#haunted Salem

[myhauntedsalem]

The Haunted Wedding Dress

Although most people associate hauntings with buildings spirits can also attach to objects. In past posts I wrote about: Haunted Mirrors, a Haunted Doll called Annabelle, a haunted portrait at Shirley Plantation and recently, The Scorched Bed.

In 1849, Anna Baker was the third child of a wealthy family who lived in Altoona, Pennsylvania. She had the misfortune to fall in love with a worker without means. Her father Elias Baker, who made his fortune as an ironmaster refused to give his consent for the two to marry. He then used his power and influence to have this man kicked out of Altoona.

Anna angry refused to marry anyone else. As the years passed she became a bitter old maid. When she died in 1914 she was still living in the family home.

Before her father’s refusal, in happier times Anna had picked out a beautiful wedding gown that she intended to wear at her wedding. Within the year another Altoona debutante, Elizabeth Dysart then bought this gown. She gloated for she knew Anna had hoped to wear it.

Years later this wedding dress was given to the Blair County Historical Society who eventually donated it to a local museum. This museum is housed in what was once the Baker home.

This wedding gown is displayed in a large glass case in a second floor room that once was the dressing room off Anna Baker’s bedroom.

Witnesses have seen this dress move of its own accord--especially during full moons.

This gown has been seen swaying from side to side. One witness stated it is as if a bride is holding this gown out in front of them as they admire it in a mirror.

The dress also has been seen shaking violently to the point where staff feared the glass case would shatter harming the dress.

Investigators have searched for a draft in this room or any other possible cause but nothing has been found to explain why this dress moves.

Some feel this dress moves because Anna Baker has just reclaimed what was supposed to be hers.

[mommy-mystic]

Picked up this book at Wicked Good Books in Salem, MA & it's still in my TBR! Honestly, I decided to save a couple of my paperbacks to travel with this month while I work through my library reads b4 we leave!

ALSO got my new platform loafers from Die With Your Boots On! They r everything to me. If you catch me out doing yard work in these, mind your business!

[518td]

low tide lighthouse 🫶🏻

[spoopy-kayla]

The Jonathan Corwin House AKA The Witch House! Bought by Corwin in 1675- it’s the only standing structure with a direct connection to the Salem Witch Trials.

The Witch House sits about 35 feet from its original location and opened as a museum in 1948.

[b100dyval3ntin3]

i’m gonna miss u massachusetts

[something-spooky-going-down]

Ouija Board Museum, Salem , MA 👻

[travelwithgtbs]

Unlock the Hidden Secrets of Salem Yercaud: The Best Place to Beat the Summer Heat!

[mermaidgypsea]

I’m finally going to Boston this June and I need recs cause I’ve never been. We will just be there for a weekend but I’m hoping to see and eat as much as possible. I also need hotel recs. Thank youuuuu

[felizzlemynizzl]

[poorlyshotphotos]

salem | november 2021

[sipitcutit]

Yes i smoke crack

[myhauntedsalem]

Mary Ellen Spook Farm

In January of 1922, farmer Alexander MacDonald, his wife Janet, and their adopted daughter Mary Ellen fled their home in Caledonia Mills, Nova Scotia after a rash of poltergeist activity, including more than 30 unexplained fires. Though several researchers, journalists, detectives, and paranormal investigators would eventually examine the farm and house, the so-called “fire spook” was never fully explained.

The poltergeist activity that had plagued the household for almost an entire year included moving the cattle around when no one was in the barn, mixing ashes into the stored milk, and even braiding the tails of horses. Most notable, however, were the fires which earned the haunting its name.

The fires would spring up spontaneously all over the house and grounds, often far from the hearth or any other source of a spark. Everything from wallpaper to wet towels were said to burst into flame: it got so bad that the family organized a kind of “neighborhood watch” to guard against arsonists, though none were ever found. Eventually, the family fled the property for good.

Once the family moved out of the house, journalists and would-be paranormal investigators moved in. Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was invited to explore the phenomena. Some of the most notable accounts include those of Harold Whidden, a reporter from the Halifax Herald, and police detective Peachey Carroll, who spent two nights in the house. During this time they both experienced several odd events, including the feeling of being slapped on the arm and face by phantom hands. Whidden was so troubled by his experiences that he never published them in his lifetime, though they have since been released by his family.

Another prominent investigator who visited the home for several days was Dr. Walker Franklin Prince, who concluded that the poltergeist activity emanated from the family’s then-15-year-old adopted daughter, Mary Ellen–this in spite of the fact that Dr. Prince, himself, experienced no unusual phenomena during his stay. Members of the family were even brought back to the house during his investigation in an attempt to “trigger” the ghost. Dr. Prince did, however, report unexplained rapping noises in his office back in New York for several weeks after he had completed his investigation into the Caledonia Mills “Spook Farm.”

Unfortunately for Mary Ellen, Dr. Prince’s suggestion that she was the cause, albeit unknowingly, of the fires and other poltergeist activity stuck with her throughout her life. People began calling her Mary Ellen Spook, and, according to some accounts, she was even confined to an asylum for many years. Regardless of the cause, after she and her family moved away from the farm in Caledonia Mills, the phenomena ceased.

However, that wasn’t the end of the story of the Caledonia Mills Spook Farm. Over the years, several other explanations have been put forth as new detectives attempt to solve the mystery. Edward J. O’Brien, a lecturer who stopped off at the nearby St. Francis Xavier University, posited that the fires might have been caused by radio waves passing through Caledonia Mills between the radio towers at Wellfleet, Massachusetts, and Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, though to modern science that theory sounds perhaps even more preposterous than “fire spooks.”

Arsonist or no, the Caledonia Mills legend persists. Even today, long after the farm and house have disappeared, people say that if you take home any item from the property, your house will burn down. According to one couple, who call themselves P.O.N.I. (Pair of Normal Investigators), “This has been tested by regular every day people and the buildings always catch fire.”

[mommy-mystic]

Nydia the witch is a tribute to those battling invisible illnesses

[518td]

baddest witch 🖤

[spoopy-kayla]

The Ropes Mansion (Allison’s House) - Built from 1727–1729. Y’all the stories this house holds 😳 It gave me the creeps. Salem is truly one of my favorite cities because you can deeply feel the history but goodness this place was something else.

[saucier25]

trips to salem make me happy 🖤