Lore - Legends 32: Dark New England

Episode Date: July 22, 2024

The older the place, the deeper the legends seem to run. And in New England, that means there’s a treasure trove of dark tales just waiting to be explored. Narrated and produced by Aaron Mahnke, with writing by Harry Marks and Aaron Mahnke, and research by Sam Alberty. ————————— Lore Resources:  Episode Music: lorepodcast.com/music  Episode Sources: lorepodcast.com/sources  All the shows from Grim & Mild: www.grimandmild.com Sponsors: Thorne: Give your body what it really needs with Thorne. Go to Thorne.fit/lorepodcast for 10% off your first order. SimpliSafe: Secure your home with 24/7 professional monitoring. Sign up today at SimpliSafe.com/Lore to get 20% off any new SimpliSafe system with Fast Protect Monitoring.  BetterHelp: Lore is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/LORE, and get on your way to being your best self. To report a concern regarding a radio-style, non-Aaron ad in this episode, reach out to [e-mail] with the name of the company or organization so we can look into it. ————————— To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to [e-mail], or visit our listing here. ————————— ©2024 Aaron Mahnke. All rights reserved.

From MHP and Radio Pictures. My name is Harry Houdini. I have been able to unmask every case of communication from beyond the grave that I have taken on. But not the first one. What's happening, guys? Quiet! Beat all of them! Hey, guys!

Santiago Cabrera, Sibongole Malambo, Ian Anthony Dale, and John Goodman. These people are evil incarnate. Hindsight, the day before. Coming July 22nd to your favorite podcast app. Welcome to Lore Legends, a subset of lore episodes that explore the strange tales we whisper in the dark, even if they can't always be proven by the history books. So if you're ready, let's begin. They made the ultimate sacrifice.

The American colonies wanted independence from England, and so they fought and died. But some of those deaths never took place on the battlefield. Over in Plymouth, Massachusetts, for example, one woman made some, shall we say, interesting choices during the war. Bathsheba Spooner's father had been a British loyalist fighting against the colony's best interests, but she wasn't like him. No, her heart was with the colonial side. Literally.

You see, she had fallen in love with a soldier in the Continental Army, a man named Ezra Ross. She was the Juliet to his revolutionary Romeo. Unfortunately, Bathsheba was already married to a wealthy farmer named Joshua Spooner, and this became a problem when she realized that she was pregnant with her lover's child. She tried to end her marriage, but not through divorce. Instead, she convinced her lover and two additional accomplices to murder her husband. Once the deed was done, they tossed his mangled corpse down a well to hide their crime.

Their conspiracy was undone, though, when one of the killers got sloppy and started showing off a pair of shoe buckles that he had pilfered from the late Mr. Spooner. Everyone involved was arrested and put on trial. The widow Spooner tried to delay her execution to spare the life of her unborn child, but the doctors who examined her didn't believe that she was pregnant at all.

And so, on July 2nd of 1778, she was hanged. An autopsy later revealed that Bathsheba was, in fact, with child, a boy, only five months along, and she became the first woman to be executed in America following the signing of the Declaration of Independence. America has a long, dark past, but New England may have the longest and darkest of all. From the landing of the very first Plymouth settlers to the centuries that followed, more and more tragedy flooded into the region, giving us more and more legends to explore.

Bathsheba Spooner might be a notorious character from New England history, but she is not the only one. There are plenty of others who have left behind their own bloody legacies, and their stories are guaranteed to give you chills. I'm Aaron Manke, and this is Lore Legends. There had always been people there. For generations, the place now known as New England was inhabited by many indigenous tribes. They lived without fear of what resided across the ocean. That is, until white settlers began arriving on the shores of what would become New Hampshire.

