FtV - A Haunted House in Portsmouth
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Welcome, legendary listeners. Thanks for tuning in to From the Vault, a second look at some of our classic episodes. Look for a new episode every week. Now, can you go back and listen on your own at OurNewEnglandLegends.com? You bet. But you won't get the added bonus of an After the Legends segment featuring new commentary about that episode from your old pals Jeff and Ray. So let's open up the New England Legends Vault and revisit another legendary episode.

Hey kids, welcome to The Vault. Welcome back to The Vault, and this time we're going to a haunted house in Portsmouth. First aired May 6th, 2021. Enjoy. All feeling patriotic today, Jeff? Yeah, sure. And this is the perfect song to listen to as we roll up on the historic Oak Glen House on Union Street in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. We're just a bit north of Newport. All right, how so?

because this house was built by Julia Ward Howe and her husband Samuel back in 1870. It was their summer retreat. Now, after Samuel died in 1876, this became Julia's permanent residence right up until her death in 1910. And Julia Ward Howe, of course, wrote the song The Battle Hymn of the Republic. She did. She wrote the words to the song and then set it to the music of the abolitionist song John Brown's Body.

So is she haunting the Oak Glen house or something? Yeah, you know, I'm not sure about that. In fact, the Oak Glen house isn't even our destination today. It's just our starting point. But somewhere nearby, we're going to find the story of a haunted house with a dark and tragic past.

Hi, I'm Jeff Belanger. And I'm Ray Ogier. Welcome to episode 194 of the New England Legends podcast. If you give us about 10 minutes, we'll give you something strange to talk about today. Portsmouth, Rhode Island is the next stop on our mission to chronicle every legend in New England, one story at a time. We're a community of legend seekers who love sharing stories through this podcast, through our super secret Facebook group, which, by the way, is now more than 3,000 people strong. Wow.

Through my ongoing story tour, you can find the dates and links on our website, and through the New England Legends television series that you can watch right now on Amazon Prime. All right, now, before we go searching for this haunted house, we just want to take a minute to tell you about our sponsor, Nuwadi Herbals. Yes, indeed. So, summer is coming, and I have an insatiable sweet tooth. Well, me too, and the struggle...

is real. That's why I love Nuwadi Herbal Strawberry Moon Tea. It's naturally sweet thanks to the strawberry extract, blackberry leaf, hint of maple syrup, and stevia leaf. Now when I hit that mid-afternoon slump and I'm craving a hit of sugar so badly, this tea is such a treat.

It gets me through it. With warmer weather also comes the bugs. True. I had a bunch of landscaping done at my house, and we'll be spending a lot of time outside. So there'll be plenty of Nuwadi Herbals No-Squito Natural Insect Repellent available at the Ogier House. I like that these are natural ingredients instead of the harsh chemicals you can get from, you know, the spray can. Sure. Now, Nuwadi Herbals has so many great teas, balms, soaps, bath salts, and other natural products that

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Okay, Ray, take one last look at the Oak Glen House here in Portsmouth, because as I said earlier, this is not our destination. All right, got it. So where are we going? We're going to have to estimate our destination. But I can tell you we're close, within half a mile. We just need to figure out which direction. All right, what do we have to go on? I dug up this story in the newspaper archives. It's from the August 20, 1887 Newport Mercury newspaper, and I love the opening. It says...

Haunted houses are going out of fashion these days, and one rarely hears about them. But here in Newport, where the aspect of life is modern to the most extreme degree, there's another side which is older, mustier, more in the shadow of the past than any corner of this great country that I have ever seen. Man, that is a great opening. Right? I guess in 1887, haunted houses were out of fashion, but not today. No, not today at all. So the article continues, and this is where we get our clue as to the location.

Not half a mile from Oak Glen is an unfrequented side road leading from one crossroad to another, and on this rough little traveled thoroughfare stands a veritable haunted house. It is an old-fashioned two-story building of that wonderful gray color which unpainted wood soon acquires in this climate.

That's pretty poetic. Yeah. Newspapers don't write like that anymore. No, I know. Okay, so our clue is less than a half a mile from the Oakland house, if we look at our map.

