TEXT: The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  By Clint Staples
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  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  By Clint Staples
  By Clint Staples
  By Clint Staples
  By Clint Staples
  By Clint Staples
  
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  The Mythos Society Guide to
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  Skirmisher Publishing LLC
  Skirmisher Publishing LLC
  Skirmisher Publishing LLC
  Skirmisher Publishing LLC
  Skirmisher Publishing LLC
  499 Mystic Parkway
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  http://skirmisher.com
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  Editing, Layout, and Design:
  Editing, Layout, and Design:
  Editing, Layout, and Design:
  Editing, Layout, and Design:
  Editing, Layout, and Design: Michael O. Varhola
  TTTTTechnical Editing:
  echnical Editing:
  echnical Editing:
  echnical Editing:
  echnical Editing: William T. Thrasher
  Cover Image:
  Cover Image:
  Cover Image:
  Cover Image:
  Cover Image: Bradley K. McDevitt
  First PDF Publication:
  First PDF Publication:
  First PDF Publication:
  First PDF Publication:
  First PDF Publication: October 2014; SKP E 1423; ISBN 978-1-
  935050-19-3
  The Mythos Society Guide to New England copyright 2014 by Clint
  Staples and Skirmisher Publishing LLC, all rights reserved.
  By Clint Staples
  By Clint Staples
  By Clint Staples
  By Clint Staples
  By Clint Staples
  
  Contents
  Contents
  Contents
  Contents
  Contents
  Introduction ................................................................................... 5
  Chapter 1:
  Land and Landscape of New England ........................................ 11
  Chapter 2:
  New England Between the Wars ................................................ 19
  Chapter 3:
  Prehistory of New England ......................................................... 43
  Chapter 4:
  Native Americans of New England ........................................... 59
  Chapter 5:
  Monsters of the Lands and Seas of New England ...................... 79
  Chapter 6:
  Witches, Wizards, and Weather-Makers of New England ........ 89
  Chapter 7:
  Mysteries of the Diverse States of New England ..................... 101
  Connecticut ...................................................................................... 104
  Maine ................................................................................................ 106
  New Hampshire ............................................................................... 112
  Rhode Island ..................................................................................... 116
  Massacchusetts ................................................................................. 122
  Vermont ............................................................................................. 140
  Selected Bibliography ................................................................... 142
  
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
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  Introduction
  Introduction
  Introduction
  Introduction
  Introduction
  W
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  W
  hat you have before you is an expansive sourcebook that
  can be used as a resource for development of any role-
          playing game scenarios or stories that take place in New
  England. It will be especially useful for any such projects that
  include horror or the weird as themes, that are based on or inspired
  by the works of H.P. Lovecraft or other Cthulhu Mythos authors,
  and which are set during the period between the two World Wars.
  This book is intended to be used as a package, as all the
  information it contains is internally consistent and could be used
  with no significant alteration and few decisions on your part. But it
  is not exclusive and any other information that you have already
  used or want to include can easily be added with a minimum of
  fuss. We do, however, recommend that you read the entire text of
  The Mythos Society Guide to New England before attempting to do
  this, as many of the events and ideas it includes are quite detailed
  and mixing and matching will require some careful planning in
  order to achieve believable results.
  Much of the book is simply historical information that can help
  you flesh out periods of play between scenarios, and which can
  give you and your players a better idea of what New England was
  like up to and during the interwar period. These sections include
  important events of the era, cultural changes, technological
  innovations, and a timeline of potentially less significant
  occurrences that your characters might happen to note. These
  segments require no real planning as to how they should be used,
  but some ideas on ways that they can be introduced and how they
  might affect play are included.
  Other sections require more careful attention in order to be used
  to their full potential. Much of the volume, for example, contains
  information about ancient artifacts and cultures that are open to
  considerable interpretation, and you will have to decide how the
  artifacts reflect the cultures and how the cultures might vary from
  those presented here. You will also need to determine in which
  ways the malevolent forces of your game interacted with these
  cultures. In some cases, ideas on these subjects have been provided
  in this book but, of course, you are the final judge of what is going
  to be found in your scenarios. There is nothing to keep you from
  picking and choosing what you want to use and how you want to
  present it and it just means that, in order for your choices to work
  together, you will have to make them fit without losing continuity.
  
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  “Chapter 7: Mysteries of the Diverse States of New England” is
  ordered state, with each one’s entries in alphabetical order. The
  entries themselves have generally been left as free of external
  interpretation as possible and therefore, for the most part, you can
  use these occurrences in any way you see fit; they simply note
  what physical or cultural artifacts exist in a particular place and time.
  Occasionally, there will be a boxed insert that provides a
  potential interpretation of events or simply expands upon the basic
  information provided in the entry itself. Most of these are presented
  as excerpts from other sources — many of which are fictitious —
  that are intended to illustrate one way that the entry could be used
  as a “scenario nugget.” These have intentionally been left fairly
  vague and you can use them in any way you see fit or ignore them
  entirely.
  One source used repeatedly in the boxed segments is the Black
  Book of Cotton Mather, a fictitious book that we have ascribed to a
  historical personage, Cotton Mather, that is explained in more detail
  later. Excerpts from this dark tome are intended to be used as an
  optional means of linking sections of this guide or other events or
  information as desired. This book has, in turn, been painstakingly
  collected from scattered fragments over the past several decades by
  fellow Cthulhu Mythos investigator Dr. Michael A. Schumann.
  Schumann may be introduced to your players in any way you
  choose and can be as active or passive as you want. He can be a
  valuable source of aid and information, a voice for the storyteller
  within the group, or an “off-camera” figure of considerable mystery
  in his own right. In his letter, Schumann has alluded to the fact that
  his activity is confined to research lately and, in order to limit his
  appearance in your game, you may decide that he is physically or
  otherwise incapable of active investigation.
  Black Book segments should be regarded as the reminiscences
  of someone who has “been there” and as the words of a man who
  knows what the characters are going through. He was, furthermore,
  a man who had arcane knowledge concerning the same things. This
  does not necessarily mean that he was sane, rational, or kindly;
  open-minded in some matters, Cotton Mather was also harshly
  judgmental and saw the works of Satan in every aspect of life.
  Generally, the specifics of Mather’s arcane knowledge have been
  left for you to determine.
  Fragments of the Black Book that are reprinted here are only a
  sampling of the full manuscript. More exist in Schumann’s files
  
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  and he has not collected every scrap that was written, so feel free
  to expand the information provided by Cotton Mather as much as
  you like.
  To My Esteemed Colleague,
  It is my most sincere wish that these words find
  you well. Certainly, there are innumerable perils
  to which we might succumb in our vocation. For
  some time, I have turned much of my attention to
  the furtherance of our shared preoccupation. It
  seems wise that I share the results of my labors
  with you unless the unthinkable should occur.
  Toward that end, I present you with the following
  document. But first, something in the way of a
  preamble.
  Many years ago, while reading for my Master of
  Arts at Cambridge, I came across an uncataloged
  manuscript fragment in the library’s storage
  vaults. Intrigued upon reading the cursive and
  rather archaic English, I went to some trouble to
  identify the provenance of the piece. After
  considerable study, I was astounded to find that I
  held a portion of the lost works of Cotton Mather,
  presumably part of his diary. The full
  significance of my discovery did not dawn upon me
  until I became aware that, although I was correct
  as to the author, I had misidentified the text
  itself. What I possessed was not the “Diary” but,
  in fact, the infamous “Black Book of Cotton Mather.”
  Born into the renowned Mather family of New
  England in 1662, Cotton graduated from Harvard
  College at the age of 16. Shortly thereafter, he
  was ordained a minister of North Church in Boston.
  He began writing two years later, and, in the 41
  years until his death in February, 1728, he wrote
  and published at least 283 tracts, treatises, and
  books on a variety of subjects in numerous languages.
  Introduction
  Introduction
  Introduction
  Introduction
  Introduction
  Item 1-A: Letter from Dr
  Item 1-A: Letter from Dr
  Item 1-A: Letter from Dr
  Item 1-A: Letter from Dr
  Item 1-A: Letter from Dr. Michael A. Schumann
  . Michael A. Schumann
  . Michael A. Schumann
  . Michael A. Schumann
  . Michael A. Schumann
  
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  He also bore witness to the infamous witch trials
  of Salem in “Wonders of the Invisible World,” a
  work which earned him considerable ridicule from
  his colleagues over the credulity with which he
  treated the entire affair. This scorn was to
  affect Mather deeply and was instrumental in the
  way in which he pursued the writing of what has come
  to be called the “Black Book.”
  One of the most learned, devout and open-minded
  men of his era, there is little wonder that, when
  presented with evidence that malevolent forces
  sought to return the world to the state in which
  the Outer Gods found it, he not only did not scoff
  but rather waged a dire and secret crusade against
  those powers. He was a member of an unnamed
  “Society” that apparently united to physically
  oppose the dire works and sorceries of the enemies
  of God’s purpose. While not his most heroic,
  perhaps his most beneficial effort was in setting
  down for others his vast knowledge and experience
  of these arcane and perilous matters.
  The Black Book was never published. Even from the
  scattered remnants that I have managed to collect,
  the reason is clear. This was not a work fit for
  the public of early New England. The Black Book
  was written for the likes of you and I; as the
  esteemed Reverend Mather would say, for “Those who
  Know.” It speaks to us from across the span of
  centuries to reveal that this struggle has been
  waged with success for ages and it gives me hope
  that, if we may not find ultimate victory in this
  ageless war, at least we can take some comfort in
  winning occasional battles.
  I know that you will make utmost use of my
  research. You have ever been among the most active
  of our number. We each must oppose the ancient
  enemy as our talents allow.
  Yours in vigilance,
  Michael A. Schumann, Ph.D., M.A.
  Associate Chair of Antiquities, Miskatonic University, Arkham
  
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  Item 2-A: Beginning of 
  Item 2-A: Beginning of 
  Item 2-A: Beginning of 
  Item 2-A: Beginning of 
  Item 2-A: Beginning of Black Book
  Black Book
  Black Book
  Black Book
  Black Book of Cotton Mather
   of Cotton Mather
   of Cotton Mather
   of Cotton Mather
   of Cotton Mather
  Introduction
  Introduction
  Introduction
  Introduction
  Introduction
  Unto Thee, O Lord, Light of Heaven and King of All the Worlds,
  Whom the Angels of the Light exist to Glorifie, do I present this
  Account of the Magnificent Struggle against Thy Most Base Enemy.
  I pray Thee to sprinkle the book of this History with Thy Blood, and
  make it acceptable and profitable to Thy works, and serve Thy Truths
  and Ways among Thy people. Tis Thou that hast prepared this account
  for the preservation of Thy folk in this great Deserte.
  That which follows Being an Account of many and various Occurrences
  that would best remain Unknown to the multitudes of Humanity, lest
  harm be magnified by its wide Knowledge. God has granted unto us the
  Power to combat the Elder Evil that ever threatens the lives and souls
  of Men. But with the Power of God must also come Knowledge of the
  Enemy and of Its Works. These words are set down in hope of
  providing Aid to Those who Know, that they might better safeguard the
  teeming masses of Mankind. There can be nothing less than complete
  Devotion and utmost Vigilance in the Defiance of the Adversary, its
  minions, and all of its works. For tis upon this constant watchfulness
  that the fate of our World must needs depend.
  What I have set down within these Black Bindings is the sum of my
  lifetime’s researches into those dark and foreboding places which I or
  others of My acquaintance have delved on God’s Errand. There are
  many who would discount the details contained herein as ravings, just
  as they have done before; but, be they Benighted by the Enemy or simply
  overly Skeptical, they behave so from the light and safety of their
  closeted libraries and comfortable studies. They cannot Know, for they
  have not Seen. Therefore, I do not seek to publish this Secret Memoir;
  rather, copyists of Our Order have reproduced the text, and couriers of
  that same worthy body will carry the Word of the Doings in the Dark
  Places to all those who have proven their Dedication to God’s Hidden
  Purpose.
  Unto Thee, O Lord, Light of Heaven and King of All the Worlds,
  Whom the Angels of the Light exist to Glorifie, do I present this
  Account of the Magnificent Struggle against Thy Most Base Enemy.
  I pray Thee to sprinkle the book of this History with Thy Blood, and
  make it acceptable and profitable to Thy works, and serve Thy Truths
  and Ways among Thy people. Tis Thou that hast prepared this account
  for the preservation of Thy folk in this great Deserte.
  That which follows Being an Account of many and various Occurrences
  that would best remain Unknown to the multitudes of Humanity, lest
  harm be magnified by its wide Knowledge. God has granted unto us the
  Power to combat the Elder Evil that ever threatens the lives and souls
  of Men. But with the Power of God must also come Knowledge of the
  Enemy and of Its Works. These words are set down in hope of
  providing Aid to Those who Know, that they might better safeguard the
  teeming masses of Mankind. There can be nothing less than complete
  Devotion and utmost Vigilance in the Defiance of the Adversary, its
  minions, and all of its works. For tis upon this constant watchfulness
  that the fate of our World must needs depend.
  What I have set down within these Black Bindings is the sum of my
  lifetime’s researches into those dark and foreboding places which I or
  others of My acquaintance have delved on God’s Errand. There are
  many who would discount the details contained herein as ravings, just
  as they have done before; but, be they Benighted by the Enemy or simply
  overly Skeptical, they behave so from the light and safety of their
  closeted libraries and comfortable studies. They cannot Know, for they
  have not Seen. Therefore, I do not seek to publish this Secret Memoir;
  rather, copyists of Our Order have reproduced the text, and couriers of
  that same worthy body will carry the Word of the Doings in the Dark
  Places to all those who have proven their Dedication to God’s Hidden
  Purpose.
  Unto Thee, O Lord, Light of Heaven and King of All the Worlds,
  Whom the Angels of the Light exist to Glorifie, do I present this
  Account of the Magnificent Struggle against Thy Most Base Enemy.
  I pray Thee to sprinkle the book of this History with Thy Blood, and
  make it acceptable and profitable to Thy works, and serve Thy Truths
  and Ways among Thy people. Tis Thou that hast prepared this account
  for the preservation of Thy folk in this great Deserte.
  That which follows Being an Account of many and various Occurrences
  that would best remain Unknown to the multitudes of Humanity, lest
  harm be magnified by its wide Knowledge. God has granted unto us the
  Power to combat the Elder Evil that ever threatens the lives and souls
  of Men. But with the Power of God must also come Knowledge of the
  Enemy and of Its Works. These words are set down in hope of
  providing Aid to Those who Know, that they might better safeguard the
  teeming masses of Mankind. There can be nothing less than complete
  Devotion and utmost Vigilance in the Defiance of the Adversary, its
  minions, and all of its works. For tis upon this constant watchfulness
  that the fate of our World must needs depend.
  What I have set down within these Black Bindings is the sum of my
  lifetime’s researches into those dark and foreboding places which I or
  others of My acquaintance have delved on God’s Errand. There are
  many who would discount the details contained herein as ravings, just
  as they have done before; but, be they Benighted by the Enemy or simply
  overly Skeptical, they behave so from the light and safety of their
  closeted libraries and comfortable studies. They cannot Know, for they
  have not Seen. Therefore, I do not seek to publish this Secret Memoir;
  rather, copyists of Our Order have reproduced the text, and couriers of
  that same worthy body will carry the Word of the Doings in the Dark
  Places to all those who have proven their Dedication to God’s Hidden
  Purpose.
  Unto Thee, O Lord, Light of Heaven and King of All the Worlds,
  Whom the Angels of the Light exist to Glorifie, do I present this
  Account of the Magnificent Struggle against Thy Most Base Enemy.
  I pray Thee to sprinkle the book of this History with Thy Blood, and
  make it acceptable and profitable to Thy works, and serve Thy Truths
  and Ways among Thy people. Tis Thou that hast prepared this account
  for the preservation of Thy folk in this great Deserte.
  That which follows Being an Account of many and various Occurrences
  that would best remain Unknown to the multitudes of Humanity, lest
  harm be magnified by its wide Knowledge. God has granted unto us the
  Power to combat the Elder Evil that ever threatens the lives and souls
  of Men. But with the Power of God must also come Knowledge of the
  Enemy and of Its Works. These words are set down in hope of
  providing Aid to Those who Know, that they might better safeguard the
  teeming masses of Mankind. There can be nothing less than complete
  Devotion and utmost Vigilance in the Defiance of the Adversary, its
  minions, and all of its works. For tis upon this constant watchfulness
  that the fate of our World must needs depend.
  What I have set down within these Black Bindings is the sum of my
  lifetime’s researches into those dark and foreboding places which I or
  others of My acquaintance have delved on God’s Errand. There are
  many who would discount the details contained herein as ravings, just
  as they have done before; but, be they Benighted by the Enemy or simply
  overly Skeptical, they behave so from the light and safety of their
  closeted libraries and comfortable studies. They cannot Know, for they
  have not Seen. Therefore, I do not seek to publish this Secret Memoir;
  rather, copyists of Our Order have reproduced the text, and couriers of
  that same worthy body will carry the Word of the Doings in the Dark
  Places to all those who have proven their Dedication to God’s Hidden
  Purpose.
  Unto Thee, O Lord, Light of Heaven and King of All the Worlds,
  Whom the Angels of the Light exist to Glorifie, do I present this
  Account of the Magnificent Struggle against Thy Most Base Enemy.
  I pray Thee to sprinkle the book of this History with Thy Blood, and
  make it acceptable and profitable to Thy works, and serve Thy Truths
  and Ways among Thy people. Tis Thou that hast prepared this account
  for the preservation of Thy folk in this great Deserte.
  That which follows Being an Account of many and various Occurrences
  that would best remain Unknown to the multitudes of Humanity, lest
  harm be magnified by its wide Knowledge. God has granted unto us the
  Power to combat the Elder Evil that ever threatens the lives and souls
  of Men. But with the Power of God must also come Knowledge of the
  Enemy and of Its Works. These words are set down in hope of
  providing Aid to Those who Know, that they might better safeguard the
  teeming masses of Mankind. There can be nothing less than complete
  Devotion and utmost Vigilance in the Defiance of the Adversary, its
  minions, and all of its works. For tis upon this constant watchfulness
  that the fate of our World must needs depend.
  What I have set down within these Black Bindings is the sum of my
  lifetime’s researches into those dark and foreboding places which I or
  others of My acquaintance have delved on God’s Errand. There are
  many who would discount the details contained herein as ravings, just
  as they have done before; but, be they Benighted by the Enemy or simply
  overly Skeptical, they behave so from the light and safety of their
  closeted libraries and comfortable studies. They cannot Know, for they
  have not Seen. Therefore, I do not seek to publish this Secret Memoir;
  rather, copyists of Our Order have reproduced the text, and couriers of
  that same worthy body will carry the Word of the Doings in the Dark
  Places to all those who have proven their Dedication to God’s Hidden
  Purpose.
  Unto Thee, O Lord, Light of Heaven and King of All the Worlds,
  Whom the Angels of the Light exist to Glorifie, do I present this
  Account of the Magnificent Struggle against Thy Most Base Enemy.
  I pray Thee to sprinkle the book of this History with Thy Blood, and
  make it acceptable and profitable to Thy works, and serve Thy Truths
  and Ways among Thy people. Tis Thou that hast prepared this account
  for the preservation of Thy folk in this great Deserte.
  That which follows Being an Account of many and various Occurrences
  that would best remain Unknown to the multitudes of Humanity, lest
  harm be magnified by its wide Knowledge. God has granted unto us the
  Power to combat the Elder Evil that ever threatens the lives and souls
  of Men. But with the Power of God must also come Knowledge of the
  Enemy and of Its Works. These words are set down in hope of
  providing Aid to Those who Know, that they might better safeguard the
  teeming masses of Mankind. There can be nothing less than complete
  Devotion and utmost Vigilance in the Defiance of the Adversary, its
  minions, and all of its works. For tis upon this constant watchfulness
  that the fate of our World must needs depend.
  What I have set down within these Black Bindings is the sum of my
  lifetime’s researches into those dark and foreboding places which I or
  others of My acquaintance have delved on God’s Errand. There are
  many who would discount the details contained herein as ravings, just
  as they have done before; but, be they Benighted by the Enemy or simply
  overly Skeptical, they behave so from the light and safety of their
  closeted libraries and comfortable studies. They cannot Know, for they
  have not Seen. Therefore, I do not seek to publish this Secret Memoir;
  rather, copyists of Our Order have reproduced the text, and couriers of
  that same worthy body will carry the Word of the Doings in the Dark
  Places to all those who have proven their Dedication to God’s Hidden
  Purpose.
  
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  
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  Chapter 1:
  Chapter 1:
  Chapter 1:
  Chapter 1:
  Chapter 1:
  Land and Landscape
  Land and Landscape
  Land and Landscape
  Land and Landscape
  Land and Landscape
  of New England
  of New England
  of New England
  of New England
  of New England
  TTTTT
  he states that make up New England — Connecticut, Rhode
  Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine
  — have a shared heritage. The land here was among the
  earliest settled by Europeans, and ones who were predominantly of
  a single culture, namely strict religious dissenters primarily from
  England. But the similarities of New England are not so easily
  accounted for as that. There are also similarities of geography and
  pre-European culture that have shaped the social structure of the
  Northeastern states.
  Sandwiched between the mountains and the sea, the people of
  New England were, and continue to be, somewhat isolated from
  the other states of the Union. This isolation has meant that there
  are many common features of New England that do not extend
  beyond the boundaries of its member states. These things are not
  immediately recognizable as marks of significance, but they are
  subtle indicators that the visitor to New England is truly that and
  serve the wayward New Englander equally well as reminders that
  he has returned home. The dignified village greens that are a feature
  of nearly every town in New England, the covered wooden bridges,
  and the lines of unmortared stone fences that pepper the countryside
  also hint that this region is distinct to itself. And, in a way, they all
  emphasize the twin senses of oneness and isolation that are often
  felt by visitors to and residents of New England alike.
  The singular atmosphere of New England can also be seen in
  its Native American culture. All the tribes of New England, bound
  by the same geographical and climactic features that helped define
  the immigrant European society, exhibited similarities of lifestyle,
  religion, and language that demonstrate their isolation. (For more
  on the aboriginal tribes of the region, see “Chapter 4: Native
  Americans of New England.”)
  The root of the separation of New England from the rest of the
  United States is its geography. Although there are many farms and
  some fine land in the six states of the Northeast, most of the land is
  rocky and rugged, picturesque but not as fertile as the land of the
  Southern states or the Midwest. Vast forests also originally covered
  much of the better soil of the region, and in many areas still do. In
  
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  places, the rugged features of the landscape give way to mountains.
  All of inland New England is crisscrossed with chains of foothills
  and mountains, rising high in the north and tapering to more gradual
  slopes that extend across Massachusetts into Connecticut and
  continue on toward Long Island Sound. The White Mountains begin
  in Maine before moving into the north of New Hampshire. There,
  spectacular spires make up the Presidential Range, dominated by
  Mount Washington, the highest peak in New England at 6,288 feet.
  The bald top of this great peak is wracked by weather so fierce that
  trees cannot sustain themselves above 4,800 feet (by comparison,
  the Rockies are often forested up to 11,000 feet).
  The sparse farmland of New Hampshire begins at the foot of
  the White Mountain range and extends to the bustling city of
  Manchester. West of the White Mountains, between New Hampshire
  and the border of Vermont, flows the longest river of New England,
  the Connecticut. Bounded by rocky countryside for much of its
  length, it broadens to water the Connecticut Valley, a fertile
  meadowland of farms and villages.
  Western New England, from the Connecticut Valley to the New
  York border, is dominated by the Green Mountains of Vermont, the
  Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts, and the Litchfield Hills of
  Connecticut. All these ranges have a lush but rugged greenery that
  may be found throughout New England. A similar uniformity can
  be found elsewhere; much of the twisting shoreline of Rhode Island,
  for example, is nearly indistinguishable from the rocky coast of Maine.
  The comparatively poor farmland of so much of New England
  meant that the earlier settlements of the region were clustered along
  the coast or hugged close to one of the rivers that threaded their
  way inland. On the Atlantic shore, the cities and towns all looked
  to the sea for their livelihood in the past and many do even now.
  The seacoast towns center around a harbor, and sailing, fishing,
  whaling, and lobstering were the most common professions of old.
  These centers therefore tend to face the sea rather than inland, and
  many stretch along the coast in strips rather than expand landward.
   The seaside towns and cities, the oldest in New England, have
  a feel different from the newer places in the west of the territory.
  There is a European atmosphere along the coast, and in the steep,
  narrow, often winding cobblestone streets and clustered two- and
  three-story houses near the waterfront. Some of the seaside towns
  — like Marblehead or Rockport in Massachusetts — with
  picturesque little houses crowded close together along narrow ways
  
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  leading to small docks in the harbor seem anachronistic and
  Colonial. The more elegant and spacious homes of Beacon Hill in
  Boston or those of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, cling to the heritage
  of the rich ship-owners, politicians, and other near-gentry of New
  England.
  The same atmosphere of otherness is apparent in many of the
  older communities of New England. Many are still fairly small,
  especially inland. The winding backroads of southern and central
  New England lead to valleys with small farms or single homesteads
  surrounded by dry-stone fences. These are scattered between
  similarly-appearing villages, often still featuring a stone water-
  powered mill of the Colonial era at the center of town.
  The more recently-settled lands of Upper Maine and northern
  New Hampshire do not share this almost-European atmosphere.
  These areas were not inhabited by non-natives until the late 19th
  century, and the towns of this region have none of the Old World
  smallness of the seacoast towns and the rural villages of the south.
  In fact, much of the north country around Moosehead Lake, the
  Rangeley Lakes, and Mount Katahdin (shown above) is still largely
  uninhabited and a traveler could walk many miles in this region
  without finding evidence of another human being.
  North of this wilderness is a land apart from the rest of New
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 1
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  Mount Katahdin, Maine
  
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  England. Along the St. John River, on the Canadian border, is a
  world, a portion of Maine nearly the size of Massachusetts, that is
  anomalous in New England. The Acadian-descended inhabitants
  of the area speak French and have much in common with the people
  of Quebec. This is the land of Aroostook County, famed for its rich
  soil and fine potatoes. In the 1920s, this was a rich farming area,
  especially by the standards of the Northeast, and in 1925 the harvest
  and prices were so good that thousands of potato-growers were able
  to pay off their mortgages in a single season.
  Maine, while it can boast a long, rocky, glacier-hewn coastline,
  has an inland area nearly as big as the territory of the other five
  New England states together. In upper Maine, the great industry is
  lumber and there were sawmills in Berwick and York as early as
  1640. Most of the Maine ports and river cities grew up as lumber-
  shipping centers. The verdant forests of Maine have suffered under
  this industry, but much of the state is still shrouded by timber.
  Upstate New Hampshire is also logging territory and appears almost
  indistinguishable from much of Maine.
  Vermont is also covered in forest, but its rugged, mountainous
  terrain makes harvesting it as difficult as farming the marginal and
  rocky soil had been in the past. Vermont has one of the highest
  percentages of mountainous land of any state in the Union. This
  has created an impression, not entirely false, that Vermont is apart
  from the other states of the Northeast. This was the last refuge of
  the Yankee of old, ruggedly independent, conservative, and resistant
  to change. Long after farming practices such as ox-powered
  fieldwork had been abandoned elsewhere, they were still being used
  in Vermont.
  The uneven, rocky acreage only partially accounted for this
  anachronism. What were handicrafts in other parts of New England
  were still practiced as parts of everyday life in Vermont. Carding
  one’s own wool to weave, making one’s own milk buckets, even
  smithing one’s own tools were all done on most rural Vermont
  homesteads. The industrial factories that sprang up in the 19th and
  early 20th centuries never found more than a foothold here. The
  state has more cattle, fewer cities and towns of any size, fewer
  hired laborers — and thus fewer foreign-born Americans — than
  any other part of New England.
  The Green Mountains of Vermont are not the steep, intimidating
  rocky peaks of New Hampshire; they are softer looking, swathed in
  green forests and divided by lush meadows, occasionally farmland.
  
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  But the granite and marble beneath
  the trees are, along with lumber,
  among the most important exports
  of the state. The verdant slopes
  started to encourage visitors by the
  beginning of the 1920s. With
  developments in the automotive
  industry and the creation of more
  serviceable roads, Vermont quickly
  became a tourist attraction in both
  winter and summer. Skiing became
  very popular as the decade
  progressed.
  Connecticut and Rhode Island
  are as alike to each other as they
  are different from the more rural states of Maine and Vermont. Long
  before the dawn of the 20th century, both states were centers of
  industry not only for New England but for much of the East Coast.
  From Colonial times, Connecticut has manufactured all sorts of
  industrial products, including brass fixtures, firearms, machinery,
  silverware, hats, clocks, textiles, and tools.
  Rhode Island is nearly as heavily industrialized. By the 1920s,
  virtually every skyline observable in Rhode Island featured one or
  more factories. In fact, the first American factory — a mechanized
  cotton mill — was begun here by Samuel Slater in 1790. The money
  for the industrialization of Rhode Island came primarily from wealth
  garnered by merchant sailing ships. Providence, the capital, and
  Newport are examples of the luxurious living standards that the
  factories could bring to some, as well as the meager livings it
  provided for others.
  Providence is one of the most attractive cities in the United
  States. Marble features in the construction of nearly all of the finer
  buildings, and beautiful churches, libraries, and private homes line
  the streets of the capital. Providence looks out to Newport and the
  Atlantic through the expanse of Narragansett Bay, a 28-mile stretch
  of water that shelters islands, coves, and beaches that have
  themselves sheltered generations of seafarers from the furious storms
  of the deeper water beyond.
  East of the mouth of Narragansett Bay lie some of the best-known
  places in all of New England. Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket Island,
  and Cape Cod, renowned as vacation destinations, deserve their
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 1
  
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  fame. The sand dunes and salt marshes of the South Shore give
  way to the rockbound North Shore of Cape Cod. In places, the South
  Shore dunes are more than 100 feet high and spectacular to behold.
  The sandy coastline of the South Shore is in constant flux, so much
  so that it can change beyond recognition in places in a matter of
  years, obedient to the pressures of tide and wind.
  The picturesque islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard
  lie south of the South Shore. The town of Nantucket has preserved
  much of its rich Colonial heritage, and hundreds of houses and
  other buildings may be found fronting on narrow, winding,
  cobblestone lanes. And Martha’s Vineyard is the home of two
  important Colonial-era harbors, at Vineyard Haven and Edgartown.
  Massachusetts is by far the most populous of the New England
  states, as well the most urbanized. Less of the unmarred countryside
  exists here than in less hospitable northern Maine or isolated
  Vermont. But the Berkshire Hills of the west of Massachusetts still
  hold some mystery and the area abounds with unsettling
  disappearances and odd tales. The flatter land closer to Boston is
  far more closely settled.
  In 1920, Massachusetts had a population only slightly smaller
  than that of the rest of New England together. Boston’s multitudes
  numbered almost 750,000 in 1920, nearly as many people as
  inhabited all of Maine and almost double the population of New
  Hampshire. The people of Boston and its environs, in addition to
  being numerous, also often were visibly different from the
  populations of other cities of New England. The late 19th and early
  20th centuries saw a great influx of immigrants to Boston, many of
  whom manned the burgeoning textile mills and shoe factories of
  the city.
  By 1920, as much as 70 percent of the people of Boston were
  either immigrants or the children of immigrants. To compound
  matters, these immigrants were overwhelmingly from areas of
  Europe that had until then been virtually unrepresented in
  Massachusetts. Largely made up of immigrants of Northern European
  extraction, the older residents of Boston were being supplanted by
  people from southern and Mediterranean Europe. This created social
  pressures that affected all the citizens and, when the anti-
  immigration laws of the post-war period were introduced, Boston
  and the rest of Massachusetts was in the middle of the conflict over
  enforcement.
  In the 19th century, New Hampshire was considered to have
  
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  some of the best of the meager farmland in New England. In the
  later decades of that century, however, the population began to
  shrink, as many farmers simply picked up their belongings to settle
  in the newly-opened West. This trend continued for several decades
  until, by 1930, less than 10 percent of the population was engaged
  in farming. But the other major segement of New Hampshire’s
  economy continued to thrive into the beginning of the 20th century,
  and the textile mills along the Merrimack River operated at peak
  levels until just after the World War I, when the industry began to suffer.
  W
  W
  W
  W
  Weather in the Northeastern States
  eather in the Northeastern States
  eather in the Northeastern States
  eather in the Northeastern States
  eather in the Northeastern States
  When the first Europeans arrived in what came to be called New
  England, they were unable to guess the nature of the climate that
  they would face. Unlike other early settlements further south, the
  weather was generally less hospitable than that which they left
  behind in England. This may seem a little surprising, given that
  New England is far more southerly than the original home of the
  settlers, but the climate is modified by the huge landmass that is
  the rest of America. Winters are colder, and wet, even by English
  standards, especially along the coasts. Moving inland and climbing
  in altitude, the winter temperatures drop even further. Snow, not
  uncommon in the coldest months even in Boston and along the
  coast, is found through the winter in many regions, and Maine’s
  northern forests and Vermont’s and New Hampshire’s ski slopes
  are white for several months. In the mountainous regions, of course,
  snow can remain well into spring, and even year-round on some of
  the less-hospitable peaks.
  In the other seasons rain is frequent, although less in summer
  than spring and fall. Summer provides New Englanders with many
  days of sun and fair winds, storms are uncommon, and sailing and
  other water sports are popular up and down the coasts.
  The winter storms of both coastal and inland New England are
  well-known for their ferocity and can be devastating when they
  arrive, partly because of their unexpected nature. Indeed, in earlier
  days, witchcraft was blamed for many of the killer gales of the late
  fall and early winter. Occasionally, witchcraft was even invoked to
  calm the storms or to aid mariners in their passage through the
  wind and waves. Storms are frequent visitors to the mountainous
  areas inland as well, and the Berkshires of Massachusetts and the
  White Mountains of Maine and New Hampshire have a well-earned
  reputation for fast-moving snow storms.
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 1
  Chapter 1
  