Unsurprisingly, their appearance did not go over well with the local population. In May of 1725, a fight broke out between colonists and the Abenaki tribe. The two groups came to blows when the colonists killed an Abenaki hunter and quickly escalated from there. It came to be known as the Battle of Lovewell. Eventually, the Abenaki war chief was killed, forcing the remnants of the tribe to retreat. But they did more than go back to their homes far from the colonial settlements. They moved north to Canada. And once they were gone, word of the English victory spread quickly

to the other colonies. Soon, new English settlements were being built in New Hampshire and Maine. But there was a holdout. In the northern part of New Hampshire, there lived a Native American chief of the Piquocket people. His name was Chief Chokorua, and he resided there with his son Tuamba. According to legend, following the Battle of Lovewell, Chokorua stayed behind in his native lands, refusing to leave with the others. Even as his home filled up with colonists, he refused to uproot his life. In fact, Chokaruwa managed to build a friendly relationship with a man who lived nearby named Cornelius Campbell. The chief seemed to trust the settler so much that when he had to leave town on tribal business,

he asked Campbell to watch over his son Tuamba while he was away. Now, some say that even before this request, Tuamba was a frequent guest of a Campbell home, often exploring the nearby woods and helping himself to whatever he found lying around the house. And that's where this tale takes a dark turn. Because one day, while inside the house, Tuamba happened upon a bottle of liquid that he was not supposed to drink. It wasn't rum or ale that he had found. It was poison. Campbell had often used it for killing the foxes

and wolves that troubled his sheep. He had forgotten to put it away and Tuamba, not realizing what he had found, decided to have some for himself. By the time Campbell realized what had happened, it was too late. Chokurua returned and discovered that his son had died and the chief, grief-stricken, vowed revenge for the careless loss of his son. A short time later, Campbell faced the worst moment of his life. He discovered that his wife and children had been murdered inside their home. As Mahatma Gandhi would later say, an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.

But Cornelius Campbell didn't care. He was already blinded by rage, and so after he buried his family, he rallied other nearby settlers with one mission, to find and kill Chief Chokorua. It didn't take long, either. Campbell pursued the tribal leader all the way to the top of a nearby mountain. Now, stories about what happened next vary greatly. Some say that the chief stood on the highest point of the summit and cursed Campbell and his men before jumping to his death. He invoked the name of an evil one or evil spirit that would bring death and suffering

to the community of colonists. And soon after, a kind of pestilence swept over the local settlers' cattle, nearly starving them all out. Other stories suggest that Campbell cornered the chief at the top of the mountain and told him to jump. When Chokaruah refused, the distraught widower aimed his rifle at the man and shot him. Still, some claim that the chief simply fell off the mountain and died by accident without cursing the settlers at all.

The more you read the tales, the more it's clear that the story of Chokaruah is one that has changed with each telling, much like another New Hampshire legend. Except this one didn't just affect one man and his family. It changed an entire town. Like the legend of Chief Chokorua, this story is one that runs deep through the veins of New England. It's been passed around campfires for generations, and with each new telling, it's grown like a snowball rolling down a mountain. It's always changing, with each new generation putting their own unique spin on it.

Now, many versions of the story claim that Thomas Benton, otherwise known as Doc Benton, was born in Benton, New Hampshire in the late 1700s, or that the town had allegedly been named after his parents, making Thomas something of a local celebrity. With the help of his friends and neighbors, Thomas Benton grew up to become an educated and resourceful young man. You see, the town was in need of a doctor and no one was able to fill the role. But young Thomas could. At least everyone hoped that he could one day. So they decided to make a bold investment in their future. Everyone pooled together and paid for Benton's medical education in Heidelberg, Germany. Why they didn't send him to the much closer Harvard Medical School is anyone's guess.

But it was in Germany where Benton began studying under a man named Professor Stockmeier. But Stockmeier was no ordinary doctor. Sure, he was interested in prolonging human life, but not by normal means. Instead, he was searching for immortality. Sadly, the professor died just before Benton graduated, but in his will, he left his pupil an old trunk with the materials and implements from their unorthodox experiments.

As for Benton, he eventually graduated and returned home to New Hampshire, where he began treating the locals. And over the years, he quickly developed a reputation as a highly competent and compassionate physician. But in 1816, everything changed. Now, some say that Doc Benton was rejected by the woman he loved. Others claim that his fiancee, the daughter of a wealthy landowner, contracted typhoid fever and died despite his best efforts. And a few versions even insist that Benton actually did get married and even started a family, but his wife and child perished after coming down with some unknown disease.

