Published by Haunted America
A division of The History Press
Charleston, SC 29403
www.historypress.net
Copyright 2009 by Donna Kent
All rights reserved
First published 2009
e-book edition 2012
ISBN 978.1.61423.424.1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kent, Donna.
Ghost stories and legends of southwestern Connecticut / Donna Kent.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
print edition ISBN 978-1-59629-689-3
1. Ghosts--Connecticut. 2. Haunted places--connecticut. I. Title.
BF1472.U6K465 2009
133.109746--dc22
2009035773
Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As usual, where to begin? I have been overly fortunate to have been helped by so many people throughout and over the past thirteen years when the journey of this book first began. Special thanks to Michele Polvay, my other sista, whose constant source of belief, support and sheer survival tactics have literally kept me going and whose selfless generosity makes her the closest thing to a saint that Ill probably ever meet, and I am very proud and lucky to have her as a friend.
Thank you to my family: Mom and Dad, who never failed to remind me that this ghost kick should not deter me from maintaining a real job. They were, of course, correct, as much as I struggled against the facts. Thanks to my extended familymy country cousins Brian and Jerry, Aunt Muriel and Uncle Johnnyfor all their help and research with me on the Peet family and especially all the laughs and spooky stories round the campfire on those chilly Pennsylvania nights since I was a little kid. Thanks to all the perfect children in my life: Chloe and Justin, again for bearing with me, to Jenna for her support and companionship as a Cosmic Society member and to Sheri for coming with me on a few late-night excursions to the bone yards and haunted places near the lake despite being totally creeped out by it all!
Loads of gratitude to all of my Cosmic Society memberspast, present and futurefor all of the time, money, endless support, understanding and all that they have contributed to make our society one of the leaders in our field, especially Margaret (Margarick) Sholz, our Gettysburg expert and best damn chocolate fudge maker in the East, and Gregory Polletta, our Reiki master and all-around great guy. Thanks to Heather and Joe Cappozello for always driving and figuring out the technical difficulties. Thank you to Sherry Vail for making the trek from New York City every month for meetings regardless of the time, expense and travel. Thanks to Charlene and Brendan Logan for hangin in there and always volunteering to help. Thanks to all of the members who helped write, edit and contribute their experiences and findings on the individual casesalways appreciated!
Benevolence and all the best to Joyce St. Germaine for being a constant source of inspiration and guidance; that woman is a true light worker and someone to be revered and respected.
A thank-you to Betty Cordellos of Haunted Connecticut Tours for always pushing me to commit to a date for scouting out locationsor else it just doesnt get done! Betty is the one other person I know whose workload-juggling skills rival my own, and she is to be commended.
Thank you to my extended family of friends whose thoughts, constructive criticism and honest outlook have kept me in check, and a special thank-you to Cherie Ferguson for help with formatting and editing this book (mistakes are all hers!) and drumming up readings for me when penniless. Thanks to cohort Laurie Lemay for making me think I was working poolside when, in fact, I was just enjoying relaxing for a dayneed more of those!
Very, very special thanks to Freddy Graham (Count Fredula) for giving me the physical space I needed to write the book, in the nick of time, for helping us move (again!) and for always coming to the rescue. Youre the best. No, really! Thank you to everyone at The History Press for your guidance, patience and understanding and for really helping to make this book as Ive envisioned it for the past fifteen years. I appreciate all that you have done and look forward to continuing the series in the near future; I will need some time to come up for air, first though!
Id also like to thank all of the CosmicSociety.com web viewers who have, over the past fifteen years, sent in their stories, video/audio recordings and incredible spirit energy photographs.
To all the docents and staff of haunted restaurants and locations we visit, I would like also to express how grateful I am for the time spent telling your stories and experiences to me and for your open house policy extended to Cosmic Society and the trust youve placed in us by sharing not only your dwellings or properties but also the tales and lore of those places and of the people who figured prominently there in the pastspecifically Bessie Burton, Paul and Debbie Sciarrafa, T.J. Hardisty and Judith Kelz. Appreciation is given to the tolerant neighbors of the locations and, above all, to the spirits that endlessly roam those places for reasons all their own.
THE NICHOLS FARMS BURIAL GROUNDS, INCLUDING MR. PEET
Ive been asked Whats a nice girl like you doing in a cemetery like this? Despite a lifelong fascination with all things strange, bizarre and otherworldly, my ordinary life seemed to change on Thursday, March 19, 1995; my family and I were returning home from a family birthday party in Trumbull, Connecticut. Driving along normally until just after we passed an old cemetery on the left side of the street, I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to get out of the car. Something was really insistent that I take photos in the tiny cemetery we happened to be passing. I had heard of spirit photography in the past but wanted to take some time doing research on the subject before actually doing it. The spirit that would appear in my photo dictated otherwise, as I would learn in the future. There were only two frames left on the roll of film in my camera that also contained shots from the birthday party. I got out and took a wide shot to include the sign and then zoomed in on a smaller area near the center-left of the graveyard. I completely forgot about them until they returned via mail from the developer.
I didnt really expect anything to come of it. Little did I know the photographic results were about to change my entire life in a multitude of ways! The images of a full-figured man, an angel and a pitchfork (none of which I had seen when taking the photo) appeared on the very last frame of film shot sometime between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.
I began by researching in the town of Stratford because, early on, Trumbull was once part of the larger territory. On May 14, 1662, Joseph Judson received Trumbull as a gift from the Pequonnock Indians. In 1690, Abraham Nichols had the first permanent settlement, and six years later, what we now know as Nichols Avenue was built and named the Farm Highway. Trumbull was incorporated as a town in October 1797 and named for Revolutionary War governor Jonathon Trumbull, who was a friend and advisor to General George Washington. Trumbull was the only colonial governor to serve in office continually before and after the American Revolution.
