Category: US – New Hampshire

Colby-Sawyer College in New London, NH is more haunted than many colleges.

In my previous article, Ghosts of Colby-Sawyer College, New London, NH, I shared one story about a popular ghost at Colby-Sawyer’s Colgate Hall.

Recently, I researched additional ghost stories from Colby-Sawyer College, New London, and vicinity.   Most of these stories were reported to me by people who actually encountered the ghosts. In other words, these aren’t second-hand tales.

This is not a complete list. If you have stories to add, please leave a comment below this post.

Additional ghosts at Colby-Sawyer College

Austin Hall – Something haunts the third floor at Austin, according to reports. So far, we have no additional details.

Best Hall – Best has at least one and perhaps two ghosts.

One is a young woman. She appears to be older than a student, and dressed in a grey, diaphanous gown, perhaps from the Victorian era. Her sleeves and skirt seem to billow slightly, as if there’s a breeze, even when all of the doors and windows are closed and no air is stirring.

She seems to float through the corridors, and then turn to look at the viewer, smile slightly, and fade until she’s invisible. The entire manifestation takes just a few seconds.

According to one former CSC student, the ghost’s name is Mara or Maura. A second ghost–or perhaps the same one, manifesting differently–creates breezes when no doors or windows are open. Some have reported this as a wind that seems to hum slightly through the hallways.

Burpee Hall – A ghost of a field hockey player roams the halls, especially upstairs. She’s usually seen as just a shadow, and when you take a second look, all you see are her lower legs, but even they fade quickly.

She’s more often heard than seen.

Colby Hall – Colby is reported to have a phantom cat. Sometimes you’ll see it, but often you’ll only hear it meow a few times.

Don’t bother trying to chase it; it will disappear around a corner, or seem to walk right through a wall or closed door. I’ve heard that demonologist John Zaffis confirmed this spectre, but I haven’t checked with him to be certain.

Colgate Hall – In addition to my earlier report, I’ve heard that Governor Anthony Colby is one figure seen gazing over the campus from Colgate’s tower. He has grey hair and a stern look, like a sea captain.¹ He’s usually translucent, and a very faint image, and then he vanishes.

McKean Hall – There are stories about the ghost of Gilbert Ross, supposedly an 18th-century witch who was burned at the stake on the land where McKean is now.

Gilbert Ross is rumored to look similar to Snape, as played by Alan Rickman, in the Harry Potter movies. He’s pale and dressed in black, and you’ll see him out of the corner of your eye, or reflected in a window pane.

Like most ghosts, when you turn to look straight at him, he’s gone.

Our research suggests that no witches were burned at the stake in America. Even during the Salem Witch Trials, all of the victims were hung, pressed, or died in prison. Mr. Ross may have been hung on the McKean site, but he probably wasn’t burned at the stake.²

Page Hall – Page has almost always had a reputation for “something” in the basement. It’s not clear what that is. There are also tales of the residual energy of a student from the late 1960s, who used to walk through the second floor corridors, wearing only a loosely-draped noose and a heavy dose of Jean Nate cologne. She wasn’t a suicide, just an eccentric student.

The Quad – This tale is reported about the Quad, as well as the fields in back of Colby-Sawyer College.

According to legend, you can still hear the marching steps of students on foggy mornings, especially very early in the morning.

Around World War I, students practiced daily military drills immediately after breakfast. Some later went to war and didn’t return… except as ghosts.

Sawyer Fine Arts Center – In addition to a typical theater ghost that lingers at the back of the auditorium, a former teacher may haunt the building. He used to tap nervously on the wall or desk when he talked, and the rhythmic sound of his tapping fingers can be heard softly, especially near his old office.

Shepard Hall – Like Page Hall, Shepard has reports of “something” uncomfortable in the basement.

The old Colby Academy building is now the property of New London, New Hampshire, after the college donated it for use as the Town Office Building. However, it was rumored to be haunted by something very dark when it was used as temporary housing for professors who were snowed in at the college, overnight.

When the building was donated to the town, important papers were transferred to the Colby-Sawyer Library. This may be why the college library is haunted. Stories include the spirit of a boy in a loft area, and a ghost that rearranges history books overnight. (Yes, just the history books. It’s a unique and quirky story.)

For more ghosts of the New London area, see my article, Ghosts of New London, NH.

About 25 miles from New London, discover the Ghosts of Old Center Cemetery, Andover, NH

Footnotes and References

1. Governor Anthony Colby – A Guide to Likenesses of NH Officials. (No longer online, but you can see Gov. Colby’s portrait, by clicking here.)

