Category: US – New Hampshire

Old Center Cemetery in Andover, NH is about 25 miles from New London, where Colby-Sawyer College is known for its fine education…. and its ghosts.

However, Old Center Cemetery features some far darker tales, including some very active ghosts.

The waving woman

One of the most-reported tales is about a woman with long hair. She wears a long, full gown which seems to billow even when there is no wind.If you stop for a closer look, she’ll beckon you to join her in the cemetery. Sometimes she waves with just her right arm, and sometimes it’s a broader, more ghostly gesture with both arms.She’s at the far left corner of the cemetery (if you’re looking from the street) and only appears if you’re outside the cemetery walls.She appears only at night, and is seen as a flickering outline. She’s not easy to see, with so many trees around her. If you try to enter the cemetery (not recommended after dusk), she vanishes.

A second story involves a young man buried outside the cemetery walls.

Ben Hargrove

In colonial times, Ben Hargrove made a pact with the Devil, or so his neighbors said. Things came “too easy” to him, and while people wanted to like him, there was something about him that made them nervous.

One night, a neighbor thought that he saw flames coming from Ben’s home. On closer inspection, the house wasn’t on fire, but a vivid red-orange light seemed to emanate from every window of the house. Peering through a window, the neighbor saw Ben signing a document while the Devil watched.

Soon after this, Ben dressed in his best clothes and went to Boston to indulge in some backroom gambling. He returned within days, badly shaken and dangerously ill.

One night about a week later, Ben appeared just as a town meeting was breaking up. He approached neighbor after neighbor, asking to take refuge in their homes.One after another, they refused. There was something especially odd about Ben Hargrove that night, and it chilled them.

Suddenly, Ben looked up, just over the heads of his neighbors, with a look of unspeakable horror on his face.

Ben turned on his heel and ran towards the church. But, as soon as he passed the gate and stepped onto the church’s property, he let out a terrible wail… and vanished.

Some say that he turned instantly to ashes and that’s what they buried. Others say that his body was found in his home the next morning, but it was cold and rigid as if he’d been dead for several days.

But, whatever was left of Ben Hargrove, he was buried outside the cemetery walls in an unmarked grave.

His ghost appears regularly outside Old Center Cemetery, usually near the road. Sometimes he tries to flag down passing cars, but usually he simply cowers and quickly disappears.

Most local residents insist that these kinds of stories are nonsense. And, they’re probably right.

Even if the tales are entirely made-up, we can recommend only daytime visits to this eerie cemetery in rural New Hampshire.

Tread carefully in Old Center Cemetery

From the road, Old Center Cemetery seems a well-kept graveyard. It is bordered by a classic New England stone wall. The cemetery welcomes you with a pristine white gated entrance, just like many other wonderful New Hampshire cemeteries.

However, once you’re inside the cemetery walls, you’ll see a very different scene.

Much of the cemetery’s soil is very fine sand. It’s soft enough that more than half the gravestones seem to tilt in various directions.

Even more disturbing, when you walk through the cemetery, your feet may sink into the graves. Don’t wear heels, and open sandals may fill with sand. If you sink more than an inch or two, it’s difficult to extract yourself from the grip of this graveyard.

The most surreal scenes in this strange cemetery are the graves that are very old, but look recently dug. The photo at right shows one of them.

The sandy soil probably doesn’t have the nutrients to support grass or groundcover. These gravesites look weird, but it’s unlikely that these graves actually harbor vampires.

Nevertheless, this cemetery is one of the creepiest we’ve ever visited, even during the day. We cannot recommend going there after dark. The cemetery is probably posted to prevent after-dusk visitors anyway. We didn’t return there at night.