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  VVVVView of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  VVVVView of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  VVVVView of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  VVVVView of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  VVVVView of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  VVVVView of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  iew of Boston in the 1930s
  
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  Chapter 2:
  Chapter 2:
  Chapter 2:
  Chapter 2:
  Chapter 2:
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  Between the W
  Between the W
  Between the W
  Between the W
  Between the Wars
  ars
  ars
  ars
  ars
  TTTTT
  his section is intended to give the reader an overview of the
  events that occurred during the period between World War
  I and World War II. It is specifically devoted to the kind of
  information that a reader will find most useful for getting a feel for
  the role-playing possibilities of the 1920s and 1930s. At the end of
  this chapter is a list of phenomena, some common and some rather
  esoteric, that players may come across while investigating the
  region.
  The interwar period in the Northeast is a time that is more
  removed from the present than a span of less than a century would
  suggest. Obviously, many common conveniences were unknown
  but, even more remarkable, is the way in which the absence of
  those things and the relative novelty of other innovations affected
  daily life. Much has been written about the fashions, cost of
  transportation, and similar things in 1920s America, especially in
  and around Boston itself, and such information is readily available
  in other sourcebooks. A look at the news events and technological
  advances of the day, however, along with how those things affected
  everyday life, is worth considering. Automobiles can serve as a
  good example of this.
  Cars were widely available by 1920 and, thanks to Henry Ford,
  were even reasonably affordable, but the society of the era had not
  had the time to adapt to the changes that the automobile would
  bring. While owning a car was not for everyone, people were finding
  it less of a luxury and more of a necessity all the time. By 1925,
  more than half the families in the northern United States either
  owned or would soon own cars under installment plans. Cars were
  becoming status symbols and fashion statements.
  To cope with the increase in car owners, roads were improved
  all over the country, and were built first and foremost where they
  were most required. New routes were primarily urban, but they
  also catered to a new desire on the part of city-dwellers to live in
  the developing suburbs; with the greater mobility provided by the
  rise of the automobile, it was no longer necessary to live near one’s
  place of work. Roads were thus built on the outskirts of cities such
  as Boston to accommodate these new commuters. Beyond the
  
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  suburbs, however, there was no great need for decent roads and
  travel in the country was consequently much slower. In the years
  just after the World War I, 90 percent of all automobiles in the
  country were still being put away for the winter months, as it was
  simply too much trouble to drive then.
  Things changed rapidly, however, and Congress allocated a great
  deal of money for road construction beginning in 1916. At the same
  time, automobile technology was improving every year. For short
  distances, whether driving in town or country, motor vehicles
  increasingly began to displace wagons and the like. When it came
  to long-distance travel, however, the train was still the mode of
  choice.
  The location of the automobile market began to change about
  the same time, again thanks largely to Henry Ford. Prior to and
  during the war, more cars were built in New England than in
  Michigan, but the balance swung rapidly toward the Midwest after
  the end of hostilities in Europe. Many of the smaller manufacturers
  located along the eastern seaboard were absorbed by those growing
  giants that later came to be known as the “Big Three” — Ford,
  General Motors, and Dodge.
  The trend toward large companies was not limited to the
  automobile industry. Local and corner stores began to disappear,
  bought out by large chains. By 1932, for example, Great Atlantic
  and Pacific had bought out more than 15,000 small groceries all
  over the country.
  Innovations that led to the growth of the auto industry were
  also felt in other areas. Great factories, now commonplace, were a
  novelty in the 1920s, but over the following decade the same sorts
  of industries were advertising themselves as modern, high-
  technology places of employment. The assembly line, developed
  by Henry Ford for the manufacture of automobiles, was adopted by
  other sectors as well.
  Technological advancements made in automobile
  manufacturing, for example, made possible the expansion of the
  aircraft industry, and after the war aircraft came into their own.
  Largely relegated a reconnaissance role in World War I, the airplane
  of the post-war period became heavier, faster, and more reliable.
  America was nonetheless still slow in moving ahead with
  commercial air traffic and the first regularly-scheduled passenger
  service between New York City and Boston was begun only in 1927.
  Over the next five years, airplanes became capable of carrying a
  
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  dozen or more passengers in comparative comfort and security.
  In the 1920s, women became increasingly active in aviation
  and many joined the male barnstormers and trick exhibition pilots
  in the air. Other women saw these pioneers exemplify the new roles
  opening up to women all over America. In this period, women found
  careers in the new factories, in offices, and in many previously-
  male professions. The onset of World War II brought thousands
  more women out of their traditional places.
  Many of these changes to American society can be seen as
  comparatively positive but others had less beneficial effects. The
  same decades that saw the beginnings of real social freedom for
  women, considerable technological improvement, and the growth
  of industry that made the United States a growing economic global
  giant globe also bore witness to political isolationism from Europe,
  severe immigration quotas, Prohibition and its attendant rise in
  organized crime, and the development of a national paranoia of
  communism.
  Shortly after the end of the World War I, America turned its
  attention inward. Many people felt — especially strongly in the
  Northeastern states — that the Great War had been something in
  which America should not have become involved. Many European
  countries owed huge debts to the United States and it did not appear
  that they would be in any position to honor them. Additionally,
  because the war had never threatened to expand beyond Europe
  
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  and the United States had never been directly threatened, there
  were those who felt that leaders in Washington had been meddling
  when they agreed to work with the Allies.
  The tide of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe made
  many people nervous in the years following the Great War. Many
  were concerned over what this wave of people with differing mores
  and traditions would do to regions inhabited primarily by
  descendants of immigrants from northern Europe. New England,
  especially its urban areas, was immersed in these concerns. Maine
  novelist Kenneth Roberts wrote in a series of Saturday Evening Post
  articles after the war that these migrations would overwhelm the
  country with “human parasites” and create “ ... a hybrid race of
  good-for-nothing mongrels.” Many who believed as Roberts did, a
  bloc known as “hundred percenters,” put sufficient pressure on
  the Harding administration to get the Emergency Quota Act passed
  in 1921, which severely reduced immigration into the United States.
  This was followed by still more restrictive acts in 1924 and 1929.
  Playing right into the feelings of many in America were those
  who orchestrated what is often referred to as the “First Red Scare.”
  Created largely by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, who served
  under Woodrow Wilson, this increased worries already heightened
  by the budding isolationist tendencies appearing in 1918-20. Many
  Americans became paranoid of the perceived communist threat, a
  fear that grew in the ’20s, hand-in-hand with the repressive
  immigration policies of Wilson’s Republican successors.
  In the climate of the period immediately following the war, it
  is not surprising that the 18th Amendment to the Constitution —
  making the manufacture, export, import, transportation, and
  distribution of alcoholic beverages illegal — was passed. Known as
  Prohibition, the amendment was passed in 1919 and came into effect
  in 1920. And yet, Americans seemed to regret Prohibition almost
  as soon as it began.
  A new occupation, bootlegging, was born. In 10 years, the federal
  government made more than half a million arrests for bootlegging,
  securing over 300,000 convictions. Alcohol seeeped into America
  through constantly-shifting leaks in the borders with its neighbors
  to the north and south. Seaports such as Boston were surrounded
  by fleets of ocean-going ships full of all manner of wine and liquor,
  and many smaller ports were even more subject to continuous
  smuggling. Fast motorboats ran the gauntlet of slower coastguard
  vessels, bringing their illegal cargo from the large ships into port
  
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  by the truckload. Here the alcohol was transferred to waiting
  bootleggers who would distribute it with cars and trucks. It was a
  lucrative if rather risky business in which all kinds of people
  participated. Shipments were often intercepted, not just by law
  enforcement but also by other criminals. Not surprisingly,  with so
  much money to be made a career criminal class arose and organized
  rapidly.
  “Speakeasies” sprang up overnight to replace corner bars and
  saloons. Almost any adult was aware of the location of a convenient
  bootlegger. Efforts of the government to enforce the law were
  severely hampered by the utter ambivalence of the majority of
  Americans, who accepted and encouraged the criminal activity all
  around them. Added to this were many active dissenters who spoke
  out against Prohibition, including Connecticut and Rhode Island,
  which refused to ratify the 18th Amendment at all. Finally, because
  the ownership and consumption of alcohol was not a crime, actual
  enforcement of the law was made even more difficult.
  Perhaps the most deleterious effect of Prohibition did not occur
  until its repeal in 1933. A that point the now well-established
  criminal element that had catered to the desire for alcohol turned
  its attention to other activities when the 18th Amendment was no
  longer on the books. Seeking for other sources of income to replace
  the loss, criminal organizations turned to drugs, prostitution, and
  gambling.
  
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  The Stock Market Crash of October 1929 brought an abrupt end
  to the alternately repressive and permissive society of comparative
  ease that had existed in the 1920s. Buoyed up from a post-war slump
  by rapid investment that led to recovery in the mid-20s, the stock
  market grew as more people threw greater amounts of money into
  circulation in hopes of getting rich. By the end of the decade, the
  collapse was unavoidable.
  A downward spiral of prices, production, employment, and
  foreign trade caused the initial crash to bottom out rather than head
  into recovery. Every kind of business suffered. Industry discharged
  employees, who defaulted on payments and could not find other
  jobs. Factory payrolls dropped by half and roughly one-quarter of
  the working people of the U.S. were unemployed. Shanty towns
  grew up around dumps in major urban centers. Unscrupulous
  operators opened up garment mills and other corrupt factories where
  they virtually dictated whatever wages that they cared to offer. The
  economy continued in this condition until mid-1932.
  In January of that year, the Hoover Administration drafted the
  Reconstruction Finance Corporation to inject money into railroads,
  banks, agricultural agencies, industry, and commerce. It took years
  for any effect to come out of this program, which left average
  Americans to fend for themselves. It was really only with the
  election of Franklin Roosevelt and the promise of the New Deal in
  1933 that the economy began to turn around. And, although the
  stock market did not truly recover until 1938, people began to feel
  that the worst was behind them.
  With the recovery of the economy, technological innovation,
  which by no means had been stagnant during the preceding years
  PPPPPopulations of New England States in 1920 and 1930
  opulations of New England States in 1920 and 1930
  opulations of New England States in 1920 and 1930
  opulations of New England States in 1920 and 1930
  opulations of New England States in 1920 and 1930
  1920
  1920
  1920
  1920
  1920
  1930
  1930
  1930
  1930
  1930
  Massachusetts
  Massachusetts
  Massachusetts
  Massachusetts
  Massachusetts
  3,852,356
  4,249,614
  Connecticut
  Connecticut
  Connecticut
  Connecticut
  Connecticut
  1,380,631
  1,606,903
  Maine
  Maine
  Maine
  Maine
  Maine
  768,014
  797,423
  Rhode Island
  Rhode Island
  Rhode Island
  Rhode Island
  Rhode Island
  604,397
  687,497
  New Hampshire
  New Hampshire
  New Hampshire
  New Hampshire
  New Hampshire
  443,083
  465,293
  VVVVVermont
  ermont
  ermont
  ermont
  ermont
  352,428
  359,611
  United States T
  United States T
  United States T
  United States T
  United States Totals
  otals
  otals
  otals
  otals
  105,710,620
  122,775,046
  
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  began to have an impact upon the average American once more.
  Improvements in automobiles, aviation, automation, and
  construction had all continued but did not have great social effects
  until after 1932, and much of the technology of the 1930s was derived
  from discoveries of the previous decade. With the retreat of the
  Great Depression, a sense of ease began to enter the fabric of
  American society. Labor-saving devices of all sorts came into vogue
  and leisure time became something for everyone and not merely
  the well-to-do. Popularity of professional sports grew as more people
  had both the time and the money to attend.
  This increase in leisure time allowed for the pursuit of other
  avenues of expression. The American Communist Party, the most
  feared group in the United States prior to the crash of ’29, grew
  rapidly in the ’30s. This in turn inspired a renewal of the still-
  active revulsion felt by many Americans during and after the Red
  Scare. Communists changed their tactics at this time, joining existing
  unions and other popular organizations, rather than sticking to the
  strictly and publicly communist unions of the 1920s. This had the
  effect of heightening the paranoia already evident across the country.
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  
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  TTTTTimeline
  imeline
  imeline
  imeline
  imeline
  What follows is a timeline of events significant to New Englanders
  of the 1920s, which you can use to help immerse your characters in
  the milieu.
  You may simply want to read timely event listings to them at
  the beginning or end of a session. Or, you may wish to introduce
  the events more fully into your campaign. Imagine the confusion
  on the part of the players, for example, if you were to bring them in
  on the rescue efforts surrounding the Great Molasses Disaster. The
  scenario you devise might be full of action and very exciting but
  have nothing sinister or otherworldly about it, but the players will
  be constantly on edge while they explore the broken rubble of a
  tenement, awaiting the appearance of some crawling abomination.
  Alternatively, you can use this technique as a break after a
  particularly harrowing session, or even as something of an uplifting
  segment in the character’s lives. Managing to rescue trapped
  survivors will go a long way toward relieving the ever-present feeling
  of futility found in many Cthulhu Mythos campaigns. It will also
  help to keep the players off balance, so they will never know what
  to expect from a scenario. In any adventure, especially a horror
  one, the unexpected is crucial to maintaining mood and suspense.
  1919
  1919
  1919
  1919
  1919
  January 15, just before noon, the Great Molasses Disaster occurrs in
  Boston. The huge 2,300,000 gallon storage tank for the United States
  Alcohol Company blows catastrophically, sending molasses pouring
  in all directions. Near the blast, it flows with sufficient force to
  throw four freight rail cars off the track, and a fifth is forced right
  through the wall of the terminal. Thirteen people, along with dozens
  of horses, are known to have been killed.
  January 16, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution makes the
  manufacture, import, export, distribution and sale of alcoholic
  beverages illegal. Rhode Island and Connecticut refuse to ratify.
  June 2, 1919, Captain Mansell R. Jones’ plane is lost somewhere
  over or in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. Jones had
  departed from Lee, Massachusetts, on route to Mitchell Field, Long
  Island. Scattered reports come in of people hearing a plane in the
  area, as well as over Long Island Sound. A massive search is
  organized, in which thousands participate, including hundreds of
  Boy Scouts. Both pilot and wreckage appear to have vanished and
  
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  no trace is found of either.
  September 9, nearly 2,000 members of the Boston Police
  Department go on strike, causing panic and the formation of citizen
  patrols. Governor Calvin Coolidge promptly hires new patrolmen.
  In a statement that receives national attention, Coolidge declares:
  “There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody,
  anywhere, anytime.”
  September 14, the U.S. Embassy in Russia is shut down,
  although the consulate in Vladivostok remains open until May 1922.
  The United States does not reestablish diplomatic relations with
  the Soviet Union until 1933.
  1919 also sees the end of a major strike of coal miners and
  steelworkers in many parts of America.
  1920
  1920
  1920
  1920
  1920
  U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer raises the issue of the
  “Red Menace” in America and a furor envelops much of the United
  States as communists are rooted out. With no warrants or reason,
  Palmer authorizes raids on private homes and businesses and
  thousands of people are arrested. In New England, many join in the
  craze and hundreds are incarcerated without foundation. Palmer
  becomes, for a short time, famous and adored.
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  Effects of the Great Molasses Disaster
  
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  April 15, what would eventually
  become one of the most famous robberies
  and subsequent trials in American history
  occurred in Dedham, Massachusetts. A
  simple payroll heist, there is nothing
  outstanding about the crime itself except
  that the perpetrators make themselves
  $16,000 richer and kill two men in the
  process. The air of outrage at the needless
  deaths creates a sense of urgency among
  the authorities, who cast about nervously
  for information on the killers. Following
  up on eye-witness reports, the police arrest
  29-year-old shoemaker Nichola Sacco and
  32-year-old fish-seller Bartolomeo
  Vanzetti. Both Italian immigrants, they also
  have the misfortune to be armed with
  pistols when they are apprehended. It later
  also comes out that the men are known
  political activists and anarchists.
  On May 31, the trial begins and makes
  headlines across the country. Despite a
  convincing defense and a lack of any direct
  evidence against them, they are convicted
  of first degree murder and sentenced to death. The trial judge appears
  obviously biased against the defendants, whom he refers to on at
  least one occasion as “anarchist bastards.” Despite seven motions
  for retrial, all of which are refused, Sacco and Vanzetti, who have
  since been found unquestionably innocent of the murders, are
  executed.
  August 18, The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution makes
  women’s suffrage national.
  With the innovation of the ski lift, rural New England becomes
  increasingly the destination of winter vacationers from farther south
  along the Eastern Seaboard.
  Increasing unpopularity of Democratic President Woodrow
  Wilson makes way for Republican Warren G. Harding,who wins a
  landslide victory for the presidency.
  1921
  1921
  1921
  1921
  1921
  Playwright Karl Capek coins the term “Robot” to describe the
  
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  mechanical inhabitants of his
  world in the play “R.U.R.,” which
  stands for “Rossum’s Universal
  Robots.”
  The American Radio League
  demonstrates for the first time the
  utility of shortwave radio for long-
  distance communication by
  transmitting across the Atlantic to
  Scotland.
  Famous comedian Roscoe
  “Fatty” Arbuckle is acquitted of
  rape and murder charges stemming
  from a Labor Day party in San
  Francisco after a young actress,
  Virginia Rapp, becomes sick and
  dies in his hotel room.
  American medical student
  John Augustus Larson invents Polygraphy lie detection.
  Swiss pyschiatrist Hermann Rorschach devises the inkblot test
  that bears his name.
  Vice President Calvin Coolidge accuses the colleges and
  campuses of America of being hotbeds of sedition in a series of
  articles in The Delineator.
  Alfred Watkins arrives at the notion of Ley lines; invisible lines
  of power which crisscross the world and were allegedly known to
  earlier cultures, who built megalithic monuments at the crossings.
  1922
  1922
  1922
  1922
  1922
  The Boston Evening Transcript runs the following story:
  “Geneva, March 21: During a heavy snowstorm in the Alps
  recently thousands of exotic insects resembling spiders,
  caterpillars, and huge ants fell on the slopes and quickly
  died. Local naturalists are unable to explain the
  phenomenon, but one theory is that the insects were blown
  in on the wind from some warmer climate.”
  May 17, the events of Mythos author H.P. Lovecraft’s “The
  Invisible Monster” take place. James Orne, captain of the Ahna,
  nets a huge one-eyed sea-monster, which is eventually displayed
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  
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  in Boston.
  August 8, James Orne and others die
  mysteriously in Lovecraft’s, “The Horror
  at Martin’s Beach.”
  A major strike of textile workers takes
  place in the Amoskeag Manufacturing
  Company of Manchester, New Hampshire,
  the greatest textile manufacturer in the East
  up to this time.
  Archaeologist 
  Howard 
  Carter,
  accompanied and sponsored by Lord
  Caernarvon, opens the tomb of King Tut
  Ankh-amon. Caernarvon dies soon after.
  The German vampire film Nosferatu,
  eine Symphonies des Grauens is released.
  1923
  1923
  1923
  1923
  1923
  The Teapot Dome Scandal, a massive interconnection of government
  corruption, begins the downfall of President Warren G. Harding’s
  administration. By August 2, President Harding is dead, and the
  scandal erupts onto the front pages of newspapers across the country.
  Harding himself is never actually found to have been active in the
  shady deals, but his closeness to those who profited through
  dishonest deals tarnishes his memory. Vermont-born Calvin
  Coolidge succeeds him as president.
  May 4, New York state repeals its Prohibition Enforcement Act
  to reduce the growing power of gangsters and bootleggers and
  prevent poisonings from improperly-
  distilled alcohol, an increasing problem
  across the United States. This repeal means
  that one of the biggest markets for illicit
  liquor is no longer enforcing Prohibition.
  First issue of Weird Tales magazine is
  published and features a story by Mythos
  writer Robert E. Howard.
  1924
  1924
  1924
  1924
  1924
  Zenith produces the first portable radio
  available to the average consumer. It
  weighs 14.6 pounds, costs $230, and fits
  into a suitcase.
  
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  Radio waves are used for the first time to transmit still
  photographs from New York City to London (two years later, RCA
  introduces a commercial overseas photo transmission service).
  Swedish psychiatrist and spiritualist Carl Wickland publishes
  Thirty Years Among the Dead. The culmination of three decades of
  research and spiritual investigation. the book details hundreds of
  conversations Wickland had with various possessing spirits that
  were invited to speak through the body of Anna, the author’s wife
  and trance medium. His experiences with the “Mercy Sand,” a group
  of sympathetic spirits, are recorded, as are his dealings with several
  souls who attempt to make the body of his wife a permanent
  residence. The Wicklands develop a form of electroshock therapy
  that succeeds in driving out the possessing spirits.
  Fritz Haarman, “The Butcher of Hanover,”
  is sentenced to death and beheaded for his role
  in the gruesome murders of at least 27 and
  possibly as many as 50 young men and boys.
  The notorious German case is well publicized
  and causes deep fear and revulsion throughout
  the western world. As early as 1919, Haarman
  and his partner Hans Grans would lure
  orphans, drifters, and others unlikely to be
  missed to secluded spots where the victims
  could be abused and murdered. The victims’
  flesh was sold for food on the black market, as
  was their clothing, and their bones and skulls
  dropped into the River Leine.
  The first spiral-bound notebook is
  produced.
  Kleenex is invented.
  Edward Victor Appleton is the first to use
  Radio Ranging, a precursor to radar, to
  determine the distance to remote objects.
  By Rocket into Planetary Space by
  Hermann Oberth is the first truly scientific account of space research
  methods. Among other things, it deals with the concept of escape
  velocity, the speed and inertia necessary to escape the gravity of a
  planet or other heavenly body.
  Incumbent Republican Calvin Coolidge wins the presidential
  race against opponents Democrat John W. Davis and Progressive
  Robert M. La Follette Sr.
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  
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  1925
  1925
  1925
  1925
  1925
  July 4, 3 a.m., Boston, the Pickwick Club Disaster occurs at a popular
  night spot located at 12 Beach Street in downtown Boston. Just
  before closing time the lights die and, shortly thereafter, the ceiling
  of the club falls in, followed by the fourth and fifth floors. The
  rescue attempts quickly became an event of great spectacle, with
  crowds of hundreds waiting anxiously for word of survivors. More
  than 100 people are trapped and 44 die.
  In Dayton, Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union clashes
  with fundamentalists over the teaching of the theory of evolution
  in schools.
  1926
  1926
  1926
  1926
  1926
  Hugo Gernsback founds Amazing Stories, the first magazine devoted
  to science fiction.
  Robert Goddard launches the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket
  from his aunt’s farm in Auburn, Massachusetts.
  Poet Justin Geoffrey dies in an asylum in H.P. Lovecraft’s “The
  Thing on the Doorstep.”
  The Percy expedition into the interior of the Brazilian Amazon
  disappears without a trace.
  The moving picture The Jazz Singer heralds the arrival of talking
  motion pictures.
  May 9, Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett fly over the North
  Pole. Roald Amundsen’s airship Norge follows Byrd’s crossing a
  few days later.
  October 10, a naval depot full of ammunition explodes at Lake
  Denmark, New Jersey, when struck by lightning. Explosions continue
  for days and 31 people are killed. It is the worst such disaster to
  date in U.S. military history.
  1927
  1927
  1927
  1927
  1927
  Vannevar Bush and co-workers at MIT develop an electromechanical
  analog computer, the Differential Analyzer, which is capable of
  solving differential equations.
  21 February 1927, Mrs. Joseph Maxim of Dorchester,
  Massachusetts, awakes with “a start from a disturbing dream” in
  which she sees her son, a crewman on the Rumchaser CG 238,
  struggling for his life in the waves. Soon after her sister comes to
  tell her to put on mourning clothes. The next day, a messenger
  arrives with the news that the vessel had sunk, with all eight crew lost.
  
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  The Mississippi River captures national attention by flooding
  its banks catastrophically throughout April, causing $300 million
  in property damage.
  Rolex introduces the first waterproof watch, the Oyster.
  A decline in the Wall Street stock market signals the entry into
  a recession. Few see the decline for what it was, the precursor to
  the Great Depression.
  Charles A. Lindbergh makes the first nonstop solo flight across
  the Atlantic, May 20-21, 1927, in 33.5 hours.
  The Society of Space Travel is formed in Germany to explore
  the concepts outlined in Hermann Oberth’s 1924 book (see above).
  Its members include Wernher von Braun, later famous as the head
  of the Nazi rocket programs of the 1940s, and also the one to develop
  the first rocket to fly in outer space, and Willy Ley who later writes
  many books aimed at layman that heighten popular knowledge and
  interest in outer space.
  Lizzie A. Borden, accused and acquitted of the ax-murder of
  her parents in 1892, dies in Fall River, Massachusetts.
  May 8, Charles Nungessor, a famous World War I French fighter
  ace, takes off in a bid to cross the Atlantic and seize the $25,000
  prize offered for the first plane to fly from New York to France.
  Nungessor and his friend, Francois Coli, depart in a modified
  Lavassuer bi-plane called L’Oiseau Blanc, “The White Bird.” The
  next night, the French newspaper, La Presse, runs a story of the
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  
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  flight’s success, but it is incorrect. A reporter for La Presse in New
  York, hoping to beat his competition to the story, claims success
  when a plane matching the description of L’Oiseau Blanc arrives in
  New York Harbor on May 9. But Nungessor and Coli do not appear
  in New York or anywhere else. Reports of the aircraft come in from
  several places. A French plane was sighted at 10 a.m. on May 9
  over Newfoundland. Another report from St. Pierre, an island south
  of Newfoundland, notes the craft flying south overhead before fog
  enswathes the Northeast. Over Rockland, Maine, a plane is heard
  and, shortly after, the keeper of the lighthouse at Segun, Maine,
  states much the same. Several islands in Casco Bay also note the
  noise of an aircraft in the area. Other than these accounts, no more
  is ever found of L’Oiseau Blanc.
  August 22, Sacco and Vanzetti are executed.
  November 3, bizarre floods, including unusual corpses, are seen
  in Vermont, as recounted in Lovecraft’s “The Whisperer in the Dark.”
  Events of Lovecraft’s “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” occur over
  the winter of 1927-1928. Innsmouth is investigated by the federal
  government as waterfront buildings explode.
  1928
  1928
  1928
  1928
  1928
  Walter Diemer invents bubble gum.
  August, Wilbur Whateley is killed in the Miskatonic University
  library by a guard dog. His body dissolves. On September 15, three
  Miskatonic University professors succeed in dispelling the Dunwich
  Horror (as recounted in Lovecraft’s “The Dunwich Horror”).
  September 12, Henry Akeley flees from Albert Wilmarth of
  Miskatonic University, in Lovecraft’s “The Whisperer in the Dark.”
  A short-lived radio station in New York City, WRNY, encourages
  and instructs listeners on how to build their own television sets.
  On August 21, WRNY begins to broadcast its first day of televised
  programming. The station goes broke and the project is abandoned
  in 1929.
  General Electric begins television broadcasts shortly after WRNY.
  “Securit,” a safety glass that holds together instead of shattering
  upon breakage and is later installed in automobiles, is developed.
  November 28, Richard E. Byrd is the first to fly over the South
  Pole, capturing international attention and praise. (Norwegian Roald
  Amundsen had already reached the South Pole on foot in 1911,
  followed by Englishman Robert Scott one month later. Scott and
  his companions died on the return journey.)
  
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  1929
  1929
  1929
  1929
  1929
  Construction begins on the Empire State Building. It is completed
  in 1931.
  Manfred Sakel introduces insulin shock therapy as a treatment
  for schizophrenia.
  Hermann Oberth develops the concept of the multistage rocket.
  Umberto Nobile crosses the North Pole in the airship Italia. It
  crashes shortly thereafter, but Nobile and some of the crew survive
  and are saved by a well-publicized multinational rescue effort.
  February 14, the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre takes place in
  Chicago as part of a gang war between Al Capone and George “Bugs”
  Moran. Six of Moran’s men are lined up against a wall and gunned
  down in a public place but no murder charges are filed.
  July 1, the Immigration Act of 1924 takes effect, two years to
  the day later than it was supposed to, and institutes a quota system
  restricting immigration into the United States. This has the effect
  of specifically keeping the numbers of non-Northern Europeans
  disproportionately low, a measure that is viewed favorably by many
  in the Northeast.
  October 29, the Great Stock Market Crash occurs. It had been
  predicted by Walter Babson on September 5 but few listened to the
  doomsayer and little could have been done in any case. The first
  signs of the coming of “Black Tuesday,” as the 29th was called,
  could be seen during the previous week and on the October 22
  England had raised its prime interest rate, leading to significant
  transfers from American banks and debate among many financiers
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  and economists over whether trouble is coming. The following day,
  the market, which has been in a steady decline since a peak in
  September, begins to see signs of panic. By October 24, known later
  as “Black Thursday,” a precursor to the great crash takes place when
  13 million shares are sold as stock prices fall. The collapse is
  complete by the following Tuesday, when 16 million more shares
  are sold amid the chaos of rising panic and falling market prices.
  By the November 13, about $30 billion worth of listed stocks have
  ceased to exist on the New York Stock Exchange.
  September 24, the first blind, instruments-only flight is
  successfully completed by later-famous
  World War ll pilot James Doolittle at
  Mitchell Field, New York.
  November 19, Norah Farnario,
  occultist, psychic, and member of Aleister
  Crowley’s “Order of the Golden Dawn,” is
  found dead on the rugged isle of Iona, off
  the coast of Scotland. Spread-eagled on the
  heather-covered moor, naked save for the
  sigil-graven robe of her order and the ritual
  dagger clutched in her hand, no trace of
  her attacker is found nor is there any
  noticeable cause of death. Her face,
  however, is set in a look of absolute terror.
  1930
  1930
  1930
  1930
  1930
  January 2, unemployment in the United States reaches 4 million
  amid agricultural and economic collapse.
  The planet Pluto is discovered.
  June 10, the steamship Fairfax collides with the oil tanker
  Panther in heavy fog just outside of Boston Harbor. All 19 crew on
  Panther are lost, while Captain Brooks of Fairfax manages to get his
  damaged steamer into port. The 11,000 barrels of oil in the hold of
  Panther catch fire and explode, sending wreckage and flaming oil
  hundreds of yards into the air and lighting the ocean for miles
  around. A highly publicized inquiry into the disaster raises questions
  concerning the Coast Guard, which was slow to send rescue boats
  to the area of the accident.
  Fritz Lang’s movie M, inspired by the crimes of German Fritz
  Haarman and the first film seriously based on the life of a serial
  killer, is released.
  
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  September 20, the Arkham, bearing the Miskatonic University
  expedition to Antarctica, leaves Boston, in Lovecraft’s “At the
  Mountains of Madness.”
  1931
  1931
  1931
  1931
  1931
  March 21, 1931, Germany  announces the formation of a customs
  union with Austria, ostensibly with the intent of bolstering economic
  recovery in Europe. Astute observers see it as a political union first
  and foremost, and a sign of Germany's growing hostility toward
  other nations.
  June 23, Wiley Post and partner Harold Gatty take off on what
  becomes the first single-plane, around-the-world flight, which takes
  eight days, 15 hours, and 51 minutes.
  Australian explorer G.H. Wilkins captains the submarine
  Nautilus, navigating it under the Arctic Ocean to latitude 82 degrees,
  15 minutes north.
  Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon fly nonstop from Sabishiro,
  Japan, to Wenatchee, Washington, in 41 hours.
  September-October, some 827 American banks are forced by
  circumstance out of existence.
  1932
  1932
  1932
  1932
  1932
  March 1, the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh is
  kidnapped and a ransom note for S50,000 is found nearby. The case
  makes nationwide headlines and shocks the country. The money is
  eventually handed over but the child is not recovered until the
  remains are found near the Lindbergh home on May 12. An illegal
  German immigrant, Bruno Hauptmann, is convicted of the crime.
  Not everyone is convinced of his guilt.
  Bennington College opens in Vermont.
  The “Lame Duck” Amendment, the 20th to the Constitution, is
  passed, calling for Congress to convene on January 3 and for the
  president to be inaugurated into a new term on the 20th of the same
  month. It is effected to eliminate the long period that had previously
  existed between presidential elections and the taking of office. The
  amendment is formally adopted on February 6, 1933.
  Amelia Earhart is the first woman to make a solo transatlantic
  flight from Newfoundland to Ireland, 2,026 miles in 13.5 hours.
  November 8, Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Democrats win the
  presidential election by a landslide.
  December 12, the bodies of two intruders are found in Boston’s
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  
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  Cabot Museum, near the display of the
  “Eridanus” Mummy. The mummy is later
  subjected to an autopsy but the results are
  never revealed (Lovecraft’s “Out of the
  Aeons”).
  Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi, released.
  By year’s end, U.S. unemployment
  reaches about 13 million.
  1933
  1933
  1933
  1933
  1933
  December 5, Prohibition is repealed by the
  21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
  January 30, Adolf Hitler becomes
  chancellor of Germany.
  February 15, an assassination attempt against president-elect
  Franklin D. Roosevelt ends in the death of Chicago Mayor Anton
  Cermak. Roosevelt is unhurt. Assassin Giuseppe Zangara is executed
  on March 20.
  The first of President Roosevelt’s famous “fireside chats” is
  broadcast on March 12.
  In anticipation of the repeal of Prohibition, the U.S. government
  passes the Beer and Wine Act, which allows the sale of such
  beverages under 3.2 percent alcohol, and at the same time levies a
  tax against liquor sales and production.
  Fleeing before the growing tide of anti-Semitism and anti-
  intellectualism, many European Jews arrive in America. Among
  them is Albert Einstein, who settles in Princeton, New Jersey.
  November 16: United States reinstates formal relations with
  the Soviet Union. The American Government had refused to
  recognize the Bolshevik Revolutionary administration and relations
  had been suspended since 1919.
  1934
  1934
  1934
  1934
  1934
  Congress passes an act forbidding loans to countries that have fallen
  behind in their payments to the United States. Over the course of
  several months it becomes known that Finland is the only borrower
  country not to have done so.
  April, wind whistling around the highest peak in New England,
  Mount Washington in the White Mountains, is clocked at 231 miles
  an hour. This is the highest known rate of naturally occurring wind
  on Earth.
  
