Strange Cyphers

This is from a newspaper dating to 1931, figures that were found on the body of a woman floating in the surf off of Southport, Maine that same year .

There are many questions surrounding these cyphers, besides what they might stand for – why might the woman have wrapped the card they were written on carefully in waxed paper to protect them if she was going to commit suicide as the authorities believed?

Why did she, a woman in her 30’s, travel alone from the Philadelphia/New York area to the summer town of Boothbay Harbor, Maine in December of 1931?

What prompted her to rip the labels out of most of her clothing and also to remove labels from her prescription bottles? Did she even check in to the hotel under her real name, signing in as Louise Meade?

She was determined to see “the Rockbound Coast of Maine” according to witnesses. So much so, that she walked about 6 miles, in high heels, in December, without a coat, to get to the wild, open coast!

Found several days later with a belt buckled around her wrists and an early electric iron cord (with iron) and her pocketbook handles tied up, also.

Another mystery involves this finding – many folks saw her walking those 6 miles and she was not carrying a bag large enough to hold a heavy iron and she was not wearing a belt.

Yet, the local police determined that she had committed suicide and the case was closed.  The woman was buried in an unmarked grave in a local cemetery due to the generosity of the townspeople. Can you help us figure out what these numbers and letters might mean? Do you have a missing person in your family genealogy that might be “Louise”?

 

 

Boothbay Harbor Experience

Here is a link to a story that a guest on one of my tours wrote. It is about an experience she had the night after her tour with me in Boothbay Harbor. Maybe some of you who’ve also stayed at Captain Sawyer’s have some stories you’d like to share as well?

http://www.theconcordwriter.com/More_Ghost_Stories.php

Benefit Tours

“Getting Away Together,” a PBS travel show, is coming to Boothbay Harbor to film an episode this coming week! Everyone in town is so excited about promoting this special spot!

To help raise needed funds, I’m offering 2 Benefit Tours, one on September 30 and one on October 14. All proceeds from these tours will go toward the fund to bring the Emmy winning producer and his crew to town.

This is your perfect chance to stop putting off joining us on a Red Cloak Haunted History Tour! Boothbay Harbor is just beautiful and of course, very haunted! It’s reported to have the most haunted building in Maine… maybe we’ll see a ghost, but you’ll learn some interesting history as well!

We’ll be offering our Boothbay Cemetery Tours as well, on both of these dates. Information for making reservations in on the website, www.redcloakhauntedhistorytours.com

National Girlfriend Day

I recently found out that August 1st is National Girlfriend Day – so the first thing to do is gather up your girlfriends and bring them on a Red Cloak Haunted History Tour! We will have 3 tours on Wednesday, August 1st (which is also a Full Moon night, by the way!); Camden, Boothbay Harbor and first come first served for Damariscotta or Wiscasset.

The second thing to do is share a girlfriend ghost story with me. Maybe you and a girlfriend had a paranormal experience or explored a haunted house together, or maybe your story is more like mine…

My best friend since early elementary school lives across the country from me here in Maine. She and I were inseparable as we were growing up and each considered the other’s family to be ours as well. My mother used to wear a particular lotion with a distinctive smell – long ago off the market. The night my mother passed away, my girlfriend told me she was awakened in the middle of the night and knew someone was in her room – and she knew just who it was; she could distinctly smell my mother’s lotion – a smell she had not experienced in over 30 years! My mother had stopped in to tell her goodbye.

What’s your story??

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate’s Life for Me!

Pirates are taking over midcoast Maine! Good Pirates, of course. This weekend Pirates invade Damariscotta as a fundraising event for charity and next week they take over Boothbay Harbor for Windjammer Days!

To join the fun, we’re doing a special Pirate Tales Tour tomorrow (6/22) for a school group in the morning; and at night if you mention “Pirates” when making your reservation, we’ll donate 20% to the local charity that the Pirates are benefiting! If you ask your guide, Christine, very nicely, she might even tell a pirate tale or 2!

Next week, during Windjammer Days, we’ve tweaked our tours so that there’s some focus on Pirates in Maine (particularly the Boothbay Harbor Area) – yes, there  really were! We’ll also tell a bit about Windjammer history in Boothbay Harbor along with some ghosts, of course!

So… Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of… your choice!

Opening Day

Well, for not even being officially open yet, we’ve been pretty busy! We’ve had tours here in Maine most nights the last week, and sometimes 2! Tonight is Boothbay Harbor and Damariscotta… last night was a fun night in Camden, we had Wiscasset and Bath on Monday – phew! July 4 will be our official opening for our 5th season of Red Cloak Haunted History Tours! I hope you can join us sometime… we will be offering tours through October 30, and some special events as well, stay tuned!

Windjammer Days

Take a tour in Boothbay Harbor tonight, before all the crowds arrive tomorrow! You’ll still get to see some ships, learn some history and of course hear the ghost stories! It’s going to be a beautiful evening! Call for reservations, 207-380-3806

Upcoming Tour Schedule

A note to those of you looking at the upcoming summer/fall schedule… we do not have a firm schedule in all of our towns yet, so do not be discouraged! There will be tours in Camden, Damariscotta, Boothbay Harbor, Wiscasset and Bath July through October, dates are just not firm at the moment. If you have particular times that you’d like to request a tour, please get in touch with me – usually special requests can be accomodated.

Last night, in Boothbay Harbor, I had to tell a story that is not part of our usual route, so not one that I’ve memorized. I promised the guests on the walk that I would post the story here so we could be sure to get the facts straight! Susannah Lewis and Benjamin Kenney had marriage intentions published on June 26, 1784, and were married on August 4 of the same year. Susannah was only 17, a plain girl, but she had set her sights on Benjamin who was an older, weathier man. Susannah was very demanding, turning shrewish as time went on and was often in a rage, cursing Benjamin. He was a fisherman and began to spend more and more time on the water, even going out in bad weather. One time he was late returning home from a fishing trip during a storm so Susannah went to the shore to look for him and never returned! Benjamin and his crew were found the following day, safe and sound. Susannah was also found the next day; her body having washed ashore where she had been swept in by a wave. Benjamin later remarried. Susannah was buried in the Pear St. Cemetery, but has not stopped looking for her husband… a mist is often seen at her gravesite.

Another fantastic tour with the maine ghost hunter society! Last night’s tour in Damariscotta was warm, but we found a cold spot or 2! Once again, results will be posted on www.maineghosts.org once they’ve been evaluated. On this tour we were lucky enough to be able to go inside 3 buildings that have spirits, in one the emf device had some very high readings. Boothbay Harbor on September 10 will be the next place the Maine Ghost Hunter Society joins us. Call for reservations, 207-380-3806.