Conference hydra::dejavu

    
    	I have a collection of New England folk tales which has this
    story. I don't quite recall all the details of the story but she
    was married to a pirate captain. I believe that she was first 
    seen as a child by this captain on a ship that he was about to sack. 
    When he saw her he stopped his crew from doing anything and went
    back to his ship. He shortly returned with a bolt of green cloth
    and gave it to Mary's mother and told her that the cloth was to
    be for Mary's wedding dress..... Time passes and, guess what,
    Mary marries this captain and of course her dress was made from
    the material he had given her.  She took up residence at a
    house which I think is in New Hampshire.  The house is said to
    be haunted by Mary. One curious thing about the house is that 
    there is a great big stone slab before the kitchen fireplace. 
    It is said that she may be buried under the stone - perhaps there 
    is also talk of treasure under the stone. I also recall that the 
    green wedding dress is extant... I could look this story up if 
    you want to know more. Just out of curiousity, why do you ask? 
    The odd thing is that I just happened to read this a week or so 
    ago after having the book for a year or two.... and this is the
    first time I've read anything in this conference.
    
    Susan 

    This has always been one of my favorite "ghost" stories.  If memory
    serves, Mary didn't marry the captain, but became his housekeeper after
    she was widowed.  The captain, Pedro I believe was his name, was killed
    with a cutlass in the orchard behind the house.  The killer was never
    found.
    
    The house is in Henniker.  I had occasion to tour it many years ago
    when my then fiance and I went off looking for it on a whim.  At that
    time it was owned by a Mr. & Mrs. Roy who gave tours (for a small fee)
    but did not believe it was haunted.  It was a really interesting place
    to see though as they had a great many of Mary's things (including a
    piece of the green brocade mentioned in .1). That cloth was used to
    make her wedding dress.  The Roy's took great pains to let everyone
    know that the house was not haunted.  They had a lot of trouble each
    halloween with the New England College students camping out on their
    lawn waiting for Mary to come by in her carriage (one of the reported
    sightings).
    
    As far as the hearthstone in the kitchen, they also said that several
    people had been in with metal detectors and such and that there was
    definitely something under it, but it was so heavy, it would take
    a lot to lift it and so far anyone trying had no success (there is
    supposed to be a curse on the stone place there by the captain
    promising dire consequences to any one trying to remove it).  I haven't
    read the story in a while, but the late Edward Rowe Snow did some
    research on it and Hans Holzer recalls it in one of his books.
    
    We didn't run into any ghosts on that trip, but it was an interesting
    visit.

         I have always,since I was a about ten, loved ghost stories. The
    more true to life ones not the movie ones. The story of Ocean Born Mary 
    has always been one of my favorites. It came up in conversation with a
    friend of mine a week ago. It seemed to me that a lot of personal ghost 
    stories have been told and hardly ever any stories about place that
    have been writen about.
          We have a large number of people in this conferance scattered 
    through out the state. I think if anyone has a chane to investigate
    some of the more famous places around, it would make great reading and 
    disscution. Some people might even make a club out of it, a sort of 
    ghost hunters club. Take pictures, make recordings, write stories, and 
    share what they have found out with the rest of us.
    
                                                Thomas

         Here is the Reader Digest version from "More Haunted Houses " by
    Joan Bingham and Dolores Riccio. I'll try to hit the high lights.
         She was born Mary Wilson Wallace and lead a charmed life from the 
    very moment she was born. It was the summer of 1720 aboard the sailing
    vessel the Wolf. It sailed from Londonderry, Ireland to the port of 
    Portsmouth, New Hampshire in the USA. It was a calm crossing until they
    reach the coast of Massachusetts and found a swift ship bearing down on
    them, flying the Jolly Roger on it's mast.
         Spanish pirates, led by the notorious Don Pedro boared the decks
    of the Wolf. Soon everyone on board was looted of thier valuables and
    the capitain's cabin was robbed of it's gold and other wealth.
         Satisfied that they had taken all, Don Pedro ordered the entire
    crew and passangers of the Wolf to walk the plank. A popular sport back
    then, and so was the saving of the prettier women which was probable a
    crueler way to go.
         No sooner than the plank was in place than a strange sound was
    heard coming from below decks. The sound of a baby crying filled the
    air. Elizabeth Wilson had just given birth belowdecks.

