The Haunted Vessel: Blue Mary

Grave of Mary Ritter Spaulding.

There are not a lot of local legends where I live that have ghosts attached, and even less that I will visit voluntarily.  Blue Mary is one surprising exception to this.

"Blue" Mary is a spirit that haunts Vale End Cemetery in Wilton, NH.  According to legend she appears as a blue light, and has caused any number of accidents, evps, creepy feelings, and supposed attacks.  I personally have never felt any malice in Vale End, or from Mary herself, but that's just me.  Most stories about her do suggest she is a vengeful and angry spirit, though when you hear her history it's no wonder.

In life Mary was known as Mary Ritter, or by her married name Mary Spaulding.  By all accounts she was a happy woman, marrying Captain Isaac Spaulding in 1795 and having eight children.  Some local folklore reports that Mary was a healer who specialized in using herbs, but there are no other sources to verify this information.

Uriel at Mary's grave.

Mary died in 1808 at 35 years old.  There is some mystery surrounding her death as well.  Some legends suggest that her husband was cheating on her with a younger woman (who he eventually married), and the depression and anger caused by this drove her to suicide.  Others agree with the infidelity, but say Mary wasted away on her own.  One word-of-mouth report I heard included Mary hanging herself in her home.  Whatever the case, Mary died young, leaving behind a husband and eight children.

It's traditional to leave offerings to appease
Mary. Note the pennies on her grave.

In 1809, a little over a year after his wife's death, Isaac married his second wife Mary Flynn Colburn.  Some reports suggest that this Mary was in fact the woman Isaac had been having and affair with.  When this Mary died, Isaac had her buried on top of his first wife.  It is for this reason that many people say Mary Ritter has returned to haunt Vale End.

I have been to Vale End a number of times, and have not experienced the terror that most reports insist is present.  I'm not sure exactly why that is, other than perhaps the fact that I really, truly, feel for Mary.  To me it isn't an attraction like a theme park, it's sad and unfortunate.  I like to go and talk "to" Mary, leave her little gifts as is customary, and often play her songs.

I haven't had any intense experiences, but the last time I was there I did experience something odd.  I brought my guitar along, and sat across from Mary's grave and played her songs for at least an hour.  I sang a number of covers, and then I delved into my own works, not all of which are particularly poppy or happy.  I found that when I sang my own music, I would feel a presence over my shoulder.  In particular when I sang a few songs that dealt with death, I felt the presence and the faint touch of something.

At first I thought the nearby trees were dripping on me, but this feeling occurred only when I was playing.  If I stopped playing/singing, it stopped.  There was no wind at the time, and I even moved out from underneath the trees to see if that was the cause.  However, as soon as I started playing again, the feeling return.  It honestly almost felt like tears falling on my shoulder, which is strange to say the least.

This time I went back with my sister and Uri, and we wandered around the cemetery for a while taking in the scenery.  Ghosts aside, it's truly a beautiful place to sit.  Hence why I come here so often with a book, guitar, sketch pad, etc.  I snapped some pictures of Mary's grave, and some f Uri with the grave, as well as some of the cemetery itself.

I should add that Vale End is also known for having at least two other spirits in residence.  One is an old man who wanders around near the cemetery gate.  Supposedly his daughter was buried in the grounds, but her grave was moved at some point.  The man returns and looks for his daughter's grave.


The second spirit is where most of the frightened reports come from.  According to local legend there is a Native American troll-like spirit that lives in or around the cemetery in some sort of den.  Apparently this area was the location of a massacre of Native American people by the Wilton townsfolk, and this creature is a punishment left in the wake of the violence.  I have never experienced either of these secondary ghosts, but that's just me.

Here are some more picture of the cemetery itself to give you a better idea of what the grounds look like.  It is really a beautiful place.

For more information on Mary and Vale End:

SPI's Website

Union Leader article

Ghosts of New England article

Hollow Hill article

FamilyPedia entry

Nashua Telegraph article

It's that time of year...

I mentioned last week that Uri and I were off to do some "ghost hunting" at my sister's house.  She'd been experiencing some increasingly uncomfortable activity, and asked if I could come by and "work some mojo."  I took Uri along with me because he is my resident anti-ghost doll.  In general spirits won't mess with any of my dolls, but Uri is one that projects a very strong "go away" feeling around him.  So if I have him with me, the ghosts will generally stay a certain distance away.  

The activity seems to be consistent with what I had previously experienced when I lived there.  I believe it is the Civil War ghost I encountered last year that I discussed in this post.  She has heard the same kinds of footsteps and movement, coupled with an odd feeling of there being a male presence.  She has also most disturbingly heard a male voice when there is no man in the house, and heard our mother talking in her sleep to something that responds in that same voice.  My mother has no memory of these experiences, and pretty much dismisses the whole thing on principle.  However my sister was frightened and disturbed.

I took Uri and went through my normal process of cleansing and blessing the room.  I put Uri in the center and called to each element and my own deities for protection.  The moment I did that, the room went up at least ten degrees in temperature.  I had no recording equipment unfortunately, but I went from shivering to being hot enough to take off my sweater.  

I saged the room, and went about doing my blessing (private ritual).  The room definitely felt better afterwards, not only warmer but safer.  When I was done I stepped out of the room to leave, and I could feel a palpable difference just between the hallway and her room.  I retrieved Uri, and from then on walking was like stepping through thick fog.  The sensation of stepping through something not quite physical, but definitely present.  

Since then I've gone back to the house a few times to access some boxes I have stored there, and I can tell that the ghost is still present.  I was in the garage looking through boxes yesterday, and heard the distinct sound of footsteps on the driveway, and then across the leaves that were in front of the door.  I figured someone had come home without me hearing their car, but when I looked up nobody was there.  Further inspection revealed no cars in the driveway but mine.  That happened a couple more times while I was still in the garage, and the sound was very plainly someone walking.  

The button is still at my mother's house in storage, which is probably why the ghost is still active.  That and the facts that I'm no longer there to pay attention, and that my mother took down all the protective charms/etc. when I moved.  It took him a couple months, but he seems to be back in full swing now.  I told my sister to keep me posted on how she is feeling, and that I would try and figure out what to do with the button long-term.