2. The Witches Way – Executed during the Burning Times – a List. (No longer online.)

New London, NH has many ghosts. If you visit the town on a foggy night, or see it on a stark winter afternoon, you’ll have no doubt that it’s very haunted.

New London is best known for Colby-Sawyer College, in the middle of town. It has a long history and a connection to many famous people.

I’ve already reported a few of the many ghosts at Colby-Sawyer College ghosts, and Colby-Sawyer College – haunted places, part 2

The following additional New London area ghosts are worth investigating.

New London Inn, 353 Main Street, New London, NH

The sparkling white inn is well-known as the home of some charming ghosts.

They include a housekeeper who likes everything “just so,” and sometimes makes certain that everyone is tucked in at night.

A more congenial ghost has been seen sitting by the fireplace. He’s rather inebriated and wears a Revolutionary War uniform that no longer fits him.

If you see him at all, he’ll raise his tankard of ale in a brief toast to you. Then, he vanishes.

People hear him–sometimes the sound of someone chugging a beverage–or they see just the glitter of his uniform buttons. (The buttons are usually seen out of the corner of your eye, or as a momentary flicker of reflected lights.)

New London Barn Playhouse, 84 Main Street, New London, NH [Official website]

Since 1933, this New London playhouse has built a solid reputation for quality performances. Its red building has become a landmark, and a favorite destination for fans of great plays and musicals.

It’s also famous for at least one ghost, who whispers something like, “You did great!” near actors as they leave the stage, regardless of the merits of their performances.

According to one story, he’s a former stagehand — perhaps a props manager — who always wanted to be an actor, but never had the courage to step in front of the lights. So, he tries to feel as if he’s part of the cast even now, many years after he passed on. But, even today, this timid ghost is heard but not seen.

The second ghost is the figure of a woman in a dark red dress, in a style from around the 1940s. She’s seen, sometimes in silhouette but always in the shadows, at the back of the hall during rehearsals.

Sometimes, actors think they see her in the audience, but when the take a second look, no one is there. She is a smoker, so cigarette smoke may linger even after she vanishes.

If you’re there for a performance, look for her outline near the main door–just inside the playhouse or outside–when the audience is leaving.

WNTK Radio [Official website]

The ghost of a cleaning woman has haunted the building where WNTK was located in 2002. She was already a legend in the 1960s, and her clothing suggests that she’s from the Depression era.

At night, if you’re facing the building from the street, you may see her in a tired-looking floral dress and a full-bib apron that’s either muted orange or sky blue. She may be carrying a bucket and broom or mop, or just a cleaning cloth.

She’s an actual ghost — not residual energy — and will react to anyone who gets close to her before she disappears. Generally, her temperament seems to be rather sour.

If you’re in New London, you may want to drive east about 25 miles to Andover. There, you can visit the strange Ghosts of Old Center Cemetery, Andover, NH

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

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.

The Isles of Shoals has long been famous for its ghosts. In his 1852 journal, Nathaniel Hawthorne visited the Isles of Shoals and wrote:

Mr. Thaxter had once a man living with him who had seen “Old Bab,” the ghost. He met him between the hotel and the sea, and describes him as dressed in a sort of frock, and with a very dreadful countenance.

Hawthorne was staying at a hotel on Appledore Island, the probable location of this ghost.

He led us down to the shore of the island, towards the east, and showed us Betty Moody’s Hole. This Betty Moody was a woman of the island in old times.

The Indians came off on a depredating excursion, and she fled from them with a child, and hid herself in this hole, which is formed by several great rocks being lodged so as to cover one of the fissures which are common along these shores. I crept into the hole, which is somewhat difficult of access, long, low, and narrow, and might well enough be a hiding-place.

The child, or children, began to cry; and Betty, fearful of discovery, murdered them to save herself. Joe Caswell did not tell the latter part of the story, but Mr. Thaxter did.

Not far from the spot there is a point of rocks extending out farther into the ocean than the rest of the island.

Some four or five years ago there was a young woman residing at Gosport in the capacity of school-teacher. She was of a romantic turn, and used to go and sit on this point of rock to view the waves.

One day, when the wind was high, and the surf raging against the rocks, a great wave struck her, as she sat on the edge, and seemed to deprive her of sense; another wave, or the reflex of the same one, carried her off into the sea, and she was seen no more. This happened, I think, in 1846.

HAUNTED LOCATIONS AMONG THE ISLES OF SHOALS

The phantom ship Isidore, wrecked in 1842, appears near this cluster of islands. The ghostly ship is seen for just a few minutes at time, and has been spotted from as far away as Rye and Portsmouth, NH.