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  Congress passes the Lindbergh Act, which calls for the death
  penalty in any case of kidnapping that crosses state lines.
  130 people die in a fire on the passenger ship Morro Castle off
  the shore of Asbury Park, New Jersey.
  1935
  1935
  1935
  1935
  1935
  Sinclair Lewis writes It Can’t Happen Here, a novel of America’s
  fall into fascism.
  March 12, Albert Fish, a meek-looking elderly man, is brought
  to trial in one of the most infamous cases of the decade. Arrested
  after sending a letter of confession to the parents of a young girl
  that he murdered and partially cannibalized, Fish is found guilty
  and electrocuted.
  DC-3 passenger flights begin.
  August 14, the Social Security Act is signed, guaranteeing
  pensions, made up of contributions from both employees and
  employers, for those retiring at 65 as of 1942.
  August 31, President Roosevelt signs the Neutrality Act, which
  forbids the shipment of arms or munitions to belligerents once the
  president has declared that a state of war exists. It also authorizes
  the president to prohibit Americans from taking passage on the
  ships of belligerents.
  1936
  1936
  1936
  1936
  1936
  July 17, the Spanish Civil War begins with army units in Morocco
  proclaiming a revolution against the government in Madrid. General
  Francisco Franco quickly rises to
  power 
  over 
  the 
  various
  conservative elements. The
  United States elects not to
  interfere.
  In the presidential election of
  November 3, Roosevelt defeats
  Alfred Landon overwhelmingly.
  In the electoral college votes, only
  Maine and Vermont go to Landon.
  December 11, King Edward
  VIII of England abdicates his
  throne for his love, American
  divorcee 
  Wallis 
  Warfield
  Simpson.
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  
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  1937
  1937
  1937
  1937
  1937
  President Roosevelt signs another Neutrality Act, proclaiming
  America’s intention to not get involved in any foreign war.
  May 6, the dirigible Hindenburg explodes at Lakehurst, New
  Jersey, killing 36 people. Passenger airship traffic rapidly becomes
  a thing of the past.
  July, Amelia Earhart, already famous as the first woman to fly
  solo across the Atlantic as well as the first person to fly non-stop
  from Hawaii to the continental United States, sets out with a
  navigator to fly around the world. After a few nearly indecipherable
  radio messages, neither craft nor crew are ever heard from again.
  Speculation abounds as to their fate, the most likely explanation
  being that the craft was forced down somewhere in the South Pacific.
  Insulin first used to control diabetes.
  A Japanese plane sinks the American gunboat Panay in Chinese
  waters.
  1938
  1938
  1938
  1938
  1938
  Hitler appoints himself war minister of Germany. German troops
  march into Austria.
  May 26, Texas Democrat Martin Dies heads a committee set up
  by the House of Representativesto to investigate “un-American
  activity.” The avowed goal of the committee is to investigate suspect
  groups, whether of the right or left, Nazi or Communist, but its
  focus appears to be concentrated on the left.
  Minimum wage is legislated at $5.40 an hour and the maximum
  work week set at 44 hours. These restrictions, however, are only
  applied to businesses engaged in interstate commerce.
  July 14, Howard Hughes sets a new world record for an around
  the world flight, completing it in three days, 19 hours, 14.28 minutes.
  September 21, a powerful tropical hurricane swings north along
  the Atlantic coast of the United States and New England is especially
  hard hit. As many as 800 people are killed, millions of trees are
  downed, and damages are estimated at more than $300 million.
  September 30, the Munich Pact is signed in that city by British
  Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French Prime Minister
  Édouard Daladier. It ratifies the intended German occupation of
  the Sudetenland, a region of Czechoslovakia primarily inhabited
  by German speakers. Hitler, acting under the guise of promoting
  ethnic sovereignty for Germans everywhere, “champions” the
  Sudetenlanders, who agitate for intercession at his insistence.
  
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  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chapter 2
  Chamberlain, upon returning to England, proclaims that the pact
  has delivered “peace in our time.” Although later events would
  demonstrate the utter failure of Chamberlain’s “appeasement”
  policy, an October poll in the U.S. — after Hitler marched troops
  into the Sudetenland on the 3rd — shows that only a minority of
  Americans disapprove of the Munich Pact.
  President Roosevelt appeals to Hitler and Mussolini to settle
  their complaints with other European states peacefully.
  Halloween night, 1938, Orson Welles’ radio show “Invasion
  from Mars” terrifies millions across America into fearing that
  Grover’s Mill, New Jersey, has been invaded by Martians. Although
  Orson Welles does make an explanatory disclaimer on the nature
  of the program immediately before it airs, many who tune in during
  the broadcast panic, some even taking to the highways in flight.
  December 6, Anthony Eden, who resigned as Britain’s Foreign
  Minister over the signing of the Munich Pact, gives a radio speech
  in New York City to the effect that democracies worldwide are
  threatened by the rise of Fascism in Europe.
  Roosevelt recalls the American ambassador to Germany and
  Germany follows suit, recalling her ambassador to the United States
  a few days later.
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  Martians vs. Thunder Child, by Henrique Alvim Correa, 1906
  
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  A Megalithic Structure of New England
  
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  Chapter 3:
  Chapter 3:
  Chapter 3:
  Chapter 3:
  Chapter 3:
  PPPPPrehistory of
  rehistory of
  rehistory of
  rehistory of
  rehistory of
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  TTTTT
  his section is intended to provide a framework on which to
  hang the various concepts that rule your campaign. Whether
  these ideas come from within these pages, are your own, or
  derive from other sources, you can use the information presented
  here to flesh out the time between scenarios, to provide background
  information for your characters to find while doing research, or
  simply to stir your own imagination.
  All the information presented in this section is internally
  consistent and can be used as-is for the background of your game.
  You may have to make some choices on how certain facts are
  perceived, whether they are factually correct within the context of
  your world, and the like. If you wish, however, you can use this
  content straight from the book with only a few such decisions.
  Note that much of what is in this section is modern information
  that was not available in the 1920s. It is therefore up to you as the
  Keeper to decide how any of it is to be used, how it will be
  discovered, and what is true or not within the context of your
  campaign. If you so wish, the boxed text on the following page may
  be something that your investigators stumble upon in their research.
  It should be noted that much of what is found in this section is
  highly disputed by historians and archaeologists in the real world,
  and thus is, at best, speculation. However, the conclusions herein
  are based upon interpretations of existing evidence and are presented
  as they are by the researchers who champion them. The sources for
  some of these theories can be found in the bibliography at the back
  of this book.
  Following is an excerpt from “A Brief Introduction to Megalithic
  Structures of the Northeast and Beyond” in The Arkham Journal of
  Archaeological Inquiry, v. 3 (1921) p.422-3. It is a transcript of the
  introductory lecture to the first meeting of the Learned Fellows of
  the Association for Research into the Culture of the Archaic
  Northeast of America, at the annual conference on June 13, 1919,
  in Arkham, Massachusetts, by Michael A. Schumann, Ph.D.
  
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  IIIII
  t is not, at this time, possible to speculate meaningfully as to
    the nature of the culture that may have left behind so many
    stone structures throughout New England and beyond. Most
  of these artifacts may be categorized by shape and construction
  into one of several different types, the two most common of which
  are the “Dolmen,” and the “Chamber.” Examples of both types
  may be seen all over New England. Dolmens are found primarily
  in Massachusetts, while chambers are more common in New
  Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut (as well as New York,
  Tennessee, and further west).
  A “dolmen” is comprised of a broad capstone, sometimes flat,
  placed horizontally upon at least two, and occasionally three or
  four, supporting blocks to create an open but covered space.
  Usually, a dolmen is a rather squat structure with very little room
  under the capstone, enough perhaps for someone to lie or be
  placed under but not enough to inhabit comfortably. They were,
  therefore, probably not intended for regular habitation. This factor,
  and the considerable effort that must have been required for their
  construction, suggests a ritual purpose, perhaps as icons, or as
  funerary monuments or tombs. There is some evidence that near
  identical dolmens raised in or just prior to the bronze age in Europe
  were partially covered by earthen mounds. It thus may be that
  many dolmens were originally under mounds. Many may yet be.
  There is some speculation that the dolmen may have originally
  served as a burial chamber. Based on those that are known,
  however, there is no evidence to confirm or refute this claim. Of
  course, if all such structures were originally mounded over, then
  it stands to reason that only those that remain so, and which are
  obviously thus far undiscovered, would have any evidence to
  surrender.
  A chamber is here defined as an enclosed room or passage of
  considerably greater extent than a dolmen. Method of construction
  was similar, involving large supporting columns of either
  individual slabs or carefully chosen smaller unmortared stones
  that were capped, either by great single slabs or fitted smaller
  stones, to from a flat roof. Many chambers are still entirely or
  partially buried under the earth, often with only their square
  entryways apparent. Generally, each site is a single chamber with
  no joining passages even if other chambers are nearby, but
  occasional connecting halls do exist.
  Item 3-A: Excerpt from Dr
  Item 3-A: Excerpt from Dr
  Item 3-A: Excerpt from Dr
  Item 3-A: Excerpt from Dr
  Item 3-A: Excerpt from Dr. Michael A. Schumann Article
  . Michael A. Schumann Article
  . Michael A. Schumann Article
  . Michael A. Schumann Article
  . Michael A. Schumann Article
  
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  Less common than either the dolmen or chamber sites are those
  referred to as “Menhirs” or roughly phallus-shaped standing stones
  found singly, in rings, or in lines in several spots throughout the
  Northeast. Menhirs are usually not found in the same contexts as
  either of the previously-mentioned relics, suggesting that the
  functions to which the various sites were put did not correspond.
  One exception to this is the Menhir ring at Phallus Hill, near
  Woodstock, Vermont. As you may know, Woodstock is also the
  site of an extensive chamber constructed of massive overhead
  slabs supported on large vertically-aligned stones to form one of
  the most interesting and complex such constructs to have come
  to light so far. I hope that you will all attend the learned Doctor
  Elizabeth Penney’s lecture on last year’s excavations at Woodstock,
  and am told that it is one of our most significant seasons thus far.
  The least-often-noted type of Neolithic stonework is referred
  to commonly as a “Druid’s Chair.” Rough-hewn slab seats with
  integral backrests, usually set dolmen-fashion upon small
  supports, these “chairs” are invariable isolated from any of the
  other styles of stonework noted above and their purpose is utterly
  unknown. Such a relic may be found at Sutton, just west of Boston.
   This is as much information as the actual megaliths
  themselves can provide. As to what is said about them, it
  should be noted that the esteemed John Winthrop, scholar and
  governor of Connecticut in the 17th century, found that the
  aboriginal Algonquian of the area used no stone in their own
  constructions. Moreover, these people universally shunned the
  megaliths and regarded them with respect and no small amount
  of fear. This historical note, in addition to providing us with
  the useful information that the sites had a negative reputation
  among the native population, also lays to rest the old wives
  tale that suggests, rather stupidly, that the structures in question
  were built by the early colonists themselves as “root cellars.”
  Few artifacts useful for establishing any cultural context have
  been found in any of the sites within New England. It is my own
  hope that continued conferences such as these will foster the
  sharing of information necessary to expand our knowledge of the
  cultures that have gone before our own. I believe it is only through
  such understanding that we can possibly hope to survive where
  they did not. We all know the trials and perils faced by our society.
  We must continue such unitary efforts as this.
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  RRRRRed P
  ed P
  ed P
  ed P
  ed Paint P
  aint P
  aint P
  aint P
  aint People
  eople
  eople
  eople
  eople
  The Red Paint People, also known as the Maritime Archaic Culture,
  were an ancient civilization that inhabited New England, Nova
  Scotia, and Labrador around 4000+ B.P. Similar burials have also
  been found along the coasts of the most northerly reaches of Europe
  and Asia. That this evidence is invariably found along the seashore
  has led theorists to conclude that the culture was highly skilled at
  navigation and at extracting a livelihood form the ocean. The name
  “Red Paint” comes from the cultural practice of interring the dead
  in a tomb lined with a mineral compound known as red ochre. The
  pigment was also used in other, less readily-understood ceremonies
  and functions.
  The culture left little direct evidence of its lifestyle, but was
  capable of building reasonably complex megalithic tombs, may have
  used copper tools, and derived much of its existence from the sea.
  The consistency of interment found over both New World and Old
  World sites has led archaeologists to speculate on a widespread
  sea-based economy that stretched from central Siberia and
  Scandinavia to the northeast coast of Canada and the United States.
  The circumpolar nature of the Red Paint culture was first proposed
  in the 1940s by Norwegian scholar Guttorm Gjessing.
  There are many alignments of stones in Labrador and northern
  Quebec that are thought to have been navigational aids. A site in
  Quebec, formerly known as L’anse Mort and now as L’anse Amour,
  contained a burial mound with remains carbon dated to 7500 B.P.
  A similar mound, found in Ledveg, Denmark, is roughly 7,000 years old.
  One of the Lanse Amour burials was quite elaborate and must
  have entailed considerable expense and labor. This megalithic tomb
  consisted of rectangular upright stones supporting a low slab ceiling.
  Within the chamber thus created the skeleton of a 12 or 13-year-old
  girl was discovered. A large flat rock lay over the burial itself and
  what were probably ritual fires left charcoal upon the surface of the
  burial slab.
  In the previous century, a river mouth near Bangor, Maine,
  became the first-known site of the Red Paint People in Maine. In
  1882, a local farmer led the mayor of Bangor, Augustus Hamlin, to
  a spot near the mouth of the Penobscot River where it appeared as
  though blood was welling up from the earth. Hamlin, who was also
  a doctor, amateur geologist and an antiquarian, found that the
  “blood” was in fact red ochre turned up by the farmer’s plow and
  dissolved by the rain.
  
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  Hamlin was aware that many native tribes of the region used
  red ochre in their spiritual rites and first reasoned that the site was
  in some way related to the activities of a contemporary tribe. But
  when he found several smoothly-polished stones with very sharp
  edges he became aware that these were very different from anything
  he had seen among the Algonquian tribes of the region. Hamlin
  also suspected that the stones were far older.
  Hamlin brought the tools to Harvard University, where
  archeologist Charles Willowby examined them. What he saw
  prompted him to investigate the site personally. An excavation of
  the area turned up a mound at the water’s edge with stones and
  other objects buried in obviously ritual patterns. No human remains
  were found but Willowby’s success fueled the interest of others.
  What came to be viewed as a boneless cemetery then drew the
  attention of Warren Moorhead, an archeologist with a reputation
  for uncovering spectacular discoveries. His excavations found
  several more mounds and ritual sites along the coast of Maine. He
  was no more successful in finding human remains than was his
  predecessor. He did note, however, that the stones uncovered did
  not appear to have been quarried locally.
  Eighty years later, the stones were found to have come originally
  from Ramah Bay, in Northern Labrador, 1,500 miles from the coast
  of Maine. Since then, several other Red Paint sites have been
  unearthed in New England. Then, in the 1930s, the first skeletons
  to be identified as belonging to a Red Paint site were found at Niven,
  near Blue Hill Bay, Maine. Besides the skeletons, the burial yielded
  bone artifacts with geometric inscriptions, toggling harpoons, and
  the remains of swordfish, a deep-water creature.
  Another find, at Turner Farm, on North Haven Island in
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  A Lanse Amour Burial Mound
  
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  Penobscot Bay, held a great quantity of bone implements of maritime
  purpose, such as plummets, harpoons, and gouges, along with bones
  of cod and swordfish. Five graves were eventually discovered on
  the site and the remains were dated to 4500 B.P. Tentative skeletal
  analysis suggested that the people associated with this burial were,
  not surprisingly, of Native American stock.
  A Boston newspaper reported in 1981 that a number of skeletons
  covered in Red Ochre were found in an unidentified site north of
  Boston. At least one of the bodies dates from more than 7,200 years
  ago. In addition, one of the skulls has been found to possess certain
  features that led some researchers to conclude that it is not the
  remains of a Native American. The shape of the cranium and jaw
  appear to conform more closely to the type normally seen in
  Caucasian populations of Northern Europe.
  Using the Red Paint People in a Campaign
  Using the Red Paint People in a Campaign
  Using the Red Paint People in a Campaign
  Using the Red Paint People in a Campaign
  Using the Red Paint People in a Campaign
  Few things are known about the Maritime Archaic Culture besides
  what is printed here and there are many speculations but little
  concrete evidence. One rather poorly-documented theory is that,
  based on skull measurements from a narrow sample from a single
  burial site, the people were Caucasian and potentially Northern
  European. This view, however, can hardly be proved.
  In the context of the 1920s, Maritime Archaic Culture was
  essentially unknown. However, the sites still existed, awaiting
  discovery, and they are ideal for archaeologically-inclined
  investigators. A widespread seafaring culture that began
  concurrently with the earliest European stone circles such as
  Stonehenge, and predates even the first Egyptian proto-pyramid by
  more than two millennia, beggars the imagination with role-playing
  possibilities.
  Empire of W
  Empire of W
  Empire of W
  Empire of W
  Empire of Woden-Lithi
  oden-Lithi
  oden-Lithi
  oden-Lithi
  oden-Lithi
  The many megalithic sites noted above have led one researcher to
  believe that there was a Bronze Age empire in central and eastern
  North America, founded by a proto-Germanic who has signed
  himself as Woden-Lithi in an extensive inscription on an shelf of
  rock outside Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.
  In the 1970s and 1980s, Barry Fell worked to translate the many
  seemingly random marks and symbols that accompanied various
  pictographs on monumentary rocks in Scandinavia. By chance, he
  noted two things. First, that the pictographs of Northern Europe
  
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  were remarkably similar to those found in megalithic sites all over
  North America. Second, he found that there appeared to be
  something systematic in the scratches previously viewed as random.
  The scratches seemed to be consistent between Northern Europe
  and North America. But his greatest revelation was yet to come.
  Having determined that these marks were intentionally
  inscribed and associated with the pictographs they accompanied,
  Fell attempted to decipher the writings of the unknown scribes
  who left the rock carvings. It was only when he noted that there
  were symbols that both scripts had in common with the Tifinig
  letters used in rock inscriptions up to the present day by the Tuareg
  tribesmen of North Africa that he had the “Rosetta Stone” that he
  needed. He was then able to understand the messages in the stones.
  The petroglyphs — Greek for “stone-writing” — found at
  Peterborough told of an ancient race of seafarers who spoke a
  Germanic tongue and travelled across the Atlantic around 3700 B.P.
  The king of this people, Woden-Lithi, established a trading capital
  in what is now central Ontario and commemorated his actions with
  the monument in question. How long the “empire” survived is
  unknown, but Fell theorizes that its extent, or at least the extent of
  its influence, was considerable. Inscriptions in the same “language”
  may be found as far away as Tennessee and British Columbia.
  Fell held that Woden-Lithi could have come to America for
  copper. Based on remains of ancient mines and smelters on the
  north shore of Lake Superior, metallurgists speculate that this region
  may have been a center for excavation of copper in the second
  millennium B.C. Yet very little copper has been found in any North
  American archeological context and Fell claims that the majority
  may have been intended for export overseas.
  In addition to the rock writings mentioned above, certain
  megalithic sites beyond the boundaries of New England contain
  physical evidence that Fell says corroborate his case. An
  archaeological excavation near Holliston Mills, Tennessee, has
  revealed several skulls carbon-dated to around the twenty-third
  century B.P. There were three types of skulls found in the Tennessee
  dig. The first and most common type is generally associated with
  Native Americans past and present, as well as with the inhabitants
  of north and central Asia. It is typified by a slightly out-thrust jaw
  that presents the teeth as a rounded projection in the side profile.
  The second type of skull is generally consistent with skulls found
  in Europe among Caucasian populations. Here the jaw and teeth
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  
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  present much nearer a straight line when viewed from the side.
  Finally, a much smaller skull, first thought to be that of a child, but
  later found to have belonged to someone of middle age, was also
  discovered. The braincase was roughly two-thirds that of a normal
  adult and also possessed teeth that projected extremely forward
  when seen in profile. This type of skull is generally associated with
  pygmies of modern Malaysia and the Philippines, but has also been
  found in Neolithic sites in Central Asia. The pygmies now resident
  in Malaysia are thought to have originated in central Asia thousands
  of years ago.
  Skulls excavated at a site near Boston and associated with the
  Red Paint People (q.v.)) are also thought by some to be of European
  origin.
  From these skeletal remains, Fell reasoned that there were two
  indigenous races of humanity that passed into North America over
  the Bering Straits land bridge during the Ice Age migrations. The
  fact of the land bridge and its use by immigrants is not usually
  disputed, although the existence of the pygmies among those
  immigrants has not been widely considered. Many thousands of
  years passed while these populations expanded to cover most of
  both Americas.
  But Fell believes that the first contact between the indigenous
  population and invaders from the Old World did not occur in the
  15th century of the Common Era. Rather, by that time, any remains
  of the “Empire of Woden-Lithi” were sufficiently destroyed by the
  intervening centuries that no thought was given to its existence.
  Fell does not link this empire with the existence of the Red
  Paint People and. in fact, does not mention the Maritime Archaic
  Culture at all. Perhaps the two cultures did not overlap in time,
  perhaps Woden-Lithi’s voyage was inspired by legends of an earlier
  culture that knew of lands across the sea, or maybe the societies
  coexisted — peacefully or otherwise.
  Using the Empire of W
  Using the Empire of W
  Using the Empire of W
  Using the Empire of W
  Using the Empire of Woden-Lithi in your Campaign
  oden-Lithi in your Campaign
  oden-Lithi in your Campaign
  oden-Lithi in your Campaign
  oden-Lithi in your Campaign
  Exactly how you use the events, theories and evidence presented
  here is up to you as Keeper. Perhaps Woden-Lithi and his prehistoric
  Vikings were seeking relics lost in the waters of the Great Lakes in
  antideluvian times. Maybe they were in conflict with some of the
  Red Paint People in the Old World and pursued the war, or the
  treasures of the enemy, across the sea. Perhaps you decide that
  Woden-Lithi was in truth mining thousands of tons of ancient copper
  
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  from the stony shores of Lake Superior — and, if so, to what end?
  Enough copper for all the smiths of the Near East in an unknown
  age of civilization before the Great Flood? To create a massive Elder
  Sign infused with the energy of 10,000 lightning strikes? Or perhaps
  he mined not for copper but its essense the platonic ideal of copper,
  the finest metal there is for conducting electricity, all in order to
  forge a great weapon known for thousands of years afterward — the
  hammer of Thor. Woden is, after all, an archaic name for Odin,
  father of Thor and leader of the Norse gods in Ragnarok, their war
  against the giants of the elder world.
  The fact that Fell’s work has not met with much in the way of
  scholarly acclaim should not keep you from using his research in
  your game. You are not trying for historical authenticity and rather
  for historical plausibility or better yet, historical weirdness. Use
  the ideas above or come up with your own slant on Woden-Lithi to
  fit your game.
  Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg
  Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg
  Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg
  Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg
  Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg
  Abbe Charles-Étienne Brasseur de
  Bourbourg is a real historical
  personage that Keepers can use
  as part of the background for a
  scenario or campaign. His write-
  up is included here because
  Bourbourg was a Bostonian and,
  originally at least, a historian and
  archeologist who was an expert
  on pre-Columbian America.
  For many years in the 19th
  century, Bourbourg was among
  the most respected authorities on
  Mayan civilization and while living in Boston was sought by other
  scholars for his expertise in their language. Over several decades,
  he published glossaries, commentaries, and a Mayan grammar and
  dictionary. But suddenly, and for no known reason, the abbe was
  struck by a linguistic revelation and perceived a similarity between
  portions of the Mayan language and aspects of various archaic
  Germanic tongues. He discovered that many Mayan words were, as
  he believed, derived from Germanic roots. Eventually, he came to
  the conclusion that the Mayan texts were allegories without actual
  historical basis. What they truly contained, he believed, in common
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  with the scrolls of ancient Egypt, was the previously unknown
  history of Atlantis, the sunken continent and precursor to all the
  great civilizations of the world. He equated the Egyptian god Horus
  with the plumed serpent deity of old Mexico, popularly known by
  its Aztec name of Quetzalcoatl.
  Bourbourg’s premise was that the Mayan culture was founded
  by adventurers from the Old World civilization of Phoenicia. The
  founder, Votan, built the Mayan city of Palenque and founded the
  empire of Xibalba. The Aztecs, he thought, had originated in Central
  Asia and embarked upon a world-spanning migration, first across
  Europe and then over the Atlantic to America.
  Bourbourg, along with two others, Augustus le Plongeon and
  Jean Frederick de Waldeck, held to the unpopular notion that there
  were ancient contacts between the cultures of Central America and
  those of the Near East, and that these civilizations derived common
  cultural points from an at least vaguely-remembered Atlantean
  antecedent.
  Using the Abbe and his W
  Using the Abbe and his W
  Using the Abbe and his W
  Using the Abbe and his W
  Using the Abbe and his Works in Y
  orks in Y
  orks in Y
  orks in Y
  orks in Your Campaign
  our Campaign
  our Campaign
  our Campaign
  our Campaign
  Without changing anything the Abbe wrote, here is what you start with:
   Votan, king of the proto-Mayan, founds the elder age city of
  Xibalba, which becomes synonymous with the Mayan concept of
  hell and the underworld! (Historians generally agree that the
  progenitors of the Mayan were the Olmecs, but anyway ... )
   The Aztecs as a marauding race of bloody conquerors,
  sweeping from the steppes of Asia, across Europe like the Huns
  centuries later, only to take to the sea and establish their bloody
  rule in Mesoamerica!
   Add Mythos, or other references, stir, and, voila —
  campaign!
  If you want to mash things together a bit, it would not be much of a
  stretch to have a secret society begun in Atlantis and carried onward
  by the priests of Horus, Odin, and Quetzacoatl, devoted to preserving
  the world of men against the Elder Races. In Egypt, the priests work
  to preserve the power of the living in the afterlife, among the
  Germanics, Odin’s holy men seek far and wide among the barbarian
  north for the heroes to fight in the last war, while the bloody hands
  of the priests of Quetzacoatl keep the power of the ley lines strong
  with regular infusions of human blood.
  
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  Celtic Conquest of P
  Celtic Conquest of P
  Celtic Conquest of P
  Celtic Conquest of P
  Celtic Conquest of Pre-Columbian New England
  re-Columbian New England
  re-Columbian New England
  re-Columbian New England
  re-Columbian New England
  According to Barry Fell, in the millennia that followed the
  dissolution of the copper empire of Woden-Lithi the land that would
  eventually become New England was invaded by several other
  groups of seafarers from over the Atlantic. In the first millennium
  B.C., Phoenicians, Basques, Libyans, and Celts all made forays to
  the New World. Inscriptions referring to all of these peoples have
  been found cut into rock faces, boulders, menhirs, and druid’s chairs
  all over the northeastern United States, but all the cultures
  mentioned left little evidence behind — except for the Celts.
  Fell’s assertion is that the first Celtic settlement in the new
  world was at the now famous megalithic site of North Salem, New
  Hampshire. Here, on a branch of the Merrimack River, a vast complex
  of stone chambers both below and above the surface, walled
  enclosures, and standing stones has baffled scholars who have
  attempted to assign its provenance.
  Other similar although less extensive sites have been found all
  over New England. At Quechee, Vermont, a complex of stone
  chambers and circles exists. One of the stones bears what may be
  an inscription in Ogam, a Celtic alphabet which, similar to ancient
  Hebrew, includes no vowels. When he first came to the site, Fell
  was unable to translate the inscription, which he felt was in Celtic,
  but could have simply been Ogam, the script used by the Celts, to
  carry the message of an unknown language. He later claimed,
  however, to have found an American “Rosetta Stone” bearing a Celtic
  inscription next to a direct transliteration into Phoenician, but the
  exact location of this stone is currently unknown.
  Similar Ogam inscriptions have been discovered by Fell as far
  away as Crack Cave, Colorado, and Snapp’s Ridge, Tennessee.
  Second Celtic Invasion of the New W
  Second Celtic Invasion of the New W
  Second Celtic Invasion of the New W
  Second Celtic Invasion of the New W
  Second Celtic Invasion of the New World and More
  orld and More
  orld and More
  orld and More
  orld and More
  Because there is no source from the first millennium A.D. that
  provides evidence for Celtic kingdoms across the Atlantic, it can
  be assumed that if any did exist they probably had become isolated
  or died out by then. But, perhaps, there was some remembrance in
  Medieval Europe of these farthest west of the Celtic peoples.
  According to the life of St. Brendan the Navigator, he is reputed to
  have made a voyage to the west in a small hide-covered boat called
  a curragh and to have found inhabited lands in his travels. This
  tale has generally been assumed by scholars to be nothing more
  than typical hagiographical exaggeration, but there are other sources
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
  that suggest that there may have been some kernel of truth
  underlying the fanciful story of St. Brendan.
  The Norse discovery of America in the late 10th century is now
  beyond dispute and therefore does not warrant a place in this
  volume. With the unearthing of a Viking settlement at L’Anse aux
  Meadows in Labrador, there is archaeological evidence to support
  the texts of the Icelandic sagas, the sources that first raised the
  issue of Scandinavian settlers in the New World. But the sagas also
  mention other non-aboriginal inhabitants of America. In fact, they
  suppose that these inhabitants are Irish, and the name attributed to
  America in the sagas is Great Ireland.
  The Norse sources of the 13th and 14th centuries record the
  existence of Great Ireland near the Norse settlement of Vinland the
  Good in “Erik the Red’s Saga,” “Eyrbyggya Saga,” and
  “Landnamabok,” the book of the Norse colonization of Iceland.
  Erik’s saga tells of the capture of some natives by Norse settlers
  just after the year A.D.  1000. Natives were kept as slaves and
  eventually learned enough Norse to communicate with their captors.
  They told  the Norsemen of white-robed men who were in the habit
  of marching in stately processions bearing banners of white cloth
  while chanting. The settlers, upon hearing this information,
  presumed that the odd processions must be comprised of the monks
  of what the saga calls Great Ireland.
  The journey of Ari Marson, driven off course when taking ship
  out of Iceland, is recorded in the “Landnamabok.” Ari, after several
  weeks at sea, eventually made land in Hvitamannaland, or “white
  man’s land.” Here Marson was held for some time and was
  eventually converted to Christianity and baptized. It is vaguely
  possible that this story refers to Greenland, as some scholars attest,
  but the saga itself mentions that Hvitamannaland lies west of
  Vinland.
  Finally, the “Eyrbyggya Saga” tells the story of Bjorn
  Asbrandson, who fled from the murderous brother of a woman he
  had defiled. His ship was lost somewhere to the west and Bjorn
  was thought dead. Some 29 years later, a merchant named Guthleif
  Gunnlaugson encountered a storm after having sailed out from
  Dublin. His ship was forced far to the west. On reaching shore,
  Guthleif and the rest of the crew were all taken prisoner by speakers
  of Irish. They were about to be killed when they were saved by the
  intervention of a white-haired Norseman claiming to be Bjorn. After
  saving the captives, Bjorn had Guthleif carried a peace offering to
  
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  the woman he had violated so long before. The saga goes on to say
  that when the woman whom Bjorn had wronged received the tribute
  she did not doubt that it came from Bjorn.
  What is perhaps most convincing about these stories is not that
  the people in the tale inhabit Hvitamannaland or Great Ireland but
  that the saga-writer assumed that the reader of his work would
  believe that men of the 10th century would know of these places.
  Similarly, he assumes that his readers are familiar with Great Ireland,
  at least enough that he does not need to provide a preamble to it.
  This suggests that Great Ireland was reasonably well known to at
  least the educated people of Iceland in the saga writer’s own time.
  There is a notion of Great Ireland as a specific albeit distant location
  more than a century before Columbus began his voyage. Moreover,
  the prevailing wisdom at the time of the writing of the sagas in
  question held that the Irish lived in America before the arrival of
  the Norse.
  Seafarers of the Ancient Near East
  Seafarers of the Ancient Near East
  Seafarers of the Ancient Near East
  Seafarers of the Ancient Near East
  Seafarers of the Ancient Near East
  The Phoenicians of the biblical Levant were among the foremost of
  ancient seagoers. As early as the 8th century B.C., they had
  established colonies on the sites that later became Carthage and
  Marseilles. It has also been speculated that they may have attempted
  to solve the tin shortage of the first millennium before Christ by
  travelling to the British Isles (tin and copper being the two main
  
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  ingredients of the bronze, used universally around the
  Mediterranean at the time). There is some belief that the Phoenicians
  may have journeyed even further than Britain in search of new
  resources to exploit. Barry Fell believes that they came to the New
  World.
  Ten miles off the coast of Maine lies Monhegan Island and
  several inscriptions have been found on the weather-beaten rocks
  there and one in particular has attracted Fell’s attention. He
  determined it to be in Old Goidelic, a Celtic tongue, and written in
  Ogam characters. It reads: “Ships from Phoenicia, Cargo Platform.”
  This area was apparently set aside for the loading and unloading of
  Phoenician trading vessels. Perhaps the inscription was intended
  to mark the place where the ancient Celtic peoples of New England
  could go to trade their goods for the luxuries of the old world.
  Farther to the south, on Mount Hope Bay, near Bristol, Rhode
  Island, a pictograph of a high-sterned ship in a style favored by the
  Phoenicians has been found on a rock at the shore. An inscription
  below the carving proclaims the stone as belonging to the Phoenician
  mariners.
  But the Phoenicians may have left more behind in America than
  the occasional rock carving and might have bequeathed a written
  language to the native cultures of the Northeast.
  In the 18th century, many of the native tribes of northern New
  England are reported to have used a written language given to them
  by French missionary Pierre Maillard. This language was said to
  have been based on Egyptian hieroglyphs and developed by Maillard
  to better convert the natives to Christianity, but there is evidence to
  suggest that it predated the arrival of Maillard, who died in 1762.
  Another missionary of Maillard’s day, Father Eugene Vetromile,
  noted that the earliest French explorers among the tribes in question
  described them as writing strange characters on bark and stone. A
  form of writing was thus apparently in use in the region before the
  coming of the earliest Europeans.
  Another argument stands against the introduction of hieroglyphs
  by Maillard. The “Rosetta Stone,” the tri-lingual inscription used
  by French scholar Jean-François Champollion to translate
  hieroglyphs for the first time was not found until 61 years after the
  missionary’s death. If the marks described by early French explorers
  were a form of Egyptian hieroglyph they could not have arrived in
  America in the current millennium. Perhaps the Phoenicians tired
  of using Celtic Ogam as the “Lingua Franca” of Prehistoric America.
  
