Hammondford Poltergeist
"Is that the last of it?" Dwight Tupper asked as piled, the last of his family's belongings into the back of the wagon.
"Yup," his wife, Adeline, replied. "Except for the few clothes we need to tide us over, that's everything we own."
"Do you and the girls need anything else for the journey?"
"Journey? For heaven's sake!" she laughed. "Hammondford is only a two-hour trip by train. You make it sound as though we were pioneers heading West in a Conestoga wagon."
"Is it wrong for a man to worry about his family?"
"We'll be fine. Huck is going to give us a ride to the station. Just be sure you're not late picking us up."
"Don't worry. I'll be there in plenty of time."
"You better get going," Adeline said after an affectionate embrace.
"Kiss the girls for me when they wake up. Tell them I'm going to miss them."
"You'll see them in a few days. You be careful and go easy on that horse. Make sure he gets enough rest."
"I will."
Adeline watched until the wagon was out of sight. Then she returned to the house she had been born and raised in, the one she currently shared with her brother and his family. Huck was in the barn, milking the cows, and Verity, her sister-in-law, was in the kitchen, cooking breakfast.
"I'll set the table," she offered.
"I'm going to miss all of you," Verity declared, flipping the flapjacks over. "The house won't be the same without you."
"Look on the bright side. You'll have a lot more room for your family. You've got to admit that with four adults and five children, this place was overcrowded."
"Just the same ...."
Unable to put her feelings into words, Verity put down her spatula and hugged her sister-in-law. The two women had been more than family; they were close friends.
"Now, you will have a place of your own," she announced, wiping her tears with her apron.
"But it's a shame we owe our good fortune to someone else's tragedy."
"You mustn't feel that way. Dwight's grandfather had a good life. And now that he's gone, it's only right the store and the house should pass down to his kinfolk. Just like this farm went to Huck after your Pa died."
"I know. I would have hated to see a stranger running the business Grandpa Tupper spent his whole life building."
"Maybe once the harvest is in, we'll all go up to Hammondford for a visit. If we can find someone to care for the animals while we're gone, that is."
At the sound of the children's footsteps, the two women worked in concert to get breakfast on the table. Prudence, Adeline's older girl, was the first one to come downstairs.
"Did Father leave already?" she asked.
"Yes. He said to kiss you and your sister for him," her mother replied, blowing a kiss in the air.
Verity's three boys then entered the kitchen, followed by Honoria, Prudence's younger sister. Once the children and their mothers finished their meal, it was time for all of them to do their chores. Life on a farm was not an easy one, and no one had the luxury of relaxing.
* * *
Not wanting to disappoint his wife, Dwight arrived at the station early. As he waited for the train, he thought about his daughters. Although they were only a year apart in age, they were as different as night and day. Prudence, the older girl, had a serious nature. She was quiet, modest, hard-working and pious. Honoria, on the other hand, was vivacious, fun-loving, gregarious and affectionate. As for their appearance, Prudence took after her father. She was, quite frankly, plain. Her hair and eyes were brown, and her face was unremarkable. The poor girl paled in comparison to her sister's beauty. Like his wife, Honoria had red hair, green eyes and a face that would rival that of Helen of Troy.
The doting father believed that when it came time for his daughters to marry, both would find eager suitors. Prudence would attract a man with qualities much like her own. His future son-in-law would no doubt be a sober, industrious lad who would value her as a loyal wife, tireless helpmate and loving mother to his children. Dwight, frankly, worried about the kind of man who would eventually ask for his younger daughter's hand. She would have no shortage of suitors; that was for sure! But not all of them would make good husbands.
I only hope Honoria will find a man who loves her for herself and not just her pretty face.
As he pondered his daughters' future, he heard a rumbling on the tracks. Barring any unforeseen problems that might have come up, his family would be aboard that train. When the locomotive came to a stop, the passengers exited the cars. Honoria was the first of his family to appear.
"Pa!" she cried and promptly threw her arms around him in a loving embrace. "I missed you so much!"
"It's good to see you, Father," Prudence said softly, acknowledging him with a demure smile.
"I'm glad you're all here," he announced. "How was the trip?"
"Uneventful—thank goodness!" his wife replied.
"I hope you're all well-rested. We have a lot of work waiting for us. We've got to get the store ready to reopen."
