| Cotton and the Olde Ghosts of Plymouth |
| Most people who spend any time looking at the paranormal come to believe in the real estate law that says people selling a house have to disclose tragedies that have occurred in the residence, including any rumors of paranormal activity. This law has gained legendary status, and it hints at our fear about such a big investment and the fear that things we cannot explain will enter our house and come after our children. The odd thing is, the court have not been clogged with new house owners claiming specters on the staircase and bumps in the attic. While this may be due to people not wanting to come forward claiming ghosts have caused them distress, part of it may be due to the almost impossible task of proving that a ghost exists.
One such trial happened in 1733 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The man suing was not the one tormented by ghosts, but the man cheated by the tenants of the house accused. When the people living in the house left one by one claimed it was haunted, a prominent member of the Plymouth community took them to court to save his financial investment and preserve the honor of his house. The trial, while not claiming that ghosts really do exist, forwarded the power of belief in the paranormal and justified those that believe in ghosts. By the fall of 1733 the house on Cole Hill had been abandoned and its reputation solidified in the minds of the community. There was no shortage of beliefs in ghosts and of the Devil as a man who might walk the streets on any given night. Plymouth was common among its New England neighbors, a culture of fear and superstition where cannons were shot to force demons to leave the town as a cure of small pox and citizens were as likely to have hexagons on their barns and home remedies in their kitchens as bibles by their fires. Even in this context, the Phillips House stood out. It was haunted, probably by its former owner although some claimed by the devil itself. No one would live in it and the property value of the surrounding houses even suffered the effect of having it in their neighborhood. The owner of the house was Josiah Cotton, a prominent member of the community and strict Calvinist who distained belief in the paranormal and the following of silly superstitions. Like many early settlers, he had lost most of his children during childbirth or from disease but he held on to his daughter Hannah. She married Captain Thompson Phillips who built the house on Cole Hill and had one child. Shortly after the marriage, Phillips was lost at sea. Hannah remarried and moved to Boston, but died later that year of small pox. Cotton was given custody of his granddaughter. He also inherited the house and all of Phillips debts. His own financial standing had started to become shaky due in part to the costs of raising his grandchild, his own son’s education at Harvard and several bad investments. He decided to sell the house, knowing he could raise more money quicker if he sold it rather than renting it out. He was unable to find a buyer willing to pay enough and eventually opened it to renters in the area. In 1732 he reached a verbal agreement with John Clark, a blacksmith who decided to use the house as a residence for himself and his business partner as well as a workshop. He moved in with his family, his business partner’s family, several people who worked for him and a few others. There seems to have been an argument between landlord and tenant a little over a year later. Cotton wanted someone else to share the house forcing Clark to split the space and give up his bedroom. People witness the men arguing and Cotton later testified that Clark claimed he would start rumors about the landlord and the house if Cotton insisted on the move. In June 1733 Clark and his partner moved out, refusing to pay the rent they owed. One by one the remaining tenants moved out refusing to pay their rent. Their claim was that the house was haunted by Phillips and the Devil himself. Unseen hands moved furniture or rattled the walls throughout the house. There were unexplained noises, including groans that sometimes became so loud and disturbing other people in the neighborhood were awoke by them. There were often lights in rooms where no one was, sometimes seen as candle light or “unusual” glowing. The most disturbing hauntings involved a pale “blewish” light that was seen by people in the house and the surrounding neighborhood. At first those outside of the house found ways to dismiss what they were seeing and hearing. Cats, wolves and the moon helped explain away what was happening, but the reputation of the house was growing, and with each tale people incorporated their own fears into the lore being created. In court many would testify they thought there might have been a more mundane explanation, but they soon changed their mind. The house was haunted and the cats became groans and the moon became the disembodied soul of the agents of the devil. People began camping outside of the house, waiting for something to happen. Cotton desperately needed the money the renters brought in, but he was a highly religious man who was down to earth. He had already begun to distain the paranormal effect it had on the citizens of Plymouth. Before Clark had moved out he had begun correspondences with anti-supernatural writers in New England and overseas. In his personal journal he wrote about the destruction of the Bible because the people preferred to turn to the stars or entrails rather than the written word. The reason people incorporated superstition so much in their lives is not hard to understand. Living in the wilderness and facing the unknown tried even the most pious person. Settlers Mixed old world beliefs with the Native American they were coming into contact with, as well as a need to explain new experiences they were being exposed to. Tradition becomes superstition. This may be a simplified explanation, but these elements help create the atmosphere in Salem towards the end of the 17th century and in the following decades throughout Massachusetts. |
| by Christopher Lee Balzano |