To visit Andover, NH, take Route 11 east from Route 89 at New London, or travel west from Route 93 at Northfield, passing through Franklin. [Google map]

For other ghost stories of central New Hampshire, see:

Colby-Sawyer College ghosts, New London, NH

Colby-Sawyer College – more ghosts

Ghosts of New London, New Hampshire

This is the second part of a two-part article about her life, her death, and why she has haunted the town of Hampton. (Read the first part of this article at The Ghost of Goody Cole of Hampton, NH )

FREE AGAIN… AND THEN CHARGED WITH WITCHCRAFT, AGAIN

In 1671, Goody Cole was released to Hampton, and the town provided her with a hut to live in, and ordered local families to provide her with food and fuel to survive. After Mrs. Cole complained in 1672, her neighbors retorted that she had ‘enchanted’ their oven, so the food spoiled quickly.

In August 1672, Goody Cole faced charges of witchcraft again: Sarah Clifford claimed that Mrs. Cole had attacked nine-year-old Ann Smith, and testified that ‘…the old woman took up a stone and struck her on the head, and when she had so done she turned into a little dog and run upon this pearmain tree, and so then she was like an eagle’.

Little Ann Smith repeated many of the same charges.

The grand jury indicted Goody Cole ‘for not having the fear of God before her eyes and being instigated by the devil’. The court eventually ruled that Cole was ‘not legally guilty’ but found just ground of ‘vehement suspissyon’ that she was in league with the devil, and set her free.

In 1680, she was charged with witchcraft again. Although there was insufficient evidence to indict her, the courts punished her anyway. She served some time in a Boston jail, with a lock applied to her leg, and was later returned to Hampton.

THE DEATH OF GOODY COLE

Accounts of her death vary. The date is uncertain, but some records suggest that she died alone in her home — with the doors and windows boarded over — in October 1680.

Her neighbors suspected that she was dead and broke into her home. They removed her corpse, and put a stake through her heart adding a horseshoe to the stake to prevent Goody Cole from rising again.

Then, her body was either thrown off a cliff into the sea, buried her in a shallow grave near her home, or threw the body into a ditch.

No matter which is the true tale, Goody Cole did not rest in peace.

THE GHOST — AND CURSE — OF GOODY COLE

In 1908, Goody Cole still haunted the house that was built where her hut had been. The owners said that ‘the spirit of Good Cole still curses the place’ and indicated that she’d been buried ‘between the two large trees in front of the house’. (See “A Haunted House,” Newburyport Daily News, Newburyport, NH, 22 Jul 1908.)

In 1938, Goody Cole was exonerated and her guilty verdice reversed, thanks to “The Society in Hampton for the Apprehension of Those Falsely Accusing Eunice ‘Goody’ Cole of Having Had Familiarity With the Devil.” During the ceremony, copies of the 17th century documents condemning Mrs. Cole were burned, and the ashes placed in an urn with soil from her home and where she may have been buried.

The urn was scheduled to be buried, and a monument erected in her honor.

Shortly after the 1938 ceremony, Hampton — and the entire Seacoast — was hit with one of the worst hurricanes ever. Was it Goody Cole, having the last word? Whether or not it was a sign of her wrath, the urn was forgotten. According to the Hampton Historical Society, it’s never been buried.

However, a memorial stone was placed at the corner of Meeting House Green in Hampton, near the Tuck Museum building… the site that she haunted in the 1908 report, mentioned above.

IS GOODY COLE STILL AMONG US?

Goody Cole’s ghost has been seen on the streets of Hampton often. She appears as an elderly woman in old-fashioned clothing, wandering around the town. Eyewitness have included part-time Hampton police officer, Harold Fernald.

More recently, when SeacoastNH.com was preparing an article about Goody Cole, something odd happened. See their report in Did Goody Bewitch Our Laser Printer?.

Photographer Ralph Morang created this clever double-exposure to look like Goody Cole’s ghost.

And, I’m not sure what to say about a restaurant called Goody Cole’s. It’s in Brentwood, NH.