"I'm willing to do whatever I can to help," fourteen-year-old Prudence offered.
"Can't it wait, Pa? We just got here," her thirteen-year-old sister whined.
"We won't be able to make any money unless we sell things," Dwight answered. "And to do that, we have to put the stock on the shelves."
"Since the place has been closed since Grandpa Tupper became ill, I would imagine it's dusty," Adeline assumed. "Prudence and I will give the place a good cleaning while you and Honoria stock the shelves."
"What about our new house?" the younger girl asked. "Is everything ready for us to move in?"
"There's furniture in it," her father replied. "But I haven't had the chance to unpack everything yet. I just got into town late last night."
"So, we have to do that, too?"
"I'm afraid so."
Honoria grimaced. She had thought moving to Hammondford would be a fun and exciting adventure, but it was turning out to be a major disappointment. Owning a general store apparently involved as much hard work as farming did.
* * *
Once all the family's belongings were unpacked and the store was open for business, Honoria found life in Hammondford much improved. As was customary in the early 1930s, women were assigned housekeeping duties. Thus, Adeline remained at home, doing all the domestic chores such as cooking, cleaning and laundry while Dwight ran the general store. Since education did not become mandatory until 1852, the girls did not attend school. Instead, they were expected to help their parents.
Usually, it was Prudence who did the lion's share of the girls' chores. She had no objections to helping her mother wash windows, can fruits and vegetables, iron Father's shirts or mend torn garments. Honoria chose to assist her father in the store. At first, Dwight waited on the customers while his daughter swept the floor, refilled the shelves, weighed goods on the scale and prepared orders for delivery. However, he soon noticed people preferred her smiling, cheerful, gregariousness to his dull professionalism.
"You wait on the customers," he then told her, "and I'll see to the books and the inventory."
With Honoria behind the counter, the business grew. Men and women alike enjoyed talking to the girl when they shopped at the general store. She was like a ray of sunshine in their dreary lives. Teenage boys no longer objected to running errands in Hammondford because it allowed them to either stop and chat with her or catch a glimpse of her face through the store window. Yet despite many young men being secretly infatuated with the pretty thirteen-year-old, none of them found the courage to approach Dwight and ask for his permission to pay court to his daughter.
She's young yet, he thought. There's plenty of time yet for her to find a husband. Besides, Prudence is older. She ought to marry first.
Unlike her younger sister, though, the fourteen-year-old had little opportunity to meet boys. Except during the holiday season when her help was needed at the general store, she remained at home with her mother. The only place she encountered members of the opposite sex was at church on Sundays, and those men she did meet took no notice of her, for her presence was always eclipsed by that of her far more attractive sibling.
Then, one December day, as she approached her seventeenth birthday, Prudence was measuring a length of gingham for Mrs. Jemima Hascomb when the woman's son, Elias, came into the store.
"You haven't met my boy, have you, Miss Tupper?" the customer asked.
Prudence blushed when the introductions were made, for she had never met so handsome a young man.
"He's in college, you know," Jemima announced proudly. "He's come home for the holidays.
"Oh, what are you studying?" the girl asked shyly.
"My father thought I ought to study law," Elias replied, "but I wanted to go into medicine."
"In another couple of years, he'll be Dr. Hascomb!"
Prudence finished cutting the fabric and handed it to Jemima. She watched as the customer and her son walked to the counter where her sister was ready to wait on them. Honoria, now fifteen, was even more beautiful than ever.
"So, you're Mrs. Hascomb's son!" the redhead exclaimed, beaming. "She talks about you all the time. I'm happy to finally meet you."
At the back of the store, Honoria continued to watch as her sister flirted with the young student.
What hope do I have of ever getting a suitor—much less a husband—with Honoria around? she thought on the point of tears.
After Mrs. Hascomb paid for her fabric and several other items, mother and son both said goodbye to the girl at the counter. As they headed out the door, Elias turned his head in Prudence's direction, smiled and nodded goodbye to her. The blush returned to her face, and she hurried to the storage room at the rear of the general store, ostensibly to get another bolt of gingham for display. Her true motive for seeking privacy was that she could not bear to see the look on Honoria's face as she watched the Hascombs drive off in their wagon.
