Fireside

Monson N.H.

The Lost Town of Monson – The Investigation
Including Visits To Vales End Cemetery and
The Wilton Theater In Wilton, NH

October 28th 2007

Conditions: Sunny, Windy, 62 degrees

Written by Karen Mossey

This past Sunday, October 28th, Mike and I and several good friends headed to The Lost town of Monson, NH. After having read its rich but troubled history we were all anxious to visit this unique archeological preserve and actually share in this historical wonder. Accompanying us on this trip we were also privileged to have our good friend and psychic medium John Lord. We brought along all our paranormal equipment to see what evidence might present itself to give us a glimpse back in time.
We were met , upon arrival, by our hosts and long time descendants from the town of Monson, Russ and Geri Dickerman and , our unbeknownst to us at this time, mascot, their poodle Nicki. Russ and Geri and their friends and fellow towns folk spent long years and great effort in the preservation, protection and restoration of the land upon which Monson existed. A complete restoration of the last remaining structure from Monson, The Gould House( originally built in 1757), became a labor of love for the Dickermans and was accomplished and furnished with relics of long, long ago and actual family photo’s in 1998. Geri and Russ took us into the homestead where we felt as though we were stepping back in time. The beams and boards were cut from the land itself. A gentle fire warmed us from the wind and fall air and the old artifacts were neatly place within the three tiny rooms. There stood an old pitchfork , spoke bench and butter churn made of old ash and poplar woods, old iron candle holders, some of which burned animal fat to provide light, metal oxen shoes and an old metal key. The walls were garnished with very old prints of distant relatives and descendants most of which were direct descendants of Russ Dickerman himself. Through these pictures I came to meet Russ great Grandmother and Aunt “the twins” Sarah and Sophia. Sophia’s husband and Russ’ Great Grandfather, Samuel Russell Dickerman, served in the Civil War, was captured and died at AndersonVille prisoner of war camp , never to know of the birth of his son George Henry Aimesworth Dickerman ( Russ Grandfather) whom Russ knew well. Upon the wall within the Gould house hangs a picture of four year old George Henry and his dog Major. Immediately to its left, a photo of George in his later years. Russ told us this is as he remembers his Grandfather.
Many of the town founders of Monson are buried in local cemeteries and many such as the members of the Hopkins family lived to ripe old ages. Benjamin Hopkins was 86 and his wife Hanna 94. His son Ben Hopkins JR. lived to be 98.

We left the home and preceded, with our host Russ Dickerman and our mascot Nicki into the woods of Monson to visit as many of the remnants of the ancient cellar holes as we could squeeze in, time permitting. It was the most beautiful site to see as we approached the woods with the colors of Autumn in full swing. A cool wind blew through the air and it was as if the voices of the past echoed within. We traveled along the paths that Russ himself had spent years clearing. With his knowledge of the land Russ was able to lead us to several cellar holes and relate to us the story of the family whose home once stood upon this spot. We first approached the Nevins cellar holes. William Nevins was one of the key people on the original Monson town council. Nearby was the cellar hole of his son Thomas Nevins. Russ explained how the cellars used to fill with water and there needed to be a drain from the hole so that the house would not flood. This drain is still prevalent here at the Nevins cellar hole. Next we approached what was left of where Lazareth Hubbard’s homestead had once been. Here Russ showed us where the stairs leading down into the cellar once were. At this point John Lord received a very strong psychic impression as if a bell were going off over and over in his mind and he spoke up and said to all present, “ I am hearing the name Charles over and over in my mind.” Russ had previously alluded to the fact that there had been a death upon this land but nothing more. He looked at John quite surprised and then said. “Yes, you have it. So I can now tell you the entire story.” In 1920, Charles Hayden, 62, died near this exact spot on west road. He was traveling in a horse drawn wagon and was either thrown from the wagon or entangled and broke his neck. He was not found for two days and his horse was still caught up in the nearby tree. John went on further to explain that he felt as though this had happened in the Spring and he could see a very muddy and slippery dirt path. Russ confirmed that the accident had happened in May. It seems whenever John is wth us things happen and through him we receive validations that could only come from his amazing connection with Spirit.
The last cellar hole we visited this day was the Dr. John Brown cellar hole which was a bit spooky in its appearance. It was a rather large homestead by Russ estimation and stands out because of this very eerie crooked tree that marks its location. Russ noticed that our mascot Nicki had, conveniently, disappeared as the day’s air became a bit chilly but his disappearance did not seem to excite Russ because he knew he would find him back at the Gould homestead, snuggled within Geri’s feet near the warm fire. For a dog of many years he is no fool.
We finished our day in Monson and thanked our wonderful hosts Russ and Geri for taking so much time out of their day and sharing their life’s work and this wonderful area so deeply entranced with beauty and history with us.

From Monson we headed to Vales End cemetery in Wilton. John had never been here. We told him a bit about its reputation and the Blue lady legend. Once we parked the cars, John immediately got out of the vehicle and began to walk right toward the headstone of Mary Ritter, whom legend has it, is the Blue Lady Apparition often seen at Vales End cemetery. Mike and I looked at one another in amazement and said “how can he know, “of which John later replied, “I go to where I am drawn.” John told us he felt as though Mary had known and cared for many of the children buried along with her in this place. Perhaps Mary was a midwife. We captured several interesting photos and EVP here which can be heard on our website www.ectoweb.com along with this story.
From Vales End we stopped briefly at an abandoned house along the way just to gaze and wonder if the legend that a Ghost Hunter from long ago died there when he fell through the old floor boards. Is it truth? Who knows? But these stories are great to spark the paranormal investigators imagination.
Our final stop was the Wilton Theater. We hope to do a more thorough investigation there in the upcoming months so stay tuned. Of course, we all had to first indulge in some fresh, real movie buttered popcorn. One definitely must partake of this when in such a rustic, old movie theater complete with black and white photos of long ago movie stars adorning the walls along its dark wood staircase. The smaller theater was unoccupied at the time so we entered and attempted communication through EVP (electronic voice phenomena) to see if anyone wanted to make their presence known to us. We were happy to hear several names come through indicating, to us, they had no problem with making their presence known. As I sat in the theater I saw the very heavy curtain begin to move, as if someone was walking about behind it. Of course no one but me was present, at least no one that could be seen. After leaving the theater we headed on back to the ranch of the Man behind the Curtain, our webmaster, where his wife Cindy laid out a scrumptious spread of food and homemade soup that pleased our tummies and our very souls. We said our thank yous and goodbyes and headed off to our own abodes after a wonderfully full day of excitement and adventure.
See you next time. Kare and Mike

EVP's

Bill

Recorded by Mike Sullivan at The Wilton Town Hall Theater.

Justin

Recorded by Karen Mossey at The Wilton Town Hall Theater.

Julianna

Recorded by Mike Sullivan at Vale End cemetery

Pictures

	This photo was taken by Mike Sullivan at Monson.
	This photo was taken by Karen Mossey at Monson. This is the area where Charles Hayden was killed in 1920.

	This photo was taken by Karen Mossey at Monson.
	This photo was taken by Mike Sullivan at Vale End Cemetery

	This photo was taken by Mike Sullivan at Vale End Cemetery. This is the gravestone of the Blue Lady.
	This photo was taken by Mike Sullivan at Vale End Cemetery.

This photo was taken by our Web Master, MBTC, at Vale End Cemetery. There appears to be the image of a woman in the left, lower section of the stone.

This photo was taken by Mike Sullivan at Vale End cemetery using his Reflective Photography method.

Close Up

This photo was taken by our good friend Lisa Yesse at the Wilton Theater.