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  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Chapter 3
  Norombega, the Missing Land
  Norombega, the Missing Land
  Norombega, the Missing Land
  Norombega, the Missing Land
  Norombega, the Missing Land
  The region of Norombega appears regularly on 16th century maps
  of the east coast of what came to be North America. A 1569 Mercator
  projection map shows a tower in the approximate location of
  Narragansett Bay. There exists to this day a ruined citadel of ancient
  origin in Newport, Rhode Island, know as the Newport Tower (q.v.).
  At the turn of the 17th century, Samuel de Champlain attempted to
  find Norombega and discovered nothing and from that time on it
  appeared less and less on the maps of the region.
  According to cartographers operating prior to Champlain,
  Norombega comprised much of the then-known portion of North
  America — Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and
  Newfoundland. The word Norombega is of unknown origin and
  has no known meaning but is most often assigned provenance in
  the Abenaki language of East Coast natives. A similar word,
  “Nolunbeka,” is associated with the Penobscot River. The same part
  of North America is also labelled as Noruega or Nova Noruega
  (“Norway” and “Nova Norway,” respectively) by later cartographers,
  but these appear to occur later as explanations of the already-familiar
  Norombega.
  
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  Chapter 4:
  Chapter 4:
  Chapter 4:
  Chapter 4:
  Chapter 4:
  Native Americans
  Native Americans
  Native Americans
  Native Americans
  Native Americans
  of New England
  of New England
  of New England
  of New England
  of New England
  N
  N
  N
  N
  N
  ative Americans inhabited the area now known as New
   England for thousands of years before the coming of
   European settlers. The aboriginal way of life was
  markedly different from anything previously experienced by those
  who came to this land and the relationship they had with the land
  was equally alien. To the colonists it was also frightening and when
  they wondered at the eerie sounds issuing form the forest night the
  natives they knew had a name for the source of those sounds. And
  when the colonists wondered at unexplained events or chilling
  circumstances they encountered the natives had explanations for
  them. That those explanations offered nothing to allay the fears of
  the colonists is, perhaps, a measure of the gulf of difference that
  separated the two cultures.
  Northeastern Cultural Area
  Northeastern Cultural Area
  Northeastern Cultural Area
  Northeastern Cultural Area
  Northeastern Cultural Area
  The Native Americans of New England were linguistically and
  culturally united in belonging to the Algonquian sociolinguistic
  group. The Algonquian culture, however, extended far into the
  interior of the continent as well as far to the north and south of the colony.
  To say that all those of Algonquian background were united is
  true to the extent that they shared basic features of language, religion,
  and way of life. But this is accurate only so far as it would be to say
  that the peoples of medieval France, Italy, and Spain are united by
  their once having been part of the Roman Empire and the extent to
  which they share descendants of its language, many of its laws, a
  few of its customs, and a vague sense of common cultural heritage.
  This was roughly the case with the Algonquian tribes of New
  England and beyond. Individual Algonquian tribes shared linguistic,
  religious, and cultural similarities but this did not in any way mean
  that they were a single political or cultural entity or that they were
  united by any common purpose.
  To deal with the intricacies of the native peoples of New England
  would take far more space than is available here. What follows is a
  general discussion of the Eastern Algonquian culture as a whole, as
  well as an attempt to provide further basic information on the major
  
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  tribes of New England.
  The various tribes were numerous and differed in more ways
  than they were similar. But common environmental and
  geographical conditions mean that the natives of the Northeast
  shared certain aspects of culture. It is these similarities that have
  caused scholars to label the natives of New England and beyond as
  members of the Northeast Culture Area, also often referred to as the
  Northeast Woodland Area. This group includes the tribes of the
  modern states stretching from Minnesota to Maine and as far south
  as North Carolina.
  Native Americans had an existence that depended on the land
  in a way that the Europeans could not fathom. The Colonial lifestyle
  was intrusive, not only in that its practitioners were immigrants to
  America but in how they dealt with the land. European culture
  required that the land undergo significant change and development
  to support the Colonial society. Woodland needed to be cleared,
  towns and eventually cities built, harbors constructed and
  maintained. Native culture was far less intrusive to the environment.
  Native tribes did not cluster in cities, nor did they impose change
  on the landscape to the same degree as European society. This has
  often been referred to as “living close to the land,” deriving a living
  from the environment without substantially altering its makeup.
  Because most of the land in this region is woodland, many of the
  survival strategies developed by the inhabitants of the area were similar.
  The single constant over the entirety of the Northeastern Cultural
  region was, in fact, the presence of woodland and the terrain is
  otherwise immensely varied, ranging from seacoasts to mountains,
  hills to lakes, and river valleys to swampland. But the forests
  provided the mainstays of the native culture of the Northeast. Wood
  was abundant and used for housing, boats, fuel, clothing, roofing,
  bedding, and more. Animals and beneficial plants were available
  in the forests, while the oceans, lakes, and rivers provided fish and
  shellfish. Many natives of the Northeast were also farmers, planting
  many semi-domesticated crops to provide food and fiber for clothing
  and other uses. Native agriculture was, however, far less invasive
  of the land than its European counterpart.
  There were two major linguistic groups within the Northeastern
  Cultural Area, Algonquian and lroquoian. The Iroquoian group
  centered around the eastern edge of the Great Lakes and in Upstate
  New York and so will not be discussed here. All the tribes resident
  in New England since the coming of the Europeans were Algonquians.
  
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  New England Algonquians
  New England Algonquians
  New England Algonquians
  New England Algonquians
  New England Algonquians
  Natives of the Algonquian linguistic group exist far beyond the
  region defined by the Northeast Cultural Area and can be found as
  far away as the West Coast and scattered over the great plains of the
  Midwest. There are several distinct divisions within the huge
  Algonquian linguistic group and, in fact, speakers of Algonquian
  from different territories may share a basic similarity in language
  and yet be unable to communicate due to differences in regional
  dialects. The sub-group of Algonquian that is of concern here is the
  New England Algonquians.
  New England Algonquians include many tribes, of which the
  major ones are the Abenaki, Massachuset, Mohegan, Narragansett,
  Nipmuc, Passamaquoddy. Pennacook, Penobscot, Pequot, and
  Wampanoag. Beyond these there are many lesser and occasionally
  extinct tribes. What follows is a brief synopsis of the common culture
  and lifestyle of the New England Algonquians, before going on to
  various aspects and history specific to the different tribes.
  Intertribal Structure
  Intertribal Structure
  Intertribal Structure
  Intertribal Structure
  Intertribal Structure
  Socially, the tribes of New England generally formed themselves
  into confederacies, such as the Abenaki Confederacy. These were
  loose intertribal structures designed to facilitate trade and, in times
  of war, mutual support, quite unlike the highly-regimentalized style
  of the Iroquois League. An Algonquian confederacy usually came
  under the direction of a grand sachem who was paramount over the
  various lesser sachem of the individual tribes (sachem being the
  Northeastern Algonquian word for the leader of the tribe). Actual
  powers of the grand sachem varied by individual. In some instances
  the grand sachem was no more than a mediator in intertribal
  squabbles. Occasionally, the powers of the grand sachem were
  greater, such as those of Massasoit of the Wampanoags and his sons,
  called by the colonists Phillip and Alexander.
  FFFFFood
  ood
  ood
  ood
  ood
  During spring, summer and fall. Algonquians lived in villages, often
  along a riverbank, and farmed corn, beans and squash. Wild plants
  supplemented this fare - berries, nuts roots, stalks and tubers. If
  maple trees were near, much use was made of the sweet sap.
  In winter, the villages were often abandoned as the tribe scattered
  into small groups to hunt whatever presented itself. Deer, rabbit,
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  squirrel, beaver, turkey, partridge, goose and duck. If available,
  moose, elk or bear would also be sought.
  Prior to the appearance of the horse in North America, all
  hunting was, of course, done on foot. Besides spears, bows, and
  clubs, traps, snares, and deadfalls were used to catch game. The
  dog, the only domestic animal in Algonquian culture prior to contact
  with European society, was used in hunting and also as a beast of
  burden. Fishing the rivers, lakes, and coastline of New England
  was important to all the tribes of the region. Shellfish comprised
  much of the summer diet of the coastal peoples. Meat and seafood
  of all varieties were hung to dry or smoked when plentiful and,
  thus prepared, could last for several months and carry a tribe through
  the lean winter.
  Shelter and T
  Shelter and T
  Shelter and T
  Shelter and T
  Shelter and Transportation
  ransportation
  ransportation
  ransportation
  ransportation
  Two basic forms of house were used by the Algonquians, the
  wigwam and the longhouse. The wigwam consisted of a number of
  saplings, curved and bent to form a semi-spherical framework, over
  which were laid sheets of bark from birch or other trees, or even
  woven mats of reeds or animal skins if necessary. Among some
  tribes, the saplings were not bent over but left straight, tepee-style.
  Swamp grass and furs were used as insulation and branches under
  furs and hides served as bedding. Occasionally, wigwam-shaped
  “sweat-houses” were used for ritual purposes.
  In areas of contact with the Iroquois, some tribes made use of
  the longhouse, a large rectangular building built from a frame of
  long poles and covered with elm or other bark. Such structures
  might be used as meeting halls for councils or as single or even
  multi-family dwellings “Iroquois-style.”
  Many Algonquian villages were walled with a palisade of
  upright logs for defence, as was the case with many Colonial towns.
  The canoe is probably the best known native cultural utensil
  today. The Algonquians made great use of canoes of birchbark,
  elmbark, and even moosehide. A small canoe could carry two
  people, while larger craft for war and transport were capable of
  bearing 10 or more. Cedar was split and lashed into a frame, over
  which was sewn the covering material, and the craft was then
  caulked with pine resin. Maple was used for thwarts and paddles.
  Dugouts were also used. This was only out of desperation in the
  interior, but for the peoples of the Atlantic coast such vessels were
  favoured for their durability in rough seas and while hunting whales.
  
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  Clothing, Crafts, and Commerce
  Clothing, Crafts, and Commerce
  Clothing, Crafts, and Commerce
  Clothing, Crafts, and Commerce
  Clothing, Crafts, and Commerce
  Hide from white-tailed deer was the most common clothing material,
  but this was often supplemented with the hides of other large
  herbivores, as well as the furs of smaller ones such as rabbit, mink,
  and beaver. Men generally wore shirts, breechclothes, leggings and
  moccasins. Women customarily wore dresses, or skirts and blouses,
  and moccasins. Often, seams and edges on both male and female
  garments had a short fringe. Belts of leather or woven plant fiber
  might also be worn. In winter fur robes were common.
  Decoration was usual on many articles of clothing. Dyed
  porcupine quills were worked into the buckskin to form geometric
  patterns, and paint, feathers, and shells were also used for
  ornamentation. Jewelry was generally made from stones and shells
  until contact with the colonists, after which glass beads began to
  supplant other materials. Hair was also a matter of great pride among
  the Algonquians and men went bareheaded as a rule to show it off.
  Most of the day-to-day needs of the Algonquians were provided
  by the woods around them, so it is no wonder that much of their
  technology and many of their homecrafts derived from woodwork.
  Birchbark was used not just for making canoes and shelters but
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  also for containers of various sorts. Bone and antler were crafted
  into awls and needles, arrowheads, spearheads, and many tools.
  After European colonization, metal came to replace many of these
  materials; as with the influx of glass beads, this new and readily-
  available substance was so completely accepted that many of the
  crafts in which metals came to be used changed such that the
  traditional methods were almost completely abandoned.
  Shell was used by both inland and coastal tribes for scraping
  tools and appliqué decoration, but is best known in its use as
  “wampum.” Originally these belts of purple and white seashell
  beads were used for ceremonial purposes and as tribal records of
  special events but they also came to be exchanged as gifts or trade
  goods and eventually gained acceptance as currency. When glass
  beads became available from white traders they quickly replaced
  the shell currency.
  RRRRReligion
  eligion
  eligion
  eligion
  eligion
  The Algonquian supernatural world was full of spirits, great and
  small. The most powerful of them all was the Great Spirit, or “Gitche
  Manitou,” which pervaded all things and had countless
  manifestations. Lesser manifestations may have individuality
  distinct from the Gitche Manitou, but whether they were actual
  representations of the great Spirit or not was neither apparent or
  particularly important. Thus, there were lesser spirits inhabiting
  rivers, rocks, plants, and greater spirits embodying such things as
  the sun, moon, weather, and disease.
  The human world intersected that of the spirit realm through
  the agency of a tribal shaman who lived in both worlds
  simultaneously and was able to control, or at least coerce, spirits
  for all manner of purposes. Curing of sickness, bringing of favorable
  weather, or location of prey or enemies were all possible for the
  spirits and, by extension, the shaman.
  While the shaman was usually a figure of mystery, he or she
  was also seen generally as one of benevolence. Just as there were
  good and evil spirits, however, it is abundant from Algonquian myth
  that there were good and evil shamans. Generally, the evil shaman
  was concerned with temporal and spiritual power and in this quest
  would often encounter a malign spirit that could either control or
  seduce him. Such shamans are the focus of many tales of horror
  among the Algonquians. Perhaps needless to say, shamans, good
  and evil alike, were simply looked upon by many of the European
  
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  colonists as agents of Satan.
  But the shaman was not the
  only member of native culture that
  could court the powers of the
  otherworld. Many ceremonies
  were held to do so, many of which
  revolved around the weather and
  other natural phenomena, but
  others meant to ensure good
  hunting, success in war, curing of
  disease, and the rites of adolescent
  passage. Such rituals were
  performed 
  through 
  dance,
  drumming, and singing.
  When a child came to
  maturity, he or she would be sent out into the wilderness to fast
  and pray for a vision, A fortunate child could acquire a guardian
  spirit in the form of an animal, which would then aid that person
  throughout his or her life.
  The 10 T
  The 10 T
  The 10 T
  The 10 T
  The 10 Tribes of New England
  ribes of New England
  ribes of New England
  ribes of New England
  ribes of New England
  Abenaki
  Abenaki
  Abenaki
  Abenaki
  Abenaki
  Originally “Wabenaki,” “those living at the sunrise,” the Abenaki
  inhabited most of modem day Maine and were in reality a
  confederacy rather than a single tribe. The most important member
  tribes of the confederacy were the Passamaquoddy and the
  Penobscot, but lesser members included the Pennacooks of Vermont
  as well as the Micmacs and Malecites of New Brunswick to the
  north of Maine.
  Life among the Abenaki was in most ways typical of that
  described above. They were, however, fairly unreliant upon
  agriculture due the the shorter growing season and rather poor soil
  of their homeland. The Abenaki were also in the minority among
  the Algonquians in that they built conical tepee-style wigwams
  rather than the usual domes. Their villages also sometimes had
  palisade walls for protection which, as with the European
  settlements of the region, became a necessary precaution.
  During the decades of war from 1639 to 1763 between the French
  and the English, the Abenakis staunchly supported the French. They
  were especially active during the conflicts referred to as King
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  William’s War and Queen Anne’s War. At that time they launched
  many raids against the settlements of New England colonists.
  The Abenaki Confederacy first made common cause with the
  French through the marriage of the daughter of the sachem to Jean
  Vincent de l’Abadie, Baron de St. Castin. When British troops raided
  the trading post and home of St. Castin in 1688, the fierce Abenaki
  rose to his aid. Throughout the next three decades of sporadic
  warfare and frequent slaughter on both sides, the Abenaki and the
  British each visited vengeance on the other. In this time Saco in
  Maine, Dover and Salmon Falls in New Hampshire, and Haverhill
  and Deerfield in Massachusetts were all fiercely attacked.
  Finally, in 1724, the British took the Abenaki stronghold of
  Norridgewock. Many of the defeated Abenaki made their way to
  Quebec while others, such as the Passamaquoddy and the Penobscot,
  have reservations in Maine today.
  Massachuset
  Massachuset
  Massachuset
  Massachuset
  Massachuset
  The Massachuset natives were friendly and helpful to the colonists
  of early Boston but suffered disease, violence, and the dissolution
  of their culture in thanks and the English virtually eradicated them
  in the 17th century.
  Smallpox from Europe ravaged the Massachusets from 1616 to
  1620, and again from 1633 to 1635. Intermittently, other plagues,
  not so virulent as smallpox but devastating in their frequency, further
  reduced the tribe.
  During these years, John Eliot was busy converting the
  Massachusets to Christianity. Seventeen villages were established
  where natives lived as much like Europeans as possible and
  practised Puritanism. The best known of these towns of “Praying
  Indians” as they were called was Natick, near Boston. Conversion
  to the new faith was a mixed blessing. While the towns of the Praying
  Indians fared better against disease, they also lost all sense of tribal
  identity. Many natives, unsure in which world they belonged, gave
  in to depression and alcohol. Others, however, took to the sea in
  the sailing ships of the day and were among the most able of
  deckhands.
  The Massachusets suffered particularly in the 1675-76 revolt of
  the Wampanoags known as King Philip’s War. Because the
  Massachusets were so closely associated with the English colonists,
  towns of Praying Indians and villages of traditional natives alike
  were targeted by the Wampanoags and their allies. In turn, settlers,
  
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  near hysterically fearful of any natives, often struck out at the
  peaceful Massachusets in revenge for the acts of others.
  Mohegan
  Mohegan
  Mohegan
  Mohegan
  Mohegan
  This tribe of Connecticut is often confused with the Mahicans, who
  were probably those referred to in James Fennimore Cooper’s novel,
  Last of the Mohicans. To further the confusion, Cooper appears to
  have taken the name Uncas, son of the chief Chingachgook in the
  novel, from a real Mohegan chief of the 17th century.
  Culturally, the Mohegans were similar to the typical
  Algonquians described above. They were also influenced by their
  neighbors, the Iriquoian peoples to the west and lived not only in
  wigwams but also longhouses.
  The Mohegans were a subgroup of the Pequots. When Europeans
  arrived in Pequot lands soon after the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth
  Rock in 1620, the sachem of the Pequots was Sassacus and the
  premier village of the Pequots was on the Thames River in
  Connecticut. But Uncas, a sagamore (a subordinate chief to a sachem)
  among the Pequots arose and led a group of rebels to form another
  village further up on the Thames. This group came to be known as
  the Mohegans.
  When Sassacus was defeated in the Pequot War of 1637, Uncas,
  who had previously befriended the English, became sachem of both
  the Mohegans and the Pequots. As allies of the English, Uncas’s
  Mohegans kept their power longer than their neighbors, the
  Wampanoags and the Narragansets, who were defeated in King
  Philip’s War.
  Later the English turned on the Mohegans, killed many, drove
  others off their lands, and enslaved yet more. Disease was also not
  kind to the Mohegans. As a result, neither the Pequots nor the
  Mohegans are numerous today.
  Narraganset
  Narraganset
  Narraganset
  Narraganset
  Narraganset
  This tribe inhabited what is now Rhode Island, principally between
  the Providence and Pawcatuck Rivers. The Narraganset, “people of
  the point,” lived most of the year in palisaded villages of wigwams,
  from which they farmed, fished, and hunted.
  When the English came to the region in the early 1600s, the
  Narragansets lived as a confederacy of six tribes with sagamores
  who were responsible to a sachem. The first great smallpox outbreak
  in 1616 did little to the Narragansets, but the second in 1633 carried
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  off more than 700 people.
  Early allies of the English, some Narragansets fought for the
  colonists in the Pequot War of 1636-37. In 1636, the sachem,
  Canonicus, sold land to the renegade Puritan Roger Williams, who
  formed the Rhode Island colony. William treated the natives of the
  Narraganset fairly and humanely, urging other Europeans to do
  likewise. His message went largely unheard, however, and other
  settlers stole land or forced native inhabitants from it. By the last
  quarter of the 17th century, the Narragansets were sufficiently hostile
  to the English that they joined with the Wampanoags and the
  Nipmucs in King Philip’s War of 1675-6. The grand sachem of the
  Narragansets at that time, Cachonet, was one of King Philip’s greatest
  generals, commanding more than 3,500 warriors.
  The Narragansets also suffered the most during King Philip’s
  War. In December 1675, the Great Swamp Fight saw 1,000 settlers
  of the Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Plymouth Colonies and about
  150 Mohegan warriors attack the Narraganset village near Kingston,
  Rhode Island. After a day-long standoff the settlers finally forced
  their way into the rear of the Narragsanset stockade and fired more
  than 600 wigwams and killed 600 men and captured 400 more,
  Cachonet among them. He and many of the others were sentenced
  to death.
  After King Philip’s War, some of the surviving Narragansets
  settled among the Abenakis, Mahicans, and Niantics. Others
  remained in Rhode Island, near Charlestown.
  Nipmuc
  Nipmuc
  Nipmuc
  Nipmuc
  Nipmuc
  Derived from “nip-maug,” or “fresh-water fishing place,” the
  Nipmucs inhabited the land of the rich plateau that led up to the
  Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. Much like all other
  Algonquians in culture, the Nipmucs acquired a reputation for
  basketmaking, weaving, and leatherwork. Many of the Nipmucs
  became “Praying Indians,” like their neighbors the Massachuset.
  But during the turmoil of King Philip’s War, most of the Nipmuc
  fighting men joined the Wampanoags and Narragansets against the
  English. After the war, many Nipmuc survivors joined other
  Algonquians to the south or in Canada.
  The Hassanamisco Reservation near the Berkshire mountains
  of Massachusetts was once a large reservation of 8,000 acres but
  shrank during the 19th century due to the cheating of tribal leaders
  by profiteers. Currently, it consists of only 11.9 acres.
  
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  PPPPPassamaquoddy
  assamaquoddy
  assamaquoddy
  assamaquoddy
  assamaquoddy
  The Passamaquoddies, along with the Penobscots, were part of the
  Abenaki Confederacy for much of early Colonial history. Their name
  means, “those who pursue the pollack.” While most other
  Algonquians relied only secondarily upon the sea for their
  livelihood, the Passamaquoddy strongly depended on the bounty
  of the Atlantic. There are two Passamaquoddy reservations, Pleasant
  Point and Indian Township, both near Calais, Maine.
  PPPPPennacook
  ennacook
  ennacook
  ennacook
  ennacook
  Pennacook is the name taken by a host of bands with different names
  and their own chiefs that lived in New Hampshire, as well as parts
  of Maine and northeast Massachusetts. Translated, the name means
  “at the bottom of the hill” and refers to the main encampment of
  the Pennacook, near Concord, New Hampshire. For part of their
  history the Pennacook were part of the Abenaki Confederacy.
  During King Philip’s War, Kancamagus, sachem of the
  Pennacook and grandson of the first Pennacook sachem to ally with
  the English, decided to remain at peace with the English in spite of
  King Philip’s attempts to convince him otherwise. The English
  tricked some of the peaceful bands to come to a sporting event at
  Dover and many Pennacooks were
  among those who attended. The
  English attacked, killed and
  captured many of their guests, and
  sold the survivors into slavery.
  Kancamagus quickly entered King
  Philip’s camp. Years later in 1689,
  long after the end of the war,
  Kancamagus gained revenge for his
  slaughtered warriors, attacking
  Dover, the site of the earlier
  massacre. Gaining entry by
  trickery, he had many of its
  residents killed.
  The English convinced their
  Mohawk allies to attack the
  Pennacooks from the west. Many
  villages were sacked, until
  Kancamagus finally opposed the
  Mohawks at a walled village at
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  lake Winnisquam (now called Mohawk Point). The Mohawks
  attacked in great numbers until nightfall but could not gain access
  to the inside. Under cover of darkness, Kancamagus led his people
  away from the stockade, through the mountains and on to Quebec,
  where they joined many Abenaki refugees.
  PPPPPenobscot
  enobscot
  enobscot
  enobscot
  enobscot
  This tribe also belonged for a time to the Abenaki Confederacy and
  the name Penobscot or “the rocky place” refers to the rocky falls of
  their homeland. Seasonally semi-nomadic, villages of the milder
  seasons dispersed into small foraging bands for the winter months,
  hunting, trapping, and gathering whatever the Great Spirit provided.
  With the coming of spring the family groups would reassemble
  at the walled villages and prepare for planting their staple crop,
  corn. They also collected maple syrup and did much hunting and
  fishing between harvests, the first of which could come as early as
  July.
  Penobscot Indian Island Reservation is located near Old Town,
  Maine.
  PPPPPequot
  equot
  equot
  equot
  equot
  One of the most powerful and warlike peoples of the East Coast,
  the Pequots, “the destroyers,” migrated from the Hudson River
  Valley in New York State, invading and displacing peoples of the
  Narragansets and the Niantics. By the arrival of the colonists, the
  Pequots controlled the Connecticut coastal area from the Connecticut
  River to Rhode Island. During the period of Pequot power, the grand
  sachem Sassacus ruled from a village on the Thames River.
  When Uncas took his band of Mohegans into exile rather than
  fight the English, Sassacus made war upon the English nonetheless.
  In 1636, the Pequot War, the first major conflict in New England,
  began when a group of Pequots captured the trading vessel of John
  Oldham. The attackers were caught aboard ship and fought with
  another trader, John Gallop, who escaped to take word to the Colonial
  administrators.
  The Massachusetts Bay Colony sent out a force under John
  Endecott. Endecott’s troops attacked several villages on Block Island
  and burned their villages. These villages, however, belonged to
  Narragansets rather than Pequots. The Army then sailed on to the
  mainland in search of the Pequots. Endecott attacked several local
  villages despite protests by local settlers, who feared reprisals.
  
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  Sassacus then took his warriors to the attack. In the winter of
  1636, the Pequots laid siege to Fort Saybrook and raided isolated
  settlements, continuing their attacks into the spring. The colonies
  then assembled a large force under Captains John Mason and John
  Stillwell. The Narragansets, Mohegans, and the Niantics joined
  forces with the English against the Pequots.
  At dawn, 25 May 1637, the army reached and attacked Sassacus’
  village. From behind their palisades the Pequots fought and repelled
  the first assault but the attackers managed to set the wigwams of
  the village afire and those who fled the flames were cut down as
  they emerged. Those who remained within, mostly women,
  children, and the elderly, were allowed to burn. Between 600 and
  1,000 Pequots died in or around the village, but Sassacus was among
  those few who escaped. The following July, his band was attacked
  again in a swamp west of New Haven, but again Sassacus escaped
  to seek refuge in Mohawk lands. Fearing to anger the English,
  however, the Mohawks beheaded the sachem.
  Many Pequots were sold into slavery or became the property of
  Narragansets and Mohegans. The  Colonial government banned the
  use of Pequot names and various tribal placenames. Some Pequots
  resettled on Long Island and in Massachusetts. In 1655, the colonists
  freed the Pequot slaves and they were resettled on the Mystic River.
  There are two small Pequot reservations shared with the
  Mohegans, in New London and Fairfield counties. Another group
  holds a third reservation in Litchfield county in common with the
  Wappingers, an Algonquian tribe of New York State.
  W
  W
  W
  W
  Wampanoag
  ampanoag
  ampanoag
  ampanoag
  ampanoag
  The Wampanoag were among the first Native Americans to come
  into contact with European colonists. These original meetings were
  so positive that, by the early 17th century, the tribe became the
  closest ally that the English colonists had. Yet by the latter years of
  that century, the Wampanoag were the most bitter of enemies of the
  colonists to whom they were previously allied.
  The early good relations between the two peoples were due
  mainly to a Wampanoag man, Tisquantum, sometimes called
  Squanto. In 1615, he was captured by an English trader and sold
  into slavery in Spain. After several years he managed to escape
  and, with the aid of another Englishman, return to the land of his
  youth and, by 1619, was once again among his own people.
  In 1620, when the Pilgrims founded the Plymouth Colony,
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  Squanto used his knowledge of English language and customs to
  establish good relations with the colonists. He also taught them
  much in the ways of wilderness living and farming the new land
  and the survival of Plymouth may be due almost entirely to his
  efforts. He died of smallpox in 1622, along with many others of his
  tribe.
  Relations continued to be close under the sachem Samoset, who
  used his knowledge of the colonists and their tongue as had Squanto.
  That the numbers of the Wampanoags and many of the other tribes
  of the region were severely reduced by smallpox in the years just
  previous may have played a role and the tribes could hardly have
  afforded any sort of hostility toward the colonists. Perhaps with
  this in mind, Samoset introduced Captain Miles Standish as a
  representative of the Pilgrims to Massasoit, the grand sachem of
  the Wampanoag.
  Massasoit became a close friend to the colonists and remained
  so for 40 years, until his death in 1662. Through his influence, the
  Wampanoags remained neutral in the Pequot War of 1636. But, time
  and again, the colonists abused the trust of the Wampanoags, tricking
  them into signing away land or simply forcing the natives from it.
  Thus, when Massasoit died, his sons were far less enamored of the
  ways of the Europeans.
  Metacom and Wamsutta, called by the colonists Philip and
  Alexander after Alexander the Great and his father Philip of
  Macedon, grew up as the number of settlers was growing drastically,
  along with the number of incidents in which the Wampanoags were
  slighted and abused. The sons of Massasoit thus became strongly
  oriented against any friendship between their tribe and the settlers.
  Many other young Wampanoags believed the same. When Alexander
  died under suspicious circumstances, Philip succeeded him as
  sachem and swore to exact revenge for this and all other previous
  slights against his people.
  Philip formed alliances with other tribes with much to lose
  should European expansion continue. His goal was to oust the New
  England colonies entirely. After careful preparation, but still before
  Philip would otherwise have wished, fighting broke out at the
  Wampanoag town of Mount Hope in 1675. Three Wampanoags were
  hanged on the suspicion that they killed a “Christian Indian.”
  Tensions rose and shots were fired and a Wampanoag was killed in
  an argument over cattle. In retaliation, the Wampanoags attacked
  and killed 11 colonists. What became known as King Philip’s War
  
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  had begun.
  The Narragansets and Nipmucs joined the Wampanoags and
  the three tribes began a campaign of violence against the settlers.
  All over New England, warrior bands attacked settlements,
  terrorizing the colonists and fleeing before effective resistance could
  be brought against them. Colonial armies were mustered but, for a
  time, it proved difficult to find the raiding warriors. Eventually,
  however, the Wampanoags were forced to fight several pitched
  battles, at Pocasset Swamp, Bloody Brook, and Hopewell Swamp.
  Finally, the decisive confrontation occurred in Narraganset territory
  with the Great Swamp Fight of December 1675. The backbone of
  the Wampanoag alliance was broken and many of its warriors killed.
  The remaining warriors, still led by Philip, were eventually attacked
  near Plymouth and nearly wiped out. Philip was killed and his
  body was dismembered by its slayers and the parts kept as trophies.
  His wife and son were sold as slaves in the Caribbean. King Philip’s
  War was over. The colonists took revenge on the remaining and
  now-weakened Wampanoags, claiming ever more land. European
  diseases also continued to take a toll upon the Wampanoags.
  Some Wampanoags managed to keep their lands and their most
  prosperous community today is at Martha’s Vineyard.
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  Myths of the Native Americans
  Myths of the Native Americans
  Myths of the Native Americans
  Myths of the Native Americans
  Myths of the Native Americans
  The Algonquian people had a rich mythology that is of potential
  interest to storytellers.
  As opposed to religion, which illustrates the belief system and
  often the actual ritual practices of a culture, mythology can be
  defined as the stories which illustrate and inspire the beliefs of the
  religion. The difference is significant. The mythology of a religion
  tells us about why various rituals are observed, why a deity is
  associated with the numerous elements that define it, and so forth.
  In Christian worship, for example, Satan is commonly understood
  to be the personification of evil and Christian mythology, both in
  biblical and in later times, tells us of countless times in which
  Satan acted in ways we regard as evil. Each defines the other. Thus,
  it is possible to say that there was an Algonquian god of evil, known
  by different names to the different tribes, but it is the tales of the
  god’s actions that form the mythology about him.
  Instead of going into all the alternative names of the deities and
  their legends in great detail, here you will find a selection of some
  of the more formative and potentially Keeper-oriented myths of one
  Algonquian tribe, the Nauset Wampanoag of Cape Cod. This choice
  is fitting, for the Wampanoag were among the first to have contact
  with European colonists. Their contact and subsequent history with
  the settlers is also extremely varied and interesting. More
  information on the mythological details of the tribes not mentioned
  here can be found in virtually any book of Native American tales.
  This section is not intended to provide an exhaustive account
  of all the legends of the Wampanoag people and instead attempts
  to give the Keeper enough to have some kind of grasp on the belief
  system and the mythology that spawned it. Spirits listed and the
  tales presented have been chosen for what they say about the actors
  in the myths presented, the people who knew the stories, and for
  the storytelling possibilities they represent to the Keeper.
  Spirits of the W
  Spirits of the W
  Spirits of the W
  Spirits of the W
  Spirits of the Wampanoag
  ampanoag
  ampanoag
  ampanoag
  ampanoag
  As with the rest of the Algonquians, the Nauset Wampanoag people
  were polytheistic and worshipped or acknowledged the existence
  of many gods. Below is a list of the most significant of them, their
  appellation and sacred aspects, and their genders.
  Kehtean [m]:
  Kehtean [m]:
  Kehtean [m]:
  Kehtean [m]:
  Kehtean [m]: Great Spirit, the spirit that guides and sees all.
  Geesukquand [m]:
  Geesukquand [m]:
  Geesukquand [m]:
  Geesukquand [m]:
  Geesukquand [m]: Sun Spirit.
  