* * *
Two young girls living in the same house, both of whom were attracted to the same young man, was a recipe for trouble. One was plain; the other was beautiful. And Elias Hascomb was the most eligible bachelor in the small town. One might have expected arguments to arise in the Tupper household. However, the sisters were not prone to fighting. Not only was Prudence too ladylike for such behavior, but the siblings rarely spent time together. Even at night, after the general store closed, the girls retired to their own bedrooms after the evening meal. The older sister would first clean up the kitchen and then spend the remainder of her waking day reading while her sister frequently sewed new clothing for herself or experimented with different hairstyles.
No one in the community, much less the sisters themselves, expected the girls' rivalry to take the form it did. When Elias returned to school after celebrating Christmas with his widowed mother, strange things began to occur in the Tupper home. The initial disturbance happened on the first Sunday of the new year. The family had just sat down to dinner when Adeline brought up the Hascombs in conversation.
"Jemima seems lost now that Elias isn't there. It's a shame ...."
Suddenly, the empty water pitcher flew off the table and smashed on the floor.
"What on earth!" the startled mother cried.
"What do you suppose made it fall?" Dwight asked.
"I don't know. No one was near it."
"I didn't feel the table move," Honoria declared.
Prudence dutifully rose from her seat, retrieved a broom from the closet and swept up the broken glass.
"We'll need another water pitcher," the older daughter announced without hazarding a guess as to what had made the old one fall.
She then resumed her seat and calmly asked that her mother pass the potatoes to her. While the other three people at the table were shaken by the strange event, she alone took it in stride. It was as though flying pottery was a common occurrence in the household.
"You were saying something about Mrs. Hascomb," she reminded her mother.
"Y-yes," Adeline stammered. "I was about to say that it's a shame she had only one child. She misses him so much when he's not around."
"Once he's done with school, he'll surely come home to Hammondford," Honoria theorized. "He'll most likely settle down here, get married and start a family. Then Mrs. Hascomb will have grandchildren nearby."
"What makes you think Elias is going to marry after he finishes school?" her sister asked.
"He's a handsome, personable young man. Surely, he won't be a bachelor for long. Some unmarried woman is sure to snap him up."
As Prudence glared at her younger sister, the front door blew open.
"Well, I'll be damned!" Dwight swore. "It's not even windy out."
Again, his firstborn daughter remained calm in the face of the unknown. She got up from the table, crossed the room and shut the door.
"Am I the only one eating?" she asked as she picked up her knife and fork to cut her meat.
Although they took no enjoyment in their Sunday dinner, her parents and sister cleaned their plates. Thankfully, there were no more disturbances to interrupt the meal.
* * *
What began with two inexplicable incidents during Sunday dinner soon escalated into frequent occurrences. Doors and windows opened and closed on their own. Items mysteriously flew off tables, dressers and shelves. The flames of candles and fireplaces were lit and extinguished without human assistance.
"The house is haunted," Adeline told her husband. "It's the only possible explanation for what's going on here."
"By Grandpa Tupper?" Dwight asked. "Why would he want to frighten us? It was his wish that I move into his home after he died. And why would he have waited so long to act? We've been here two years already."
"Maybe someone else's spirit is haunting us."
"Whose? And for what reason?"
"I don't know. But something out of the ordinary is going on here."
Although they were deeply concerned about the mysterious disturbances, the Tuppers remained in the house.
"I only pray that whoever or whatever is causing all this trouble will eventually tire of it and leave us alone," Adeline said.
Until that time, she would stoically endure the broken pottery and glassware, the slamming doors and shutters, the cold winter wind blowing through the open windows and the family's clothes being taken from the drawers and strewn about the rooms. By Easter, however, the relatively harmless hijinks took the form of physical attacks.
Honoria was the first victim of the spirit's anger. She was getting dressed one morning to accompany her father to the general store, when an unseen hand scratched her face, leaving four claw-like marks on her cheek.
"What's wrong?" her mother asked after hearing her younger daughter cry out in pain.
"Something scratched me," she replied. "But I don't know what it could have been."
"It looks like human fingernails did that," her mother suggested.
"You don't think I did it myself, do you?" Honoria asked indignantly. "I didn't. I swear it!"
"I know. I suspect the entity that's been wreaking havoc around here for the past three months did this to you."