       **  Sorry about that, lost track of time and almost late to work.**
    
         Don Pedro evidently had a soft spot deep down in his villainous
    heart because he stop the blank party to go view the baby. James Wilson
    wrapper the tiny girl in a blanket and brought her on deck. The sight
    of the beautiful infant moved Don Pedro to tears, which was as much a
    surprise to his men as well as all the prisoners.
         All those aboard the Wolf would be spared, Don Pedro said, if the
    Wilsons would name the child Mary after the pirates captains mother.
    The Wilsons happily agreed and a sigh of relief fell apoun the
    prisoners of the pirates. The pirates got back on thier ship and sailed
    off.
         But a few minutes later Don Pedro returned and boared the Wolf
    again along with a few of his men. This time in stead of taking things
    the pirates were load down with gifts for the Wilsons. Trying to give
    the child a good start in life was the reason, said Don Pedro.
         He carried a large bolt of rare Chinese silk brocade in a
    beautiful sea-green shade, which he laid down on the bed beside Mary.
    " Let this be made into a gowned for her wedding day," said Don Pedro
    to the Wilsons which they swore they would.
         The Wolf finally made to Portsmouth after the final departure of
    the pirates. The newcomers had quite a story to tell to friends and 
    relatives who awaited them.
         James Wison died soon after the Wilsons arrived in Londonderry,New
    Hampshire, but Elizabeth remarried. Her second husband was to be the
    great-great-grandfather of Horace Greeley, his name was James Clark.
         Every year on Mary's birthday the town would celerbrate the Wolf's
    deliverance from the pirates. To her fellow townspeople she was always
    known as Ocean-born Mary from her first birthday to her last.
         Mary grew into a srong and beautiful women with thick, luctrous
    red hair and green eyes. Those who knew her described her as
    strongminded, quick of comprehension, full of good humor, speaking
    always with a charming brogue, and elegant in her manners. She was also
    six feet tall, which was rare for a girl from the 1700's.
    
         More later, work becons me.
    
                                             Thomas

         Mary married in 1742, to a man taller than her, his name was
    Thomas Wallace. Mary's mother kept her promise to Don Pedro and made 
    Mary a lovely wedding dress out of the bolt of the blue-green Chinese
    silk.
         Mary's granddaughter and great granddaughter both wore that same
    dress on their wedding days. When the dress finaly apart from age, a
    piece from it was framed and hung in the Henniker home where Mary
    spent her last days.
         The story diverges into two versions.
         According to some sources, Don Pedro retired to Henniker, New 
    Hampshire because one, no one was gunning for him there, but also
    because his goddaughter lived close by.
         When Don Pedro found out that Mary was raising four children on
    her own since the death of her husband, Don Pedro invited Mary and her
    four boys to stay with him and share his vast fortune.
         Mary accepted the invitation and moved in with Don Pedro, maybe
    even sharing the location of where he hide his ill gotten booty.
         One day when Mary and her four sons were out in their coach, Don
    Pedro was murdered by someone trying to steal his cache of gold and 
    jewels. Apparently Mary had some foreboding about the event and came
    rushing home early, only to find Don Pedro lying face down in the 
    orchard with a sword in his back.
         One of the apperation seen is that of a coachs hurried arrival and
    a tall woman running from the coach into the Henniker house. Some have
    seen the woman throw something in a well as she rushed passed it. Goans 
    can be heard coming from the orchard. Local ghost watchers say this
    happens every Halloween.
    
         Sorry time to go back to the grind again, more later.
    

         I hope everyone had a good weekend. Now to continue the story.
         In the second version of Mary's story, other sources say that the
    Henniker house was built for Mary by her son Robert, who wanted her to
    have the grandest house in the surrounding country.
         There is one interesting fact, however, on which most sources
    agree. In 1781 an elderly Spanish gentleman, assumed to be Don Pedro
    was living in that house. Whether he was the owner and Mary was the
    guest, or vise versa, is the question. In any case the Henniker house
    was his abode for some time, maybe until he died.
         Everyone wonders what became of Don Pedro's fortune? In some
    versions, including the on where Robert built the house, Don Pedro
    requested to be buried underneath the hearthstone in the kitchen, which
    is a slab of granite eight feet long and thirty inches wide. Some say
    that the old pirate buried his treasure there instead, along with a
    curse on anyone who digs up his chest. Despite the curse the
    hearthstone has been check a few times.
         Mary lived on in the house after Don Pedro had died, where in the
    course of the following years she was visited by celebrated guests.
    Daniel Webster visited often and Pesident Franklin Pierce came by to
    meet the legendary Ocean-born Mary. General Lafayette stay at Mary's
    house and planted a tree in the front yard.
         Mary lived to be ninety-four and was buried in Henniker Cemetery
    where her ghost was been known to frequent.
    
         Alittle more at my next break.

         I promise this will be my last peice on the story.
         Mary's headstone is inscribed as follows: In Memory of Widow Mary
    Wallace, Who died Feb. 13, A.D. 1814, in the 94th year of Her Age.
    Beneath this legend, there are two more words: Ocean Mary.
         The house in which Mary lived with her mother and stepfather was 
    taken apart and reassembled in Compton, R.I. It is called the Sea-born 
    Mary House. There are rumors that Mary's ghost haunts there also.
         The present owners of the Henniker house do not believe in Mary
    nor the buried treasure, and make it a point tell people this. So 
    please do not disturbe the present owners and please do not try to
    look for Mary's ghost on Halloween.
         You can visit Mary's grave in the Henniker Cemetery which is 
    located right behind the Henniker Town Hall.
    
         I hope you find this story as interesting as I have and may
    it spark the ghost hunter in you.
    
                                             Thomas