That's not a big area. It's pretty obvious most of the streets within that half mile are relatively new housing developments. But I do see two farms within that half mile circle. Maybe this farm further up the road used to be an orchard? It's possible. I think we have to accept that the house and even the side road are likely no longer here. But we're close to the spot for sure. Let's head back to 1887, meet this intrepid paranormal reporter, and investigate this haunt. ♪

It's a gray and gloomy, cloudy spring day here on Union Street in Portsmouth. With the exception of the Oak Glen House there in the distance and a couple of farmhouses, there isn't much to see in this rural section of town. There are stone walls over there, and I can see those gnarled apple trees next to a decaying house. That must be the place.

It's got that gray and decrepit look. I'll let our Mercury News reporter continue her description. This curious, nameless tint is seen again in our stone walls, which fence and divide every man's acres from his neighbors and from the high roads.

and on certain of our gray days the whole atmosphere and face of nature seems steeped in an ashen-faced monotone sky and sea and landscape all tuned to the key of color which the old house keeps even on the sunniest july day it stands so close to the road that one easily sees in passing its dilapidated condition

the windows hardly contain an unbroken pane of glass the chimneys are encrusted with a thick gray mold and little tufts of ferns and weeds hang pendulous from the gutters under the eaves the great solemn trees which stand between it and the road stretch out their shady branches and throw their heavy shadow on the house and the bushes and underbrush have grown about with a luxuriance rarely seen in the poor soil of this part of newport

It's as if the very vines and climbing weeds strove to mask the ruined windows and what they might show. A friend of this reporter recently took an interest in the property. He figured a coat of paint, clean up the weeds and vines, fix the broken windows, and put up some new curtains. It really wouldn't cost much money to turn this place into a nice little property for someone and put to rest any talk of ghosts and hauntings.

This friend asks around about purchasing or even renting the house, but soon learns the house is not for sale, not even for rent. And who would do that? Have this empty, spooky-looking house that you don't want to live in, and you don't even want to sell it, and you don't want to rent it. Not only that, the landowner doesn't even want to talk about this place because it's haunted.

in the course of time i succeeded in getting at some of the stories told concerning it there were the usual sounds of the opening and shutting of doors or carriages driven up to the porch there were lights sometimes seen at night in the windows and shadowy figures guessed at rather than perceived in the corners of the grim old orchard but these tales are always part of the property of a haunted house and had nothing original about them

Finally, I struck rock bottom, after penetrating through layers of loose sand and stones, and learned this singular story. It's here we learn about the last people to live in this house. There was a young carpenter, a guy everyone knew in the area, and he's well-liked. A steady, sober fellow who is good at his job. He falls in love with the daughter of one of the well-off farmers. He's a good man, and he's a good man.

It's a relationship that is not approved by the girl's parents. Still, the two are in love, so against the wishes of her parents, they run off and get married. Star-crossed lovers. It's a tale as old as time. Now, not having much money or support from their families, the two settle into this small house right here. And they're happy. They have each other. They have what they need in this small building. And pretty soon...

Pretty soon, baby makes three. With such a happy young family living here, and considering how much the young carpenter fixed up the house, folks sort of forget about the haunted reputation for a while. But only for a while. Five years pass without much incident. But then, the missus gets a visit from family. One day, the young wife received a visit from her sister who lived nearby, and who asked, after the usual greeting, What visitor have you staying with you?

"'No one. Why do you ask?' answered the carpenter's wife. "'Why, yes,' persisted the other. "'I have seen him at the sitting-room window twice lately as I passed by. An old man with white hair and a long white beard.'" The wife is befuddled at this point. She figures maybe a neighbor stopped by when no one was home, but why would they come in the house uninvited? This would be only the first mention of something out of place, not the last.

Shortly after this conversation, the young woman was dusting the sitting room, her child playing meanwhile in the corner. Suddenly, the little creature threw down its toys and ran to her, saying under its breath, "'I want the old man to go away.' "'There is no old man here,' said the mother. "'Yes, there is,' persisted the child, pointing to an empty corner where the mother could see nothing. "'I want him to go away.'

That night the child was taken ill with the croup, and a week later the carpenter's wife sat alone in a plain black frock beside an empty crib. The couple move out of the house shortly after the death of their child, and the house sits empty.

It doesn't take long for the haunted reputation to return as the house begins to weather and fade from a lack of care. As the drab color blends into the landscape once again, and the vines and weeds return and crawl up the sides of the structure as if nature's trying to take back what's rightfully hers. Now locals know that a child died inside, and they know of the haunted reputation. It's more darkness than a humble little house can take, so the house sits empty and rots.