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  YYYYYotannit [m]:
  otannit [m]:
  otannit [m]:
  otannit [m]:
  otannit [m]: Fire Spirit; also the god of lightning.
  Nibah-Nahbeezik:
  Nibah-Nahbeezik:
  Nibah-Nahbeezik:
  Nibah-Nahbeezik:
  Nibah-Nahbeezik: Water Spirit.
  Uskitom [m]:
  Uskitom [m]:
  Uskitom [m]:
  Uskitom [m]:
  Uskitom [m]: First human.
  Netimigaho [f]:
  Netimigaho [f]:
  Netimigaho [f]:
  Netimigaho [f]:
  Netimigaho [f]: First mother.
  Eshquaganit [f]:
  Eshquaganit [f]:
  Eshquaganit [f]:
  Eshquaganit [f]:
  Eshquaganit [f]: Woman guiding spirit.
  Mahtahdou [m]:
  Mahtahdou [m]:
  Mahtahdou [m]:
  Mahtahdou [m]:
  Mahtahdou [m]: Evil Sprit; called the “devil bird”
  Nanipaushat [f]:
  Nanipaushat [f]:
  Nanipaushat [f]:
  Nanipaushat [f]:
  Nanipaushat [f]: Moon Spirit.
  TTTTToo-quah-mis-quan-it, or Squonanit [f]:
  oo-quah-mis-quan-it, or Squonanit [f]:
  oo-quah-mis-quan-it, or Squonanit [f]:
  oo-quah-mis-quan-it, or Squonanit [f]:
  oo-quah-mis-quan-it, or Squonanit [f]: Evil Spirit of
  drowning, tides, and treacherous swamps.
  W
  W
  W
  W
  Weetuks (or sometimes the giant Maushop) [m]:
  eetuks (or sometimes the giant Maushop) [m]:
  eetuks (or sometimes the giant Maushop) [m]:
  eetuks (or sometimes the giant Maushop) [m]:
  eetuks (or sometimes the giant Maushop) [m]: Mankind’s
  benefactor/Promethean figure.
  Maskanako [m]:
  Maskanako [m]:
  Maskanako [m]:
  Maskanako [m]:
  Maskanako [m]: Sea Spirit, master of the deep, and the most
  powerful mage.
  These are the gods of the Wampanoag. The predominant aspects
  that the spirits demonstrate in the mythology of the tribe are
  something of an oversimplification, as some of the deities are quite
  multi-dimensional. An example of this can be seen in the tales of
  Squonnanit told below.
  In addition to the greater spirits listed above, Wampanoag myth
  includes many tales of lesser spirits, known collectively as the
  Pukwudgees, or Little Folk. These can be loosely likened to the
  modern folk understanding of elves, fairies, or leprechauns as beings
  of mischievous and sometimes malevolent intent. The Pukwudgees
  seem, however to have been generally hostile to mankind, rather
  than acting merely as the tricksters elves were in many folktales of
  the Old World. Physically, the Pukwudgees were similar to men
  but much smaller, but all are considered powerful magic-makers
  and were invariably scornful of men and often hateful toward them
  as well.
  The T
  The T
  The T
  The T
  The Torrent That Came Upon the Lands of Men
  orrent That Came Upon the Lands of Men
  orrent That Came Upon the Lands of Men
  orrent That Came Upon the Lands of Men
  orrent That Came Upon the Lands of Men
  To rid the world of evil and ruin, Kehtean caused a great flood to
  come upon the lands of men. But malignant Mahtahdou escaped
  the trap by hiding beneath the sea with Maskanako, “the great
  snake.” After Kehtean reformed the world, he made Maskanako the
  medicine man of all the tribes.
  Maushop the Hero
  Maushop the Hero
  Maushop the Hero
  Maushop the Hero
  Maushop the Hero
  In the days before the coming of the white men, there lived a young
  giant named Maushop in the narrow land (Cape Cod). He slew an
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  evil and predatory man-eating eagle that lived on an island across
  Vineyard Sound. Shortly afterward, a sea-woman arose and
  approached the den of the foul bird. Her eyes were square, her head
  was maned with seaweed, her fingers were webbed like a shore-
  bird’s feet, and she sang a wild song, the wolf-waves that followed
  her joined in, howling. She transformed herself into a beauty and
  Maushop lay down with her after resisting her advances for many
  days. Her name was Too-quah-mis-quan-it.
  TTTTToo-quah-mis-quan-it
  oo-quah-mis-quan-it
  oo-quah-mis-quan-it
  oo-quah-mis-quan-it
  oo-quah-mis-quan-it
  Also known as Sqounanit, or Granny Squannit, this being lived at
  Cummaquid in a cave among the sand dunes at Great Neck, near
  Barnstable Harbor (it is also said that she inhabited the Great Marsh).
  She was ki-eh-pah-wesh-hok, a great medicine woman. She had
  only one great dark eye, with hair that hung long over her face to
  her mouth.
  Too-quah-mis-quan-it stole parts of the whale song from
  Maushop and often called the great creatures to shore to die on the
  beaches as she sucked away the water. She was the kelp witch who
  dragged ships below to rot, the water spirit who drew the memory
  of Maushop’s wife and family out of his mind and stole him away
  below the waves, the woman-fish who road ships’ keel to slow
  their passage and driven away only by the path of the moon on the
  water cutting across her tail. She was the swamp hag who made
  quicksand and sported with bog devils amid screechy howls and
  ghostly lights in the marsh.
  Around the turn of the century the Wampanoags practiced a
  remembrance of a far older and probably more peril-fraught ritual
  as each spring families set out before dawn to picnic and celebrate
  Granny Squannit’s Day. The procession was led through the
  treacherous swamp by those most knowledgeable of the area,
  negotiating the dangerous trail to Squannit’s lair. A meal was served
  before first light, the best portions set out on a rough stone altar in
  hopes of Granny Squannit’s favor. After sunrise, brightly painted
  young men danced into exhaustion to further honor the bog witch.
  The last to still be dancing was called “Granny Squannit’s son” and
  was given gifts by the others. Later, more young men wrestled in
  circles made sacred to Squannit. No part was taken in any of theses
  contests by any woman, nor did women sing in these rituals. Granny
  Squannit was not pleased by the songs of women.
  Sailors who feared an unfavorable voyage or whalers who
  
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  wanted Granny Squannit to guide their aim made other visits to the
  lonely mire. They left offerings of food and carved ships or whale’s
  teeth, then quickly slunk away lest they catch sight of her nightmare face.
  There is a tale told of a evil shaman from the northern lands
  who lay with Squannit for his own purposes. Maushop picked him
  up and threw him into the Great Marsh. There, the land swallowed
  him and he still lies below the stretch known as Scorton Neck.
  When Maushop returned to Squannit she enfolded him in her tangle
  of seaweed hair and dragged him beneath the waves forever. To
  this day, she occasionally feels the need to pull down a ship or
  hapless man.
  Another story tells of a Mashpee man who was riding through
  Sarah Screecham’s forest on Poponosset Road when he saw a light
  in the swamp. He noted the spot and headed toward it, around
  Witches Pond, up to a forked oak that had a luminous cloud about
  its base. The man stepped into the glowing circle and immediately
  an old woman with a watery purple eye set in the middle of her
  forehead appeared before him. She sat at the crotch of the bent old
  oak and sang as she wove a basket with her webbed fingers. Her
  feet stuck out from beneath her at odd angles, one huge and
  misshapen, the other small and delicate as a child’s. The man’s
  breath caught in his throat and the hag looked up and hissed, the
  hiss of a dying wave dragging back out to sea. The man headed
  inland and never came near the sea or any other body of water again.
  
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  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  Nantucket Sea Serpent, 1937
  
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  Chapter 5:
  Chapter 5:
  Chapter 5:
  Chapter 5:
  Chapter 5:
  Monsters of the Lands and
  Monsters of the Lands and
  Monsters of the Lands and
  Monsters of the Lands and
  Monsters of the Lands and
  Seas of New England
  Seas of New England
  Seas of New England
  Seas of New England
  Seas of New England
  TTTTT
  here are many tales of weird and awful creatures inhabiting
  the outer wilds of New England. Doubtless, many of these
  stories arose when the colony was still young, when the
  settlers were isolated from both the land they left behind and from
  other communities on this side if the Atlantic. The interior was
  virtually unknown territory, populated by a people whose religion,
  language, customs, and way of life were utterly alien to those of the
  colonists. Add to this the fact that relations were often strained
  between the colonists and these natives, who quickly saw that they
  could expect little that was good from the men in the tall boats.
  Then there are the beliefs that the immigrants brought with
  them. Many in the Old World saw the New World as the abode of
  Satan and the natives were often regarded as savage and demonic
  creatures who served this infernal king of the land. Upon arriving
  in New England, the colonists might be greeted by one of the
  incessant skirmishes, or even the all-out wars that were all too
  common between the two cultures attempting to make the land
  their homes. It is not hard to understand the level of fear that a
  typical colonist felt when contemplating the new and utterly
  unknown land that lay beyond his field’s edge.
  Similarly, the seas of the New World have been populated in
  legend with all manner of leviathan aquatic beasts. It is little wonder
  that the sea figured so strongly in the imagination of a culture that
  made much of its living from the ocean. Thousands of ships have
  sailed nearly every part of the coast over the past four centuries
  and there have been plenty of opportunities to witness the rare, the
  unusual, and the deadly of its waters. If anything, the ocean has
  had a greater pull upon the minds and souls of New Englanders
  than has the land, and figures in many stories (even those set on
  land). Witches, elsewhere in the world endowed with many strange
  powers, here are also found with the talent to call up weather at
  need and raise fierce sea storms.
  This section details the creatures that inhabit the imaginary
  landscape of New England. The seas are deep off the coast and only
  the surface is truly familiar, even to those who say they know the
  ocean well. The woods and hills are thick and rugged, full of caverns
  
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  and bogs, megaliths and rock carvings, that have awaited the coming
  of people for thousands of years. There are still many secrets known
  only to the land and the waves.
  But a merest glimmer of what may be there awaits herein. The
  Native Americans knew the nature of this land when even the
  bravest explorers were afraid to sail out of sight of Europe. And
  perhaps other, more ancient and unknowable cultures existed on
  these shores, ones that left behind enough of their works that we
  can guess at their sophistication, speculate upon the secrets they
  took with them into the recesses of antiquity, and maybe even
  uncover some previously lost fragment of knowledge that
  illuminates the elder world and unguessed evils that might lurk in
  the innocent tales of our forebears.
  Inhabitants of the Cold Seas and Murky Lakes
  Inhabitants of the Cold Seas and Murky Lakes
  Inhabitants of the Cold Seas and Murky Lakes
  Inhabitants of the Cold Seas and Murky Lakes
  Inhabitants of the Cold Seas and Murky Lakes
  The sea off the coast of New England is the source of near endless
  bounty and equally relentless torment for those whose living comes
  from its depths. Sailors, fishermen, whalers, navy personnel, and
  day-trippers all pit themselves against the wiles of the sea for the
  rewards that are to be found there. A few of these same people have
  become aware that there is knowledge that the sea guards jealously
  — knowledge which, if it were believed by the majority of those
  who explore the oceans breadth and depth, would reduce the
  numbers of those explorers drastically. Sea serpents, kraken, devil
  whales, and other monsters all abound in tales older than the New
  England colony itself. On the following pages you will find records
  of such sightings that stretch over both lakes and seas for more
  than 300 years.
  The entries in this chapter are arranged largely in reverse
  chronological order, as this is probably the order in which
  investigators will discover them. Presumably some occurrence will
  prompt one or more of the investigators to research the phenomena
  of sea monsters, and they will discover the more recent reports
  first and, eventually, the most removed in time will also be
  uncovered. Included below are several first-hand accounts of
  eyewitnesses to these occurrences. Keepers can use these as they
  are provided, either as verbal reports given by individuals
  encountered by the investigators, or for what they actually are —
  extant accounts and affidavits of now-dead individuals.
  
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  Sea Serpents
  Sea Serpents
  Sea Serpents
  Sea Serpents
  Sea Serpents
  On July 12, 1905, George Cole, a fisherman, was knocked out of his
  dory by a 70-foot-long sea serpent near Cohasset, Massachusetts.
  For several minutes he battled both the waves and the clutches of
  the creature until, without apparent cause, the monster gave up its
  attack.
  Cole had first seen a wild thrashing off his bow and assumed
  that a whale was caught in a line of lobster traps, several of which
  were laid in the area. As he approached, the disturbance in the
  waves increased and Cole began to row quickly, attempting to bypass
  the struggling creature. Suddenly, the monster reared up out of the
  water and swam directly toward the boat; Cole described each eye
  as being a foot or more across and the head as big as a barrel. The
  sea serpent struck the boat, capsizing it and flinging the mariner
  into the water. He quickly scrambled up onto the upturned keel
  and rode out the thrashing of the serpent. Shortly thereafter, it left.
  Cole managed to make his way to shore, where he later learned
  that three others had seen the creature that day and the next. Henry
  Edwin Hatch and his wife reported seeing the monster before Cole’s
  ordeal had come out and had watched the 70-foot serpent for several
  minutes as it moved back and forth in the waves. They then headed
  for shore. Ambrose B. Mitchell, a lobsterman from Hull, also reported
  seeing the creature and rapidly returned to land.
  All the witnesses were considered to be quite knowledgeable
  about the sea and unlikely to mistake a shark, whale, or other
  creature as a sea serpent nearly four-score feet in length. They were
  certain of what they had seen, His Majesty the Sea Serpent, a monster
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  more than 20 yards in length with nearly 40 barrel-sized humps
  along its sinuous back. His Majesty enjoyed a local celebrity similar
  to that of the Loch Ness monster (it should be remembered, of course,
  that the Loch Ness Monster only rose beyond local Scottish fame in
  1933).
  In 1936, His Majesty was sighted once more by a South Shore
  resident, Robert Saltonstall Ward of North Marshfield. From the
  deck of a liner, Ward saw the creature from a distance of about 75
  yards. In 1871, many North Shore residents reported a similar dark
  brown sea serpent and previous sightings along the New England
  coast had also occurred. On June 17, 1826, Henry Holdredge, captain
  of the Silas Richards was sailing off the shore of Nantucket Island
  when he saw a:
  “ ... sudden perturbation of the water, and immediately an
  object presented itself, with its head about four feet above
  the level, which position it retained for nearly a minute
  when it returned to the surface ... Its color was a dark dingy
  black with protuberances; its visible length appeared about
  60 feet, and its circumference 10 feet. With former accounts
  which have been given of such a monster, and which have
  never been credited, this exactly corresponds, and I have
  no doubt but it is one of those species called sea serpents ... ”
  (E.R. Snow, Maritime Mysteries and Dramatic Disasters, pp. 225-6)
  On August 18, 1817, the Linnean Society of Boston formed a
  committee to collect any information related to sightings of a large
  creature, referred to as a sea serpent, that was reported to have
  been seen near the harbor of Gloucester starting on August 10. By
  early October, it was reported in Long Island Sound, where it was
  viewed on a number of occasions by many people from distances
  varying from a few feet to more than a mile. Sightings were reported
  in Nahaunt as late as 1819.
  A small pamphlet was published by the Linnean Society
  detailing the creature and the eyewitness reports. The serpent was
  between 70 and 120 feet in length, about three feet in diameter,
  black or dark brown in color, and with skin that appeared smooth
  to the majority of witnesses. The head was serpent-like with a long
  tongue which projected almost vertically from the mouth of the
  beast. No legs, fins, gills, or mane were mentioned by any of the
  
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  viewers. On one occasion the
  creature was observed onshore
  briefly and did not appear to take
  any note of the startled voices or
  gunshots of those who saw it.
  The 
  Linnean 
  Society
  eventually determined that the
  huge creature was, in actuality,
  simply a larger version of a
  common black snake of the region.
  With that report, the society and
  the sightings were widely regarded as a matter of embarrassment.
  In spite of this rather lame conclusion by the Linnean Society,
  there was considerable information, often given by very trustworthy
  individuals under oath, that His Majesty had graced the shores of
  New England several times between 1817 and 1819.
  In 1818 James Prince, a prominent and respected inhabitant of
  Boston, gave this account of his observance of His Majesty the sea
  serpent, with the aid of his telescope on August 16:
  “I will now state that, which, in the presence of more than
  200 witnesses, took place near the long beach at Nahant on
  Saturday morning last. I was glad to find that I had brought
  my famous mast-head spyglass with me as it would enable
  me from its form and size, to view him to advantage if I
  might be so fortunate as to see him. On our arrival on the
  beach, we associated with a considerable number of persons
  on foot and in chaises. And very soon an animal of the fish
  kind made his appearance.
  His head appeared about three feet out of the water; I
  counted 13 hunches on his back my family thought there
  were 15. He passed three times at a moderate rate across
  the bay ... as he swam up the bay, we and the other spectators
  moved on, and kept nearly abreast of him. He occasionally
  withdrew himself under water and the idea occurred to me
  that his occasionally raising his head ... was to take breath,
  as the times he kept under water was on the average about
  eight minutes ... I had seven distinct views of him from the
  long beach, so called, and at some of them the animal was
  not more than an hundred yards distance ... on passing the
  second beach we were again gratified beyond even what
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  we saw in the other bay... We had here more than a dozen
  different views of him, and each similar to the other; one
  however, so near that the coachman exclaimed, ‘Oh, I see
  his glistening eye!’
  I feel satisfied that he is 60 feet long ... I have been
  accustomed to see whales, sharks, grampuses, porpoises,
  and other large fishes, but he partook of none of the
  appearances of [any] of these ... The water was extremely
  smooth and the weather clear ... I must conclude there is a
  strange animal on our coast.”
  (E.R. Snow, Maritime Mysteries and Dramatic Disasters, p. 227)
  There were many other personal testimonials to the same effect in
  the ensuing months. Reverend Cheever Felch of the man-of-war
  Independence, along with several others of the crew sighted the
  serpent on August 26, 1819:
  “William T. Malbone, Esq., Commander of the Schooner
  Science, seeing some appearance on the water said ‘There
  is your sea serpent … but it proved no joke ... He rose ...
  within 20 yards distance of us and lay some time on the
  water ... His color was dark brown, with white under the
  throat ... From my knowledge of aquatic animals and habits
  of intimacy with marine appearances, I could not be
  deceived... That there is an aquatic animal in the form of a
  snake is not to be doubted. Mr. Malbone, to this day, was
  incredulous. No man could convince him there was not such
  a being. The sketch or picture of Marshall Prince is perfectly
  correct.”
  (E.R. Snow, Maritime Mysteries and Dramatic Disasters, p.230)
  In 1751, Joseph Kent of Marshfield, Maine, observed a sea serpent
  at a distance of about 45 feet from the deck of his sloop, noting that
  it exceeded the vessel’s main boom in length. The sighting was
  near Muscongus Island, Maine.
  Other accounts and sources recount observations in 1770; in
  1778, 1779, and 1785 in Penobscot Bay; 1780, in Broad Bay, Maine;
  in 1794 off of Fox and Long Islands; in 1803 near Sullivan, Maine;
  and in 1815, near Plymouth, Massachusetts. All describe a huge
  
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  snake or serpent of brown or black, sometimes with a horse-like
  mane, measuring between 30 and 70 feet in length, moving with
  vertical undulations of its lower portions.
  The earliest known recorded sightings of sea serpents were at
  Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Two Voyages to New England by John
  Josselyn (1674) records a conversation from 1639, held with
  residents of the Massachusetts colony. They told him of the sighting
  of a sea serpent or great snake that lay coiled and sunning itself on
  a rock on the shore of Cape Ann.
  The Lake Champlain Monster
  The Lake Champlain Monster
  The Lake Champlain Monster
  The Lake Champlain Monster
  The Lake Champlain Monster
  Referred to first in literature in 1609 by Samuel de Champlain, the
  “chaousarou” of the lake was ancient in native myth and legend in
  de Champlain’s time. Champlain reports having seen a 20-foot-long
  snakelike creature with a horselike head. In more recent times, a
  sighting of a great serpent was reported in 1819. During the 1880s,
  the appearance of the creature was a regular occurrence, until in
  1886 there were virtually daily reports, some of them narrowly
  avoiding disaster. In 1920, Mrs. Grace Lee and many friends and
  relatives saw a snake-like animal between 13 and 20 feet in length.
  The serpent was reported as swimming both in vertical and
  horizontal undulations.
  A composite description of the animal based on the available
  information reveals a dark brown, green, or black serpent between
  10 and 90 feet in length and one to two-and-a-half in diameter. Its
  skin texture was universally reported as smooth and without any
  scale pattern. It had a pointed tail and no visible limbs, although
  folds were reported near the head and tail and may have referred to
  flukes or flippers of some kind.
  Other than the Great Lakes, Lake Champlain is the largest body
  of fresh water in the United States. It is more than 400 feet deep in
  places and these reaches have still not been adequately explored.
  Giant Squid
  Giant Squid
  Giant Squid
  Giant Squid
  Giant Squid
  Tales of giant squid abound all along the northeast coast, some of
  the most detailed from the Maritime provinces of Canada. A huge
  squid measuring 55 feet in length and weighing eight-and-a-half
  tons was captured in Tickle Bay, Newfoundland, in 1878. On October
  27 the year before, the Canadian Illustrated News reported that a
  monster with 30-foot tentacles became wedged between some rocks
  by the retreating tide and died as the water receded, but failed to
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  give a locale for this awesome spectacle. In 1873, on Great Bell
  Island, Newfoundland, a huge squid carcass washed ashore.
  Giant Octopi
  Giant Octopi
  Giant Octopi
  Giant Octopi
  Giant Octopi
  While the tales of giant squid are accepted by many zoologists, few
  are prepared to admit the existence of a species of huge octopus,
  and yet many whaler’s tales specifically refer to such creatures rather
  than to squid. While no octopus carcasses have appeared in the
  waters of New England, there are many such stories, and there does
  seem to be evidence form further south in the United States.
  In 1896, the corpse of what might have been a giant cephalopod
  was discovered washed up on the beach at St. Augustine, Florida.
  The state of decomposition was advanced but it soon became
  apparent that, although the researchers originally had thought the
  remains to be those of a squid, the body actually was that of an
  octopus that may have measured as much as 50 or 60 yards in length
  when alive and whole. The corpse was examined by several leading
  marine biologists of the day, and photographs and tissue samples
  were taken and are still kept in the Smithsonian Institution.
  Demon Whales
  Demon Whales
  Demon Whales
  Demon Whales
  Demon Whales
  There are also many tales of demonic whales all along the New
  England coast. The infamous witch Goodie Hallet was said to roam
  the seas in the belly of a particular devil whale for more than a
  century and, when she desired, could climb forth from it to wreak
  her evils.
  Another famous whale was the rogue sperm whale Caldera Dick.
  
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  A monstrous old bull whale, Caldera Dick roamed over hundreds
  of miles of the Atlantic, wrecking ships and drowning men with
  abandon and may have been the inspiration for Herman Melville’s
  Moby Dick.
  The Devil in New England
  The Devil in New England
  The Devil in New England
  The Devil in New England
  The Devil in New England
  Although the Devil features in many tales of early New England,
  his appearance varied considerably from story to story. He appeared
  in many different shapes throughout various accounts, including
  those of a dark man, a horse, a great white bird, a yellow bird, a
  bear, and a man with a high-crowned hat. According to the natives
  of New England, “Thunder rumbles in his pipe ... and when he
  scowls ... the sky grows black with storms.”
  The Ding-Ball
  The Ding-Ball
  The Ding-Ball
  The Ding-Ball
  The Ding-Ball
  A ferocious panther-like abomination, this beast acquired its name
  from its long tail, which was entirely devoid of fur or flesh and
  ended in a hard and heavy ball that it can whip with lethal force
  into a victim’s skull. The creature’s fondness for human flesh was
  legendary, and it was said that it could sing and wail in imitation
  of humanity to lure the unwary to fatal mishap. References to the
  Ding-Ball arise in folklore of the rocky woodlands of Maine and
  Massachusetts.
  The Algonquian Indians of the eastern Great Lakes region also
  have a legend of the Misshipesha, or “Great Lynx.” A sinister spirit
  of powerful or turbulent waters, it is described as a horned and
  bearded four-legged creature with a long tail which, along with its
  back, was covered in spikes.
  Gougou
  Gougou
  Gougou
  Gougou
  Gougou
  Another creature was called a gougou by the Micmac Indians of the
  Canadian east coast and the “monstre marin” in the Codex
  Canadensis, a manuscript supposedly authored by a M. de Granville
  in 1701. “She has the body and tail of a fish and flippers for arms,”
  the codex says. “Growing out of the fish-like body is a female torso
  and a witch-like head. Her facial features are truly distorted.”
  The gougou is also described by the explorer Samuel de
  Champlain as a huge and ugly woman, an eater of humans whose
  shriek is terror itself. The Chippewa around Lake Superior also
  preserve a legend of the nibanaba , half-human, half-fish creatures
  that dwell in the waters of the Great Lakes.
  
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  Chapter 6
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  W
  W
  W
  W
  Witches, W
  itches, W
  itches, W
  itches, W
  itches, Wizards, and
  izards, and
  izards, and
  izards, and
  izards, and
  W
  W
  W
  W
  Weather-Makers of
  eather-Makers of
  eather-Makers of
  eather-Makers of
  eather-Makers of
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  New England
  TTTTT
  he witches of New England, and in particular of Salem,
  Massachusetts, are famous in both legend and history. Today,
  there is little doubt that the reports of dire witchcraft and
  devil-worship were brought about by the hysteria of the supposed
  witnesses and the climate of the communities in which they lived
  rather than from any events that were thought to have transpired.
  Yet, the figure of the demon-inspired witch (whether male or female)
  continues to play upon the imagination with chilling fingers and is
  still a subject that has the power to inspire a deep and unreasoning
  fear in many. Legends of witchcraft and the Devil that abide in this
  region are integral to the period in which they arose. To change
  them would be impossible, and to ignore them would be to ignore
  the imaginations of those who have kept them alive down through
  the centuries.
  This book attempts to relate the stories of witches and witchcraft
  as they have persisted in popular legend. It may be that many, and
  potentially all, of these witches were originally innocent
  practitioners of a pagan religion and not satanic in any way. Or,
  they may have been simply unfortunate enough to be branded as
  odd or outsiders by their contemporaries. Legends, however, require
  villains and many of the witches recorded in legends are
  consummate evil-doers.
  W
  W
  W
  W
  Witch T
  itch T
  itch T
  itch T
  itch Trials of Salem, Massachusetts, 1692
  rials of Salem, Massachusetts, 1692
  rials of Salem, Massachusetts, 1692
  rials of Salem, Massachusetts, 1692
  rials of Salem, Massachusetts, 1692
  These events are perhaps the most infamous in early America. They
  also, without a doubt, are among the most misunderstood in the
  history of the United States as a whole. The phenomena that brought
  on the witchcraft cases tried in Salem were not isolated occurrences.
  Similar cases of what might today be referred to as poltergeist
  activity, speaking in tongues, and similar incidents are recorded in
  New England for the decades just previous to the 1690s. Of course,
  the witch burnings of continental Europe are well known to have
  taken place for centuries beforehand, and they continued during
  and after the time of the Salem Trials.
  