References

• Entertaining Satan : Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England, by John Putnam Demos, Chapter Ten excerpt.
• The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England, by Carol F. Karlsen. (Excerpt)
• Genealogical references for Eunice, William, and Elizabeth Cole; One World Tree Projects, including Robert Wylie Family History, Ancestry.com.
• Eunice “Goody” Cole, Hampton’s “Witch”, Lane Memorial Library, Hampton, NH.

Haunted New Hampshire’s “Seacoast” region includes cities and towns that are on the coast, such as Portsmouth, Rye, and Hampton, NH.

The area features a mix of ghosts and hauntings, from Colonial times to the present. As you’d expect, many have a connection with the sea.

GHOSTS OF PORTSMOUTH & VICINITY

Portsmouth was settled in 1630 where the settlement was called “Strawbery Banke,” and by 1700, it was a major trading port.Over the next two centuries, Portsmouth became famous for building ships, and as an industrial center noted for its breweries and artisans in a variety of trades.From the mid-20th century to today, the city has grown to become one of the most popular tourist and shopping destinations on the Seacoast.
For a detailed list of Portsmouth ghosts, see my page about Haunted Portsmouth, New Hampshire

GHOSTS OF HAMPTON, NH

Eunice ‘Goody’ Cole
Eunice Cole was the first woman in Hampton to be charged with witchcraft. When she died, a stake was put through her heart, according to local lore. She was finally exonerated in 1938. Read our detailed report of her life, death, and hauntings, in a two-part article:
The ghost of ‘Goody’ Cole, Hampton, NH (Part One) and ‘Witch’ Goody Cole, a Hampton, NH ghost (Part Two).

Moulton residence
That’s one of the most haunted houses in NH, per author Eva Speare.

(Source: Speare, Stories of New Hampshire p. 242.)

GHOSTS OF RYE, NH

Odiorne Point State Park
on Rte. 1A just south of Portsmouth offers a variety of eerie ghost tales from shipwrecks (when it was called Rendezvous Point) to World War II military bunkers. Learn more of the site’s history at its comfortable visitors center.

Sandy Beach, just north of Wallis Sands, may be haunted by the ghosts of 21 colonists killed in the Brackett Massacre of 1691. The late September anniversary is the best time to look for evidence of their ghosts. Anthony Brackett may be buried in an unmarked grave on nearby Brackett Road.

(Source: History of the Town of Rye, New Hampshire, p. 245)

Little Harbor, not far from Odiorne Point, was the site of a late 17th century Indian massacre. 14 farmers were killed there. Both the farmers and the Indians–who left their plunder behind at Breakfast Hill when they were surprised by armed colonists–may haunt the area.

Farragut Hotel – Just west of the site of the old Farragut Hotel, on Central Road by Ocean Blvd (Rte. 1A), at least one ghost haunts where the old hotel’s gift shop used to be. Another ghost may appear at the site of the hotel’s theatre, which was used as a rehearsal hall by performers such as Liberace in the 20th century. The hall was a small yellow building just feet west of the swimming pool, across Central Road from the hotel. Listen for faint, ghostly piano music late at night.

GHOSTS OF DOVER, NH

Richard ‘Salt Eye’ Storr
On warm foggy nights, especially around the anniversary of the Cocheco Massacre, his ghost is seen near downtown Dover. Read our complete report, Richard ‘Salt Eye’ Storr, Dover, NH’s earliest ghost?

GHOSTS OF THE ISLES OF SHOALS

The Isles of Shoals are ten miles off the coast of Portsmouth. On a clear day, you can see them from Rte. 1A between Hampton and Newcastle. Of the 18 islands reported by early explorers, nine islands make up the famous (but tiny) Isles of Shoals. There are no camping facilities on the islands. The only hotel is on Star Island. There are many spirits haunting the Isles of Shoals, and a wealth of ghost stories. See our report, Ghosts of the Isles of Shoals

Haunted New Hampshire — like most of New England — features hundreds (and perhaps thousands) of ghosts.