And that brings us back to today. Today this haunted house is long gone, but we have an idea of where it may have once stood. We got a little help from John at the Portsmouth Library, who was able to find some old maps and historic data on some of the properties along Union Street.

Though we can't say with certainty, we suspect this old house stood in the vicinity of the Lawton-Almy Hall Farm. The farm dates all the way back to 1690, though the main house has had several additions over the decades. There's plenty of stone walls, as we described in the 1887 Mercury News article, but also many outbuildings on the 40-acre property. It would have been common for a farm like this to have some small homes for farmhands.

None of those survive today, but we know this property is located just a little less than a half a mile east of Oak Glen. So it fits the bill. But again, if the house wasn't right here in front of us, it was nearby. When a house is gone, the story quickly fades. It's the nature of these things. But we resurrected this one because we love the language of the old article and the connection it gives us to the old days of Portsmouth. ♪

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I appreciate all the great feedback so far. We'd like to thank our sponsor, New Audio Herbals. We'd like to thank Boston-based voice actor and voiceover artist Lisa Strakowski for lending her voice acting talents this week. And our theme music is by John Judd. Until next time, remember, the bizarre is closer than you think. We'll break it down right after a word from our sponsor.

I love Portsmouth. Yes. One of my favorite places. You were the morning guy there. I was. Yes, I did work there for, it was two guys and a girl. Two guys, you know, when you were known as Kid Cruz. Kid Cruz. Goes back to my Cape days, but I held on to that for a while, right through Portsmouth. Yeah. Kid Cruz, two guys and a girl on, I forgot the call letters. The radio station. Yeah, it was on the radio station. The radio station. In Portsmouth. Yeah. FM. FM.

Yeah, it was FM. No static at all. We were in the newspaper three times the first couple weeks we were there. Yeah. We were just trying to get our name out. We did a few stunts. It was great. It was a fun time. But we still frequent Portsmouth whenever we can. And you did a ghost investigation on that show. Yeah, at the Music Hall. Right. And caught an EVP. Yeah. That was pretty clear. I mean, we all thought so, and we gave it to some experts, and they said, yeah, that's

That's something there. Yeah, yeah. And it wasn't sarcastic like, yeah, that's something. You're so cute. Yeah. No, good for you. It was, wow, that's something. Yeah. So this story, I was thinking about, very tragic, you know, the idea that a baby's lost in the house, you know. I was thinking about when I was apartment hunting many years ago. And same with house hunting. If you've ever, like, looked for homes, whether it's an apartment, a house, or whatever, you

There is an energy to places. Oh, sure. I remember walking into one place. It was very nice. It was very clean, well-maintained. Location was good. Everything about it was perfectly pleasant.

but I felt really uncomfortable. And I can't tell you why. I can't give you a reason, but I felt really uncomfortable. And I was just like... Like eyes were on you, perhaps? I don't know, but I'm just like, no, I don't want to be here. Yeah, bad mojo. Yeah, something about it. And then other places you walk in and you're like, huh, it just feels warm and inviting. It feels nice. Even though the other place may have looked a little better.

This one feels nicer. Now, are you always tempted to go back home, get on the computer and do some research on that home that you were just in? This was a long time ago before I did all the stuff I do now. But no, that would be curious to just be like, oh, look, look at that. It's got to be an occupational hazard of yours.

There was another house where I remember the front door of the house was literally in the corner, like in the corner of the building. Really? It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen. So you've heard of feng shui. Yeah. Feng shui is like the natural energy movement of where you put your- Where you place your bed or wherever. Exactly. Yeah, yeah. With the sun coming up and- Right. Mainly it has to do with where you put furniture and stuff like that. Right. But sometimes the whole building can be off.

And I remember walking in and being like, this is the, I've never seen a front door in the corner. Like it's usually in the middle of the house. Sure. I'm trying to picture that. Now the door itself wasn't the corner, right? But it was off in the corner. It was regularly shaped. Yeah. Imagine. Okay. I'm pointing. I know no one can see this, but imagine this door over there. But how about a door that is a corner?