"The ghost?"
"Who else?"
"Will I have to endure this treatment from now on?" the horrified girl wondered.
"I don't know what we can do about it," her mother helplessly admitted.
Unsure where to turn to for help, Adeline sought the advice of their pastor. However, Father Lemuel Wetherby did not believe in ghosts.
"I'm sure there's a logical explanation for everything that's occurred in your home," the clergyman insisted.
Receiving no help from the church, the worried mother then consulted a physician. Although a man of science, he was more open-minded on the subject of the supernatural than Father Wetherby was.
"This reminds me of the case of the Bell Witch," Dr. Morris Shackleton said after listening to Adeline's account of the most recent attack—this time on Prudence.
"Who is the Bell Witch?"
"It was an invisible entity that attacked a man named John Bell and his family down in Adams, Tennessee."
"Was it a witch or a ghost?" Adeline inquired.
"No one knows exactly what it was, but I am of the opinion that it was a poltergeist."
"What is that?"
"It's a spirit that's responsible for physical disturbances and loud noises. Poltergeists have also been known to bite, pinch, scratch and hit human beings."
"The thing in our house has attacked both my children. It scratched Honoria and bit Prudence."
"Which is behavior consistent with my theory," Dr. Shackleton added. "Poltergeist activity usually centers around an adolescent or young adult, most frequently a girl."
"So, this thing is targeting my daughters! How can I make it stop?" Adeline cried.
"I suppose we have to find out what it wants."
* * *
As often happens in small, close-knit communities, gossip travels quickly. Within days of Dr. Shackleton's visit, all Hammondford knew about the alleged poltergeist in the Tupper home.
"A poltergeist indeed!" Father Lemuel exclaimed. "Nonsense!"
"It's not nonsense," Dr. Shackleton said defensively. "Lots of respectable, honest, god-fearing people believe in unseen entities. Andrew Jackson himself claims to have spoken to the Bell Witch back in 1819."
Not willing to question the word of the president, Lemuel Wetherby made no further comments about the cause of the disturbances in the Tupper household.
Although the start of the spiritualism movement was still more than a decade in the future, some people claimed to be "sensitive" to messages from beyond. Such a person was Mary Jane Dunker, a farmer's daughter from nearby Brookwood. When she heard about the Hammondford poltergeist, she offered her assistance in contacting it. Desperate to rid themselves of the mischievous spirit, the Tuppers were willing to accept any help that was offered, no matter the nature or source.
There was no dramatic séance. No one was required to sit around a table, holding hands while a phony medium called out to a spirit guide to help her communicate with the other side. Rather, the young woman, who was not much older than Prudence, entered the house, closed her eyes and opened her mind.
"There is a force here," Mary Jane announced.
Dr. Shackleton looked in Dwight's direction with an I-told-you-so expression on his face.
"It's worried. That's why it's behaving as it does."
"What is it worried about?" Adeline asked.
After several minutes, the young girl replied, "Elias Hascomb."
Honoria let out a startled cry at the mention of the student's name.
"Is he in danger?" she demanded to know.
"No."
"What has Mrs. Hascomb's son got to do with us?" Dwight demanded to know.
"He is a bachelor, and your daughter ...."
Mary Jane's answer was cut short when invisible hands tightened around her throat.
"Oh, my God!" Adeline cried. "Something is choking the poor girl. Doctor, do something."
Morris could not fight an attacker he was unable to see, however. Dwight, a younger and stronger man, picked the girl up in his arms and carried her outside. Once out of the house, she was able to breathe.
"It's best you not go back inside," he declared. "That thing obviously doesn't want you here."
"As I told you, this case is similar to the one in Adams, Tennessee," Dr. Shackleton declared when the father returned to the house. "It's said the entity threatened to remain in the Bell house until Betsey Bell married a man named Joshua Gardener. Since Betsey was known to have strong feelings for Gardener, people suspected she was responsible for the disturbances."
"Are you suggesting one of my daughters is behind all these troubles?" Adeline asked with disbelief.
"It's not me!" Honoria immediately insisted. "I didn't make those knives and forks fly off the table. I can't do magic."
"This is beginning to sound a lot like what happened in Salem back in the seventeenth century," Dwight mused. "Young girls claiming they were attacked by spirits sent out by witches."