(Source: Snow, Strange tales from Nova Scotia to Cape Hatteras, p. 221)

The Spanish frigate, Sagunto, may have sunk off Smuttynose Island in 1813. However, there’s contemporary evidence that the ship was actually the Concepcion from Cadiz. At least 14 men lost their lives in the disaster. No matter which ship it was, its ghost appears just off Smuttynose around the mid-January anniversary of the shipwreck.

Star Island features the haunted–and popular–Oceanic Hotel. Its ghosts manifest around the third and fourth floors of the hotel. They sound as if they’re moving furniture or actively searching through some dresser drawers. (An attic is above the fourth floor, and there’s nothing to move up there.) Sometimes, doors open and close on their own.

Another ghost has been reported in the men’s restroom on the first floor. (Official Star Island Corporation website.)

Smuttynose Island was the site of a gruesome murder in 1873, when two Norwegian girls were butchered, probably by Louis Wagner. The house where the murder took place burned to the ground just a few years later. Some claim that Wagner’s remorseful ghost haunts the site. The girls were buried at South Cemetery in Portsmouth… a haunted cemetery that we describe at Portsmouth’s South Street Cemetery, New Hampshire.

That 1873 murder was the subject of the movie, The Weight of Water.

Sam Haley’s House may be more a reminder of his life than actually haunted. But, if you’re on Smuttynose Island and want to see a great historic landmark, Haley’s 18th century home is a must-see. For more of the history and lore of Haley and his home, see SeacoastNH.com’s many articles about the Isles of Shoals and especially the Haleys.

Lunging Island may be haunted by the ghost of Blackbeard, or at least his 13th (or 15th?) wife who was abandoned there. The ghost of the wife is usually called “Lady-Ghost” and she was the subject of a 1992 children’s novel, Lady-Ghost of the Isles of Shoals. She’s sometimes seen as a milky figure, but more often heard whispering, “He will return.” (She’s also reported on Smuttynose Island.)

Blackbeard’s treasure is also buried there, according to historian Robert Cahill in his fascinating book, New England’s Pirates and Lost Treasures. Blackbeard’s ghost has been seen, either searching for his treasure, or protecting it. You can read more about a televised search for the treasure at SeacoastNH.com.

White Island has several ghosts including another of Blackbeard’s wives… or perhaps it’s the same one as on Lunging and Smuttynose Islands. This one is seen in a white dress.

A second White Island ghost is heard screaming and crying around Moody’s Cave. She was trying to hide with her baby during a 17th century Indian attack.

According to Hawthorne’s 1852 Passages from the American note-books, the story was tragic.

A third ghost may haunt nearby. Hawthorne told her story in his “note-books,” as well.

“Shipwreck hotspot” is how the Isles of Shoals is described by Northern Maritime Research’s database. These are some of the ghost ships seen around the Isle of Shoals:

(Source: As I Please – Digging into Shipwrecked Spaniards, SeacoastNH.com.)

 

The following are just a few of the very Gothic inscriptions on headstones at the Blood Cemetery (aka Pine Hill Cemetery) on Nartoff Road in Hollis, NH.

From the headstone of Mrs. Rebecca Alexanders, died 24 Nov 1799:

Behold my friends as you pass by
As you are now so once was I
As I am now you soon must be
Prepare for death and follow me

From the headstone of Caleb Farley, Jun., died 17 Jul 1810:

Friends and Physicians could not save
My mortal body from the grave
Nor can the grave confine me here
When Christ shall call me to appear

From the headstone of Caleb Farley’s wife, Abigail, died 14 Dec 1819:

What though our in bred sins require
Our flesh to see the dust
Yet as the Lord our Savior rose
So all his followers must

These are just a few of the eerie inscriptions which appear on about one-third of the ancient headstones in this cemetery.

There were even more wonderful headstones with inscriptions, but those stones have been stolen.

Several, such as the Farley sisters’ headstones, have disappeared in recent years, and were replaced by plain markers without the flowery inscriptions.

That’s such a senseless loss.

(Also, the commercial market for stolen gravestones is one reason why the police are so watchful of cemeteries after dark.)

If you go ghost hunting in cemeteries, be sure to read the gravestone inscriptions. They provide helpful insights related to the era and the family of the person in that grave. Those ideas and sentiments may also give you a good idea why he or she haunts the cemetery.

As I reported in my article about the Haunted ‘Old Burying Yard’ of York, Maine, if someone’s headstone says, “I must lie here till Christ appears,” it’s likely that a spirit is near that grave, waiting.