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  Something changed in the perception of these cases in New
  England in the course of the second half of the 17th century. The
  same reports that in the 1670s and ’80s were cause for consternation
  and concern were by 1692 sufficient to warrant the deaths of 20 by
  execution and eight more by imprisonment in the span of less than
  24 months.
  There was a reasonably well-established modus operandi for
  the accusations in the Salem cases. Generally, a child or adolescent
  would become the subject of unexplained torture from an invisible
  source and would become the focus of other sorts of “poltergeist”
  phenomena. The afflicted in these cases were believed to be the
  innocent victims of demonic attack, usually thought to occur because
  of the instigation of a witch. In the hysteria of Salem in 1692, these
  children were encouraged to speak out and identify their
  persecutors. They would often swear to seeing the spectre of some
  woman — or, less commonly, a man — known to the community,
  often someone regarded as an outsider. The accused was then
  required to clear herself of the charges.
  The actual trial was conducted through indirect interrogation.
  At no time was the accused allowed to converse with the
  complainant. It was necessary for the accused to prove the
  accusations groundless. It should be pointed out that in all the Salem
  trials, there was a relatively small group of afflicted that made all
  the accusations; a core of four
  young girls were responsible for
  almost all the proceedings,
  although there were a few other
  children that appeared on
  occasion. The afflicted children
  were all wards or offspring of
  some of the prominent families of
  the region. It happens that these
  families gained greatly in both the
  political maneuvering instigated
  by the trials and in the settlements
  of land and possessions of those
  found guilty. This is certainly
  enough to cast severe doubt upon
  the sincerity of the charges.
  Added to this is the fact that many
  of those accused were without
  
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  family themselves and often in
  possession of considerable land or
  wealth. Thus they were unable to
  muster much in the way of social
  sympathy, a crucial consideration
  in the legal system of the day.
  Cotton Mather, who had a
  pivotal role in relating and
  prosecuting the trials of 1692, also
  had something to report on similar
  events as early as 1679. Mather
  recounts the tribulations of the
  Morse family of Newberry,
  Massachusetts:
  “Bricks, and sticks, and stones, were often, by some invisible
  hand, thrown at the house; and so were many pieces of
  wood; a cat was thrown at the women of the house, and a
  long staff danced up and down in the chimney.” The animate
  objects became increasingly violent and appeared to
  concentrate upon a young boy of the household: “ ... for he
  was flung about at such a rate, that they feared his brains
  would have been beaten out; nor did they find it possible to
  hold him.” Numerous times this poor unfortunate was
  impaled by diverse iron objects or cast into the fire by an
  unseen agency. On other occasions he spoke roughly in a
  tongue unknown to anyone else.
  (Magnalia Christi Americana, pp. 450-2)
  Near-identical events are recorded, again by Mather, concerning a
  May Hortado of Salman Falls and the Walton family of Portsmouth,
  in 1682, and more of the same occurred to a family of Hartford,
  Connecticut in 1683. In none of these cases did any sort of hysteria
  of the sort that occurred in Salem arise, and the afflicted were instead
  the subjects of pity and assumed to be under some form of
  bedevilment, likely against their will. Witches were even suspected
  as being the agents of the misfortunes but they were not hunted
  down. At no time was anyone found guilty or punished for causing
  these mysterious events, nor did it apparently occur to any of the
  family members or townspeople to do so.
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  The Nature of W
  The Nature of W
  The Nature of W
  The Nature of W
  The Nature of Witchcraft
  itchcraft
  itchcraft
  itchcraft
  itchcraft
  Certain fixtures in witch lore in New England and elsewhere allow
  us to create a composite image of a typical witch of legend. Usually
  a witch had a spectre that could go about unseen by normal folk.
  This was the agent of so much of the unexplained and evil doings
  seen by others and it was such spectres that were the cause of so
  much harm in the Salem situation. While it was invisible to all
  except the accuser, the spectre was considered to be sufficient
  evidence of wrongdoing.
  Indeed, all such “evidence” rested entirely upon the word of
  the accused and, in many cases, it seemed that the making of an
  accusation was enough to get a conviction. Women who were too
  headstrong or who went about their business heedless of tradition
  and “proper” form were susceptible to being accused of witchcraft.
  Witches were often thought to congregate in midnight covens
  consisting of wild demonic revels and orgies of sex and sacrifice,
  as suggested by the following:
  A witches Sabbath record — At the Beldames’ unholy
  sabbath in Cape Hollow a black sailor, an old man, or the
  devil himself in scarlet cloth would fiddle while the
  Assemblage danced riotously and engaged in all manner of
  Activity Hideous in the sight of God. All there would Sign
  the Black Book, Eat Red Bread and Drink Blood Brew. The
  Coven Mistress would arrive on her Nightmare steed and
  she and the “suitor” alone would dance the first round.
  (Cotton Mather, Black Book)
  In addition to their spectres, most witches also had familiars, small
  animals unspectacular in appearance but gifted with unusual vitality
  and intellect. They saw what the witch saw and knew what the
  witch knew, and presumably the witch could use the senses of the
  beast as well. The most common physical mark of a witch was a
  third nipple that could be located anywhere but was the source of
  sustenance for the familiar and occasionally the devil if he wished.
  When described in legends, as well as in trial records, witches
  appear to have created their supernatural effects through what may
  be called “sympathetic magic.” This type of magic makes use of
  the principle that similar objects are somehow related and that things
  that affect one will have an effect upon the other. The system used
  
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  bears 
  some 
  resemblance 
  to
  stereotypical “Voodoo.” Using dolls
  of mandrake and other roots, or even
  fashioned out of clothing or rags to
  bear some superficial resemblance to
  the target of a spell, the witch would
  cause wounds and afflictions upon
  the unfortunate by inflicting damage
  on the doll. Such effects could range
  from “unexplainable” itches to
  spontaneous fits of choking, beating,
  knife wounds, and even death. Those
  who died under such conditions
  were believed to be susceptible to
  returning as ghosts or other
  tormented souls.
  At least some witches were supposed able to shapeshift. There
  are several tales of large, mangy black cats, or occasionally horses
  of evil appearance, following in the wake of a ship to bedevil one of
  its crew. The witch would invariably come aboard in the deep of
  the night, slip past the sentry, and cause mishap to the object of her
  wrath. Some witches did this by “riding” the unfortunate
  individuals. Although this may in fact be torment of a sexual nature
  this is never overtly stated in any of the tales. The poor man, for so
  he invariably turned out to be, was unable to resist as he was saddled
  and bridled. The witch then mounted the man’s back and road him
  over hills, through woods, and even over the waves till dawn. With
  the rising of the sun the spell was broken and the cursed individual
  was returned to his original place of rest.
  Nearly all witches of New England were great weather makers
  and, while they usually used this power to brew up storms, were
  seen as being able to cause any sort of weather desired. Some of the
  most potent storm witches, usually men, were even seen as
  beneficent. It is important to note that it had long been understood
  that it was possible for witchcraft to produce positive effects, such
  as healing or good weather. Satan, the ultimate agent of these effects,
  was known, however, to be evil and the actions themselves were
  thus viewed as sacrilege, whatever their intentions and effect.
  Perhaps this point came to occupy a greater importance in the closing
  decade of the 17th century than it had previously and, if so, this
  may help to explain the hysteria of Europe and Salem.
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  Specific W
  Specific W
  Specific W
  Specific W
  Specific Witches
  itches
  itches
  itches
  itches
  Some of the numerous witches who lived throughout the region of
  New England are listed here. Some have extensive tales about them
  while others survive as little more than names and places.
  Moll P
  Moll P
  Moll P
  Moll P
  Moll Pitcher
  itcher
  itcher
  itcher
  itcher
  The Seer of Lynn and granddaughter of John Dimond, Moll Pitcher
  was a being to be feared. She was the most famed fortuneteller in
  New England. Her hair had not been combed in her lifetime and
  thus stuck out in a horrid tangle from her head. She cut her hazel
  “walking stick” from a tree that hung over a brook where an
  unwedded mother had drowned her infant. She lived at the foot of
  a cliff of dull red porphyry called High Rock and there, she was
  consulted by all manner of folk, rich and poor alike, over matters
  humble and grand. She died in 1813 at the age of 75.
  John Dimond
  John Dimond
  John Dimond
  John Dimond
  John Dimond
  Grandfather of Moll Pitcher, Dimond was viewed with great
  reverence and some fear by the inhabitants of Marblehead in the
  18th century. A wizard of great power, he could foresee the weather.
  Many times he fared up to the Old Burying Ground, where he would
  stalk amid the tombstones shrieking instructions to ships far out to
  A witch trial record from Leith, Scotland, preserves the spell
  A witch trial record from Leith, Scotland, preserves the spell
  A witch trial record from Leith, Scotland, preserves the spell
  A witch trial record from Leith, Scotland, preserves the spell
  A witch trial record from Leith, Scotland, preserves the spell
  needed to raise a sea storm:
  needed to raise a sea storm:
  needed to raise a sea storm:
  needed to raise a sea storm:
  needed to raise a sea storm:
  “ ... baptised a cat in the Webster house ... first two of them
  held a finger on the one side of a chimney crook, and another
  finger on the other side, the two webs of the fingers meeting
  together, then they put the cat thrice through the links of
  the crook and passed it thrice underneath the chimney.
  Thereafter, at Beige Todd’s house, they knit to the four feet
  of the cat four joints of men, which being done Janet
  Campbell fetched it ... and at midnight she and the two
  linkops and the two wives called stobbeis ... cast the cat
  into the sea as far as they might ... ”
  (Horace Palmer Beck, Folklore of the Sea)
  
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  sea. Many times the steersmen of those ships claim to have heard
  and heeded his directions.
  Old Meg, the W
  Old Meg, the W
  Old Meg, the W
  Old Meg, the W
  Old Meg, the Witch of Gloucester
  itch of Gloucester
  itch of Gloucester
  itch of Gloucester
  itch of Gloucester
  Little is known of Old Meg, a great dealer in supernatural things,
  other than how she died. During the siege of Louisburg by Colonial
  troops in 1745, two soldiers from Gloucester noted a crow hovering
  over them. They threw stones and fired muskets at it but could
  neither harm the bird nor drive it off as it wheeled overhead, cawing
  and croaking ceaselessly. It finally occurred to them that this might
  be Old Meg terrorizing them.
  With nothing else of silver, they pulled the coat buttons from
  their uniforms and fired them from their muskets. The first shot
  struck the bird in the leg and the next one killed it.
  When the two soldiers returned to Gloucester they heard that
  Old Meg, out walking in front of the local fort on the day they had
  encountered the crow 500 miles away, had broken her leg. After
  lingering for some time in agony she died. The soldiers immediately
  exhumed the old witch and examined her wound and found a
  mangled silver button lodged in the broken bone.
  Old Nanny R
  Old Nanny R
  Old Nanny R
  Old Nanny R
  Old Nanny Redd of Marblehead
  edd of Marblehead
  edd of Marblehead
  edd of Marblehead
  edd of Marblehead
  Old Nanny Redd of Marblehead had the “evil eye” and could stare
  a palsy onto anyone with it and was reputed to be able to curdle
  milk with a look. She could wish a bloody cleaver into a cradle as
  a sure sign that the infant within would soon die and could cause
  shipwrecks with her magic.
  Old Nanny Redd was also blamed for instances of people
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  walking about days after their burials and she would send these
  lost souls out over the water to menace others. It was whispered
  that she was able to draw the knowledge of drowned sailors out of
  the wind. She had slaves, both living and dead, as far away as
  Amesbury, and there was a man there who was known to walk the
  road thereabouts holding his head in his hand by its hair.
  Uncle Kaler
  Uncle Kaler
  Uncle Kaler
  Uncle Kaler
  Uncle Kaler
  Of Finnish descent, Uncle Kaler lived on Louden Hill and was a
  great storm caller and calmer. The folk of the region held that he
  had great power but, while he could be surly enough, was not an
  evil man.
  Old Betty Booker of Kittery
  Old Betty Booker of Kittery
  Old Betty Booker of Kittery
  Old Betty Booker of Kittery
  Old Betty Booker of Kittery, Maine
  , Maine
  , Maine
  , Maine
  , Maine
  Old Betty Booker was supposed to have lived past Carver Green on
  the old road from Bay to Plymouth in the Plymouth woods near
  Kittery, Maine, and the head of Buzzards Bay. Local spots bear names
  like Witches’ Hollow. One tale holds that Old Betty bedded the
  devil and received a boon in return and that she was a wrinkled
  and hideous crone until she set foot on Carver’s Green. Once there,
  she grew fiery and beautiful, young, and robust.
  Lesser-Known W
  Lesser-Known W
  Lesser-Known W
  Lesser-Known W
  Lesser-Known Witches
  itches
  itches
  itches
  itches
  Following are brief references to a number of less-known witches
  that storytellers can use as seeds or inspiration.
  Deborah Borden (aka Deb Burden) was said to have caused a
  great deal of trouble in Wareham, Rochester, and Middleboro.
  A Truro witch used to ride a human steed across the countryside,
  silver spurs ripping into the man’s sides and the red heels of her
  witching boots flashing.
  In Hobb’s Hollow, Massachusetts, near Buzzards Bay, two old
  maids, called by the locals, “Jenkins Hens,” were the leaders of a
  witches’ coven.
  Deep in Ghost Forest lies Half Way Pond (now Mary Dunn Pond),
  lit with witch-fire over the enchanted waters and ringed with
  invisible quicksand.
  Witches were believed to reside in Amesbury and Rock Village,
  Massachusetts.
  Little is known of Goody More any more save for how she
  reputedly was killed. She is said to have fallen down a flight of
  stairs to her death at the precise moment that a great black beetle
  
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  was squashed several miles away at a party.
  Goody Whitcher was a renowned weaver in life and her loom
  is said to have banged and clattered as if being used for days after
  her death and burial.
  Goodman Nichols bespelled the son of a neighbor to run up the
  side of a house.
  Susie Martin was hanged by a wreath of willow twigs because
  the noose danced out of the hands of her captors. When the noose
  could not be placed over her head, a crow cawed advice to the
  assemblage of villagers to make a noose of willow twigs. This
  method proved effective and Martin, who sang devotions to God
  all during her stay in the gaol, was hanged with no further trouble.
  In Eastham, Massachusetts, an old and infirm sailor sits before
  In Eastham, Massachusetts, an old and infirm sailor sits before
  In Eastham, Massachusetts, an old and infirm sailor sits before
  In Eastham, Massachusetts, an old and infirm sailor sits before
  In Eastham, Massachusetts, an old and infirm sailor sits before
  the hearth of the newly-rebuilt Higgin’s T
  the hearth of the newly-rebuilt Higgin’s T
  the hearth of the newly-rebuilt Higgin’s T
  the hearth of the newly-rebuilt Higgin’s T
  the hearth of the newly-rebuilt Higgin’s Tavern. No longer
  avern. No longer
  avern. No longer
  avern. No longer
  avern. No longer
  able to go to sea, he tells tales of the ocean, stories that
  able to go to sea, he tells tales of the ocean, stories that
  able to go to sea, he tells tales of the ocean, stories that
  able to go to sea, he tells tales of the ocean, stories that
  able to go to sea, he tells tales of the ocean, stories that
  everyone in town has heard many times before.
  everyone in town has heard many times before.
  everyone in town has heard many times before.
  everyone in town has heard many times before.
  everyone in town has heard many times before.
  “Ah, I have one for you now, if you like ... The namesake of
  this very hostel figures in the yam, For that’s all it is,
  o’course. No truth to such ramblings at all. Is there, now?
  Set down ... there’s your gin now.
  Goodie Hallet used to dance with the devil in the
  moonlight, shocking and horrifying the Puritan townsfolk
  ’til they drove her in the Nauset dunes. Her house is in
  Welfleet. A hollow near the Old Eastham Cemetery is where
  she still walks from time to time.
  Maria Hallet was an innocent girl who became the lover
  of the infamous pirate Samuel Black Bellamy until he
  betrayed her. Bellamy was a tall, handsome man, lean and
  dark but with a rakish air and ready charm. Some say that
  in return for Goodie Hallet’s soul and the life of her unborn
  child Satan gave her her revenge on Bellamy. Others claim
  that she gave birth to the child but kept him hidden away
  in a barn out of shame. When the child died with a straw
  caught in its throat, Goodie Hallet was placed in Eastham
  prison, mad with grief. She continually escaped the prison,
  and so was stoned away from the village as a witch. She
  went to live off by the shore, where she took to weaving
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  Chapter 6
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  cloth that people say proved by its worth her witchery.
  No matter the reason, Goodie Hallet made pact with
  the Devil for the soul of Bellamy, and in the fullness of time
  she got it. Satan drew Bellamy’s ship, the Whidah, to its
  doom almost on the doorstep to her hut, drowned the pirate
  and gave him into her care. He served her and the Devil in
  death until they tired of him. He was buried near her house
  in a stretch of stubble, rock and sand that can still to be seen.
  She had for familiars a black cat and a black goat. The
  cat was often seen trailing in the wake of ships, its green
  eyes aglow. Goodie Hallett herself could ride on the backs
  of the porpoises to curse the ships she and her cat followed.
  She also had for a home a shrieking demon-whale given to
  her by the Devil. She rode in the belly of the beast for more
  than a century, deflecting harpoons and such while the great
  horror capsized whaleboats, stove in ships’ timbers, and
  ate and drowned the pitiful crewmen.
  There is another tale about the end of Black Bellamy’s
  life. It is said that the justice of the town identified Bellamy’s
  body on the shore the day after the wreck of the Whidah.
  The pirate captain was shoved into the trench grave
  alongside the men who died with him. The spot was not
  marked.
  That fall, a tall stranger walked into town and took up
  residence at the local inn, Higgin’s Tavern. His black hair
  was streaked white over his scarred forehead, and his eyes
  were dark and commanding, but sometimes their sight
  turned inward and he would lose himself in memories of
  other days. Often he seemed to be steering a ship as he sat
  at his chair, or to be searching the horizon of Eastham
  meadow for a sail. For all that, he lived well enough,
  although no one knew where he came by the coin. In 1720,
  the stranger died and was laid to rest near the Burying Acre,
  where he often walked as though waiting for some
  appointment.
  A week later, mad Goodie Hallet was found dead on
  the rocky outcrop before her house, blank eyes staring out
  to sea, a stained knife in her hand, and a great wound across
  her throat.”
  
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  Chapter 6
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 6
  Chapter 6
  
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  Chapter 7
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 7
  Chapter 7
  Mysteries of the Diverse
  Mysteries of the Diverse
  Mysteries of the Diverse
  Mysteries of the Diverse
  Mysteries of the Diverse
  States of New England
  States of New England
  States of New England
  States of New England
  States of New England
  TTTTT
  he phenomena listed in this section are generally organized
  first by locale followed by descriptions of the incidents
  themselves. If they are limited to one state their entries will
  be given at the beginning of its information. Some events are not
  particularly local in nature and immediately hereafter is a series of
  phenomena that affected much or all of New England and thus
  cannot be relegated to one state or another, the so-called Dark Days
  of the region’s past.
  Dark Days
  Dark Days
  Dark Days
  Dark Days
  Dark Days
  The first Dark Day was recorded by Cotton Mather as taking place
  on October 21, 1716. It was noon on a Sunday and so many people
  all over the colonies were gathered in places of worship. Mather
  reports that it became so dark in places that church members could
  not recognize others seated across the aisles from them. A half hour
  later it grew light enough to continue with the service.
  Another Dark Day was recorded on May 19, 1780. For many
  hours during what would normally be the brightest portion of the
  day it was so dark that the sun was virtually obscured and animals
  acted as though night had fallen.
  YYYYYellow Day
  ellow Day
  ellow Day
  ellow Day
  ellow Day
  A “Yellow Day” took place on September 6, 1881. In other ways
  much the same as the Dark Days of previous years, on this day
  everything was -limned in an oddly-hued gloom that gave everything
  a brassy appearance. Those contemporary with the event who wrote
  of it attributed this and the Dark Days to smoke from forest fires
  many miles away from the sites of the occurrence.
  But certainly the apparition of the Yellow Day was odd
  regardless of the explanation given — which was not met with wide
  acceptance among those who experienced the darkness. The effects
  of the event were noticed in regions as widespread as White River
  Junction, Vermont, down into Connecticut, west to Albany, New
  York, and some distance into Maine.
  Early on the morning of the Yellow Day, the sun and sky
  appeared red. Near noon, with no clouds approaching, as were often
  
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  reported in regard to other Dark
  Days in the past, a strange
  sourceless yellow glow suffused
  the landscape. Things rapidly grew
  dark, although tinged with copper,
  such that lamps had to be lit to
  allow for work to continue.
  Schools were let out for the lack
  of light or candles.
  Many people believed that a
  great hurricane or tornado was on
  its way, but nothing of the sort
  manifested itself in any of the
  affected areas. Others came to
  believe that the Earth was in the tail of a comet and that the yellow
  dark was a result of this.
  Strange Lights W
  Strange Lights W
  Strange Lights W
  Strange Lights W
  Strange Lights Witnessed by Thousands
  itnessed by Thousands
  itnessed by Thousands
  itnessed by Thousands
  itnessed by Thousands
  The following phenomena cannot be limited to one or even a few
  locations. On the first night, reports came in from dozens of people
  all over New England (a storyteller could thus use this as a hook
  that begins anywhere in New England and be assured that there
  was a witness in whatever vicinity he chose).
  On September 8, 1909, a bright light hovering and sometimes
  moving erratically across the night sky was observed by many people
  all over the northeastern United States. It caused considerable
  consternation but, as it did not occur during the eagerly-awaited
  evenings thereafter, the fervor caused by the initial sightings passed.
  Then, on December 20 of that year, another light was seen passing
  over Boston Harbor. This sighting did not prove to be isolated. On
  the 23rd, the New-York Tribune reported that an airship passed
  overhead: “... sweeping the heavens with a searchlight of
  tremendous power.” It came from the southeast and passed overhead
  toward the northwest, hovering over the town in the meantime.
  Then, in a burst of speed, it disappeared, only to return two hours
  later, again hovering for some time. Thousands are said to have
  witnessed the event.
  At 6 o’clock the next night, Boston was treated to the same
  show. Many witnesses nervously queried the authorities and
  newspapers, who appeared to be as mystified as anyone. A powerful
  searchlight hovered over the town for approximately a quarter of
  
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  an hour, indiscriminately illuminating its surroundings. Some
  observers reported being able to see a shadowed object behind the
  light itself. Others in Boston noticed a cluster of small, dimly-visible
  red lights in a halo around the searchlight. By 7:30, a similar light
  was seen at Willimantic, Connecticut. Lynn, Massachusetts was
  also visited by the mystery light, which crossed the evening sky at
  high speed heading north. It later came out that Marlboro,
  Massachusetts, was visited no less than nine times between the
  14th and the 24th of that same December.
  Then, after the Christmas eve sightings, no more was heard of
  the hovering light until the new year. But the scene of these new
  reports was hundreds of miles to the southeast, in Tennessee,
  Alabama, and West Virginia. After a similar although less extensive
  series of sightings there, the light vanished for good and has never
  been explained. In 1913, numerous reports of identical phenomena
  came out of Dover, England, and Cardiff, Wales. The locals had no
  more idea of the cause of the disturbances than had the witnesses
  across the Atlantic.
  
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  Une
  Une
  Une
  Une
  Unexplained Occurrences & Strange Locales by State
  xplained Occurrences & Strange Locales by State
  xplained Occurrences & Strange Locales by State
  xplained Occurrences & Strange Locales by State
  xplained Occurrences & Strange Locales by State
  Connecticut
  Connecticut
  Connecticut
  Connecticut
  Connecticut
  Danbury:
  Danbury:
  Danbury:
  Danbury:
  Danbury: A rectangular stone chamber with its long axis aligned
  east-west. A fallen lintel slab is engraved with a circle halved, one
  area gouged hollow, the other left raised, almost a primitive yin-
  yang symbol. The opening of this chamber, and thus its carved lintel
  as well, is known to face directly into a notch in the horizon through
  which the sun first appears as it rises on the spring and fall
  equinoxes.
  Gungywamp, near Groton:
  Gungywamp, near Groton:
  Gungywamp, near Groton:
  Gungywamp, near Groton:
  Gungywamp, near Groton: A neolithic stone chamber that
  appears very natural from the outside but expands to a low-roofed
  rectangle within. Outside is a small ring of stones, easily overlooked
  in the underbrush.
  East Haddam:
  East Haddam:
  East Haddam:
  East Haddam:
  East Haddam: Moodus Noises; the Native American word is
  Makimoodus, “place of noises.” From the earliest times, East
  Haddam has been plagued by phantom subterranean noises. On
  August 13, 1729, extremely localized “earthquakes” were reported
  by the Reverend Mr. Hosmer in a letter to a friend. Periodically, the
  tremors were noted as far off as Hartford, or even Boston and New
  York, and reported variously as sounding like small arms fire,
  explosions, or thunder. According to one source from 1915, the
  noises are traceable to a cave one-and-a-half miles from Haddam
  on Cave Hill. On the side of that high hill is a cave which burrows
  into the earth for more than 660 feet. The air was said to get
  progressively worse as one neared the innermost extent of the cave,
  until any firelight would fail utterly.
  Hog Rock, west of Milford: 
  Hog Rock, west of Milford: 
  Hog Rock, west of Milford: 
  Hog Rock, west of Milford: 
  Hog Rock, west of Milford: Satan appeared in the guise of a
  mad and malevolent hog to scatter a quartet of young men who
  were occupied in gambling.
  Millington:
  Millington:
  Millington:
  Millington:
  Millington: About a mile outside of Millington lies Chapman
  Falls, and a strange glen called the “Devil’s Hopyard.” Certain flat-
  topped rocks there are said to have served as cauldrons for sorcery.
  On Witching Nights the Crones and their Spectres would
  gather to work their foul Arts. They stirred potions of
  nameless matter to call the hideous fallen one, Nyalath-
  Hotep, his Satanic Majesty. There They capered in the
  Lightning and rain to Lucifer’s fiddle. If He appeared, His
  customary seat was on the Cthonic Throne at the very edge
  
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  of the Precipice that drops to the maddened sea below. A
  Dismal glow emanated form his aweful form to give grim
  Illumination to the Scene. In this Seat, He held his mocking
  Court of Malworship, allowing those who would Serve Him
  to sign in his Black Book, offering their Immortal Souls for
  his passing favor.
  (Cotton Mather, Black Book)
  South Coventry:
  South Coventry:
  South Coventry:
  South Coventry:
  South Coventry: The homestead of Revolutionary War hero
  Nathan Hale is said to be haunted by at least one and possibly the
  ghosts of several of his family members.
  Nathan Hale was a young man and a promising teacher just
  before the war began. He came to believe fervently in the ideals of
  the Revolution and became a lieutenant in the Connecticut assembly
  just in time to participate in forcing the British troops out of Boston
  in 1775. Hale proved to be a daring and resourceful soldier and, as
  such, was rapidly promoted to captain in the elite Rangers and
  increasingly given more responsibility. In 1776, Hale volunteered
  for a dangerous mission spying on British troop movements for
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  General George Washington. While returning from his mission, he
  was captured by the British, tried as a spy, and hanged.
  At the time of the hero’s death, the Hale house was home to
  Nathan’s father, Deacon Richard Hale, and his 11 living children,
  as well as his new wife, the widow of Samuel Adams, and several
  of her unmarried daughters.
  The haunting of Hale House has been documented as early as
  1914. Antiquarian George Dudley Seymour idolized Nathan Hale
  and bought the dilapidated structure, intending to repair it as a
  tribute to the hero. His first impression of the house also involves
  his first encounter with its spectral residents:
  “Isolated, dilapidated, unpainted, and vacant, the house
  presented a forlorn picture. Heightened on the inside by
  streamers of paper falling from dampened walls ...
  [Seymour’s friend] jumped out of the buggy and ran to the
  window, and what should he see but Deacon Hale’s ghost
  looking out of the [schoolroom] window to see who had
  arrived. As my friend put his face against the pane, the
  Deacon stepped back to the inner end of the room and
  vanished into thin air.”
  (Michael Norman and Beth Scott, Haunted America)
  Seymour was later told that there were other ghosts resident at the
  Hale House. The spirit of a chamber maid, Lydia Carpenter, is said
  to haunt the home eavesdropping on gossip and sweeping the hall,
  as she did in life. Another, sighting, which may be Lydia once more,
  is a woman in white who bustles about the kitchen in the early
  morning hours. The ghosts of Nathan’s brother, John, and his wife,
  Sarah, may also yet inhabit the structure.
  Maine
  Maine
  Maine
  Maine
  Maine
  Alfred:
  Alfred:
  Alfred:
  Alfred:
  Alfred: On a pleasant October day in 1827, Reverend Charles
  Sharply rode into town and held a service in the local meeting
  house. He was collecting funds to build a church in the nearby
  village of Waterboro, the next stop in his travels and Alfred’s citizens
  added 30 dollars to the 270 the good reverend had already collected.
  Sharply rode on that evening for Waterboro but never arrived or
  was seen again.
  Townsfolk held different thoughts on the fate of the churchman.
  
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  The next day, the deacon of Alfred, Nathaniel Dickerman, rode into
  town upon a horse which some believed to be that of the missing
  man. But others pointed out that Sharply’s horse had a white star
  on forehead and breast, whereas this creature was an unrelieved
  black. The deacon explained that he had found the horse that very
  morning in his pasture and that he would gladly return it to any
  who could but prove ownership. No one came forward and the
  matter soon ceased to be of concern to the people of the town. The
  deacon, as time went by, prospered and soon became a wealthy
  man by local standards. As his riches grew, however, so did his
  temper, and he became surly and sullen, rarely venturing out of his
  house.
  One day, a rumor flew thought the community that someone
  had seen a misty apparition near a tree at the turn of the road leading
  out of town. Some said that this phantasm had the semblance of
  the missing reverend. When Deacon Dickerman heard this story he
  grew instantly pale, muttering about fools who listened to such
  chatter.
  Ten years passed and the “tree at the turn of the road” was
  shunned by many in Alfred. Then, one afternoon, a clergyman was
  summoned to Dickerman’s home. He found the deacon alone and
  frantic, his manner and clothing disheveled, and was asked by him
  to hear a statement he had prepared.
  “My time in this world is almost ended, nor would I live longer
  if I could,” he said. “I am haunted day and night and there is no
  peace, no rest for me on this earth. They say that Sharply’s spirit
  has appeared at the owl tree. Well, his body lies there. They accused
  me of taking his horse. It is true. A little black dye on his head and
  breast was all I needed to deceive them. Pray for me, for I fear my
  soul is lost. I killed Sharply. I killed him for the money that he had
  and the devil prospered me with it. In my will I leave 2,000 dollars
  to his widow and 5,000 dollars to the church he was collecting for.
  Will there be mercy for me there? I dare not think it. Go and pray
  for me.”
  The clergyman was barely away from the house when he heard
  the crack of a pistol from within. Dickerman was dead. Reverend
  Sharply’s bones were later found at the foot of the tree at the turn of
  the road heading out of town.
  Boon Island:
  Boon Island:
  Boon Island:
  Boon Island:
  Boon Island: The ghost of Juan Carlos, first mate to the pirate
  Thomas Tew. In the last quarter of the 17th century, the ship of
  pirate Thomas Tew, the Capitanas Cartaraqui, was driven ashore
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  and broken up on Boon Island. Only three of the ship’s compliment
  survived the wreck, Tew, Juan Carlos, and a beautiful Moorish girl
  who was taken prisoner on the last ship the pirate captured.
  Marooned on the island with no food, little water, and a single
  treasure chest rescued from the sea, they were desperate.
  Late in the night, Juan Carlos awoke to the sound of a shot and
  hysterical female laughter. Tew was dead, shot by the now-deranged
  woman. The next night, as another shot rang out, she ended her
  own miserable life. Juan buried the bodies and treasure as best he
  could and was rescued shortly thereafter.
  Juan spent several years searching for the treasure chest without
  success. His ghost has been seen in Room 24 of the Colonial Inn at
  Concord, Maine, in a wing located in an old portion of the Inn built
  in 1716. Why the ship’s mate is associated with this room, however,
  is unknown.
  Bucksport:
  Bucksport:
  Bucksport:
  Bucksport:
  Bucksport: The monument erected to Jonathan Buck, a judge
  and founder of the town of Bucksport, is marked by the imprint of
  a human leg upon its surface. There are several legends surrounding
  Buck, but they all agree that the the imprint appeared miraculously
  shortly after the monument was finished in 1856. Buck, who died
  in 1795, was a respected man and believed to be stern but fair.
  Various stories involve Buck, however, in the trial of some individual
  whom he wrongly had convicted and executed.
  According to one, a woman of the town went missing and later
  her dismembered body was found, missing a leg. Buck, spurred on
  by the outrage of the community at this horrid crime, found guilty
  a half-mad hermit who lived outside of Bucksport. The man
  predicted that the appearance of the leg of the woman would
  proclaim him innocent.
  Other more recent versions of the story are less true to the details
  
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  known of the case but even more shocking and involve the stern
  judge in the trial of a witch, who cursed him as she burned at the
  stake. In a further embellishment, a son of the witch issued the
  curse after watching his mother’s grisly execution. Overcome with
  grief and rage, the boy struck Buck with his mother’s charred leg to
  account for the impression on the monument.
  Crow Island, near Deer Island in Penobscot Bay:
  Crow Island, near Deer Island in Penobscot Bay:
  Crow Island, near Deer Island in Penobscot Bay:
  Crow Island, near Deer Island in Penobscot Bay:
  Crow Island, near Deer Island in Penobscot Bay: A bare stone
  about 12 feet across sticks out of a hillside of scree and loose rock.
  On it are very regular lines and dots, certainly manmade, that appear
  to be an inscription of some sort.
  John’
  John’
  John’
  John’
  John’s Island:
  s Island:
  s Island:
  s Island:
  s Island: A treasure of the pirate era is said to be buried
  nearby with a demonic horse as its guardian.
  Jonesboro:
  Jonesboro:
  Jonesboro:
  Jonesboro:
  Jonesboro: Nell Hilton’s ghost is said to haunt the area and to
  prophesy wars to come by appearing immediately before their start.
  Born before the American Revolution, Nell was a wild and free-
  spirited girl who resented the restrictive lifestyle of the Puritan
  folk around her in her original home of Plymouth. Her family later
  moved to Jonesboro, where Nell found the freedom she craved in
  the surrounding forests. She made friends among the
  Passamaqouddy Indians and eventually took a lover from among
  them. On the occasion of one tryst, her father happened upon her
  and killed and scalped the young man before her eyes. He then
  drove her from his sight and Nell went to live among the
  Passamaquoddy.
  Nell’s talent for foretelling war was seen even in her lifetime.
  After the Acadians were forced out of Nova Scotia by the British in
  1755, Nell predicted that war would follow, as it did. She also
  counseled the Passamaquoddy to remain loyal to the French, and
  they did.
  Twenty years later, Nell reappeared in Jonesboro to warn the
  inhabitants of the coming Revolution. She foresaw the details of
  the Battle of Lexington and the eventual surrender of Yorktown.
  But she did not foresee her own fate and she was captured by the
  British and hanged as a spy in New Brunswick on March 1, 1777.
  As she awaited her death, Nell made a vow to return to her
  “prophecy rock” on the anniversary of her death whenever war
  threatened America. It is told that her spirit warned of the coming
  of the War of 1812, of the Mexican-American War of 1846, and of
  the Civil War of 1861-65. Nell also warned of the Spanish-American
  War of 1898, and came again before World War I. Whether she
  appeared to presage World War II is not recorded.
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  Kennebunkport:
  Kennebunkport:
  Kennebunkport:
  Kennebunkport:
  Kennebunkport: The Captain Lord Mansion Inn has been subject
  to the visitations of a pale lady clad in flowing white garments.
  Matawasakie:
  Matawasakie:
  Matawasakie:
  Matawasakie:
  Matawasakie: In 1919, a stately-looking mansion was built in
  a misty valley nearby by one Emeric Belasco. Shunned by the locals,
  the house acquired an evil reputation in short order and soon came
  to be known as “Hell House.” It was vacated and its windows and
  doors boarded up sometime prior to 1928 but it nonethless remained
  the subject of ill rumor. Investigated in 1940, the house succeeded
  in causing the deaths of three of the five who went in, one by her
  own hand. The other two were declared mad upon being retrieved
  from the manse three harrowing days after they went inside.
  Monhegan Island:
  Monhegan Island:
  Monhegan Island:
  Monhegan Island:
  Monhegan Island: 15 miles from Port Clyde, the island boasts
  several inscriptions on a rock that was discovered in 1808. At
  Manana, a jagged outcrop of Monhegan approaches two more
  weather-washed islands to form an enclosed harbor. Over a spring
  is an inscription, several inches in height by two feet in length and
  surmounted by three shallow indentations about the size of a child’s
  fist and set in a triangle one foot on a side. More runes have been
  found 22 miles west of Monhegan Island in what is now Popham
  Beach State Park.
  Searsmont:
  Searsmont:
  Searsmont:
  Searsmont:
  Searsmont: A massive stone with a carved face and head,
  occluded by low-hanging oak branches, was discovered during the
  excavation of a building site.
  South W
  South W
  South W
  South W
  South Windham:
  indham:
  indham:
  indham:
  indham: Seven miles northwest of Portland, a bizarre
  staircase, utterly without apparent purpose, beginning and ending
  in unfeatured rock, has been carved into the cliffside.
  A grand house on Windham Center Road in South Windham
  has an outbuilding with a tower rising from one comer that at one
  time contained a bell that was rung to warn of Indian raids. While
  it no longer contains a bell, the home’s residents are nonetheless
  sometimes wakened by phantasmal clanging coming from it. And
  on the second floor of the home, near the tower, footsteps have
  been heard on the creaking floorboards.
  Old Y
  Old Y
  Old Y
  Old Y
  Old York: 
  ork: 
  ork: 
  ork: 
  ork: Near the mouth of the York River is located the haunt
  of Old Trickey, the Devil-Doomed Sandman.
  Middlemass Bay:
  Middlemass Bay:
  Middlemass Bay:
  Middlemass Bay:
  Middlemass Bay: Harriet Beacher Stowe recorded the following
  legend in The Pearl of Orr’s Island (1862).
  During one of the worst storms of the century, Lois Toothacre
  sat in her seaside home with several companions as the weather
  raged without. At the height of the tempest, she remarked nervously
  to her companions that she thought she heard a baby crying piteously
  
