Tag: witches of Gloucester

Ghosts in Gloucester – The Mysterious Noises in Gould’s Court 1884 Boston Globe

Posted on by Catherine

Just in time for some Halloween eve spirit, curl up with a selection of Boston Globe news columns featuring 19th and 20th century Gloucester ghost reports.

First up a 19th century Gloucester ghost story from 1884 with a title as long as the day, “GHOSTS IN GLOUCESTER: The Mysterious noises in Gould’s Court. An Acadian French Theory of Their Cause–Men Less Brave Than Women. Frequent Gratuitous Rappings Unexplained.”

1884

“I hope we shall not hear that noise tonight,” said the wife of Stephen McKinney as she sat in an upper room of 12 Gould court a week ago. A female companion expressed the same hope, and Mrs. McKlancy continued: “We may not hear it for a fortnight; we have not heard it for the last three weeks, and–”

She did not finish the sentence. At that moment, in the hall below, was heard a rap! rap! rap! as knuckles at the door.

Boston Globe 1884

1884 Boston Globe article: Ghosts in Ghoul CourtDownload

(The writer adds flourish to the dialogue as if the resident was a native French speaker. Decades later Cher Ami was around the corner. Was this area a French quarter?)

1903 Sanborn map detail from plate 17 with Gould Court Gloucester, Massachusetts

Part Two was published the following day: “THE GLOUCESTER GHOSTS. Is Mr. Henry Hatch’s House Really Haunted? A Diagram Illustrating the Scene of the Strange Manifestations. Similar Stories of ‘Old Jeffrey’ and Esther Cox*.”

“Another remarkable case was that of Esther Cox, at Amherst, N.S., a few years ago…”

With a diagram. Not much of a story but it made the front page. Could have titled this tall tale Ghosts of Ghoul court.

1884 Part 2 Ghosts of Gould CourtDownload

1896

In 1896 ghosts were reported at Stage Fort Park: “Gloucester’s Fortress is Alive With Ghosts. Warriors Tremble at Sight of Gliding Specters. Hundreds Turned Out Last Night to See “It.” And “It” Appeared at the Armory Window.”

1896 Ghosts in GloucesterDownload

1921

Writer Henry W. Harris, Jr. quick piece and good read from 1921 considers Rev. Cotton Mather’s account of the Gloucester Ghost Battles of 1692 when the militia was called out to defend Gloucester from ghosts, “war and witch fever”.

“The latter soon located three alleged spirits and fired at them, whereupon they lay down. “I’ve killed three! he shouted to the oncoming soldiery. At this the spirits rose from the place where they had laid down and fired back–under the circumstances there was nothing else for a self respecting spook to do.”

from 1921 Boston Globe article by Henry Harris considers Cotton Mather’s account of Gloucester Ghost Battles of 1692 “war and witch fever”
1921 Boston Globe Henry Harris considers Cotton Mather’s account of Gloucester Ghost Battles of 1692Download

For more about witches in Gloucester see my 2018 post

1960

Every decade or so there’s a piece about that ghostly place, Dogtown. This one from 1960 describes preservation efforts at the time: “Paradise for Naturalists and Bird Watchers: Cape Ann Moves to Save Romantic Ghost Town”.

“Leading the drive to save the area from dumping and real estate development are several naturalists, including John Kiernan…President of Dogtown Foundation, Inc., is Dr. Melvin T. Copeland, former professor at the Harvard School of Business Administration and author of a history of the school. Working closely with him is another of the trustees, Elliott C. Rogers. A book by the last two men “The Saga of Cape Ann” has just been published…the handiest compendium on the history and byways of Cape Ann…”

Herbert A. Kenny, Boston Globe, March 20, 1960

And from October that same year, “Want Ghost Town Dead”

Want Ghost Town Dead, 1960Download

Salem witch trials end with Esther Elwell, from Gloucester, Sarah Jessica Parker’s ancestor

Posted on by Catherine

Sarah Jessica Parker season 1 episode 1 NBC Who Do You Think You Are tv show_ ancestor ESTHER ELWELL one of 3 women from Gloucester was accused of witchcraft.jpg

In the tv show, Who Do You Think You Are? (March 5 2010), produced by Lisa Kudrow, season 1, episode 1, Sarah Jessica Parker learns that her tenth great grandmother, Esther (Dutch) Elwell, was found guilty of witchcraft in 1692. Her arrest was the last formal accusation recorded during the Salem witch trials. The grisly court was dissolved days prior to her sentencing because spectral evidence was banned. Esther lived to be 82 years old. Parker visited Danvers to meet with historians and inspect the original records, and then on to Salem to pay respects.

Did Sarah Jessica Parker come to Gloucester?

Well, not according to the final edit. The show could have filmed here.

Witches of Gloucester

Beckoned to Gloucester, Salem teenager and accuser, Betty Hubbard, officially confirmed the false suspicions in 1692. And just like that three women from Gloucester– Esther Elwell, Abigail Rowe and Rebecca Dike– were arrested for killing Gloucester resident, Mary Fitch, by witchcraft. Historians determined that nine women from Gloucester were caught up in the witchhunts, jailed, and released (by the spring of 1693). Accused were more often than not related and at odds with accusers, well off, and/or “trouble”.  Collaborating institutions and collections have gathered and digitized 17th century documents. You can peruse them here: http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/17docs.html

Later history of witches in Gloucester revolve around Dogtown. In the 1896 book,  In the Heart of Cape Ann, Charles Mann described Gloucester’s Dogtown as “practically the only ruined city in America.” By then Dogtown legends persisted about “witches” like Tammy Younger (died 1829), her aunt Luce George, Peg Wesson, and Judy Rhines.  Percy Mackaye’s 1921 poem Dogtown Common acknowledged Mann’s book, “curious reader may learn many strange, half fogotten facts concerning the old Puritan life of that region…”  Here’s the eerie opener setting a fitting scene for Halloween.

Inland among the lonely cedar dells
of old Cape Ann, near Gloucester by the sea,
Still live the dead–in homes that used to be.
     All day in dreamy spells
They tattle low with toungues of tinkling cattle
     bells,
Or spirit tappings of some hollow tree,
And there, all night–all night, out of the
     dark–
They bark–and bark.

eerie opening Dogtown Common 110 page poem by Percy Mackaye 1921.jpg

 

Apparently, when Sarah Jessica Parker starred in Hocus Pocus (1993), she did not know this family history. Some of the movie was filmed on location in Salem and Marblehead.