Here are some of my own favorite NH ghost stories (from 1995 to the present) and fascinating folklore from others.

My articles about ghosts along coastal NH:

Haunted Portsmouth, NH
Ghosts of the Isles of Shoals, NH
Ghosts of NH’s Seacoast

Andover – Old Center Cemetery, Main Street

I haven’t tested this cemetery for EMF, but even in daylight, this is one of the eeriest New England cemeteries I’ve ever visited. The cemetery’s “ghost stories” may have been created by students. Locals swear that it’s all nonsense. However, this site is well worth a daytime visit.

Read my report at Ghosts of Old Center Cemetery, Andover, NH.

Andover is on Route 11 between Routes 89 and 93. [Google map]. Route 11 becomes Route 4, also called Main Street, in Andover.

Hollis – Pine Hill Cemetery, Nartoff Road

If you’re looking for ghosts near Nashua, NH or Tyngsboro, MA (just south of Nashua), visit the haunted Tyng Mansion site. It’s next to a haunted cemetery, a haunted boulder with a Native American ghost.

So, you can investigate three haunted sites, all within several hundred yards of each other.

Here’s the true story.

John Alford Tyng does not rest in peace.

Perhaps he doesn’t deserve to.

He’s pursued by the ghost of Judith Thompson. Tyng secretly married and murdered her, and then buried her in an unmarked grave.

This true ghost story is one of several connected with the Tyng Mansion. (42°39’36.7″N 71°24’25.8″W)

If you’re going to visit it, it may be best to park at the side of Middlesex Road in Tyngsboro, close to Tyng Road.

Today the house is gone, but the site is marked with a sign and evidence of a foundation and front stairs.

Nearby, in the Tyng family cemetery, John Alford Tyng’s grave may be proof that he died a cursed man.

John Alford Tyng, the “black sheep” of the family

John Alford Tyng was a ne’er do well, even by the Tyng family’s standards. The Tyngs had always been a wealthy, self-indulgent family. Generally, their interests also served the community, but John Alford Tyng was clearly the black sheep of the family.

Tyng Family TreeEdward Tyng (born in England) | Col. Jonathan Tyng | Eleazar Tyng | John Alford Tyng

Edward Tyng was born in was born in Dunstable, England, in 1610 and came to the American colonies in 1639.

He purchased 3000 acres in Massachusetts, and named the area “Dunstable” after his birthplace.

(Many years later Dunstable was divided into three towns: Dunstable and Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, and Nashua, New Hampshire.)

Edward’s grandson, Eleazar Tyng, was a colonel in the Colonial militia. Eleazar married Sarah Alford, and John Alford Tyng was among their five children.

The trouble began when John Alford Tyng met Judith Thompson. Judith was the daughter of Ezra Thompson, who provided land for a church and the town meetinghouse.

(Source: A history of the Town of Dunstable, MA, by Rev. Elias Nasson, ©1877, p. 142)

Describing one church district, a town history says,”All the Second Parish on the great road from Mr. Ezra Thompson’s to Hollis up to Salmon Brook, living on, and to north of said road.” So, the Thompsons probably lived on the Great Road in Dunstable.

Judith was known as one of the most beautiful women in New England. She sometimes worked at the Tyng Mansion, helping with their large parties.

Before long, she caught the eye of John Alford Tyng.

Tyng made advances towards Judith Thompson, but – being raised in a religious family – she insisted on marriage.

Tyng decided he couldn’t marry a servant. Besides, he was already engaged to an heiress in Boston.

Tyng solved the problem with a pretend marriage.

John Alford Tyng knew a local quack and an itinerant physician in northern Colonial New England. The so-called doctor was nicknamed “Dr. Blood.” He’d do almost anything if you paid him enough money.

He was also a drunkard, a thief and a con artist.

Most of the time, Dr. Blood was on the road, looking for wealthy, vulnerable “patients.” He’d pretend to treat them, knock them unconscious, and rob them. Then, he left them by the side of the road. When they woke up, he was gone and so was their money.