"Since Father Wetherby doesn't want to help us, maybe we should ask another minister to come here," his wife suggested.
"Let's not go jumping to conclusions," Morris warned. "I doubt the devil has a hand in this."
"You'd rather think one of our girls is at fault?" the father asked.
"It told you," Honoria repeated. "It's not me!"
"If it is one of your daughters, she might not even be aware of what she's doing."
Prudence, who had remained strangely silent since Mary Jane came into the house, calmly announced, "I have a headache. I'm going to bed."
Dr. Shackleton watched as she climbed the stairs to the second floor.
My money is on that one, he thought with mounting suspicion.
* * *
For several weeks, the disturbances continued; however, they occurred with less frequency and were not nearly as severe. There were a few slammed doors, overturned dishes, rattled windows and snuffed candles. As for physical attacks—aimed at Prudence and Honoria in equal numbers—they were limited to occasional pinches and hair tugging.
Dwight noticed that his home experienced the most turmoil whenever Mrs. Hascomb or her son's name was mentioned.
"Maybe Dr. Shackleton and Miss Dunker were right about our daughters being behind the troubles," he told his wife in private one evening.
"Forgetting about how they managed to do those seemingly impossible feats, the question is why would they do them?"
"They're young women now. It's possible one of them is interested in Elias Hascomb."
"If so, it's the first I've ever heard of it. Neither girl has ever mentioned him to me."
"It must be Prudence," Dwight proposed. "Honoria is with me in the store every day. She's never shown an interest in anyone in particular."
"And Prudence spends most of her time at home. If she had a crush on someone, surely, I would notice it."
The following night at dinner, the father and mother conducted an experiment to discover which of the girls might be the cause of their problems.
"Mrs. Hascomb must be happy," Adeline said, feigning nonchalance. "The school year is coming to an end. That means her son will be coming home for the summer."
As the couple had planned, Dwight kept a close eye on both his daughters, looking for a reaction to his wife's statement. Although neither girl changed her facial expression, the pewter serving platter slid off the table and fell onto the floor.
"He's studying to be a doctor, isn't he?" the father asked, as Prudence quickly got up to clean the mess.
"Yes, I believe he is," his wife answered.
The front door suddenly opened and promptly slammed shut.
"Maybe we can invite him here and get his opinion on what's causing all this ruckus around here."
"Ow!" Honoria cried. "Something slapped my face!"
"I'd like to know if he agrees with Dr. Shackleton," Dwight continued, paying no attention to the fuss around him.
Prudence, who was returning to her seat, fell face forward after being pushed by unseen hands.
Adeline, fearing one of her daughters might get hurt if the onslaught continued, abruptly changed the subject of the conversation.
"It's supposed to rain tomorrow."
Her husband looked at her with confusion. He did not know why she was abandoning their plan.
"What does the weather have to do with Elias Hascomb?"
All four Tuppers seemed genuinely alarmed when the dining room table abruptly rose more than a foot in the air.
"Yes," Adeline said once the table was back in place. "It's going to rain. I can feel it in the air."
* * *
"I'm frightened," Adeline admitted to her husband. "If what we believe is true, then what will happen when Elias Hascomb comes home?"
"I wish I knew," Dwight replied. "Maybe you should talk to Prudence."
"I've already tried speaking to her. Whenever I mention his name, she becomes silent."
"I suppose it's what we should expect from her. She's always been so shy and quiet. It must be hard on her being Honoria's sister."
"How so?"
"Honoria is the pretty one. Elias Hascomb is more likely to be attracted to her than to Prudence."
"That would explain the attacks on Honoria," Adeline suggested. "But why would Prudence hurt herself?"
"Guilt, maybe. Or she could be trying to get attention. It's also possible, as Dr. Shackleton suggested, that she's not aware she's causing these disturbances."
Two weeks later, Elias entered the general store. Unlike his previous visits, his mother was not with him.
"Welcome home!" Honoria exclaimed.
"Thank you."
"Can I get you something?"
"I'd like to have a word with your father if he's available."
"What can I do for you, young man?" Dwight asked after his daughter told him he had a visitor.
"Could I have a word with you in private, sir?"
The shopkeeper led him to the small office where he did his paperwork and kept his books.
