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Fitch Bits: Mary Dyer - The Witch of the Common

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Watch the short above and read the article below! This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the odd story! Fitch Bits: The Witch of the Common DID YOU KNOW that there's a Witch of the Common? Mary Dyer is her name and getting unjustly executed is her game! This woman was hanged on the Gallows Tree on Boston Common in 1660. If you don't know what the Gallows Tree is, it doesn't exist anymore. It was used to hang many a folk, back in the day, but it fell over 1876. Anyway, Mary was a Quaker in Puritan run Boston and liked to preach her religion on the streets. That ruffled more than a few Puritan feathers and there was nothing they enjoyed more than a good hangin'! There's a lot to this fascinating story, but I'm limited in space with these po

The Murdered Sailor of Blue Posts Inn - Patreon Preview

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The Murdered Sailor of Blue Posts Inn Portsmouth has a dark side. It’s a side filled with legends of ghosts, hauntings, and unsolved mysteries. One such tale is that of the Blue Posts Inn, a long-gone establishment infamous for a gruesome murder that has left its mark on the town to this day. This is the story of the murdered sailor, a restless spirit said to haunt the streets of Portsmouth long after his life was taken in a bloody confrontation at the Blue Posts Inn. Portsmouth at the time was a bustling port, with ships constantly coming and going, and the Blue Posts Inn served as a watering hole for the hard-drinking sailors who frequented the town. But it wasn’t just a tavern; the inn also offered rooms for rent, catering to those who needed a temporary place to stay while they were on shore leave. By day, the streets around the Blue Posts Inn were filled with vendors, children playing , and the general business of a colonial town. But by night, the atmosphere shifted.

The Hauntings of Point of Graves Burial Ground - Patreon Preview

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The paranormal encounters of Point of Graves Cemetery   One of the most well-known spirits said to haunt Point of Graves is that of Ann Clark, a young woman who died in the early 1700s. Ann’s grave is one of the most prominent in the cemetery, marked by an elaborate headstone that bears her name and the date of her death. According to local legend, Ann was a beautiful and beloved young woman who died tragically at a young age, possibly due to illness. Her spirit is said to linger in the cemetery, unable to rest. Visitors have reported seeing a spectral figure , believed to be Ann, wandering among the graves or standing near her own headstone. Some have even claimed to hear her ghost weeping softly in the night, mourning the life she lost so soon, throughout the haunted cemetery. Another ghostly figure often associated with Point of Graves is... Read the Rest on Patreon ! So, what's this all about? Well, you'll have to join us on Patreon to find out! If you decide to join the c

Fitch Bits: The Sad Story of Ruth Blay

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This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. I share them and you can get in on the fun by liking my page at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following me at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now onto the sad story! DID YOU KNOW that Ruth Blay was the last woman hanged in New Hampshire?   Say hello to Ruth Blay. She was the last woman to be hanged in New Hampshire and all she did was give birth to a stillborn child out of wedlock. There’s a lot going on here, so I’d like to talk in more detail later, but here’s a quick rundown:   Ruth Blay was a teacher and seamstress in 18th-century New Hampshire. She was born on June 10, 1737, and remained unmarried into her 30s. That would turn out to be a very bad thing for her.   She came down with a severe case of being pregnant in late 1767, which was a taboo thing for an unwed woman to do back in olde timey days. She continued to teach and carry on with her life until her 31st birth

Portsmouth, New Hampshire’s Haunted Red-Light District - Patreon Preview

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Welcome to this month’s patron exclusive post ! If you’re anything like me, you’ve already learned something new in the title, and there’s plenty more! Portsmouth, New Hampshire History Portsmouth, New Hampshire was first explored in 1603 and found to be home to a natural harbor that would allow big ships to use as well, a port. It was incorporated as a town in 1653 and given the name “Portsmouth”, but not for the reason you think. You see, it wasn’t given that name because it was a port, oh no. It was given that name in honor of the colony’s founder, John Mason. You know, John Mason, Portsmouth, makes sense, right? No? Oh yeah, that doesn’t make any sense. Wait, hold on, here it is! You see, John Mason used to be the captain of the English port of Portsmouth, Hampshire, England! Now it’s all coming together. They named the new town after his old workplace! It also turns out that ports have captains! You really do learn something new every day. Like, just yesterday, I learned that

Fitch Bits: The Gloucester Sea Serpent

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  Watch the video above or read it in article form below! Fitch Bits: The Gloucester Sea Serpent DID YOU KNOW that Gloucester, Massachusetts has its own sea serpent cryptid? The waters around Gloucester and Cape Ann are said to be home to a 60 foot long, serpent-like creature with the head of a turtle! These sightings have been going on for many years, with the first occurring in the 17 th century. In 1638, just 18 years after the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock , a feller name o’ John Josselyn made the earliest sighting. If you don’t know who that is, well, you’re not alone, but he was well-known in his time. He was a traveler to New England, and he wrote about what he saw and heard “with credulity.” Then there were a few hundred years’ worth of additional sightings, with the creature’s highest activity being recorded in the years between 1817 and 1819. These sightings were reported by fishermen and sailors with the descriptions always being pretty much the same. Sometimes t

Fitch Bits: The Last Salem Witch Trial

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  Watch the video above or read it in article form below! Fitch Bits: The Last Salem Witch Trial DID YOU KNOW that the last Salem witch trial took place in 1878? "Witchonthefloorsayswhat?"   Yeah, so most people think the Salem Witch trials ended in 1693 after 19 women and one man were executed but think again! Just because one kind of crazy gets shut down doesn’t mean another one doesn’t take its place. So, it all started in May when a woman named Lucretia L. S. Brown decided to accuse a feller name o’ Daniel H. Spofford of “attempting to harm her through his ‘mesmeric’ mental powers.” That kind of sounds like he was trying to seduce her, but that’s not the case. You see, both people were Christian Scientists and that’s where most of these shenanigans started. "Yes, my name is Lucretia. You got a problem with that?" Christian Science was founded by a hot little minx named Mary Baker Eddy. She also wrote The Christian Science Monitor, Christian Science Sentinel, The

Fitch Bits: Haunted Lake, New Hampshire

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Watch the video above or read it in article form below! This post was originally shared as a Facebook and Instagram "DID YOU KNOW" post. We share them weekly and you can get in on the fun by liking us at  Facebook.com/TheNewSlightlyOddFitchburg  and following us at  Instagram.com/SlightlyOddFitchburg ! Now on to the haunting story! DID YOU KNOW that New Hampshire has a lake so haunted it's actually named Haunted Lake, in Francestown? Okay, first the legends! Two travelers met at the lake and decided to work together. Then, you know how it goes. You start fighting with a coworker, one thing leads to another, and you end up killing each other. Also, the year is 1741. Then there's a story about a feller name o' David Scoby from Ireland. He moved to the lake and supposedly found the remains of one of the guys in 1780, and now their sprirts can't rest. Scoby, at least, is real. He built and ran a gristmill on the lake for many years until the water claimed his life