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    Ghosts and Legends of the Merrimack Valley
    Ghosts and Legends of the Merrimack Valley
    Ghosts and Legends of the Merrimack Valley
    Ebook123 pages1 hour

    Ghosts and Legends of the Merrimack Valley

    By CC Carole

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    About this ebook

    C.C. Carole has visited some of the most historic places in the Merrimack Valley and has found them buzzing with the ghostly energy and presence of those who came before. Join C.C. as she recounts her adventures and paints a historical backdrop of the region s haunts. Discover the legend of the Pennacook chief Passaconaway, said to be over one hundred years old and possessed of magic that could make water burn and trees dance. Investigate the eerie sounds and shadowy figures reported in the old safe houses and tunnels of the Underground Railroad. Visit the Rosewood Country Inn in Bradford and its lingering spirits of glamorous Hollywood stars, and listen for the echoes of toe-tapping performers at Canobie Lake Park s Dancehall Theatre. As C.C. treks across New Hampshire and Massachusetts, the region s historic spirits reveal themselves in surprising ways.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe History Press
    Release dateSep 25, 2009
    ISBN9781625842411
    Ghosts and Legends of the Merrimack Valley
    Author

    CC Carole

    C.C. Carole is a ghost tour guide and spiritual healer who works throughout southern New Hampshire. She hosts a paranormal TV show �C.C. The Huntress� on PTN (the Paranormal Television Network powered by CBS), and has produced a short film popular among New England paranormal enthusiasts, �Ghost Stories of New England.� C.C. frequently lectures at historical societies and public libraries in New Hampshire and elsewhere in northern New England, connecting historical legends with her interpretation of scientific facts.

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    Reviews for Ghosts and Legends of the Merrimack Valley

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    • 3/5
      interesting history about local hauntings and legends. However, felt that the history overpowered the "ghost stories" and that the healings were a bit to neatly wrapped up.
    • 4/5
      I read this book as part of my research on New England and the Merrimack Valley in particular. It has a nice collection of different locations to visit in the valley, some of which I have visited. There were some interesting facts that I did not know and over all I would like to visit all of the locations mentioned in the book. I felt that it fell a little short on describing these locations. Although I believe that there is more to life than meets the eye, I did not find the ghost part of the book very interesting, sorry! If the author stuck to the basic tourist aspect to the book and enlarged each section, I think I would have liked the book much better.

    Book preview

    Ghosts and Legends of the Merrimack Valley - CC Carole

    dearly.

    INTRODUCTION

    I was honored and delighted when asked by The History Press to write a book on the history and ghostly hauntings of the Merrimack Valley in New England. I proudly titled my book Haunted Merrimack Valley.

    I have lived in New England just about all my life. The Merrimack Valley is extra special to my heart, as I spent my adolescent years wandering down its old country roads and riding through its fields on horseback. I investigated abandoned houses deep in the woods to see if the stories I heard about ghosts haunting them were true. Sometimes the buildings were haunted, and sometimes they weren’t.

    I have always been fascinated by the rich history and exciting stories of ghosts, spirits and the paranormal that surround the Merrimack Valley. This book gives me a chance to blend the two subjects I love in an educational and entertaining fashion.

    Each chapter’s contents have been fully researched for historical accuracy. I have also fully investigated the locations for paranormal and ghostly activities and healed the spirits with which I came into contact.

    As you read Haunted Merrimack Valley, know that I have traveled to each and every location to see and experience for myself the magnificent history and the ghostly stories. What I did not want to do was create a catalogue of so-called hunted places similar to other ghost books on the market. I wanted you to be able to visit and investigate these places on your own. The locations in this book may surprise you.

    You will read about Native American legends. These legends, mixed with historical facts, are so important to our valley’s and our country’s history. They actually paint a beautiful picture in our minds of the incredible Native American joy for life and the afterlife they so creatively embraced.

    You will experience true tales of witchcraft based on the witchcraft hysteria that took place in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. Did you know that there were more witches accused of witchcraft in Andover, Massachusetts, a town in the Merrimack Valley, than in Salem? It’s true!

    Our roots along the Underground Railroad are uncovered within these pages. For the most part, the Merrimack Valley supported the abolishment of slavery. The residents of the Merrimack Valley provided a safe haven in their homes for the newly arriving travelers of the Underground Railroad in the hope that they would reach their goal of freedom farther north. To this day, sounds are heard, and strange, dark, shadowy figures have been reported in and around the areas of the safe houses and tunnels.