That would be kind of neat. It opens up at an angle. Well, at that point, you got to put in, I think, one of those turning, like the rotating door. Imagine one of those in a house. But at least then you look very intentional as opposed to, guys, we forgot to put the door in. Just stick it in the corner. So from the outside, you're walking to the corner of the house to get in. And that is very awkward. Very awkward. And so I remember walking in and just being like, I felt off.

Have you ever walked up a flight of stairs, especially like with like landscaping where the rise and run is off? Yes. And you almost trip. Sure. Because you have an expectation of there's a normal rise and run to stairs. Yeah. And if it's off, your autopilot gets all messed up. Right.

And so I think there is something to feng shui is my point. And I think we do sense energies of like people that have been there before and the vibe of the place. And sometimes it's good and sometimes it's neutral and sometimes it's bad. And if enough people, like I think back to that, I was listening to this story and I thought back to that very first apartment.

I was looking at and I wonder how many people walked in and felt the same thing I did. Right. And the guy's like, I can't rent this place. Right? You know what I mean? Yeah. Maybe he knows why, but, but you know, if person after person is like, this is beautiful, there's nothing wrong with it. The price is fine. It's everything is crystal clean, like, you know, freshly painted, whatever, but yeah,

I don't like it. Right. And the guy didn't disclose that a serial killer died there. Right. You sure you don't want it? Well, then I guess I can tell you, like, yeah, there's been a lot of people murdered up there. Like, oh, oh, that's it. Yeah, we'll go to that room, though. Just the bedroom. Yeah, just stay out of that. Like, you know, that's why it's so cheap. I knock half the price off. Might want to board it up. Yeah, well, we'll just lock it. And...

The noises at night, whatever. Like, I can't explain it. It's funny, though, that we always associate hauntings with negative, negative happenings. But not all ghosts can be angry or... No. You know what I mean? Yes, sometimes... I'm sure there's some happy hauntings. Casper, the friendly ghost. Right. Come on. They made a whole movie and cartoon about that. I've heard of stories where people feel like it's a friendly presence. Right. That they feel like this is someone who lived there before, who likes the company...

I even heard a story once where they said doors would open and close and whatever, but not at night, and they sort of had agreements. They would talk and say, "Hey, that kept us up last night. "Please don't do that," and it would stop. And one of the funniest stories I ever heard, I guess kindest even,

A woman was telling me she was walking into her house with arms full of groceries and the door open. I was just going to say that. Like a courteous haunting. Wow. They open the door for you. What a nice. Chivalry is not dead even in the afterlife. Could you put these away too? Like, you know where they go. You could get really lazy with a friendly ghost though. The can of green beans floats across the room and goes up on the shelf. You're like, that's exactly where it goes. Thank you. This is very nice. Label out and everything so you can see what it is.

That's kind of neat. Of course. I think we should see, we should have more horror movies like that. Yes, about friendly ghosts. Friendly ghosts. That scare no one. Where's the horror kicking in? I can see the box office numbers now just skyrocketing to the moon. We're trying something different here. We're trying something crazy and radical. Yeah. But have you ever experienced, I mean, you have, of course, but like a real haunting, like have you ever really left a place and said, that was, because I know you're a skeptic.

And I know you're always looking for... Oh, yeah, of course. But has something really hit you at a house? At a house? Yeah, not a location, not a building, but a house, a home. I remember being at a house in Rhode Island where the couple was describing some crazy stuff. I mean, like...

for example, a dinner plate materializing in their bedroom and then flying across the room and shattering. And literally they're like, yeah, that was one of our dinner plates from the kitchen. It's called an apport. I mean, it defies every law of physics. So forget it. If anyone out there is screaming. Some portal opens up right there and there's the dish. Dinner plate and it shatters and whatever. Okay.

Everything they described, they had young children who we were also allowed to talk to who talked about like good mommy and bad mommy. And I'm like, okay, multiple person. But like my sister was with me who's a, she's a psychologist, PhD, you know? And she's like,

These people are with it. They're cogent. They're like, they're not, I don't think, I believe that they believe what they're saying is true. And at that point, you're like, this is really frightening. But did you get something from that? Did you feel it? I started to sort of feel frightened after I was, you know, listening to them go on and on about these experiences and thinking that this could absolutely be real. Yeah. That was sort of scary. And then, but I've been in other places too where,

I've had like a warm feeling. That's what I got from my experience. Something behind me. Okay. So we were in a house that was for sale. We're 12 years old. We shouldn't have been in the house. Got it. And somebody left the lights on in the basement. So we sneak out the back way. Yeah. It's like, Oh, somebody left the light on. We got to go shut that off. And I drew the short straw.