John Alford Tyng knew that Dr. Blood was the answer to his problems.

Tyng hired Dr. Blood to pretend to be a minister. After a quick, secret marriage ceremony, John Alford Tyng moved Judith into his new home. It was in Dunstable (now Nashua, NH) a few miles from Tyng Mansion.

Judith soon gave birth to a child, and then another, and finally a third child was on the way.

Some say that John Alford Tyng had squandered his money and felt overburdened by his young family. Others suggest that Tyng was insanely jealous of others’ attentions to Judith, who grew more beautiful each year.

Tyng hired his old friend Dr. Blood to kill Judith and the children. Tyng waited in another room while the deed was done, and then buried his family under the hearth. That’s when Tyng’s problems really began.

Next: Judith Thompson returned from the grave to claim the lives of both Dr. Blood and her murdering husband, in our article, Judith Thompson – a vengeful ghost.

My own story:

IS NEW HAMPSHIRE’S COLBY-SAWYER COLLEGE HAUNTED?

In my opinion, yes. I have seen the ghost at Colgate Hall, in the middle of the New London campus.

My experiences are from autumn 1969. I was a freshman at Colby Junior College, as it was then called. Today, it’s renamed Colby-Sawyer and has earned an even better academic reputation.

Colby-Sawyer started as a small college in the 19th century. Its ivy-laced brick buildings with white trim look like nearby Dartmouth College. The tidy campus is the jewel of a classic New England town, about two hours north of downtown Boston. The college sits on a hilltop, and sparkles in the sunlight.

When I attended Colby Junior College (we just called it “Colby”), it was primarily a girls’ college with a few hundred students.

Although there were a few local boys among the students — perhaps ten young men, total — it was rare to see men on campus.

Everyone knew each of the men who taught there, and we were always on the lookout for prospective dates, if men from Dartmouth or another college “just dropped by.”

They often did. In those days it was widely speculated that one of Colby Junior College’s roles was to provide suitable dates for Dartmouth men.

That’s why I remember the man in the hat, at Colgate Hall. He didn’t look like the usual Dartmouth student.

Colgate Hall is the main building at Colby-Sawyer. It is a large brick building, the one featured in Colby-Sawyer photos, and it is the building you’ll start at to visit the school.

I saw the ghost twice, though I didn’t realize it was a ghost at the time:

Both times, I saw the ghost in the afternoon; once in broad daylight, and the second time at dusk.

I had a clear view of the back of Colgate Hall from my dorm room. All of the dorms encircle a central grassy area called “the Quad,” and Colgate’s back door (shown above) also faces the Quad.

The first time, I saw the man from my dorm room at about one in the afternoon. I recall his rather large-brimmed hat and stylish coat which seemed theatrical and unnaturally dark on a sunny day, even in the shadows of Colgate Hall.

Because Colby offered respected theatrical productions, the college often had colorful visitors. Many were actors from professional theatres, “imported” by to fill male roles in an otherwise all-girl cast. Some were short-term instructors in subjects such as mime.

I recall hastily grabbing my shoes and a notebook (so I’d look like I was going somewhere with a purpose), and dashing downstairs to the Quad.

My plan was to saunter into Colgate and take a closer look at the visitor.

When I reached the Quad, he was still leaning over the railing by the back central door to Colgate. I could not see his face; the brim of his hat covered his features as he continued looking down.

I paused to put on my shoes, but when I looked back up, he was gone.

I wandered over to Colgate anyway, hoping to find him inside the building.

After twenty minutes of cruising the corridors of Colgate, I gave up my search. I didn’t think anything of it; he’d probably stepped into an office or even left campus.

The ghost appeared again.

Read about this and other Colby-Sawyer ghosts at: Ghosts of Colby-Sawyer College, Part Two

Also see my list of New London, NH ghosts.