"Are you here to inquire about a job?"
"No. The reason for my visit is personal. I'd like your permission to court your daughter."
Dwight frowned. Under normal conditions, he would have wholeheartedly approved of the courtship. But he was not sure how Prudence would take the news. Would her jealousy of Honoria lead to even more devastating antics?
"The girl is only fifteen. Maybe you ought to wait a year or so," the father suggested, hoping to buy some time.
"You're mistaken, sir. It's not your younger daughter I want to court. It's Prudence, her sister."
"Well, that's a different story!" Dwight exclaimed, his frown turning into a smile. "You have my blessing, young man."
Relief washed over the father. He believed that once Elias made his feelings known to Prudence, the Hammondford poltergeist would be laid to rest.
* * *
"I think we'll have blueberry cobbler for dessert," Adeline announced as she and Prudence prepared the Sunday meal.
"Cobbler? What's the occasion?" her daughter asked, unaware that Elias Hascomb was invited for dinner.
"Does it have to be a special occasion for us to have dessert with our meal?"
Honoria was the next one to notice something out of the ordinary.
"Why are there five plates at the table?" she inquired.
"We're having company tonight," Dwight answered.
"Who? Father Wetherby? Dr. Shackleton?"
"Ah! Here he comes now."
When Honoria saw Elias walking up to the house, her heart leaped with joy.
I have to look my best! she thought and raced upstairs to comb her hair and change her dress.
After greeting Mr. and Mrs. Tupper, the young man gave a bouquet of flowers to Prudence. Unfortunately, it was at that moment that Honoria descended the staircase.
"Won't you sit down?" Adeline told their guest.
When Elias sat in the chair next to Prudence, all the utensils flew off the table. The forks, spoons and knives landed in Prudence's lap. Thankfully, none of the blades pierced her skin. After making sure the object of his affection was not injured, Elias waited for an explanation.
"It's the spirit that's tormented us for the past six months," Dwight said. "Dr. Shackleton claims it's a poltergeist."
"I heard something about an invisible being in your house, but I thought it was just superstitious nonsense."
"It's real enough," Adeline groaned.
"You poor darling!" Elias said. "I had no idea you were being abused like this. If I had, I would have come to your aid right away."
"And just how do you propose to help her?" Dwight asked. "We've had Father Lemuel, Doctor Shackleton and even that Dunker girl try to rid us of this spirit, and they all failed. What makes you think you'll succeed?"
"With your permission, sir, I'd like to marry your daughter right away and take her from this house."
"Marry?" Honoria cried.
The fifteen-year-old's reaction was drowned out by the sound of her sister's screams.
"Oh, my God!" Adeline exclaimed when she saw the blood on her older daughter's face where the poltergeist had raked both her cheeks with invisible claws.
Elias quickly scooped the young woman into his arms and headed for the front door. He was only three feet away from it when the house shifted on its foundation and the roof collapsed.
* * *
Inconsolable after the loss of her son, Jemima Hascomb wasted away and died less than four months after Elias's funeral. She was buried next to him in the same graveyard where Adeline and Dwight Tupper were laid to rest.
Few people ever spoke of the bizarre accident that claimed the lives of three people that Sunday evening, least of all the two survivors of the tragedy. On those rare occasions when someone did mention the collapse of the Tupper house, he or she did so in guarded whispers.
"It must have been a minor earthquake," Father Wetherby suggested.
Unlike Dr. Shackleton, he refused to attribute the disaster to a supernatural agent.
After her parents' deaths, Honoria took over running the general store. She and her sister did not rebuild the family home but instead lived in an apartment above the shop. Neither sister ever married. Nor did they discuss between themselves the six months of torture they had endured at the hands of the faceless spirit.
With the man she loved gone, Prudence devoted her life to the church and charitable work. During the Civil War, she volunteered at a hospital but took sick and died of pneumonia before the fighting came to an end. Honoria, on the other hand, lived to see the advent of a new century. Even in her old age, she continued to delight the customers with her wit and vivacious personality. She died peacefully in her sleep in 1902, still unaware that she had once been the entity known as the Hammondford poltergeist.
Salem once ran a general store that he later renamed the Black Cat Market. It didn't do well since all he sold was chocolate and cat food.
