Page 10 | ALONG ROUTE 16 | October 2020
Halloween Haunts
Terrifically Tantalizing Tales By Leigh Sharps For those whose interest is piqued during the Halloween season, there are hundreds of New Hampshire ghost stories: some true, some almost true, some urban legends. But, let’s face it, at any time of the year all these tales are intriguing to say the least. Here are a few chilling tales from the north country. The ‘Light in The Window’ When ‘The Hermit Lady of Passaconaway’, Mrs. Ruth Colbath, passed away alone in 1930 at the Memorial Hospital in North Conway, it was the end of a 39-year vigil. In 1891, Ruth was preparing dinner when her husband, Tom, told her he was going for a walk and would shortly return. But he didn’t return. Though the “I’m going to the store for a loaf of bread!” excuse, and never coming back, is a running joke for abandonment by choice, it was not a joke to Ruth. In fact, since that night, and every night until she died, Ruth would place a lantern in the front window of her little farmhouse in the hopes her husband would return and know she was there by that symbol of love and faithfulness. Ruth was the fourth of five daughters. Her father, Amzi Russell, owned most of Passaconaway Valley and was a leading lumberman in the area and he also owned a store where Ruth worked. There she often bartered with Native Americans of the Pennacook tribe. She attended an academy in nearby Wolfeboro but after getting an education, she decided to return to work on the farm where she was born and her grandfather had built in 1830. She saw her sisters, friends, and even entire families move to the cities during the Industrial
Revolution. Soon after the valley emptied, her father died, then his sawmill burned. She married Tom Colbath and they continued to live in the same house with her mother until Tom disappeared in the fall of 1891. She worked as the Valley postmistress until her retirement and after her mother’s death, she inherited the homestead and her father’s timberlands, which she sold off a little at a time to maintain financial stability. When the Conway area began growing as a summer tourist destination at the turn of the century, folks heard the sad tale of Ruth Colbath and some sought her out to hear her story and watch her put the lantern in the window each night. She was called either ‘The Grand Old Lady of the Mountains’ or ‘The Winter Hermit’ as she was basically alone all winter. By the time she turned 80 she was using crutches and canes just to cross a room (a childhood hip injury didn’t help). All the years she was alone, a neighbor, Ben Swinston, kept an eye on Ruth, chopping wood, looking after the fires, ensuring the town kept the single roadway from her house in Albany to Conway open in case of an emergency. He took her to the hospital when she became ill and shortly thereafter died. (He inherited $500 from her estate after her death). Oddly enough, three years later, her husband Tom showed up! Ben Swinston told Tom how Ruth had stayed there, waiting for him, putting a lamp in the window every night even though some told her she was ‘crazy’, he was ‘dead’, she should ‘move on’, etc. Ben never received a straight answer from Tom on his whereabouts or why he returned. (Tom mentioned he
Women’s Fellowship Mingle & Jingle Craft Fair The First Congregational Church, UCC, located at 400 Main Street in Farmington, NH will host a Christmas Craft and Food Sale on Saturday, November 7 from 9 am to 1 pm. This year’s fair proceeds will benefit the church ramp project. During the festive event, there will be a wide variety of homemade crafts to give as gifts, to use as Christmas decorations for the home, and wonderful items to keep you warm during the
colder weather that is coming as we head into winter. The fair will also feature a variety of homemade and canned foods including the Fellowship’s famous and popular pies. Please join fairgoers on November 7 for the first annual Mingle & Jingle Craft Fair to benefit the ramp fund project. For information on the fair, call 603-755-4816.
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had been in California, Cuba and Panama but no one really knows.) Although Tom expressed his desire to move back into the farm, it had already been divided among Ruth’s relatives. Historical reports aren’t sure what happened to Tom, though it’s believed he moved to Wolfeboro to live with a sister. Some could say it’s what he deserved! Ruth is buried in Russell Cemetery a short distance from her farm. In her honor, the house was carefully restored by the Saco District of the National Forest Service and in 1987 it was officially entered into the National Register of Historic Places. Some could say that’s what she deserved: having the home where she kept a light in the window shining for 39 years carefully restored and its value historically recognized. Visitors to her resting place swear they hear a woman crying near sunset at her grave and still other visitors to her house report they’ve seen a phantom flickering light in the front window near dusk. Could it be ‘The Light in The Window’? Chocorua’s Curse Mt. Chocorua is a popular hiking spot that connects to several looping trails. It is the easternmost peak in the Sandwich Mountain Range. The best view of this lovely mountain is from the scenic area in Tamworth across from the peak on Chocorua Lake. The summit of the mountain (at 3,478 ft.) is the spot for a Native American tale of grief and a haunting. In 1725 the Native American Pequawket Tribe of the White Mountains left the region and moved further north to Canada. Staying behind was a young tribe member, Chocorua, a wid-
ower with a young son. The father and son wanted to stay on the tribal homelands. Chocorua befriended some settlers, the Cornelius Campbell family who had a son the same age as Chocorua’s child. An unfortunate fox-killing incident resulted in the death of Chocorua’s boy when he ingested poison set out to destroy the fox. Chocorua discovered his son’s death after returning from a hunting journey. He believed it was the fault of the Campbell’s and decided to exact revenge on the family for his loss. When Cornelius came home from working in the fields he found his family had been ‘butchered’ by Chocorua. Campbell then tracked Chocorua to the peak of the mountain now holding his name and shot him to death. Chocorua fell to the rocks below in pain and screamed, “A curse on the white man. May lightning ruin your crops. Wind and fire destroy your dwellings. The Evil Spirit breathes death upon your cattle. Panthers howl and wolves fatten your bones. Chocorua goes to the Great Spirit - his curse stays with the white man!” Part of the curse (according to some stories) came true as crops failed, there was much sickness among residents and cattle died in droves. Later the death of the cattle was found to be due to muriate of lime found in their drinking water (no one could say where it came from). To this day the tragic tale on both sides, and the curse that followed, is not forgotten. Many hikers to the summit of Mt. Chocorua hear its namesake crying and wailing in the wind for his lost son, especially near nightfall. Some say the mournful sound echoes across the lake as well.
Plan Ahead for Christmas Wreath at Gafney Library! It is only Octhe form may then be dropped tober and a few in the outside months away book drop at the from Christmas, Gafney Library but the Gafney (Library) elves in Sanbornville. Please do not need extra time mail your order. this year to make The elves will the full handdistribute the made bows, wire wreaths from the pinecones and the building pull it all together next to Tumbleto create the full, down Café on double-sided 24-inch, balsam Saturday, Nowreaths that sell vember 21 (the Saturday before out quickly evThanksgiving) ery year. The cost is just $20 per from 9 am-1:30 wreath to support pm. Look for the the library. sandwich board Information is An example of a hoiday wreath made by sign and the happy people! on the Gafney Gafney Library volunteers website www. For more ingafneylibrary.org, where an order form formation, visit www.gafneylibrary.org may be printed out. Accompanied by a or call 603-522-3401. check made payable to Gafney Library,
