| Shelburne Museum's Resident Ghosts – The Dutton House was built in Cavendish, Vermont, in 1782, was unoccupied for forty years, donated and moved to the Shelburne Museum in 1950. |
One employee reports that on her first day on the job as a tour guide she went upstairs and noticed an older man with a white shirt and scruffy face hunkering down under the slope of the roof. Another museum tour guide mentioned that she has heard the sound of a little girl crying.
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The “Bennington Triangle” - The term "Bennington Triangle" was coined by New England author Joseph A. Citro during a public radio broadcast in 1992 to denote an area of southwestern Vermont within which a number of persons went missing between 1920 and 1950.
The Moonlight Ghosts of Lake Morey, Fairlee, VT - We are taught in school that the steam engine was invented by Robert Fulton, however, it was actually invented by Samuel Morey, and stolen by Fulton due to a technicality in the patent registration. Captain Morey was so angered, that he sunk his boat, the Aunt Sally to the bottom of Lake Morey in Fairlee, and on a still, moon lit night, the Aunt Sally rises to the lake's surface and floats without sound or ripple, as the ghost of Captain Morey watches from shore.
Stowe - Emily's bridge - In the 19th century a girl was going to elope with the man of her dreams. (Even though her parents disliked the man entirely) He told her to meet him at the covered bridge nearest to their homes the next day at noon. When she got there no one was there. she waited for hours and he never showed. She was so desperate for his love she committed suicide. Read more about Emily's Bridge and decide for yourself if this ghost story is true or just a well spun, local legend.
High Spirits at the Highgate Manor Inn
Captain Morey’s Moonlight Haunting
History tells us that the steam engine was invented by Robert Fulton. However, it was actually invented by a man named Samuel Morey. In 1793, he fitted a paddle wheel and steam engine to a small boat and powered up and down the Connecticut River. Legend has it that this was done on a Sunday morning, when the town was at church, to avoid ridicule if he failed. Credit for the first successful steamboat line goes to Robert Fulton and his financier, Chancellor Robert Livingston. This was a cause for contention, as Morey claims that they took some of his ideas. Captain Morey was so angered, that he sunk his boat, the Aunt Sally to the bottom of Lake Morey (named in honor of Samuel Morey) in Fairlee, VT, and on a still, moonlit night, the Aunt Sally rises to the lake's surface and floats without sound or ripple, as the ghost of Captain Morey watches from shore.
The Bowman Monument of Cuttingsville, VT - Endowed with a fortune from his tanning business, Mr. John P. Bowman built a mausoleum to hold the remains of his wife and children, including a life-size statue of himself, flowers in hand, walking up the steps with a grieving expression. If you drive along Route 103 in Cuttingsville, the eerie site of a ghostly white figure standing outside the door of the Laurel Glen Mausoleum with a wreath and key in one hand and a top hat in the other may momentarily startle you. However, it is merely a statue of Mr. Bowman, who along with his family, is interred within the walls of the huge stone vault.
The life-size statue of Mr. Bowman has been visible at the steps of the mausoleum since 1881, when the well to do Bowman had the vault constructed to contain the remains of his wife and two daughters. Inside the crypt is a life-size statue of his oldest daughter who passed away when she was but an infant. There are also busts of his wife and other daughter, who tragically died within a mere several months of each other. Ten years later, in 1891, Mr. Bowman passed away and was buried within the crypt, joining his family.
Strange and eerie occurrences have been reported around the mausoleum at night. The mansion across the street from the cemetery seems to be the focal point for hauntings. Locals believe that the ghosts of Bowman and his family still walk within the mansion they had once enjoyed during life. The mansion, vacant for years, was eventually purchased by new owners. The lucky (or unlucky) new homeowners have reported seeing ghosts of the Bowman family gliding through the rooms of the old mansion. In fact it is said to be so haunted that the owners will no longer stay at the house after dark.
The Curse of the Hayden House, Albany, VT.
Legend has it that, many years ago, the entire Hayden family perished as victims of a curse. In 1910, a horse-drawn hearse carried the final remains of William Henry Hayden, last in the male line of his family, along the South Albany Road, to the village cemetery. Curtains were drawn across the mansion’s windows in tribute, even though the extravagantly furnished house had remained without a tenant for nearly twenty years. Some would remember Mercie Dale’s curse upon the family that the Hayden family name would die and pass into oblivion. What would happen now to the vacant, dark mansion with its wide fields and impressive barns? Was there a hidden family fortune and if so, where had it been secreted away? Those answers and other secrets lie within the final resting place of Henry Hayden.
Ghostly lights in the formerly abandoned property, overturned gravestones in the Albany cemetery, phantom violins playing in the moonlight. Actually, Dwight Dow, one of the Hayden family's descendents set me straight with the facts for a school project back in the late 70's.
Words from Dwight himself: "Ghosts? Hell no!!! Just some drunk passin' by in the middle of the night making up things. They had a ballroom floor, on springs, for dancing but they weren't no ghosts or none of that. Who's the damn fool that told you that anyway?"
Note: Dwight Dow passed away a couple years after the discussion.
Vampires in Woodstock, Vermont?
Lora, the Resident Ghost of the Back Inn Time
Friendly resident ghosts are said to make the St. Albans, VT. Back Inn Time ( a local inn) their home. There is Lora, the wife of Sidney Weaver, a past owner of the home. Lora died at the young age of 30, however her spirit lives on at Back Inn Time. Another ghost spotted is that of a man. He has been seen in the downstairs parlor.
Many guests claimed to have heard voices, noises, or even seen apparitions while staying at the Inn. Built in 1858 by Victor Attwood, the building has seen some rich history. Despite only one man being documented as dying in the building, patrons claim to see an older woman. The man who passed was a descendant of Victor Attwood, and the last owner in the family until purchased by the current owners. Besides that it has been claimed by psychics that the land was once used as a site for child slavery. There is also mention of a mentally challenged person being locked in a windowless room within the Inn.
The Dedicated Dead Workers of Barre, VT
A Barre, VT woolen mill, built in 1842, hosts some non-living past workers who refuse to punch out and leave. There have been many sightings at the old mill over the past 100 years. One recent employee was employed for almost 12 years and claims to have seen a number of people who haven't quite passed over. She has seen them stitching at the old machines and walking back and forth through the building. There have been increasingly strong scents of lilacs, usually when something supernatural is about to occur. The woman has also seen two different ghosts. When they appear, her adding machine keeps typing the number 3. Other employees have reported similar activity. The building was erected on the site of an old church, which burned down in the early 1800s. Some conjecture that the apparitions could be past parishioners of the church. However, due to the activity, most believe that the spirits are really past mill workers who are still on the job and not ready to leave.