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  out in the gale. She was convinced by the others, who heard nothing,
  that the sound was merely the wind.
  After the storm cleared, however, to her horror, an empty cradle
  was found in the wrack on the shore. Even after an exhaustive effort
  the searchers found no baby. But the cradle was a fine article and
  Lois put it to use. Ever after, however, when a gale blew beyond the
  walls of the house, the cradle would rock as if pushed evenly and
  carefully, as though someone sat by it and pushed it. This caused
  some consternation and shock in the household but, as nothing
  else untoward occurred, the occupants of the house soon became
  used to the phenomenon. So matters stood until Lois’s sister,
  Cerenthy, came to visit.
  Cerenthy had always been a sickly girl and it was said that she
  was born “with the Veil over her face,” which is to say that she
  could see spirits and such. On one visit, just after the birth of Lois’s
  second child, a gale happened upon the coast. Cerenthy was alone
  in the child’s room when she came out and asked, “Sister, who’s
  that woman sitting rocking the cradle?” Lois replied that no one
  was in the room besides Cerenthy and the baby and explained how
  it was the cradle’s habit to rock so in foul weather.
  “Well, as true as you’re alive, I just saw a woman in a white
  silk gown with long black hair hanging over a face pale as a sheet
  sitting and rocking that cradle,” Cerenthy said. “She looked round
  at me with her great black eyes all mournful and wishful. Then she
  stooped down over the cradle.”
  This was too much for Lois, who went immediately into the
  cradle room and took the baby out of it. The next day she had the
  cradle split up for kindling. That night, when the cradle wood was
  placed on the fire, all those in the house plainly heard a baby’s
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  screams echo throughout the house.
  Old Y
  Old Y
  Old Y
  Old Y
  Old York Cemetery
  ork Cemetery
  ork Cemetery
  ork Cemetery
  ork Cemetery, Y
  , Y
  , Y
  , Y
  , York:
  ork:
  ork:
  ork:
  ork: Far in the back of this burial ground
  may be found the unusual resting place of Mrs. Mary Masson (d.
  1774, age 29). A great boulder covers the whole length of her grave
  and legend tells that Mary had been executed for witchcraft and
  that the slab was placed to prevent her from escaping her place of
  rest.
  New Hampshire
  New Hampshire
  New Hampshire
  New Hampshire
  New Hampshire
  Alton:
  Alton:
  Alton:
  Alton:
  Alton: The town hall, one of the oldest buildings in Alton, has
  been subject to bizarre events and eerie noises for nearly a century.
  For many years the town’s police station was located in the basement
  of the building. The graveyard shift, particularly between midnight
  and 3 a.m., was regularly enlivened by the sounds of footsteps in
  the empty town hall above, doors opening and closing without
  apparent cause, and police dogs given to unexplained barking and
  howling fits. On at least one occasion, the dogs were allowed to
  pursue whatever had disturbed them and they raced toward the
  stairs to the second floor but, upon reaching the second step, they
  stopped and would proceed no further.
  There are two entities suspected of the haunting. One is the
  spirit of a former city elder who died in the building’s bell tower.
  The other may be the ghost of Sarah Glidden, a woman who was
  struck by lightning from a clear sky in 1825 and whose body is said
  to rest in the town cemetery under a large granite tombstone.
  Chester:
  Chester:
  Chester:
  Chester:
  Chester: A cavern known throughout the region and bearing
  the name Devil’s Den may be reached by a twisting path that is
  mysteriously open and unobstructed winter and summer. Invisible
  evil spirits are reputed to inhabit the cave and walkway, tormenting
  those who come near. A poem by J.G. Whittler reveals a further
  detail:
  “Tis said this cave is an evil place, Chosen haunt of a fallen
  race ...”
  Unexplained deaths in the area are often attributed to some
  agency at the Devil’s Cave.
  East Aisted:
  East Aisted:
  East Aisted:
  East Aisted:
  East Aisted: In 1770, Jacob Cady went missing for three days
  when he was three years old. He was eventually found, vigorous
  and healthy, in a cave, suckled and watched over by a great black
  hound.
  Legend of Ocean-Born Mary:
  Legend of Ocean-Born Mary:
  Legend of Ocean-Born Mary:
  Legend of Ocean-Born Mary:
  Legend of Ocean-Born Mary: A coast guard named Don Pedro
  was on his rounds one night when he saw the figure of a girl looming
  
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  out of the fog and, so far from town, was surprised at this. The next
  night, he was on patrol on the same lonely strand when he saw her
  again. She was so beautiful that he fell immediately in love with
  her and begged that she meet him again. Smiling knowingly, she
  agreed that she would see him again, and then vanished in the fog.
  A short time later, a Portuguese vessel was wrecked near this
  beach and Don Pedro was in the surf boat rowing out to the craft to
  aid any stranded on deck. There, a child in her arms, was the girl
  whom he had met in the fog, waving to him frantically! As the surf
  boat came alongside, at the height of the wave, she threw the child
  to him and then jumped. The coast guard caught the infant, but the
  woman missed the boat and was swept away by the churning sea,
  never to be seen again.
  Don Pedro raised the girl as his own, giving her the name Mary
  Wallace for some reason lost to the past. Eventually he helped her
  build a house, in Hennicker, New Hampshire. He later stayed with
  her in his old age and was killed there by a disgruntled former
  shipmate and alleged to be buried under the fireplace. The house is
  said to be haunted by Mary, Don Pedro, and a serving girl who met
  a bad end. Many have seen the tall, stately figure of Mary, who
  appears as a lovely, smiling woman in her thirties with auburn
  hair, looking from the upstairs windows. Mary lies buried in the
  Center Cemetery of Hennicker beneath a weathered headstone, the
  inscription of which reads “In Memory of Widow Mary Wallace
  Who Died Feb. 15 A.D. 1814 in the 94th Year of Her Age.” Below
  this on the stone is inscribed “Ocean-Born Mary.”
  A woman wearing Colonial-era clothing has also been seen
  walking the roads in the area. Some visitors brave enough to
  approach the home when it was abandoned in the early years of the
  20th century also swore they had seen a spectral coach drawn by
  four horses clatter into the drive. The region just behind the house
  has long been subject to strange and haunting moans and cries that
  have terrified some of the local inhabitants and a rumor has long
  circulated of a treasure secreted somewhere on the grounds.
  Lake Kenosha: 
  Lake Kenosha: 
  Lake Kenosha: 
  Lake Kenosha: 
  Lake Kenosha: A lake monster was reported here on November
  11, 1891 (see Gougou, p. 87).
  Portsmouth:
  Portsmouth:
  Portsmouth:
  Portsmouth:
  Portsmouth: In 1873, Celia Thaxter described an event that had
  happened 16 to 18 years earlier. A whale-boat full of men out of
  Portsmouth was headed for the shoals off Star Island with a native
  of the Isles of Shoals, Richard Randell, managing it.
  “They had sailed about half the distance when they were
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  surprised at seeing a large ball of fire, like a rising moon, rolling
  towards them over the sea from the south. They watched eagerly as
  it bore down upon them and, veering off, went east of them at some
  little distance and then passed astern, and there, of course, they
  expected to lose sight of it. But, while they were marveling and
  speculating, it altered its course, and suddenly began to near them,
  coming back upon its track, against the wind and steadily following
  in their wake. This was too much for the native shoals islander. He
  took off his jacket and turned it inside out to exorcise the fiend,
  and lo, the apparition disappeared.”
  (B.A. Botkin, A Treasury of New England Folklore)
  Stone Devil of P
  Stone Devil of P
  Stone Devil of P
  Stone Devil of P
  Stone Devil of Portsmouth
  ortsmouth
  ortsmouth
  ortsmouth
  ortsmouth
  Following is a brief synopsis of Lithobolia, literally the
  “stone devil,” an actual document of the 17th century. The
  author is unknown and extant copies of the manuscript,
  which is only a few pages in length, are few and is now
  extremely rare. It was printed in 1698 in London and
  purports to record the narrative of an eyewitness to the
  fantastic events.
  The subject of the work is the harrowing experience of
  the household of George Walton of Portsmouth, who
  incurred the wrath of a local crone. He was thereafter
  troubled by showers of stone upon his person and those of
  his family and his property. The first instance was a storm
  of rocks upon his house so violent that he awoke to see the
  iron gate of his fence fly off its hinges and land a good
  distance away. A second volley injured several family
  members who came to investigate the noise. They were
  driven indoors, but stones came crashing down the chimney
  and through windows to strike at the bedeviled family,
  rebounding from walls and floor with great force. Several
  of the rocks were found to be hot as is from a fire. One maid
  even swore that she saw a spectral hand through a window
  even though the room beyond was known to be unoccupied.
  These attacks went on for several days, periodically and
  without warning, but always near George Walton himself.
  
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  Mystery Hill, North Salem:
  Mystery Hill, North Salem:
  Mystery Hill, North Salem:
  Mystery Hill, North Salem:
  Mystery Hill, North Salem: A pre-Columbian settlement
  consisting of several stone chambers, walls, drains, a dolmen and a
  great stone slab is located here. Long reputed to be an ancient burial
  site or even a Neolithic habitation, it also figures in the legends of
  the region as a place of odd occurrences and strange feelings. At a
  weight of 90 tons and dimensions of approximately eight by 12 by
  20 feet, this dolmen is the largest known in North America.
  A circle of stones can also be found at this location. The forest
  has encroached upon the circle now but in the Neolithic period the
  entire area within the circle probably would have been cleared of
  trees. There are five primary standing stones, one of which has
  fallen over. One stone stands due north of the circle’s center, while
  others mark the points at which the sun rises and sets on the summer
  and winter solstices.
  All the structures are of unmortared stone and similar in style
  to several sites in the Channel Islands as well as ruins at Upton,
  Massachusetts, and Elephant Hill Valley, Vermont. Barry Fell
  believes that all of these structures were raised by Celtic explorers
  of the first millennium B.C. (see “Empire of Woden-Lithi,” pp. 48-
  51).
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  Rhode Island
  Rhode Island
  Rhode Island
  Rhode Island
  Rhode Island
  Providence:
  Providence:
  Providence:
  Providence:
  Providence: H.P. Lovecraft’s (1890-1937) grave is here at Swan
  Point Cemetery, but is difficult to find because the name inscribed
  on the monument is Phillips, the maiden name of the author’s mother.
  Block Island:
  Block Island:
  Block Island:
  Block Island:
  Block Island: Block Island has long been thought of as a haven
  for vicious gangs of “wreckers,” opportunistic looters who would
  fall upon the hapless ships and crews that their false lights had
  caused to run aground in foul weather. Many tales are told of the
  unnameable fates meted out to generations of seafarers along the
  rocky shores of that ill-featured island. One infamous wrecker, Old
  Chrissy, was particularly vicious and is credited in legend with
  clubbing to death her own son, a sailor on a foundered ship, rather
  than give away the secret of her dread profession.
  The lighting of decoy lights was often called “mooncursing,”
  after the practice of using the lights on moonless nights.
  Another tale of Block Island concerns Matthew Lee, who decided
  to turn pirate while languishing in a Spanish port with neither cargo
  nor capital. As he was making ready to sail, a rich widow approached
  him seeking passage to America.
  Soon the widow, along with her wealth, retainers, and family,
  were brought aboard. But the lady also insisted upon a bringing a
  special passenger, a beautiful and spirited white Arabian horse that
  was her favorite. Lee, by then greedy for the plunder to come, had
  a stall constructed below decks and the ship put out to sea with all
  due haste.
  The voyage across the Atlantic went without incident and before
  long the ship reached the stretch of water between Point Judith and
  Block Island. Captain Lee arranged with his crew to murder all the
  passengers as they slept. The cutthroats made quick work of the
  retainers. Soon only the lady was left and, as the murderers stalked
  toward her cabin, she burst forth and threw herself into the waves,
  sinking immediately from sight. All that remained before the sharing
  of the bloody loot was to dispose of the white horse and the killers
  drove it over the side of the vessel and into the sea.
  But the pirates’ tempers flared over the division of the cargo.
  Lee spitted the heart of one mutineer but the others set fire to the
  ship and the pirates, regardless of their side in the mutiny, were
  forced to pile with their booty into the lifeboats and head for shore.
  The captain and crew then settled among the local population,
  secure with their ill-gotten wealth.
  Upon the anniversary of the horrible crime, the butchers
  
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  assembled to pass the night in a drunken debauch. A sudden flare
  of light lit the sea nearby and the festivities abruptly ceased as a
  great burning ship floated over the surface, lines and hull and sails
  aflame. From the waves before the ship a horse’s white head rose,
  eyes burning brightly. The horse gained the sand and galloped over
  the strand to stamp on the door of Lee’s home, kelp on its heaving
  flanks, salt spray foaming from its muzzle, red eyes fixed on the
  pirate master.
  Lee’s movements were jerky, as if he did not control his own
  actions, as he climbed astride the apparition. His own eyes wide,
  he could do nothing as the beast carried him toward and then over
  the cliff that overlooked the site of the previous year’s massacre.
  The ship lay in wait below and also, beneath the water’s surface,
  Lee could glimpse the assembled dead, lying in wait upon the sea’s
  floor. Then the great white beast vanished and Lee was left to stare
  out over the ocean.
  All the islanders quickly heard the tale of the pirates’ crimes
  and Lee and the others were shunned by one and all. Lee himself,
  mad with grief, fear, and guilt, wandered the island aimlessly.
  Eventually, the harbinger horse reappeared, followed by the blazing
  wreck and the restless dead, to take Lee into their company. The
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  captain mounted the horse and descended into the flames. It is
  said that he and his ghastly steed yet wander the wave and shores
  of the region.
  Exeter:
  Exeter:
  Exeter:
  Exeter:
  Exeter: In January, 1892, a young woman named Mercy Brown
  died of a wasting disease, probably consumption (i.e., tuberculosis),
  following her mother and elder sister to the grave by the same cause.
  Soon after Mercy’s funeral at the Baptist Curch in Exeter, her brother
  became ill with the same symptoms. Rumors began to circulate
  that Mercy Brown was not dead but rather undead, and risen to
  feed from the living. In desperation, the head of the family, George
  Brown, along with the sheriff, local doctor, and undertaker, decided
  to have the deceased Brown women exhumed. While the bodies of
  her mother and older sister were quite decomposed, Mercy’s corpse
  showed no signs of the corruption that should have been present
  after several months in the ground. Her heart was removed and
  found to still be full of blood. The heart was burned and the ashed
  mixed into a draught given to Mercy’s sick brother. He nonetheless
  died two months later. (H.P. Lovecraft refers to these events in “The
  Shunned House.”)
  Narragansett:
  Narragansett:
  Narragansett:
  Narragansett:
  Narragansett: “The Lady in Black” haunts the house she
  occupied in the 19th century. Dona Mercedes Wedderburn, from
  Barbados, was the beautiful wife of wealthy sea captain Japhet
  Wedderburn. The Captain brought his retiring wife to the Island
  and built a great home for her that she almost never left. Wedderburn
  was away for many months and sometimes even years at a time,
  and the lady of the house was reported to have often wept from
  loneliness. Finally, the Wedderburns journeyed back to Barbados
  to visit Dona Mercedes’s family. When the captain returned to New
  England the following year the lady was not with him and had
  stayed behind to prolong her visit. Wedderburn set sail once more
  to return to her but died at the helm of a heart attack during the
  voyage. The lady’s fate is unknown but her ghost still haunts the
  lonely home her husband had built for her.
  Newport T
  Newport T
  Newport T
  Newport T
  Newport Tower (Newport, Rhode Island):
  ower (Newport, Rhode Island):
  ower (Newport, Rhode Island):
  ower (Newport, Rhode Island):
  ower (Newport, Rhode Island): A ruined stone tower
  stands in downtown Newport. Originally said to have three levels,
  the top story is now partially collapsed. The base is made up of
  eight large pillars, which support the entire decrepit structure. The
  interior is uncluttered but cold, dark, and dank even in daylight.
  There is an ancient feeling to the place that is normally found only
  in megalithic burial sites or certain Old World cities. Local legend
  has it that the tower was built by the governor of the New England
  
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  colony, Benedict Arnold in 1675
  (not the notorious Benedict Arnold
  of Revolutionary War fame), but it
  may actually date back beyond the
  earliest 
  known 
  European
  habitation in the area. It appears
  on a 1569 Mercatur projection map
  in the middle of what the map
  refers to as the region of
  Norombega, but Rhode Island was
  not settled by the English until
  1636.
  “Should you journey to a
  certain spot on Narragansett
  Bay you will find a most Dire
  Citadel commands the Sea thereabouts. Unmortared
  Cyclopean blocks of stone defy Heaven with their arcane
  grace. The engineers of this Primordial Babel had no place
  in God’s Paradise, or even in the mortal world. As I have
  repeated elsewhere from the Holy Scripture: “Cast the
  unprofitable servant into Outer Darkness.” It hath been
  imagined by some that the ‘Regiones exterae’ of America
  are the ‘Tenebrae exteriores’ which the unprofitable are there
  condemned into. In this respect they are correct. Eerily
  jointed fingers, scaled and taloned, raised up the great dark
  stones of that Keep. Equally Inhuman feet trod the flags
  and the wooden steps of the sole staircase within. No longer
  is there the hissing traffic with the Outer Powers. Faith,
  Courage, and Iron have triumphed over the Ancient
  Machinations of the Serpent. I beseech that God may grant
  His Serenity to those of our Order who fell upon those too-
  cold flagstones.”
  (Cotton Mather, Black Book)
  Note: This passage may refer to the tower in Newport but
  does not match that structure in its particulars. I pray that,
  wherever it is, this “Dire Citadel” is quiescent.
  — Michael A. Schumman
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  Palatine
  Palatine
  Palatine
  Palatine
  Palatine Light:
   Light:
   Light:
   Light:
   Light: In the early 1750s, the Palatine sailed out of
  Germany, laden with well-to-do immigrants bound for Philadelphia.
  Some misadventure befell the captain and he died on the Atlantic
  crossing. The remaining officers and crew starved and plundered
  the passengers and finally set out in the ship’s boats as they neared
  land, leaving the immigrants to the sea’s mercy. The ship eventually
  drifted ashore and caught fire as it wrecked, leaving no known
  survivors. Some tales credit the Block Islanders with decoying the
  ship ashore to plunder it, and it is said that the Palatine now rises
  from the waters of Block Island Sound to presage storms.
  A Mr. Congdon, 90 years old at the time of his record, recounted
  the tale one who might have been survivor or, more likely, a bloody
  crewman of the doomed Palatine. Written in 1879, the memoir
  relates a remembrance of when Congdon was a boy. According to
  him, the Palatine was:
  “... purposely — as some said — run on shore by her captain
  and crew, for sake of plunder, whilst others said that the
  vessel was decoyed one dark, stormy night by means of
  false lights arranged by the islanders with like intent. I
  remember hearing, when quite young, of an islander by the
  name of ______, who was generally in his right mind except
  at the season of the year when the Palatine ship was wrecked
  and, after being stripped of everything of value, was set on
  fire by the land pirates and burned with all crew and
  passengers on board. At this particular season this old man,
  it was said, always became madly insane, and would rave
  about seeing a ship all ablaze, with men falling from her
  burning rigging and shrouds, and ever and anon shrink in
  horror form the spectre of two women, whose hands he cut
  off or disabled by blows from a cutlass, as they sought to
  cling to the gunwale of the last boat that left the burning
  ship and all aboard to their fate, that not one might remain
  alive to bear witness to the terrible catastrophe and crime.”
  (B.A. Botkin, A Treasury of New England Folklore)
  Dr. Aaron Willey, writing in 1811, said:
  “Its appearance is nothing different from a blaze of fire,
  whether it actually touched the water or merely hovers over
  
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  it is uncertain, for I am informed that no person has been
  near enough to decide accurately. It beams with various
  magnitudes and appears to bear no more analogy to the ‘ignis
  fatuus’ than it does to the aurora borealis. Sometimes it is
  small, resembling the light through a distant window, at
  others expanding to the highness of a ship with all her
  canvass spread. When large, it displays either a pyramidal
  form, or three constant streams. In the latter case, the streams
  are somewhat blended together at the bottom, but separate
  and distinct at the top, while the middle one rises rather
  higher than the other two ...”
  (A. Kull, New England Cemeteries: A Collector’s Guide)
  The Palatine Cemetery on Block Island is marked by a single
  monument. It serves as marker for those who survived the wreck
  and perished in the days of sickness and exhaustion that followed.
  It also acts as a cenotaph for those whose bodies were never
  recovered form the sea.
  Point Judith:
  Point Judith:
  Point Judith:
  Point Judith:
  Point Judith: 29 years after the wreck of the Palatine, the brig
  Dolphin burned in the same stretch of water when an inattentive
  cabin boy dropped his candle near a rum barrel. The flames spread
  so swiftly that a boat was only barely put over the side in time. The
  sailors were compelled by the heat to row to a safe distance from
  the blaze and many passengers, desperate to reach the lifeboat, leapt
  over the side of the ship. One of these was Dorothy Henry. Holding
  her child close, she hailed the sailors and plunged into the waves.
  The crew of the boat rowed frantically to the her aid but neither she
  nor her baby were ever found and her ghost has often been sighted
  in the environs of the Point Judith lighthouse station.
  W
  W
  W
  W
  Wickford:
  ickford:
  ickford:
  ickford:
  ickford: Devil’s Foot Road is so named for a set of cloven
  hoofprints of significant size that may be found stamped into the
  rock at the junction of Devil’s Foot Road and U.S. Route 1. The
  prints are supposedly those of the demon carriage horse of Peter
  Rugg, a hot-tempered merchant of Colonial times who was
  swallowed by a fierce storm when he attempted to ride home with
  his daughter against the wishes of those who knew better. He never
  made the return trip to Boston, but has been seen whipping his
  horses into a frenzy and driving madly before approaching storm
  clouds.
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  Massachusetts
  Massachusetts
  Massachusetts
  Massachusetts
  Massachusetts
  Apple Island:
  Apple Island:
  Apple Island:
  Apple Island:
  Apple Island: in the early years of the 19th century, a beautiful,
  popular girl of the island went missing. Weeks later, her body was
  found on the shore. Her sweetheart suspected a band of robbers
  known to frequent the island and, believing that she had succumbed
  to foul play, was determined to avenge her. He left to join with
  them to find out the truth. Several weeks later, however, his body
  was found hanging from a tree on a headland of the island. Since
  this time, occasional moans and high-pitched cries have been heard
  in the area.
  Berkshire Mountains: 
  Berkshire Mountains: 
  Berkshire Mountains: 
  Berkshire Mountains: 
  Berkshire Mountains: The Hoosac Railroad tunnel runs through
  these mountains and has been surrounded by rumors of hauntings
  and worse since its construction, which began in 1851 and was
  completed in 1875. The tunnel took $15 million and more than 200
  lives to complete, and the dead buried within are said to be restless.
  Many have disappeared in or near the tunnel over the years or been
  found dead under sinister circumstances. In 1865, Ned Brinkman
  and Billy Nash, demolitions experts at work in the cave, were killed
  when their foreman accidentally set off some explosives. The
  foreman disappeared immediately following the blast and his
  strangled body was found precisely one year later in the exact spot
  that he was last seen. In 1872, a ghostly figure, moaning and carrying
  a lantern, caused a panic among some executives of the Boston and
  Maine Railroad.
  Beverly:
  Beverly:
  Beverly:
  Beverly:
  Beverly: In 1977, eight Roman coins of the 4th century A.D.
  were discovered within one square yard of beach with a metal
  detector. All the coins belonged to the reigns of four consecutive
  emperors, Constantius, Valentinian, Valens, and Gratianus, who held
  the throne between 337 and 383. Other Roman coins have turned
  up in Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina.
  Boston:
  Boston:
  Boston:
  Boston:
  Boston: There are many who believe that King’s Chapel
  Graveyard is the burial site of the infamous Captain Kidd, pirate
  and murderer, who was held in Boston jail in 1699.
  A number of dolmens have been found in the region of Boston.
  A Quaker woman, Mary Dyer, is said to have given birth to a
  hideous and malformed monster in Boston in 1637.
  William H. Mumler was a Boston spirit photographer in the
  latter half of the 19th century. Spirit photography was in vogue at
  the time and Mumler was a celebrity for some time, until he was
  exposed as a fraud, although he still maintained a cadre of loyal
  followers. Spirit photography remained a fad for several years. The
  
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  process was a simple double exposure system which allowed a
  developer to suspend disembodied-looking persons in the photograph.
  Off the Graves Ledges in Boston Bay:
  Off the Graves Ledges in Boston Bay:
  Off the Graves Ledges in Boston Bay:
  Off the Graves Ledges in Boston Bay:
  Off the Graves Ledges in Boston Bay: Here a tale is told of an
  unknown schooner in the last century. One night, a red-bearded
  man pulled himself over the side and onto the deck, conversed
  amiably with several of the crew, told a number of stories, joked
  with the captain, then jumped overboard to sink beneath the waves
  once more.
  Cape Ann:
  Cape Ann:
  Cape Ann:
  Cape Ann:
  Cape Ann: Cotton Mather reported a number of apparitions of
  odd skulking men who were widely seen around town and
  specifically near the farm of an Ebenezer Babson in the summer of
  1692. They were resistant to repeated gunshots and may have been
  insubstantial. They were viewed by the locals as demonic in origin
  and by July the whole of the local population was alarmed.
  “Ebenezer Babson was not the Witless Fool that I reported
  Elsewhere, as many of you doubtless Know. But he was
  Unprepared for the Depravity of the Offences which those
  shadow-men chanced to perform. His Greatest Failing has
  always been that he attempted too much and tempted Fate
  by shouldering the burden of his Knowing alone. Few have
  payed so dearly for that Knowledge. God Rest His Soul,
  It was only after the Horror was over that I chanced to
  come upon the Cape in that year. By then, of course,
  Ebenezer was reduced to so much tallow and bones. We
  could not help him. We did carry His Revenge to the Great
  Foe. Truly, it is God’s Wisdom and Mercy that allows us to
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  Persevere. But God Himself Commands that we, His
  servants, be ever Vigilant and Prepared. Only in Knowledge
  of what we face can we be Vigilant. Faith and Holy Silver
  served His Cause on the Cape. I pray that the souls of the
  slaughtered children found their way to God.”
  (Cotton Mather, Black Book)
  Cape Ann is also renowned for a 17th-century report of a sea serpent
  (see “Sea Serpents,” p. 81).
  Off the coast of Cape Cod:
  Off the coast of Cape Cod:
  Off the coast of Cape Cod:
  Off the coast of Cape Cod:
  Off the coast of Cape Cod: A tale is told of a sleepy sailor,
  Ansell Nickerson, who was unable to keep himself awake one night
  when he held the rudder off the Cape. He slumped down amid the
  sundries clustered near the wheel. The ship could have grounded
  on any of the shoals thereabouts, but it sailed through without even
  enough disturbance to wake Ansell. Toward dawn, the steersman
  awoke with a start. When he noted how long he had been asleep,
  he could not believe his good fortune. Then he realized that his
  relief should have come upon him hours ago. As he looked around
  the ship, none of the early morning activity disturbed the quiet of
  the ship. Finally, he saw the stained timbers of the deck. Where the
  day before it had been scrubbed vigorously, now the deck was
  mottled with dark smears. He cast a look about and saw that similar
  smears spotted the outer walls of the cabin as well. With a sickly
  dread, he crept up to the nearest dark blotch. It was wet with spray
  off the water but its nature was still apparent: it was blood, leached
  black by the twilight of the approaching dawn. Whereever Nickerson
  searched, he found only bloodstains. No man or sign of man did he
  find on that ship. Whether he was alive because he had slipped out
  of sight in the stern, or had been spared for delivering up the rest of
  the crew to whatever had come for them, he did not know. The ship
  hove into Boston Harbor as though still under knowing guidance,
  but the raving Nickerson neither knew nor cared that he had made port.
  Clark’
  Clark’
  Clark’
  Clark’
  Clark’s Island, south of Northfield:
  s Island, south of Northfield:
  s Island, south of Northfield:
  s Island, south of Northfield:
  s Island, south of Northfield: On the darkest of nights,
  when gales howl and weather-witches are the only souls who
  venture outside, some are said to have seen a phantom ship sailing
  upstream to a sandy bank where a foul deed was done. When the
  pirate Captain Kidd needed to conceal any treasure, he would have
  himself rowed ashore with a small party of diggers. When the labor
  was done, the men would draw lots and the loser was shot so that
  his soul would defend the loot. The unfortunate’s body was left to
  
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  rot on the freshly turned earth.
  From time to time the ghost
  ship appears to see that Kidd’s
  wealth remains secure. Heedless
  of wind and shoal, the frigate sails
  to the treasure trove with the black-
  bearded pirate captain at the prow.
  A small boat has occasionally been
  seen drawing into the sand of the
  riverbank so that Kidd could look
  after his gold.
  Concord:
  Concord:
  Concord:
  Concord:
  Concord: A subterranean
  chamber with a slab-linteled
  doorway lies under a mound of
  earth here.
  Dighton Rock:
  Dighton Rock:
  Dighton Rock:
  Dighton Rock:
  Dighton Rock: Thirty miles up
  from the mouth of the Taunton
  River, at the edge of the
  Hockomock Swamp, there is a
  waist-high sandstone block roughly seven by 11 feet. The rock stands
  on the riverbank across form the Grassy Island Indian Burial
  Grounds, a site that may date back as far as eight millennia. The
  face of this rock is covered in indecipherable inscriptions. Several
  attempts have been made to translate the stone but no one has done
  so with any authority, and the cryptic markings have been variously
  identified as Egyptian, Phoenician, Persian, Roman, Norse,
  Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese characters. Others posit that the
  inscription is the work of the devil. The letters “M-COR” and nearby,
  the numbers “1511” may refer to the Portuguese explorer Miguel
  Corte and his expedition of 1512. The existence of the rock and its
  strange carvings was recorded as early as 1690 by Cotton Mather.
  Dorchester:
  Dorchester:
  Dorchester:
  Dorchester:
  Dorchester: In 1851, an engraved metal bowl of an unknown
  silvery metal was thrown up out of the earth during rock blasting
  in the area. It measured four-and-a-half inches high, six-and-a-half
  inches wide at the base, two-and-a-half inches wide at the top, and
  approximately an eighth of an inch thick. It was described as looking
  like zinc in color and had an exquisite inlay of bouquets of flowers
  surrounding its rim.
  Essex:
  Essex:
  Essex:
  Essex:
  Essex: A carved stone head twice the size of a man’s was found
  in 1811, at a depth of 10 feet, while the foundations of a house wer
  being excavated.
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  Fall River:
  Fall River:
  Fall River:
  Fall River:
  Fall River: In 1831, a skeleton was discovered in the middle of
  town dressed in what could be bronze or copper armor. Longfellow
  recorded the event in his poem “Skeleton in Armor.” It was
  destroyed in the fire of 1843. Writing in 1884, Samuel Adams Drake,
  recorded the event of a half century earlier:
  “There was exhumed at Fall River the skeleton of a man
  whose chest was protected by an oval plate of brass, and on
  whose fleshless thighs still hung a belt of curious
  workmanship, mad up of tubes of brass, much corroded
  and fitted together in the manner of bandoliers worn when
  firearms were in their infancy. There were also found near
  the skeleton some arrowheads made of the same metal. It is
  true that the body had been buried in a sitting position ...”
  (S.A. Drake, A Book of New England Legends and Folklore)
  The Gothic stones and statues of Oak Grove Cemetery of Fall River
  are dedicated almost entirely to the Bordens of the last few centuries.
  The most notable of them are stones engraved
  with “Lizbeth,” “A.J.B,” and “A.D.B.” These
  markers are those of the infamous “Lizzie”
  Borden and her parents, Andrew Jackson
  Borden and Abby Durfee Borden.
  Lizzie was accused and acquitted of the
  double ax-murder of her parents on August 4,
  1892. After her acquittal, she moved out of the
  house at 92 Second Street in Fall River where
  the deaths had occurred. She purchased a
  grand home that she styled “Maplecroft” on
  fashionable French Street and died there in 1927.
  Gay Head, Martha’
  Gay Head, Martha’
  Gay Head, Martha’
  Gay Head, Martha’
  Gay Head, Martha’s V
  s V
  s V
  s V
  s Vineyard:
  ineyard:
  ineyard:
  ineyard:
  ineyard: Lights have
  been reported from the heights here for centuries. Folklore attributes
  them to Maushop, the promethean giant of the Narraganset Indians.
  The lights are reputed to be his cookfires, where he broils up his
  catch of whales. They are also said to guide ships around the shoals
  nearby.
  A small dolmen also exists on a hillside here.
  Gloucester:
  Gloucester:
  Gloucester:
  Gloucester:
  Gloucester: The Moving Rock of Squam Common, a huge mass
  of granite, so precisely balanced that the slightest pressure is enough
  to move it back and forth, can be found here.
  
