappearances; occasionally, things appear that ought not. A notable example is Pittsfield’s “ghost train,” which was seen by a number of persons at the Bridge Lunch diner, including its owner, John Quirk, one afternoon in February 1958. The train, as described by every person present that day, consisted of a steam locomotive and half a dozen cars, speeding down the tracks under North Street Bridge toward Boston. A month later, the train was seen again by every customer during a busy breakfast at the Bridge Lunch. Again the description was consistent from all witnesses: a steam engine with several cars, which appeared solid and clear as day. Railway officials maintained that no steam train had traveled those tracks in years, and when the train was sighted yet again, the railroad firmly stated that no train whatsoever was using those tracks at the time.

Another example of objects appearing apparently “out of nowhere,” can be found in reports of strange goings-on in the vicinity of Sage’s Ravine in Sheffield. At the time, Simeon Sage owned a garment manufacturing shop on his property, and it was here that, according to historical accounts, a series of bombardments that might today be called a “poltergeist,” occurred.

On the night of Nov. 8, 1802, as the accounts have it, an old man and two boys were in the shop. Shortly after 10 p.m., with the boys already in bed and the old man himself preparing to retire for the night, they were suddenly all given a jolt as a large chunk of wood crashed through the window. Pieces of mortar followed it. Terrified, they ran to get Mr. Sage. When he arrived on the scene, various objects continued to crash against the building. Sage could see the windows breaking, but try as he might, he could not discern where the objects were coming from. Then suddenly, the hail of miscellaneous missiles ceased. But about 8 the next night, it promptly started up again and continued on until midnight, when it again stopped abruptly.

This strange bombardment occurred again the next night. While all three nights the torrent of objects occurred after dark, on the fourth day it began an hour before sunset. It continued for an hour in broad daylight, but even as those present searched the area around the building, they still could not find the source. Then, after an hour, it stopped once again — but this time it began again, almost immediately, at the Landon house, a quarter of a mile away on the Sheffield-Washington line. Rocks pelted the house for hours before abating, only to begin again around breakfast time the next morning.

By this time, word had spread of these events, and a steady stream of onlookers began showing up, including clergymen. None could discern the source of the mischief. Though many witnesses were themselves pelted with objects, some in broad daylight, all swore that they could not see the objects or their trajectory until after they struck. The possibility of a single assailant handy with a slingshot seemed to be eliminated, since the shower of refuse sometimes struck the buildings from several directions at once. The Sage place was hit with a variety of ammunition, including pieces of wood, stones, charcoal and a strange kind of mortar that did not resemble any to be found in the neighborhood. The Landon house was bombarded only by stones. The phenomenon continued through the night of Novv. 13, then ended for good. In total, 38 panes of glass were destroyed at the Sage’s and 13 at the Landon’s. No culprit was ever determined.

Those are not the only mysterious objects that have been reported whizzing through the Berkshire skies. I have collected no less than 10 reports of UFOs sighted throughout the county, over a period that spans from 1908 to 2003. In the interest of brevity, I will only share a couple: In 1981, a Pittsfield man was walking his dog when he suddenly felt a strange sensation pass over him. Looking up at the night sky, he saw the stars blacked out by a very large triangular object. Orange light glowed from beneath it. He described this sighting as having a strange effect on him. Rather than panicking or even thinking of it as odd, he felt very calm and simply pulled his dog’s leash and continued walking. Only later did the strange nature of the experience occur to him.

In another, more recent case, four witnesses in Becket reported seeing three disc-shaped objects with flashing white and red lights over the Greenwater Pond. They were hovering and chasing each other across the pond and continued doing so for nearly 45 minutes before disappearing.

For some reason, sightings such as this frequently take place on or around mountains. Both Mount Greylock and October Mountain have yielded reports of strange aerial objects, but I will save those for another time, for both of these mountains have also been the scene of even more interesting sightings of the bizarre. In August 1983, The Bekrshire Eagle reported on such a case. Two Pittsfield men, Eric Durant, and Frederick Parody, told reporters they had been recreating near Camp Eagle, a former Boy Scout retreat, when they saw a strange creature in the woods. The two men first spotted it in the moonlight when they heard noises not far from their campsite and went to investigate.

Later, as they were leaving, they caught a glimpse of it in their headlights, lurking behind some bushes. What they described was a dark brown, hairy creature, which stood erect about 6 or 7 feet tall. They also claimed it had glowing red eyes, but this could have been due to the reflection of the headlights. What the Eagle did not know, however, was that an adult leader of a local Boy Scout troop told me that he and one of the Scouts also caught a brief glimpse of a similar creature while hiking on October Mountain that same weekend. He remembered that it was the same weekend because of the media attention brought on by the other two men’s sighting. Another person made a report of a similar hairy biped seen near the top of this same mountain to the Bigfoot Field Research Organization. This creature, which the informant claimed to have seen in the summer of 1989, appeared to be carrying and stacking stones in the brush.

