<<note...this story was
previously posted on this blog on Halloween, 2011, but it is one of my
favorites so I'm dusting it off for a repost today! For those of you who
haven't read it yet, this is a TRUE ghost story from where we used to live,
Newport, RI.>>
THE TIME…1673
THE PLACE…
A 100 acre farm in Portsmouth, RI (currently the site of The Valley Inn, pictured on the left.)
THE SITUATION…
Thomas Cornell, a farmer aged 46, had a lot of hungry mouths to
feed. He was the father of four sons from his first marriage, two
children (with a third on the way) from his second marriage to Sarah, plus his
widowed mother Rebecca, age 73. All nine people lived under one very tiny
roof. And, while Thomas did all the work, Rebecca owned the farm and thus
controlled things.
THE PROBLEM…
There were rumors that not all was well on the Cornell farm.
Reports of elder abuse ran rampant through the small community. Local
legend has it that Rebecca had confided she felt sure she’d be “done away with”
by year’s end.
