Ghost Hunting....yeah Ghost Hunting.....You have a problem with that Milford? Part 1

Hunting spirits is all the rage and has been so for the past decade. Ghost hunting groups have formed in every corner of every town, city and burb all over the United States of Entertainment. Frankly sitting in the dark in someone's basement with a converted transistor radio watching lights and waiting for a whisper is not my idea of fun. And frankly if a house or spot is haunted it should be more evident than a slumber party.

The scientific method suffers here as amateurs whose only paranormal education is Saturday night cable television try to lend credence to something that I believe is a lot more complicated than 'did you hear that?'

My plan for this and future columns is this: visit these purportedly paranormal places in my home base of Connecticut and see who I happen to run into or through because they are ectoplasm and are not solid.

I live in Milford, a hotbed of pirate history with a couple of ghosts thrown in. Tonight I will address three houses and one site being heavily and publicly pushed as a nest for phantoms.

The Milford Historical Society, I used to be a member, claims that three of its houses are haunted: Eells-Stowe, Clark-Stockdale and Bryan Downs. The story goes that docents and volunteers claim to hear voices; feel prying eyes, etc.

I lived here over twenty years and was an active member, and up until the last year or so there has never been any talk of this. The houses don't sit on their original lots and well, it is a Hell of a marketing plan to attract new members.

In the articles I have read an unnamed paranormal group purportedly collected EVPs which the logic dictates proves a haunting.

Well as someone who has been in these buildings both during the day and during the night I have never heard voices, I have never experienced someone else in the room with me, etc.

I would love to hear the EVPs. I would love to speak with these hunters and discuss their methodology. I would love to accompany them on a lock down until then I believe this to be a marketing ploy as there is no real basis for these hauntings.

There is no back story to lend credence; there is no history of activity and frankly there is nothing to believe here unless the Society brings more to the table.

I will stay in Milford for the next hunt which will involve pirates and I don't mean that team once Managed by Danny Murtaugh.

 

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Corpses Don't Bleed

The Kindle edition of Corpses Don't Bleed can be found on Amazon.com. Only $1.00 and published by BIZARRE BOOKS. LOVE THE COVER!!!!!!!!

ANGEL OF MERCY PUBLISHED BY THREE MINUTE PLASTIC

It is there today--issue number seven with some awesome reads. I am fortunate to be a part of this issue with Jon, John and E M.

Mine is the story of the moment of death--the exact moment.

Thanks guys and happy reading.

Milford Connecticut’s First Presidential Visit

This blog originates in Milford, Connecticut and today we bring a tale from Milford's history:

Many of you are aware of the small monument just outside of the Parsons Center that memorializes George Washington’s visit to Clark’s in Milford Connecticut in November of 1789.

If you believe the tourist motivated legends, George Washington slept in so many places it is inconceivable he had the time to win our independence. Now with his own diaries accessible online facts can now be sifted from the myths; with one other point of solace to those misguided local historians—-the guy still had to eat.

What actually occurred at Milford’s Ye Olde Clark Tavern that November morning in 1789 may not be as celebrated as the crossing of the Delaware but it is just as well documented. The General was a meticulous diarist noting daily a full weather report each morning upon waking, along with his destinations and adventures in between. A forerunner to Zagat, his restaurant reviews mostly left a bad taste.

We know from a variety of sources that 18th century taverns more so than the confines of the local house of worship were the meetinghouses of the day, where the pressing issues of political and local intrigue were debated with spirit and spirits.

Clean drinking water was scarce and a printed menu even scarcer. Not so much to dispense with a paper trail but planning just wasn’t in the cards. Meals were based upon the availability of that morning’s find at the local market. This being wartime, the pickings were slim. Despite the knowledge of scarcity and an aroma of surprise sitting in each serving; in general, the General was appalled with the
poor quality of the grub he received; but again, a guy still has to eat.

Sources indicate he may have been to Clark’s on more than one occasion. Diary aside, his favorite meal, breakfast, was porridge. But on this memorialized morning he was hungry from a 5 am ride and needed sustenance and a break. Given first a plate of boiled meat and potatoes, the future President expressed great disappointment; Subsequently requesting a bowl of plain bread and milk he found his luck had not changed because he was also given a broken pewter spoon.

To say this meal at Clark’s was consistent is not an understatement, as history reports that this was the only spoon in residence. Upon being informed of this George Washington tossed two shillings to his server, commanding that he go to a local minister’s house and return with a silver spoon on loan.

It is normal for us all to conjure romanticized visions of our founders, larger than life, charging on steeds into battle against injustice and repression; however the reality portrays a time of great turmoil, in a land drained of its resources by a despot. Of people larger than life and persons forgotten living with sacrifice and even despair, having to make do with less. I see this marker almost every day and, no matter its original intention, to me it stands more as a testament to those times than a simple celebration of celebrity.