Whatever the truth is, it caused him to close up shop. He moved deep into the woods, where he took up residence in a small empty shack, and there he built a laboratory. Soon, the locals noticed some bizarre things that were going on around town. Dead livestock were discovered on local farms, and each horse, cow, and sheep that was found had a small, red puncture wound behind their left ears, like someone had jabbed them with a needle. Shortly thereafter, locals started finding more than mutilated animals.

An undertaker hauling away a corpse looked away for just a moment and then looked back only to find that his cargo was suddenly missing. It was recovered from the bushes in a nearby town next to another body. And just like the livestock, each person had a pinprick behind their left ear. That was when the town decided to get some answers. So they ventured into the woods to find Doc Benton, not to arrest or attack him, but to find out if he knew anything about what was going on. Except when they arrived there, he wasn't home.

The shack was completely abandoned and any trace of the doctor was gone. Of course, rumors about his whereabouts spread, with some arguing that he had been killed just like the others, although his body had never been found. Others claimed that he had actually been found dead with the same telltale wound behind his left ear. But in November of 1825, the town finally got its answer. A woman from Benton was out doing her laundry when she heard a blood-curdling scream. It was her daughter, and when she looked up toward the source of the sound, she saw something terrifying. There was a person standing there in a black cape, and the little girl was in his arms. The stranger took off, and her father ran after them. When the

neighbors found out what was going on, they closely followed behind. They eventually stopped at a box canyon called Little Tunnel Ravine, and there was nowhere else for the figure to run. Except, he had vanished into thin air. And then, like a scene out of a movie, the group heard the ominous sound of laughter from above. They glanced up, and there he was, Doc Benton, climbing up the cliff, still holding onto the girl. Her father pleaded with Benton to let her go, and he did, just not the way

that the man had hoped. The doctor simply tossed her from the top of the cliff. She landed at the bottom of the canyon, dead on impact. Since then, sightings of this evil doctor clad in his black cape and a head full of long white hair have been reported by many. It would seem that his search for immortality has paid off. Some say that he's still out there claiming more victims. Just look behind their left ear and you can find the proof. Of course, not all monsters from legend are human. There are other things out there as well that defy explanation entirely. We won't have to travel far.

Just 200 miles south of Benton is a sinister place where things that go bump in the night aren't mad doctors. They're actual monsters. Gloucester, Rhode Island sits in the northern part of the state, and it's home to a curious place known as the Dark Swamp. It first appeared on local maps in the mid-1800s, and according to one local writer, the swamp got its name due to the literal darkness caused by the dense trees overhead. But such a bland explanation doesn't fool those who are familiar with its legends, because

according to those who live nearby it, there is an evil creature that has stalked those wetlands for hundreds of years. Now, this trail can be traced back to a man named Albert Hicks, who lived near the dark swamp around 1839. Hicks himself was quite a character. A Rhode Island native who was born in the town of Foster in 1820, Albert Hicks' early life is still a bit of a mystery. Little is known about his upbringing, but his adult exploits have been widely documented. If you read the stories, though,

he built a legacy as a notorious pirate, thief, and murderer. Some estimates put his overall body count at around 100 victims. But back in 1839, Hicks almost became a victim himself, a victim of the thing that was dwelling within the Dark Swamp. He had heard the countless tales of pirates and highwaymen during his youth. They might have even inspired his future career path later on. But during his teens, they influenced a much less violent expedition. You see, there had been a local legend floating around about a famous pirate, Captain Kidd, burying his treasure somewhere in Rhode Island.

So Hicks got to work hunting for it right away. He figured that it would have to be buried on the land of the Page Homestead, as he had heard a previous story about several Spanish coins being found on the property as well. And that homestead was situated right next to the wooded area that later maps would label as the Dark Swamp. Inspired by the stories, Hicks rallied three other buddies of his and set out under the cover of darkness to dig up the Page family's farm. Not long after they had broken ground, though, they got very quiet.