I have heard more than half a dozen reputable verbal accounts of similar sightings from wooded areas all over the Berkshires — and, if that doesn’t satisfy you that an unknown creature haunts our forests, I’ve heard dozens more dis-reputable accounts! Nor is this a recent development. In fact, a piece in the New York Times dated Oct. 18, 1879, reported a “Wild Man” about 5 feet tall, covered in hair, seen by two young Vermont men hunting “in the mountains south of Williamstown.” The men were so frightened, the Times reported, that they dropped their guns and ammunition in their hasty retreat and never dared to go back for them.

Mount Greylock, it seems, may be home to an even more esoteric entity. He is known as the “Old Coot,” and is sometimes seen wandering up the mountain near the trail that runs through the Bellows Pipe area. As the story goes, the ‘Coot’ is the astral remnant (or should I say revenant?) of a man named Bill Saunders, who lived in Adams nearly a century and a half ago. Saunders left his wife and child to fight in the Union Army. A year later, his wife received word that he had been badly wounded and was in a field hospital. When, after many months passed, she heard nothing more of him, she assumed him to be lost. She hired a local man to help work the farm. Eventually they married. Then, after the war had ended, Saunders returned, only to find another man had taken his place. Devastated, he spent the rest of his life living as a hermit in a small shack in Bellows Pipe. Many years later, hunters discovered him dead in his cabin but were mystified to see a strange man-shaped shadow dart out of the shack and into the woods, heading up the mountain. Ever since, hunters and hikers have reported seeing a shadowy, bedraggled form walking through the woods up Mount Greylock.

Twice, the North Adams Transcript has published photographs alleged to be of the “Coot,” one by Randy Trabold, in 1939, the second by Richard Lodge in 1979. The Lodge photograph seems to depict a tall, dark, man-like form walking through the woods with his head hung low. Was this the ghost of Bill Saunders?
The Berkshires can also boast a few more high-profile manifestations. Indeed, specters are said to haunt two of the county’s most prominent cultural tourist locations. In Lenox, it is said that Edith Wharton still inhabits the The Mount, the beautiful Estate she had built in 1902. Visitors sometimes tell of strange noises, including the laughter of a woman, thought to be Wharton herself. Shakespeare & Company, the esteemed theater troupe for whom The Mount is home, frequently reports footsteps made by invisible feet and the appearance of various apparitions, including Henry James, who is thought to keep his friend Wharton company there. Elsewhere in Lenox, a ghostly occupant is said to inhabit the Highwood Manor House on the scenic grounds of Tanglewood. It is thought that this spirit may be the shade of Oreb Andrews, who died on the grounds in 1822 and was awakened in 1986, when workmen disturbed a memorial marker. Doors opening and closing and water faucets turning themselves on and off are among the unexplained activities attributed to this restless soul. Some have speculated that it was perhaps this being that appeared in front of Leonard Bernstein, prompting him to leap from a window seat in shock. John Williams even joined a band of ghost hunters to pursue this personage, if such a word applies, but they were unable to catch a glimpse of their quarry. Odd occurrences, though infrequent, continue to this day.

Perhaps most disturbing are the reports that have reached this writer regarding Springside Park and the surrounding area. Many Pittsfield locals will recall the grisly rashes of “vandalism” — as the Eagle euphemistically put it — which took place at the petting zoo in the ’70s and ’80s, in which a number of animals were mutilated and killed, finally leading to its closing in 1984. But few recall that, in the late 19th century, the dismembered torso of a human corpse was found not far from the Springside House, then called the Elmhurst House. The body was never identified and the killer never apprehended, but the crime may have left some lasting residue on the area. A local woman of exceedingly solid character shared with me the story of how, some decades ago, she and her boyfriend were walking down the circular drive of Springside House when what they then thought to be an uprooted tree stump suddenly began lumbering toward them. Later, when they heard of the murder, they speculated that it might actually have been the hands and feet of the unfortunate victim. And reports have continued to trickle in over the years of a horrific floating head, which has been seen by many residents of the west side of North Street, across the street from the Springside house. “The Head,” as it is often called, is usually described as a ghastly skull with bits of decomposed skin still clinging to it. It is interesting to note that these houses stand on land that was once a landfill.