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  In 1881, the crew of the Bellerophon out of Gloucester saw and
  smelled a hideous ghost aboardship. After a detailed search of the
  craft, the captain turned up a dead rat in the locale frequented by
  the ghost and immediately tossed it overboard. On January 23, 1882,
  the ship sailed out of Gloucester and was never heard from again.
  Gosnold: 
  Gosnold: 
  Gosnold: 
  Gosnold: 
  Gosnold: The Elizabeth Islands are said to be the mounds raised
  over the five sons of maushop, Giants who were blinded and killed
  by the Pukwudgees, Native American spirit beings antagonistic to
  man, god, or giant.
  Grand Island:
  Grand Island:
  Grand Island:
  Grand Island:
  Grand Island: This island was once known as Screecham’s
  Island, after the ghost of Hannah Screecham. She and her sister,
  Sarah, once lived together as the sole inhabitants of the island. One
  day they quarrelled and Sarah moved to South Mashpee and built
  herself a hut in the forest by the place known afterward as Witches
  Pond. Both sisters were evil creatures: Sarah became a foul witch
  and Hannah took up with the pirates that often sailed the coast thereabouts.
  Hannah was feared by such cruel and powerful men as Captain
  Kidd and Black Bellamy, and yet these same men trusted her with
  their treasure hoards. Each ship that visited the island would send
  a boat ashore with no one but the ship’s captain and one oarsman
  aboard. Hannah would walk up the strand with the sailor following
  and carrying the load of bullion or loot. At a spot on the island
  known only to Hannah lay a pit. The sailor was directed to deposit
  the gold at the edge of the pit. Then, Hannah would let forth a
  screech like dying seabirds and killing gales and the earth would
  open up and swallow both gold and witless crewman. The sands
  quickly ran over him and sealed him below with God only knows
  how many other wretches who had suffered the same fate. At
  Hannah’s cry, the captain knew that his treasure was safe and that
  he could put out to sea. But Hannah Screecham could never dig for
  the gold she hoarded, for the curse of her power was that all the
  corpse-gray hands of the sand-drowned seamen would take her
  below herself should she try.
  Sarah Screecham could take the form of a goat or a great black
  horse and was much feared, both during her lifetime and for many
  years after. Arrows and bullets had no effect upon her, although
  silver pained her in any shape she took. Her wretched hut on the
  pond’s edge was said to be the site of foul rituals to dark powers,
  and only the foolish ventured close by at any time of day or night.
  Georges Banks:
  Georges Banks:
  Georges Banks:
  Georges Banks:
  Georges Banks: The ghost schooner Charles Haskell, utterly
  devoid of crew, wanders the waves near here.
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  George’
  George’
  George’
  George’
  George’s Island, Fort W
  s Island, Fort W
  s Island, Fort W
  s Island, Fort W
  s Island, Fort Warren:
  arren:
  arren:
  arren:
  arren: According to a legend of the
  Civil War, a group of Confederate prisoners, captured by Maj. Gen.
  Ambrose Burnside at Roanoke Island, were incarcerated at Fort
  Warren. Among their number was a young lieutenant recently
  married and somehow he was able to get a letter to his wife giving
  directions on how he could be found.
  The nameless bride obtained passage on a sloop and landed in
  Hull a number of weeks after receiving the letter. On a stormy night,
  the lady rowed out to George’s Island, crept past the sentries, and
  reached the ditch under the Corridor of Dungeons. She was reunited
  with her lieutenant shortly thereafter.
  Hastily-made plans for escape went awry and the soldiers on
  guard caught wind of the conspiracy. The brave young lady shot at
  the colonel of the fort, but her firearm fouled and exploded and,
  while she was unharmed, her husband had been standing closeby
  and was struck dead by flying metal from the blast. The lady was
  taken and sentenced to be hanged as a spy and, since then, her
  ghost has haunted the fort.
  Once, a group of soldiers found five women’s shoeprints in fresh
  snow, originating and ending out of nowhere. Later, a sergeant of
  the fort, while climbing to the top of the ladder heading into the
  Corridor of Dungeons, heard a female voice cry out, “Don’t come in
  here.” Several courts-martial are on record for firearms discharged
  at a black-clad woman. One soldier deserted his post fleeing from
  the dark specter of the Lady.
  Edward Rowe Snow preserved the words of Colonel F.J. Parker,
  commander of Fort Warren, as he described the site:
  “To one who thoroughly explored the island, there will recur
  vivid reminiscences of the mysterious castles of romance
  and history. He will find there a sally port, a postern, a
  drawbridge, and a portcullis. Here too, are passages
  underground and in the walls, turret staircases, huge vaulted
  apartments, and safe and dark dungeons, the ways to and
  through which may be set upon the plans of the engineer
  corps, but are familiar to no man. One can easily become
  bewildered  among the crooks and turns, the ups and downs
  of the corridors, and it needs only a dark and stormy night ...”
  (Edward Rowe Snow, Maritime Mysteries and Dramatic
  Disasters of New England)
  
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  Haley’
  Haley’
  Haley’
  Haley’
  Haley’s Isle:
  s Isle:
  s Isle:
  s Isle:
  s Isle: Near the home of Captain Haley are the graves of
  16 Spanish sailors from the wreck of the Sagunto in 1813. John
  Greenleaf Whittier said of old Triton in the 1867 poem “The Tent o’
  the Beach”:
  “Strange tales he told of wreck and storm,
  Had seen the sea-snake's awful form,
  And heard the ghosts on Haley’s Isle complain
  Speak him off shore, and beg a passage back to Spain.”
  Isle of Shoals:
  Isle of Shoals:
  Isle of Shoals:
  Isle of Shoals:
  Isle of Shoals: The White Lady of Haley’s Isle is said to be an
  abandoned wife of Blackbeard the pirate, marooned upon the Isle
  of Shoals to die. She haunts the strand when storms rise.
  Hampton: 
  Hampton: 
  Hampton: 
  Hampton: 
  Hampton: A small dolmen can be found here.
  Hockomock Swamp:
  Hockomock Swamp:
  Hockomock Swamp:
  Hockomock Swamp:
  Hockomock Swamp: an area within the swamp has been the
  source of many legends of hauntings and odd occurrences. The area
  covers the towns of Abingdon, Freetown, Rehoboth, Brockton,
  Taunton, the Bridgewaters, Raynhorn, Mansfield, Norton and Easton.
  The Grassy Island Indian Burial Grounds, which may date back as
  much as 8,000 years, are located in the area. They are considered
  sacred by many and evil by some.
  As early as Colonial times, the swampland had a foul reputation.
  On what came to be known as the Yellow Day, the entire mire shone
  with an sourceless sulphurous light for a whole day. Closer to the
  present, each January odd balls of luminescence called “spook
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  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort Warren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort Warren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort Warren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort Warren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort Warren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  arren, 1861
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort W
  Entrance to Fort Warren, 1861
  arren, 1861
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  arren, 1861
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  lights” flared up in the bogs at night.
  In addition to unexplained lights, weird beasts have been known
  to frequent the area and huge birds have occasionally been sighted,
  specifically in the region surrounding Bird Hill.
  A large hairy bipedal creature that has been explained away as
  a bear has been spotted and suspected in livestock killings
  throughout the countryside and 18-inch tracks have been attributed
  to this monster. Other sightings of black dogs and panthers and
  even lions have long plagued the territory.
  Hogg Island:
  Hogg Island:
  Hogg Island:
  Hogg Island:
  Hogg Island: A pirate treasure is said to be hidden somewhere
  in the sands of the sea cliff here. It is also reported to be guarded by
  the ghost of the pirate slain for that purpose.
  Ipswich:
  Ipswich:
  Ipswich:
  Ipswich:
  Ipswich: The Ghost of Harry Main haunts this area. A local
  man, Harry was a foul rogue, a pirate, smuggler, and, finally, a
  wrecker. It is said that he was doomed upon his death for these and
  other unspeakable crimes to perform endlessly an impossible task,
  his reward for years of faithful service to the dark powers that he
  venerated. He is eternally set to coil a cable of sand on Ipswich bar,
  the scene of so many of his murderous deeds. When the unstable
  rope breaks in rough weather, Harry’s demonic curses and frustrated
  rage can be heard for miles around over the winds of the coming
  storm.
  In an unknown hillside just outside of Ipswich, a fortune in
  pirate gold awaits discovery. The treasure is said to have been the
  demon-warded loot of Harry Main. There is a tale that one man
  dreamed of the actual location of the treasure and resolved to find
  it. Awaking from his third identical dream in as many nights, he
  took lantern and shovel and set out without a word to anyone. Not
  far from his home he sighted the hill of his dreams and began to
  dig. In the moonless night, with his only illumination coming from
  the fitful flame of the weak tallow of his lamp, the man could see
  little within the hole he dug. But he recognized the scrape of his
  shovel upon something made of metal and immediately bent down
  to examine his find. He discovered a heavy steel prybar, covered in
  rust and laying upon a stone slab of some size. With rising
  excitement, the man set the tool against the edge of the slab and
  heaved. Just as the great rock slowly began to shift, the digger
  chanced to look up at the mouth of the hole in which he labored.
  He shivered uncontrollably as his light flicked out in a gust of wind
  and left him in the dark. Motionless, ringing the pit in which he
  huddled in darkness, were six great black cats, their eyes aglow,
  
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  although what light there was for those eyes to reflect from that
  blackened hole is not known. The treasure-hunter, wealth forgotten,
  swung wildly about with the iron bar and the black beasts vanished
  as silently as they had come. In their place, icy water rushed into
  the pit, cascading over the man and rapidly filling the deep. The
  man scrambled up the side of the excavation, tearing loose
  fingernails and patches of skin as he struggled to escape the water.
  He succeeded in averting his doom, but the pit and the great panthers
  still abide there.
  Harry Main is also sometimes sighted walking the sand-hills of
  Plum Island on stormy nights.
  Devil’
  Devil’
  Devil’
  Devil’
  Devil’s Hoofprint:
  s Hoofprint:
  s Hoofprint:
  s Hoofprint:
  s Hoofprint: The First Congregational Church in Ipswich,
  one of the earliest buildings in the town, was beset by the Devil on
  numerous occasions shortly after its founding. During its
  construction, Satan secreted himself within the foundations to work
  mischief. A holy force is said to have propelled him from the steeple
  top and where he first struck the earth his burning hoofprint scored
  itself into the stone.
  Lake Onota:
  Lake Onota:
  Lake Onota:
  Lake Onota:
  Lake Onota: This area is know for the legend of the white deer.
  Centuries ago, the Housatonic Indians had a legend of a white deer,
  harbinger of good fortune, and believed that as long as the sacred
  animal drank from Lake Onota they need not fear blight, war, famine,
  or disease.
  After many years of peace and plenty, the white doe arrived
  with a white fawn and that year was particularly abundant. Then
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  came hostilities between the French and the Americans. A French
  officer, Montalbert, was dispatched to the Housatonic to engage
  their loyalty and, upon hearing of the white deer, was immediately
  overcome by a lust to take its marvelous hide to the king of France.
  With help from a native called Wando, Montalbert caught and
  skinned the white deer and then fled. Wando later confessed to the
  crime and was executed by his people. Years of famine, war, and
  pestilence followed and, finally, the Housatonic on Lake Onota were
  no more.
  Long Island:
  Long Island:
  Long Island:
  Long Island:
  Long Island: When the British evacuated Boston in March 1776
  during the Revolutionary War, only 12 ships of the 170 that were
  loaded with evacuees were able to escape the blockade. When the
  American fleet arrived, it began a general bombardment of the
  remainder of the British ships and one cannonball mortally wounded
  Mary Burton, a refugee on one of the vessels. While still conscious,
  Mary pleaded that she not be buried at sea and her husband, William,
  managed to secure a truce long enough for a boat to bear his wife’s
  remains to the shore of Long Island so he could bury her.
  Sewn into a red blanket, Mary’s body was taken across in a
  small boat by William to Long Island Head. There he met with the
  American gunners and explained his task. Mary was interred and
  William and his crew returned to their ship. Shortly afterward, that
  ship made for Halifax, Nova Scotia.
  It was always in William Burton’s mind to return to his wife’s
  grave, but many years passed and he died without having made the
  journey. Meanwhile, the soldiers in Boston had erected a cairn in
  her memory.
  As the story goes, in 1804 a group of fishermen seeking shelter
  in poor weather heard a bitter moaning over the wind and then saw
  a woman in a scarlet cloak, blood streaming from beneath its hood,
  coming over the hill in their direction. She continued to walk and
  eventually disappeared over the next hill.
  She was seen again during the War of 1812 and then again in
  1891.
  TTTTTunnel of Lovell’
  unnel of Lovell’
  unnel of Lovell’
  unnel of Lovell’
  unnel of Lovell’s Island:
  s Island:
  s Island:
  s Island:
  s Island: What follows is Edward Rowe Snow’s
  report of his own exploration of the tunnel:
  “... to the left of the steps leading up to the top of the hill.
  Opening the old studded door, we flash our lights into the
  darkness of the passageway to find that the archaic tunnel
  takes a sharp turn to the right. Stumbling over mouldy
  
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  journals and decayed newspapers, we walk for some time
  before coming to the next turn, where a shelf is built into
  the wall, looking as if it were made for a telephone. We
  again turn to the right, and continue down the passageway.
  Some 20 feet beyond, the corridor opens into a large, arched
  room having a rectangular hole in the floor. Anyone who
  did not bring a flashlight is surely in danger here.
  Turning our lights down into the opening, we see that
  the hole is about five feet in depth; we jump down and find
  another surprise. The wall of the pit farthest away from the
  tunnel has another opening, and when we flash our lights
  down we find another passageway which seems to be
  endless. At this point in our adventure quite a few of those
  who had declared their bravery in the sunlight decide they
  have had enough excitement for the time being, and telling
  us that they will wait outside, beat a hasty retreat.
  The only way we can travel through this new opening
  is on our hands and knees, as it is no higher than the space
  under the average office table. Crawling down the tunnel,
  we find we are gradually getting lower and lower. The end
  is reached at a point where the top of the passageway is
  caved in. Here we join the elect by scraping our names on
  the damp walls before starting the long journey back to the
  sunset. No one now on the island knows the history of this
  tunnel which once led out under the harbor.
  Perhaps the old tunnel was originally connected with
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  the mysterious fort which is indicated as having been at
  Lovell’s Island in 1700, although not a bit of evidence has
  ever been found concerning this strange, four-bastioned
  fortification.”
  (Edward Rowe Snow, Maritime Mysteries and Dramatic
  Disasters of New England)
  LLLLLynn:
  ynn:
  ynn:
  ynn:
  ynn: Cotton Mather recorded a dark amorphous cloud that
  was witnessed by several people here in 1682. Near dusk, a man by
  the name of Handford came out of his home to see if the moon was
  up yet and was later joined by others of his family. Instead, they
  saw a great, black cloud of unusual size and density appear to
  swallow the emerging moon. It took on many shapes, first that of
  an armored man with a pike, then of a huge shadow ship with sails
  set, before disappearing near midnight.
  A large dolmen with a 40-ton capstone also exists just outside
  of town.
  Marblehead:
  Marblehead:
  Marblehead:
  Marblehead:
  Marblehead: In the 17th century, Marblehead was a haven for
  foul men, pirates and worse. For a long time, it was the custom
  among this company that no woman who came among them could
  ever leave and, if she tried, her death would follow. Toward the
  end of that century, a Spanish ship full of plate and rich merchandise
  was taken and its passengers massacred or ordered overboard, except
  for one beautiful English noblewoman, who was saved for the
  pirates’ rude sport. She was carried ashore, abused horrifically, and
  then killed. Her screams of terror echoed throughout the town, but
  no one there had the courage to save her. Her body was buried
  upon the spot of her torment and death and for well more than a
  century afterward her screams could be heard upon the anniversary
  of that foul deed.
  Marshfield:
  Marshfield:
  Marshfield:
  Marshfield:
  Marshfield: Isolated two miles south of Marshfield, Winslow
  Burial Ground holds the grave of Daniel Webster. It is also the scene
  from the beginning of “The Devil and Daniel Webster,” a short story
  by Stephen Vincent Benét. Webster is said to haunt the cemetery
  and to appear during thunderstorms.
  Monomoy:
  Monomoy:
  Monomoy:
  Monomoy:
  Monomoy: Dozens of wrecks have grounded here over the
  centuries on a spit of land extending seven miles out of the landward
  cliff of Chatham. The Mooncurser’s Stallion, a gleaming bone-white
  horse with a star blazing on its forehead, is said to be the cause of
  many of them and to have led many ships to their doom on that
  
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  sandspit. A spidery man is the stallion’s master and both are said
  to have drowned one night when the tide swallowed the whole of
  the spit.
  Mount Sinai:
  Mount Sinai:
  Mount Sinai:
  Mount Sinai:
  Mount Sinai: There is a tale that during the final quarter of the
  18th century, a group of spiritualists chased the Devil through Mount
  Sinai, Massachusetts. In the early hours of a summer morning, they
  caught, killed, and buried him there. These spiritualists are said to
  have believed that their number had been joined by the distinguished
  dead, among whom were counted George Washington, the Marquis
  de Lafayette, Tamerlane, and Pocahontas. Other famous figures are
  apparently, to this day, charged with the guardianship of this cursed
  spot and are sworn in hallowed rite to ward the burial astride fine
  white steeds, lest Satan rise and begin his career of evil once more.
  Pahwah Pond, near Namequoit at South Orlean:
  Pahwah Pond, near Namequoit at South Orlean:
  Pahwah Pond, near Namequoit at South Orlean:
  Pahwah Pond, near Namequoit at South Orlean:
  Pahwah Pond, near Namequoit at South Orlean: The doomed
  chief of the Potonamequoit Indians, Pahwah, was drowned here,
  and given a cruel form of half-life beneath the surface by Niba-
  Nahbeezihk the water god.
  Pelham:
  Pelham:
  Pelham:
  Pelham:
  Pelham: Just outside the small town of Pelham, Massachusetts,
  is a strange beehive-shaped cave, faced with stone and accessible
  only though an aperture in its ceiling. The reason for the
  construction of this underground chamber remains a mystery, as
  does the identity of its builder. There are those who have suggested
  that it is a Neolithic granary, while others claim that it is all that
  remains of a now-abandoned and looted tomb of the same era.
  Another structure, virtually identical to this one, is located 12 miles
  north of Pelham.
  “Be You Aware of the worth of the ancient places. In such
  Barrows and Haunts, although perilous and dire, there is
  much to discover. I have conversed in detail with the Satan-
  Loving spiritmen of the Savages Hereabouts, and they have
  told me much of the Old bargains made by the tomb-dwellers
  with the Prince of Chaos. Others in that aeon-distant age
  opposed the Evil One, even as do we ourselves. The ability
  to discern the grave of one from the other is worth the life
  of any Delver into them. The barrows of the enemies of the
  Enemy are often repositories of Knowledge and Power. A
  Great Vault lies underground beyond the bounds of the
  village. Its secrets are now known to Our Order.”
  (Cotton Mather, Black Book)
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  Plymouth:
  Plymouth:
  Plymouth:
  Plymouth:
  Plymouth: There is said to be located a few miles outside of
  town a demon tree that has been fed the blood of worshippers and
  innocents alike for hundreds of years. It usually appears to be a
  normal tree but, at certain times and for certain dread purposes,
  will reveal its true nature. No living soul can say what that nature
  is but there are many among the dead who could, if only they could
  be persuaded to converse ...
  Point of Pines:
  Point of Pines:
  Point of Pines:
  Point of Pines:
  Point of Pines: Legend tells of a treasure trove of Captain Kidd
  nearby that is guarded by a demon horse with flaming mouth and
  nostrils. The tale tells that Kidd would bury a bible at each place
  that he hid loot, thus invoking the Devil to guard it.
  Quabbin Reservoir
  Quabbin Reservoir
  Quabbin Reservoir
  Quabbin Reservoir
  Quabbin Reservoir, near Amherst:
  , near Amherst:
  , near Amherst:
  , near Amherst:
  , near Amherst: On August 13, 1819, a great
  flash of light and a loud explosion were noted in the sky above
  Quabbin Reservoir. Shortly thereafter, a small bowl-shaped object,
  that was eight inches across, covered by a velvety dun coating, and
  filled with a stinking mass that quickly liquefied upon exposure to
  the air, was found on the property of an Amherst professor. Soon,
  several more of the dishes — termed “Whatsis” by the locals —
  were discovered throughout the region. The slimy contents of the
  bowls were dismissed as colonies of a blue-green algae known as
  nostoc despite being the wrong color for this. In addition, nostoc
  does not stink, nor does it turn to liquid. The flashes and booms
  that presaged these discoveries went unexplained.
  Rainsford Island:
  Rainsford Island:
  Rainsford Island:
  Rainsford Island:
  Rainsford Island: While digging postholes in 1826, a boy found
  a human skull in a fairly well-preserved state. Several sunken pits
  were later found nearby and, while they were thought by some to
  be graves, no more remains were turned up. A more complete
  excavation of the original find, however, led to the discovery of
  and ancient-looking sword hilt.
  Salem:
  Salem:
  Salem:
  Salem:
  Salem: The ghost of Giles Corey, a man pressed to death while
  under interrogation for witchcraft during the Salem witch trials, is
  said to haunt the town to the present.
  Samuel Stover was a druggist in Salem a quarter century after
  the witch trials. He was reputed to be an excellent chemist and
  compounds and vials containing curious drafts were constantly
  being sent to him from Boston. Some folk began to think that Stover
  acquired far more ingredients than he could ever use in his rather
  humble practice and rumors spread that he was something other
  than a simple druggist. There were also reports of shadows seen
  other than that of the lone occupant of the house which, when
  glimpsed in the lighted windows of the tower room, appeared only
  
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  vaguely to conform to human shape. Occasionally, hammers could
  be heard clanking, or great hisses as of gouts of steam from a
  cauldron. Samuel Stover soon came to be known as an alchemist.
  Stover, however, sought not to render gold from base metal but
  rather to isolate the stuff of life, hoping to secure some potion to
  divert the attentions of the ages. With this purpose, he added to his
  purchases from Boston by stalking the fens and woods of the area
  around Salem, searching for those substances which his other
  suppliers could not provide.
  Finally, Stover had collected all of the implements and
  ingredients he would need in his bid for immortality and all that
  remained was the exhausting four-day process necessary to render
  the unguent from the assembled components. The now frail old
  alchemist made his final preparations, lit the crucibles, and began.
  It was necessary that Stover go without sleep throughout the
  experiment, lest the heat on the crucibles slacken and the precious
  mixture begin to putrefy. Thus, for four days he stoked the furnace
  and tended the bubbling pots and alembics, adding new ingredients
  and combining the contents of different crucibles at crucial times.
  These continuous operations took a terrible toll and the gaunt old
  man grew cadaverous from exhaustion and the noxious fumes of
  his life’s work.
  The last day was the most trying, with many minute calculations
  and careful measurements. The strain became unbearable and Stover
  slipped into a deep and dreamless sleep, his furnace slowly cooling
  
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  and his arcane mixture beginning to spoil.
  With a start of horror, the alchemist sprang awake gasping. He
  leapt for the crucible and, with shaking hands, peered at its contents.
  The elixir showed signs of putrefaction, but Stover knew he had
  not the strength for another distillation. Having wagered all upon
  this attempt, he downed the contents in desperation, his body spent
  from his four-day ordeal. A shock of agony wracked him, however,
  and he fell to the floor as his heart fell silent within him. His elixir,
  wrought in great pain and suffering, gave him everlasting death.
  “On Essex Street in Salem, more than a score of years after
  the scourging of Satan’s Broodmares in that very towne, a
  man, himself well acquainted with the Master of Lies, delved
  into Blasphemous Pursuit. Samuel Stover sought a Great
  Secret and dealt with His Satanic Majesty to achieve it. But
  the Crawling Chaos did not honor his bargain. Stover wished
  for the secret of Life Eternal and sought it in this present
  Wasteland, and from the Prince of Desolation no less. Satan
  granted the alchemist knowledge of this Dark Sorcerie,
  which Samuel Stover hoped would bestow prolonged life.
  The Elixer was not that of Life, merely a Damned Awareness.
  His body dead, bloated, and putrifying, Stover’s Benighted
  spirit exempted itself from the Grace of death that God
  Grants to All things.
  News of these events reached the ears of certain of our
  Most Blessed Order. Faith, Fire, and Steel accompanied
  several of us to sever Stover’s overlong tenure upon this
  world. Many of Our Dear Friends found their way into the
  grace of the lord of Heaven and for naught. Samuel Stover,
  his body Steeped in His brew of Wickedness, defied all our
  attempts at retribution. When we who survived later
  returned in Greater Preparedness, Stover was gone, as were
  ghastly portions of our former comrades, the alchemist’s
  victims. It is to Our Order’s Eternal Shame thar Samuel
  Stover has never, to our knowledge, been sent to join his
  Leige in Hell.
  (Cotton Mather, Black Book)
  Singing Beach:
  Singing Beach:
  Singing Beach:
  Singing Beach:
  Singing Beach: The sands of this lonely strand are said to keen
  and moan as they are trod upon.
  
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  Upton:
  Upton:
  Upton:
  Upton:
  Upton: A megalithic structure of dry-stone construction. A low
  rock-lined passage opens somewhat into a chamber. The roof is
  slightly vaulted and built up out of many small rocks, carefully
  fitted together without mortar. This form of roof construction is
  rather unusual. Most other megalithic strictures in New England
  have large slabs of stone that extend entirely across the width of
  the chamber.
  Near W
  Near W
  Near W
  Near W
  Near Ware:
  are:
  are:
  are:
  are: Crocodiles between six and eight feet in length
  were sighted in Dismal Swamp in 1922, and three are said to have
  been found since.
  W
  W
  W
  W
  Westford:
  estford:
  estford:
  estford:
  estford: A rock-carved inscription exists that was long thought
  to be Native American in origin and has been there as long as anyone
  can remember. It was partially obscured by vegetation and, perhaps
  due to the unremarkable nature of the design, had never become
  the subject of much curiosity. In 1954, however, the moss and other
  matter were cleared away and a much larger and more startling
  discovery was made. This was a roughly life-sized glyph of a
  medieval knight, complete with the armor, shield, sword, and
  voluminous surcoat of the style worn in the 14th century. The shield
  had a heraldic device that was tentatively identified with the crest
  of the Sinclair family of Scotland. The inscription may thus well
  refer to Henry Sinclair, Lord of Roslyn and Earl of Orkney.
  This coincides with the troublesome Zeno Narrative, an Italian
  document of the 16th century that purports to transcribe the journeys
  
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  Mythos Society Guide to New England
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  of a late 14th-century merchant and explorer, Nicholo Zeno, who
  supposedly travelled with Sinclair to an island called Estotiland.
  The natives of this land, located far to the west of Ireland and south
  of Greenland, were said to have been skilled in many crafts, live in
  cities, and had Latin books that they apparently could not read.
  The explorers are said to have found Estotiland and Sinclair
  determined to settle there. His crew nearly rebelled at this notion,
  however, and so he sent most of them back to the Orkneys under
  Zeno. There the manuscript ends and nothing further is known of
  the colony. Sinclair must have returned to the Old World shortly
  thereafter, however, for his death is recorded as being in the year
  1400.
  W
  W
  W
  W
  Westport:
  estport:
  estport:
  estport:
  estport: A cluster of three dolmen are to be found here.
  W
  W
  W
  W
  Wilbraham:
  ilbraham:
  ilbraham:
  ilbraham:
  ilbraham: An isolated home close to the mountainside beyond
  is the site of many hauntings. The house was built in 1831, and
  many have died in it over the intervening decades. Several of the
  resident spirits have been seen as glimpses of motion out of the
  corner of the eye, or as subtle noises from just around a corner. The
  most commonly-seen entity is that of a young boy, who sometimes
  appears nearly whole and lifelike, while at other times only his
  upper half is visible as a wan, half-visible shade. This child may be
  Alfie Morgan, who died in the house in the last years of the 19th
  century. He had been born there on June 15, 1888, precisely when
  an old woman, Mary Morgan died. Since then, each June 15, glowing
  lights bob about the ceilings of the upper floor and the disembodied
  voice of a boy at play is heard.
  A number of seances have been performed in the house and
  participants have each come away from them with a sense of peace
  and happiness.
  White Mountains:
  White Mountains:
  White Mountains:
  White Mountains:
  White Mountains: Between 1851 and 1938, 18 people in nearly
  as many separate incidents lost their lives to the ferocious winter
  storms of the region.
  V
  VV
  VVermont
  ermont
  ermont
  ermont
  ermont
  Quechee:
  Quechee:
  Quechee:
  Quechee:
  Quechee: Just off the Connecticut River there is a complex of
  stone chambers and circles of standing stones with script carved
  into the building stones. Barry Fell has determined these inscriptions
  to be in Ogham, an ancient Celtic alphabet (see “Empire of Woden-
  Lithi,” pp. 48-51).
  South W
  South W
  South W
  South W
  South Woodstock:
  oodstock:
  oodstock:
  oodstock:
  oodstock: A Neolithic chamber roofed over by huge
  slab capping-stones, supported by monolithic stone columns, can
  
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  be found near South Woodstock. The whole structure is covered
  over by a mound of earth, such that only the entrance and the
  supporting stones are visible from the outside. Within, the slabs of
  the roof are just out of reach, and are easily six feet wide and stretch
  across the 15-foot chamber. Each weighs several tons and there are
  several slatted together to enclose the top of the rectangular chamber.
  On one a cruciform figure that may represent a human can be seen.
  Regular scratches in the rock nearby could be writing.
  Outside of the mound itself several animal carvings have also
  been found. A stone slab that rests on edge appears to have been
  shaped into a crude animalistic shape that some have said is a
  boar. Nearby is another such stone that may be a representation of
  a bull or cow in repose. Finally, the rough-hewn but distinct shape
  of a reclining female torso may also be found.
  A ring of menhirs also exists beyond the mound. Many of the
  stones have fallen but some few are still upright. Several of those
  not standing have regular engravings across their lengths (or heights
  if they are upright). Barry Fell has found these markings to be ancient
  Celtic Ogham and translates the numerous inscriptions as praise of
  the mother goddess, called in this case Byanu (see “Empire of
  Woden-Lithi,” pp. 48-51).
  Another almost identical ring of menhirs exists on a hilltop in
  central New Hampshire.
  Stowe:
  Stowe:
  Stowe:
  Stowe:
  Stowe: Outside of town, an old covered bridge is haunted by a
  woman awaiting her lover. The woman, known only by the name
  Emily, was spurned at the altar in the early 1800s. Leaving the church
  in her wedding finery, she mounted a horse and rode out in pursuit
  of her betrothed. As she galloped over the bridge outside of town
  her horse shied and she fell to her death on the rocks below (in
  those days the bridge was uncovered).
  Another story tells of Emily as a pregnant young woman in the
  1920s, spurned by the man responsible and who, inconsolable,
  jumped to her death below the bridge. People have reported hearing
  the screams of an enraged young woman and seeing a white-garbed
  figure chasing men across the bridge.
  White River:
  White River:
  White River:
  White River:
  White River: Nearby, a stone chamber with an inscription in a
  strange alphabet on its lintel stone has existed since before European
  colonization. Researcher Barry Fell maintains that he has translated
  the inscription as a dedicatory announcement to the Celtic sun god,
  Bel (see “Celtic Conquest of pre-Columbian New England,” pp. 53-
  56).
  
  Selected Books of Interest
  Selected Books of Interest
  Selected Books of Interest
  Selected Books of Interest
  Selected Books of Interest
  Beck, Horace Palmer; Folklore and the Sea, Mystic Seaport Museum, 1973.
  Botkin, Benjamin A.; A Treasury of New England Folklore, Crown Publ.,
  1965.
  Citro, Joseph; Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls, and Unsolved Mysteries,
  Mariner Books, 1994 (Note: Citro has written numerous books on the
  supernatural in New England).
  Coleman, Loren; Monsters of Masasachusetts: Mysterious Creatures in the
  Bay State, Stackpole Books, 2013.
  Mather, Cotton; Wonders of the Invisible World, 1693.
  Magnalia Christi Americana, 1702.
  D’Agostino, Thomas; Abandoned Villages and Ghost Towns of New
  England, Schiffer, 2008.
  Drake, Samuel Adams, A Book of New England Legends and Folklore,
  Booksales, 1998.
  Fell, Barry; America B.C., Pocket Books, 1984.
  Bronze Age America, Little Brown and Co., 1982.
  Saga America, Times Books, 1983.
  Josselyn, John; Two Voyages to New England, 1674.
  Kull, Andrew; New England Cemeteries: A Collector’s Guide, Bookthrift
  Co., 1984.
  Norman, Michael, and Scott, Beth; Haunted America, Tor Books, 1994.
  Revai, Cheri, Haunted Massachusetts: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of
  the Bay State, Stackpole Books, 2005.
  Skinner, Charles M.; Myths and Legends of our Own Land, 1896.
  Snow, Edward Rowe; Maritime Mysteries and Dramatic Disasters of New
  England, Dodd Mead, 1976 (Note: Snow wrote dozens of books on the
  subject of New England folklore, the sea, mysteries, and the supernatural).
  Whittier, John Greenleaf; The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf
  Whittier, Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, Boston, 1883.
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Call of Cthulhu (CoC) (BRP) [multi]/EXTRA/Resources/The Mythos Society Guide to New England.pdf