Just a short distance away, the leaves rustled. There was something moving nearby. And then without warning, a figure emerged from the trees. Hicks said that it was, and I quote, a large animal with staring eyes as big as pewter bulls. The eyes looked like balls of fire. He also said that it was about the size of a cow and had big bat-like wings on its back. As it moved toward the men, the scales all over its body rattled. And then it was gone. It simply disappeared into the woods once more. But Hicks and his friends weren't going to stick around long enough to see if it came

back. They dropped their digging tools and bolted away from the farm as fast as possible. They never did find Captain Kidd's treasure, and they never came back to the Page family's farm again to look for it either. But they weren't the last to see the creature, because in 1896, newspapers all over the Northeast recorded an account from another Gloucester man named Neil Hopkins. Hopkins was on his way home from work one evening and passing by the dark swamp. Suddenly as he reached the darkest spot in the road, as the article says, a monstrous animal

appeared behind him. And then it started running. Hopkins took off with the creature following closely behind. He told reporters later, it seemed to be all of fire. It had a hot breath. He also said that it was as big as an elephant and made metallic sounds as it galloped after him. But it didn't stick around for long. The creature retreated back into the woods from where it came, crushing leaves and twigs as it went. The article's headline posed the question,

Cow, Monster, or Ghost? If you ask the people of Gloucester, Rhode Island, it is definitely not a cow, and probably isn't a ghost either. They know it by another name, one that seems to describe it perfectly. They call it the burning beast. The older the region, the deeper the legends run. At least, that's what it feels like.

And when you take the time to read through collections of New England folklore and local legends, it's hard to disagree. The deep roots there seem to run through dark, bloody soil. And of course, it's hard to deny the influence of such an old and creepy place like New England on the creative folk of the area. Stephen King, for example, might tell stories set in all spots across the country, but he cut his teeth and built a reputation for his tales from fictional towns in Maine and his son Joe Hill Has done the same and so have so many others and honestly, can you blame them?

So it should be no surprise that this powerful influence has been at work for a lot longer than mr. King and the people of Derry In fact, the legend of the burning beast alone has managed to inspire not one, but two writers. Writers who went on to craft their own stories about untold horrors. C.M. Eddie Jr. and H.P. Lovecraft. Eddie had heard from a local that part of the swamp had never been seen by human eyes,

and living within that hidden area were very strange animals. According to a letter written by Lovecraft, Eddie proposed they venture inside in search of an unknown evil ruled by the subterraneous horror that sometimes cranes its neck out of the deepest potholes. It. So in 1923, the pair took a trip to Rhode Island to find the swamp and the monster they called It for themselves. But they didn't set foot inside its borders. Eddie thought back to the man who had told him about the creature, and the details apparently frightened the man off, details that were recorded months later in another letter between two friends.

Apparently the man had told Eddie how IT had moved in Dark Swamp and had been there when the first settlers came, and that the locals believed It had always been there. This was a seemingly immortal evil, one that was only ever referred to by the authors as It. Some Lovecraft enthusiasts have argued that the folklore surrounding the beast had been reported by Hicks and others during the previous centuries were still very much in circulation during Lovecraft's time. According to them, this is the legend that lay beneath the creature that Lovecraft called It in his writings. But others say that any connection between It and the Burning Beast are just a coincidence. They claim that there's no direct connection between the two creatures and that Lovecraft came up with this monster all on his own.

Maybe it's true and his monster was a brand new invention. Or perhaps Lovecraft was simply following that old bit of writing advice, one that hits a bit different, given the material available in New England. Right? What you know. The longer people have lived in one place, the darker the stories seem to get. It's part of our legacy as humans, although not always one that we can be proud of. At the very least, though, I hope today's tour through a few of our favorite New England legends left you with a few chills and a better understanding of exactly why this part of

the country is so dang creepy. But we're not done just yet. My team and I have saved one last New England legend to share with you, and what it lacks in creep factor it more than makes up for with all-out mystery. Stick around through this brief sponsor break to hear all about it. This episode of Lore was made possible by Thorn. Summer always seems like it's busy. I know it is for me this year.

