Posted on 03/11/2005 11:17:54 PM PST by CurlyBill
By Emily Quirk
equirk@seacoastonline.com
RAYMOND - Tim Louis never believed in ghosts before he bought the old Bean Tavern on Fremont Road more than 20 years ago. Now he says he’s a believer. In 1982, after his father-in-law died, Louis and his wife, Peg, were searching for his father-in-law’s will. Louis had just come home from work the day after Christmas with The Boston Globe and placed the newspaper on the kitchen table. He went upstairs looking for Peg and she was frantically looking for her father’s will, which Louis said must have been filed away in a safe place.
"Peg was tearing the house apart looking for the will and she went down the stairs to look downstairs. I was only 10 seconds behind her. When we walked into the kitchen the will was sitting on top of the newspaper," Louis said. "It was an eerie feeling. No one else was in the house but someone put them there."
Louis’ story is an example of the many "true ghost stories" in Raymond residents Kathleen Chamberlain and Barbara Edgar may be researching. Chamberlain and Edgar are looking for stories of Raymond’s most haunted places for a Channel 22 documentary set to air sometime around Halloween. They will be accepting local stories of paranormal activity until March 31.
Chamberlain said they hope to investigate and host interviews between April and June. Sometime this summer they also want to host an overnight investigation of one of the haunted locations with the paranormal investigation agency True Ghost.
"We are hoping to get stories from local citizens," Edgar said. "We’ve had a few people call and e-mail. It’s very interesting. Being in Raymond for 18 years we’ve heard rumors of paranormal activity and are hoping people will talk openly about it."
Chamberlain said some residents are hesitant to talk about their ghost sightings because they don’t want to scare or make the ghost hostile while others don’t want their home to be labeled as a "haunted house." She added that they’d like stories to be on the record but some could remain anonymous.
Although they haven’t started interviews yet, Chamberlain said they’ve talked with librarians at the Dudley-Tucker Library about strange happenings. Years ago before a new addition was put on the library, staff would hear noises in the evening when no one was in the library, such as numerous books falling off the shelves.
Another ghostly rumor is the presence of former fire chief Philip A. Fox, who served between 1934 and 1941 and 1948 to 1969, at the old fire station on Epping Street. Fire Chief Kevin Pratt said firefighters use to joke around saying the strange noises they’d hear at the station was Fox.
"Strange things would happen," Pratt said. "The doors would open by themselves and when the dispatcher was alone at night he’d hear footsteps upstairs, where Chief Fox had an apartment."
When the fire station was moved to Scribner Road in 1990, the disturbances stopped. Pratt said Fox was the town’s longest-serving fire chief and was "forced out" owing to his old age. He may have stuck around the station a lot longer than the town intended, Pratt added.
Louis believes there is a presence at his home. The old Bean Tavern, now a residential home, was built in 1750 as a tavern and was the town’s first meeting place. Citizens used to discuss town issues, vote and drink, he added.
In 1989 the Bean Tavern was voted the Seacoast’s most haunted house by radio station WERZ. At the time Louis heard about his home being a finalist for the contest on the radio as he was driving home from work. "I almost drove off the road," he said.
His wife, Peg Louis, had written a letter to the radio station about strange events occurring at the home. The Bean Tavern ended up winning the haunted house contest and the morning crew from WERZ spent a Halloween night at their home.
The night before crews set up the wires and the feed was working perfectly. When they went to broadcast the next morning, the feed wasn’t working. Louis said the broadcast was done via telephone. By 9 a.m. the feed started to work again when a picture on the living room wall fell off.
"The wire wasn’t broken, nothing. It looked as though someone took it off the wall," he said. "It was bizarre. I never believed in this stuff but now I tell ya, I am a true believer."
"Everyone has a story," Chamberlain said. "We’ve never done this before. We have no experience with documentaries or ghosts. It started on a dare and a dream. We want to have fun and tell a true story."
If you have a true ghost story or have experienced paranormal activity in your home contact Chamberlain and Edgar at 1truestory@comcast.net or visit www.1truestory.org. You may also mail your story to P.O. Box 458, Raymond, NH 03077.
Previous threads:
This defeat not the only thing haunting them
Spooky goings on at couple's home
Ghost Hunters
Ghost Story
Walking with the Dead (Haunted Pub)
Hotel Makes Ghost a Guest
Jail ghost linked to 1884 haunting
Courthouse Employees Hunt Ghost
EP library has ghosts, staff says
A spooky sign? That's the spirit
'Woodland Haunting' centers on home
Giving up the ghosts
Creepy coffee: Owners of downtown shop say it's haunted
Girl says bones belong to ghost
Ringling abounds with spirited, spooky discoveries
Is Town Hall Haunted?
Haunted History, Urban Legends and Tall Tales
Ghostly Guests
A look at some old 'haunts' in western Pennsylvania
The Haunted City
Ghostly encounter at the Confederate Memorial Building
Former Shipyard has Become a Ghost Town
Family wishes ghostly noises would just go away Raymond investigators take a ghost of a chance
Ghost Ping!
Ghost Ping!
First!
It's too bad I don't live anywhere near there. I could make up some far better ghost stories that would chill the livers out of all the TV watchers. I wouldn't need proof, and could be promoting tourism to my site for the extremely gullible.
Ever notice how ghosts appear at tourist attractions and other places where people spend money? or never places like Wienerschnitzel or K-Mart?
I have a friend who claims he is haunted every Halloween by his ex-wife as she flys over on a broom. Does that one count?
thanks for the ping
Morning and good to see you Bill.Been missing the threads I have had more off time with computer than On time since Jan 1..plus some travel thrown in... and currently I am now the one "off" with a sever URI. See a few naysayers have already shown up. Funny how yu don't believer UNTIL you believe, if that makes sense.
Pinger
LMAO
And don't forget, the gullible willingly pay above market prices for stuff that supports their fantasies -- and the extremely gullible pay well above market. Sound like a business plan.
Thanks for the ping, Curly....keep 'em coming!
Ever notice how ghosts appear at tourist attractions and other places where people spend money? or never places like Wienerschnitzel or K-Mart?
Never had any tourists at our hangar at Nellis.
ping for later...rto
If you don't agree with these people, then don't waste valuable time and bandwidth by going into these threads.
It's not rocket science.
And, yes, I consider posts like yours to be insulting and abusive, regardless of whether it is direct or indirect. That's why I pinged the mod.
For the record, I believe in ghosts because I lived in a haunted house. For six years.
And I challenge you guys to come to the Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, LA for a weekend. Let's see how well you'd fare.
Thanks curly, I always enjoy these thread! Keep em' coming!
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