Jack's Review: This episode of Haunted History focuses on only a few locations, but it is time well-spent. From a tale of tragic love through an examination of the results of one of America's darkest periods and into a frightening story of a cursed restaurant, these are nicely done.
Daniel Benton Homestead, Tolland, CT
The Daniel Benton homestead is called the "most occupied unoccupied building" in the state. During the Revolutionary War, a young couple died there of smallpox, which may have triggered the apparitions that continue to be witnessed there. Visitors report disembodied voices from the basement, a cold spot, and female and male apparitions.
Salem, MA
Witchcraft: In 1692 two girls exhibited strange behavior: speaking in "tongues," seizures, and trances. They soon blamed witchcraft, starting the infamous Salem with trials, in which 141 people were arrested and twenty--six men and fourteen women--were put to death. One of those men, Giles Corey, was crushed by authorities in a (failed) attempt to get a plea from him. With one of his last breaths, Corey put a curse on the town.
The Joshua Ward House, in which interrogations and torturing supervised by Judge Jonathan Corwin (whose body still lies buried there) were rumored to occur, is one of Salem's most haunted locations. It is now an office building in which at least one former employee reports mysterious happenings in the middle of the night when no one was there. Candlesticks, lamps, and trashcans have been turned upside down, and candles bent and placed on the floor. A mysterious dark figure has appeared in a polaroid picture, and another has been reported by a witness. One corner of an office is a reported cold spot, and a man reported a cold hand holding him down as he worked on a staircase.
The House of the Seven Gables: The home of Nathaniel Hawthorne and a hiding place on the Underground Railroad, now reportedly the haunting site of slaves who stayed there. Susanna Ingersoll, Hawthorne's second cousin, who died at 72, reportedly still appears in the rooms, and the ghost of a little boy in Victorian dress has been reported in the attic.
Birthplace of Nathaniel Hawthorne: On July 4th, 1804, Hawthorn was born in this house, where objects now move by themselves and a dressmaker's ghost has been reported sewing, as well as walking the halls.
John Stone's Inn (formerly the Ashland Hotel), Ashland, MA
A poker game between John Stone and several other men (including, notably, a travelling salesman), turns tragic when the salesman claims he had been cheated. Stone tries to incapacitate the man by hitting him on the head with the butt of his pistol, but kills the man by accident. Stone dies several years later, but it is thought by many that the former owner still haunts the inn. A woman about to eat her dinner was gripped on the neck by a pair of cold hands in the same room a photograph captured what may have been a ghostly head. The ghost of a young Victorian girl--thought to have been disfigured by broken glass--has also been experienced in the kitchen and heard laughing in the hallways. Handles on several different ale tap would pull themselves down, and ashtrays on tables would spontaneously break.