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If I've learned one thing about social media, it's that comparison is the thief of joy and it's super easy to envy other people's lives. It might look like they have it all together on their Instagram, but in reality they probably don't. But here's the thing, therapy can help you focus on what you want instead of what others have, so you can start living your best life. I know how important and helpful therapy can be when it comes to stepping back and examining everything with a fresh pair of eyes and ears. Honestly, it can empower you to be the best version of yourself. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief

questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists anytime for no additional charge. Stop comparing and start focusing with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com slash Lore today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp. H-E-L-P dot com slash Lore. Believe it or not, there are some parts of New Hampshire that are not home to terrifying beasts with glowing eyes or even dark, mysterious swamps. A farther north in the town of Salem, New Hampshire exists an ancient complex that seems

to elude scientific explanation. But the mystery has only encouraged the countless theories about its origins. A massive collection of stone structures sits on a hilltop aptly known as Mystery Hill. This odd collection of stone formations is mostly made up of small walls capped with pointed triangular stones occurring at regular intervals. And it has a special name, one that highlights the England parts of New England. They call it America's Stonehenge, although it has very little resemblance to the famous

megalithic formation across the pond. The only thing the two sites actually have in common with each other is that they're both made of stone. Unlike the English Stonehenge, the one in New Hampshire has a lot more going on underneath the surface. Below the 11 ton outcropping are numerous hidden chambers to explore. There's also a large, flat slab resting on four support legs that's known as the sacrificial stone. It boasts a gutter that's been carved all around the top of it,

not unlike the grooves on a cutting board that allow blood to drain away from the meat when you're cutting into it. Now, even though it's called the sacrificial stone, there is no proof that this table-like structure was actually used for rituals. It may have been used to collect rainwater or served as a li-stone to make soap. The suggestion that this slab was used to kill people or animals for religious purposes is nothing more than speculation. But that speculation comes from another odd component of Stonehenge. Under the sacrificial stone is an eight-foot long tube that connects to a secret hidden

chamber underground. Some have argued that a priest might have concealed himself inside this space and spoken through the tube creating a mysterious, spectral voice that uttered predictions, commands, and curses. Now this collection of ruins and chambers was discovered by a farmer named Jonathan Patti in the 1820s, but its history goes back much further than that. According to a piece of charcoal from the site that was carbon dated, it's at least 4,000 years old.

Other items unearthed at America's Stonehenge are pottery shards dating back before 1100 BC, as well as stones that were harvested using primitive techniques from thousands of years ago. But of course, there's still the big question, right? Where did this strange arrangement of slabs and rocks come from? Well, some scholars believe that Irish cul-de-monks had built the underground chambers during the 11th century after Vikings invaded the area. Others suggest that the above-ground structures go back 4,000 years and were at least partly constructed by local Native American tribes.

But most scientists think that these stones weren't put there by an ancient civilization at all. They believe it was farmer Jonathan Petit himself who built the whole thing during the 19th century. Unfortunately, the site has been disturbed so many times over the years, it's now impossible to know for sure. But that mystery is also part of its charm. It makes the structure a lot like its sibling back in England.

The truth is, no one really knows who put it there or why. Sometimes the legends that stick around are just a bunch of stories. And sometimes there's something more. This episode of Lore Legends was produced by me, Aaron Manke, with writing by Harry Marks and Aaron Manke and research by Sam Elberti. Don't like hearing the ads? I've got a solution for you. There is a paid version of Lore on Apple Podcasts and Patreon that is 100% ad free. Plus, subscribers also get weekly mini episodes called Lore Bites.

It's a bargain for all of that ad free storytelling and a great way to support this show and the team behind it. Learn all about your ad free options over at lorepodcast.com slash support. Lore is of course more than just a podcast. There's the book series available in bookstores and online, and two seasons of the television adaptation on Amazon. Information about all of that and more is available over at lorepodcast.com. And you can also follow this show on threads, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Just search for Lore Podcast, all one word, and then click that follow button. And when you do, say hi. I like it when people say hi. And as always, thanks for listening.