    Historic homes, inns, taverns and buildings fill the towns that make up the awesome Merrimack Valley. Many make you feel as though you have taken a step back in time. Their antique rooms and grounds cry out with untold stories of days gone by. Some say these cries can still be heard.

    Lining the banks of the mighty Merrimack River are the early industrial mills of our beautiful valley. They were the life force for the many people who depended on them for their livelihood. From the stagecoaches of the thriving Concord Coach Company in Concord, New Hampshire, to the bustling shoe mills of Haverhill, Massachusetts, most products were made in these mills. The Merrimack River, like other mighty rivers, powered the mills with sheer water energy. One could say they were green before their time. The mills of the Merrimack Valley employed thousands of hardworking people during their heyday. They also experienced life and death within their walls.

    Old graveyards tell of the lives and deaths of the persons buried beneath. Graveyard art is one subject that never ceases to amaze me. It shows the ever-changing growing faith we have in our belief systems, be they Christian, pagan or in between. Views of death, dying and the afterlife are portrayed in the art found on and in old graveyards. The old graveyards of the Merrimack Valley are no exception. The Matthew Thornton Graveyard in the town of Merrimack, New Hampshire, is the final resting place of one of the cornerstone signers of our country’s most honored document, the Declaration of Independence. Much can be inferred about this great man by what is so eloquently written on his gravestone. His headstone was marked by a simple inscription: The Honest Man.

    Our intricate trails and smaller waterways, such as the canals that serviced the mills, still offer a glimpse of the people and animals that ventured along their routes. Animal trails turned into Native American pathways and then into dusty dirt roads for farming settlers. They now stand abandoned for the more progressive roadways and highways of modern times. The old roadways were once essential to the growth and prosperity of our farmers and the running of the mills. Many say these trails and waterways are now mysteriously silent; some even say they are haunted.

    If I have left out your favorite haunted place, don’t worry. I’m in the process of writing many more books on the subject! I hope you enjoy my book and learn some fun ghostly facts along the way.

    HISTORY OF THE MERRIMACK RIVER VALLEY

    Where It All Began

    To understand the full depth and magnitude of the historic Merrimack Valley, one must first gain an understanding of the river for which the valley was named—the Merrimack.

    The mighty Merrimack River got its name from the Pennacook Indians of southern New Hampshire and the North Massachusetts region. The word Merrimack means sturgeon. The sturgeon was a fish in great demand by the Native Americans who lived along the Merrimack River. It populated the waters of the Merrimack in abundance. The Pennacook Indians, knowing the importance of the river for life and food, named it appropriately. In 1604, Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts, an explorer from France, was forging his way to Archia (Nova Scotia). He was told by local Native Americans of a mighty river to the south. This river was the Merrimack.

    The Merrimack River is 110 miles (177 kilometers) in length. It starts at the junction of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee Rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire. The Merrimack takes a southerly journey through New Hampshire and Massachusetts. When it reaches the city of Lowell, Massachusetts, it takes a northeast course and joins the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport, Massachusetts. Its total watershed is 5,000 square miles (1,295 kilometers). Its elevation is 280 feet (85 meters), and its coordinates are latitude 43°26'11° north, longitude 71°38'53° west.

    The mighty Merrimack. Photo by George Abagis.

    In the beginning, before the Ice Age, the Merrimack River took quiet a different course as it traveled to its final destination. Its course ran relatively southerly and straight until it reached Boston, at which point it joined the Atlantic Ocean. After the Ice Age, part of the original Merrimack River was filled in with dirt and debris from the receding glaciers. Thus, the current course of the Merrimack was created.

    The word Merrimack had many different spellings over the years, partly due to the fact that some of the settlers of the area did not have proper schooling and they tended to spell phonetically. Different variations include: Merrimacke, Merrimac, Marrymac, Merimacke, Merimack and Merrymake. It is clear from these variations that a legal standard was necessary.

    The spelling of the name Merrimack was settled once and for all in 1914, when U.S. Congressman John Jacob Rogers of Massachusetts asked the State of Massachusetts for a uniform spelling. It was granted, and the legal spelling of both the river and valley became Merrimack.

    The Merrimack Valley is made up of cities and towns spread between two states—New Hampshire and Massachusetts. From Concord, New Hampshire, to Haverhill, Massachusetts, and including all of the cities and towns in between, each city and town is filled with

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