Topic: First Ghost Story Ever Recorded in the U.S.?

[Ghost1]

First Ghost Story Ever Recorded in the U.S.?

Written By: James Paradie
Posted: 10/21/2010
Published by Trendy Times on October 11th, 2010

  Maine’s close, but believe it or not, the first ghost story recorded  belongs to the Granite State. All the way back in 1682 is when a New  Castle, New Hampshire family experienced some interesting activity that  made them move out of their house, and it even followed them there too!
 
 The documented account takes place in 1682 in the small town of New  Castle, when, even as it is today, was the smallest town in New  Hampshire. A family named the Walton’s woke up one morning to the sound  of heavy rain. Thinking this was strange they soon realized it sounded  like the house was being hit by stones. Rowdy kids? You’d think so, but  more like rowdy poltergeists.
 
 The family went outside and realized that the house was being pelted by  stones, but by unseen hands as it was practically falling out of the  sky. Some were small others were big enough to cause some serious damage  if they were to hit anyone, but they were falling from the sky like  rain, but elsewhere it was nothing, but just an ordinary spring day. As  if the pure astonishment of it raining stones outside was strange it was  even more odd that it was raining stones INSIDE the house as well! What  was going on?
 
 The Walton’s were not mad, they were a highly respected family around  New Castle, so the thought of them doing this for attention or to get  people talking was simply mind blowing. But, there they were, watching  the house being filled with falling rocks, and before they knew it the  whole floor was covered with several inches of the raining rocks.  Windows were locked, they were not smashed, but yet it was raining rocks  inside the house.
 
 It was almost like the Walton’s were plagued with these falling rocks,  because it lasted for months. No matter which friends house they used to  get away from the rocks, it followed them their as well, and then when  they moved back the rocks would cease at their friends, but then start  up again at the Walton household.
 
 One day, George Walton, the head of the house, gathered some of the  rocks that rained upon them, and painted them. He then went and locked  them away, but they would soon find a way out -on their own accord- and  the painted rocks would rain inside the house all over again. Even the  secretary of the colony of New Hampshire, Richard Chamberlain, saw these  unexplainable phenomena’s happen before his eyes. Soon, talk got to  other sections of the country, and scientists were coming from all over  to see what exactly was going on to this plagued family. The scientists  were frustrated that they couldn’t find an explanation for it and to  this day it remains a mystery of how or why this happened.
 
 Soon, the falling stones stopped, for good, and an old woman was accused  of witchcraft and held accountable for the falling rocks of the Walton  home. Lucky for her, she got away free and was ten years shy of when  they used to execute people for using witchcraft.
 
 What could explain these strange phenomena’s? One thing that can be said  about this, is that ghost stories are as native to the state as the Old  Man of the Mountain or the Passaconaway Native American’s. The state  motto may have the word "Die" in it, but the spirits and the ghost  stories that reside in this state will never die.
 
 
 Primary Resource: "Manchester Ghosts" by Renee Mallett
 
 
 Want to contact me?
 
 E-Mail: scaredsheetlessncn@hotmail.com
 Facebook search: Scared Sheetless or The NEPI Paranormal Experience
 Website: http://scaredsheetlessncn.blogspot.com
 
 James Paradie is a paranormal columnist who has been seen in such  newspapers as the Northcountry News, Littleton Record, and the White  Mountain Shopper. His stories can also been seen on paranormalnews.com  where he is a regular contributor.        

http://www.paranormalnews.com/article.asp?ArticleID=1447   

[Smeagol1]

Very interesting, how the rocks got in the house is beyond me.

[Steve Abrams]

Yes, you are right. Technically the U.S. was still an English colony. This isn't about stories in France or anywhere else. It was about something happening on the North American main land.

The keyword here is "documented". Something that was looked at, written down and investigated by science of the times. Several hundred years form now today's science and medicine with seem stone age. So don't judge their science.

Just like the Roff possession. Mary Roff was the first "documented" case of possession in Illinois. Written, recorded and investigated by science of the time.

There is an old house in Eldred Illinois that sometimes has stone appear in mid air and fall to the ground. I have never seen this happen myself but, I've investigated the house only once. My experience was the the room was empty and I along with 2 other investigators were in another room. We heard some noise as if something was dropped. When we went into the room to investigate, there were some stones on the floor where none was before. Unfortunately we didn't have any cameras set up at the time.

[Graveyard Hound]

What about Native Americans, say the ones that arrived about 10,000 B.C.E.. I would imagine they had "spirit stories" that might correspond  to what we might call "ghost stories'?