So I had to go through the window, back downstairs all by myself at 12 years old, shut the light off. It's dark. I'm going up the stairs as fast as I can. And I just felt something behind me. And to this day, it still haunts me. But it was warm. It was warm. It was pushing me a little bit. And it was telling me I probably shouldn't be there. But it was not threatened. Oh, it wasn't threatening. I didn't feel threatened. I was very scared. But you were trespassing and you were aware of that. Exactly. Yeah. And I literally dove down.

out the open window in the back. Yeah. Like you would see in a movie. Of course, yeah. Stuntman right through the window. That's the only... Yeah, that's the only time I ever was in a quote-unquote haunted house. I mean, I can't explain what it was, but that's what I felt anyway. Yeah. No, sometimes the... And those are the experiences we never hear about because...

They don't make good books, good podcasts, good movies. You don't hear about like, I've heard people describe like a warm embrace, literally like a hug, like a warmth, not cold, just like I was struggling with something and this thing embraced me. And that's beautiful. Most of the stories I truly hear about are usually loved ones, are usually someone saying, you know, I'm

a friend passed, a relative passed, and I felt like I got the goodbye that I never got. Oh, that's nice. Like they were there and I got to say that goodbye that I didn't get in real life. I've had that in dreams. Sure. Which I suppose is some form of haunting. Yeah. You know...

And, of course, skeptics would say, well, you're dreaming, Ray. And, yeah. It feels real, though. You know what I mean? I do know. There's a different feel to it. You wake up feeling emotional. Right. As opposed to just like, that was strange. Right. Oh, that was a dream. That's something I imagined in my head. No, it felt...

Dreams are usually indifferent. Like you wake up going, huh, strange, right? Or if it's a scary dream, then you just wake up scared, but then it's a dream, right? But when it's deeply emotional, that's another thing, I think. Yeah.

And that's the thing. I've read about it, that loved ones will visit you in dreams. Sure. And again, not just a dream that you manufactured in your head, but they're there. I think that's a safe place, right? So I thought... My head is not a safe place, first of all. Hey, don't swipe left. Just...

Listen, Grandma, just stay right in the middle there. See that dream door? Do not go through that dream door that's reserved for something. You don't need to see, Grandma. You don't want to see any of that. But just stay right here. So my sister, when her husband passed away, and he died from cancer. It was over two years. And they talked about signs that he would try to leave for her and stuff like that. And I remember she told me, I said, did you get any of the signs? And she's like, well, I had these dreams.

And I was thinking about it. I know my sister. I've known her my whole life. If his spirit were to appear in front of her in the kitchen and be like, hey, Sue, I'm

she would lose it, right? Like that would not be a good thing, right? She would absolutely lose it. The dream state is safe enough where you can wake up and you could say, I think that was him, but it could have been just a dream. It gives you the plausible deniability that you need to maintain your sanity, right? And I think, so it's a very safe place, I think, for maybe visitation. And that makes sense to me.

You know, that you recognize that, you know, Chris knew if he appeared in the kitchen, she'd lose it and like never want to live in that house again. Right. Oh, my gosh. Right.

But in her dream, that's okay. Yeah. And it makes a lot of sense. It does. I think so. And so I do think we do get visited. That makes sense to me. But skeptics would say, you're dreaming. Come on. But I say the only witness that matters in that case is you, right? You had the dream. You know yourself. Right. If you think it's more than a dream, then that's it. If it makes you feel better. That's right. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, no. Strange thing. But yeah, so there is something to all this stuff. I think there's something to...

You know, the energy of a building that you can sense it. I've been in plenty of buildings. I've been in old prisons and hospitals where you can literally feel the fear in the walls. And you've been in other places that feel peaceful. Even though people have died there or whatever, there's still a peace to it. I want to see that show. I want to see that show on Discovery Channel. The most boring ghost hunting show ever. Peaceful Haunts.

Friday nights at 10. So tonight we're investigating the old community center where they hold plays. And they still play bingo. And they needed quilts. And here's the ghost who hugs. I think that'd be a fun show. We should do that one. I'll make some calls.