These are but a smattering of some of my favorite tales of the bizarre originating in the Berkshires. There are many more, including the oft-repeated story of Hoosac Tunnel’s “Bloody Pit,” the tragic Indian lovers who are sometime seen canoeing across Pontoosuck Lake, the menacing apparition said to inhabit the Eagle building, the grim Chauffeur who haunts the old Houghton Mansion in North Adams, a spectral woman who wanders Hinsdale’s Walsh Camp, Egremont’s undead Hessian soldier, bizarre happenings in Lenox’s High Point and many, many others. It is said that some areas produce more than their fair share of paranormal encounters, and Berkshire County certainly seems to be one such place. Whether it is due to some kind of eldritch magic, misunderstood electromagnetic phenomena or simply a kind of geographical favoritism on the part of supernatural creatures, these legends, like the beings they portray, are likely to live on evermore — in our hearts and in our cultural heritage.

Joe Durwin is a freelance writer with an interest in New England folklore. He is currently working on a book about legends surrounding Vermont’s Glastenbury Mountain.

http://www.iberkshires.com/story.php?story_id=15903

 

[Leaferne]

'Ghost writers' tell town's haunted tales
By Jillian Fennimore/ [email protected]
Thursday, August 18, 2005

The stories they tell may seem haunting, but Kathie Lee and J. Neal Gray consider them part of the human experience.

Sounds of unknown footsteps are heard on the stairs, water faucets turn on by themselves, and ghostly visitors occupy the homes of nearby neighbors. It might sound scary, but there's nothing to be afraid of, say Lee and Gray, authors of a new book "Raising Scituate's Spirits."

The co-authors want their readers to see the normal within what is known as the paranormal.

"This is not folklore," said Lee about the collection of first-hand accounts. "These are actual experiences."

Although their book was nearly a 9-year effort, Lee and Gray really began to collect their ghostly content within the last year or two, chronicling haunted happenings all over town -from Country Way and Surfside Road, to the West End, the historical Mann House and the Scituate Yacht Club.

Their interest in penning a book on local ghost stories began with their own experiences.

After meeting years ago at an Irish Ceilidhe ceremony in Duxbury, telling tales and singing songs with a Gaelic group, Lee and Gray exchanged some of their most memorable ghost stories.

Gray said he encountered the spirit of a deceased co-worker while working at an engineering company in Boston in 1974.

"Sure enough it's him coming in," he said about seeing his former fellow employee walking around the office bringing with him a feeling of cold air and a smell of cigarettes. "I was standing on the table I was so scared."

Lee, who believes all Irish people are "mystic," smiled when she though back to when the spirits of young children used to inhabit her Scituate home. She even named a song after the sound they made when frolicking through her home

"With the 'Twinkling of Bells' I hear their wee small voices," she said.

But Lee and Gray have found even more interesting listening to the stories of their family, friends, and neighbors as their interest began to grow.

"Everyone has these innate abilities," she said of those she met who have encountered a spiritual presence. "People who don't are turning away from it."

"We are both very open to it," she said.

As far as their writing experience, Lee is a teacher of 36 years at UMass Boston, has written poetry and published articles and holds Celidhe music programs throughout the South Shore.

Gray is a former technical writer and publications manager, as well as a professional photographer whose photo of Scituate Light adorns the book's cover.

Lee, who has her ghostly visions around the time of twilight, said those who have come in contact with certain spirits have learned to accept their company.

"To acknowledge it is to say it's real," she said.

Lee said her visions are hereditary. Both her grandfather and her uncle have developed their own belief in spirits.

"I hear or see things peripherally," she said.

Gray said many ghostly encounters are a one-time experience. But Lee noted some people experience what she called "second-sightings."

"Sometimes these experiences move with the people," she said.

And sometimes the presence is perceived as evil.

One image both Lee and Gray said they have heard multiple and even cross-cultural ghost stories about is a short, hooded monk figure that lurks in the shadows.

"There's this overwhelming feeling of evil about it," said Lee.

But "98 percent" of their book deals with positive paranormal happenings, she said, and the early response from readers has been good. In fact, since the book hit local store shelves this month, Lee said more ghost stories have been pouring in to the authors.

Gray said nearly 30 additional stories have already been slated for inclusion in their haunting sequel which will be titled "Giving Up the Ghost."

Last week, Lee and Gray sold about 65 copies of their book during a signing at Front Street Book Shop, but said they know that a wide range of people can relate their Scituate stories to their own tales of the things that go bump in the night.

"This goes on everywhere," she said. "But this just happens to be what we know."

With every purchase of "Raising Scituate's Spirits," a portion of the proceeds go to the Scituate Food Pantry and the Scituate Historical Society. The book can be found at Front Street Book Shop www.frontstreetbookshop.com and other local online book stores.

Source

Direct link to the book