October 16, 2024
Introduction: In this article, with Halloween approaching, Melissa Davenport Berry writes more about ghost hunter John Parker, focusing on the Ocean-Born Mary House in New Hampshire. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.
Today I continue with John Cuthbert Parker (1904-1997), a famous paranormal investigator who bewitched a whole generation of New Englanders with his tales of ghost hunting.
Parker covered over 30 spook dens, and most were historical dwellings which he preserved in sketches. His daughter Wilma, an artist herself, shared stories about her father’s work, as well as newspaper clippings from her collection that cover his ghost hunter tales.
Parker’s lecture “New England Ghost Houses” was booked solid. He was also featured in Yankee Magazine in 1968 and hosted several radio talk shows.
When Parker visited the infamous Ocean-Born Mary House in Henniker, New Hampshire, he was not only captivated by the spectral activity but also the architectural beauty of the home. Below is his watercolor of the house, which remains in the Parker family. The house was believed to be haunted by Mary and a murdered pirate.
The Roy family were the owners of the Ocean-Born Mary House at the time Parker was called in. They had certainly hyped up the mystery and intrigue when they opened the doors years earlier for a fee to tourists and lovers of the paranormal.
The Worcester Telegram did a feature article on Parker and briefed readers on the genesis of Ocean-Born Mary. Of course, her legend varies depending upon who is telling it. You can read them all on the Tucker Museum site.
Here is the skinny from this newsclip:
First, Ocean-Born Mary is very real and there are many descendants around to prove it. She was born at sea on 28 July 1720 to James and Elizabeth (Fulton) Wilson. They were on their way to start a life in colonial New England.
According to legend Elizabeth gave birth to Mary because of the fright brought on when the ship was taken over by pirates led by the ruthless Captain Don Pedro.
This article reports:
The pirate captain was lean, hard and, to all appearances, cruel. Passengers aboard the captured vessel were ordered to prepare to walk the plank, or to participate in some similar prank with the same ultimate goal.
So frightened was a young Irish mother-to-be named Elizabeth Fulton that the baby she expected several weeks hence was born then and there.
When he heard the cry of the baby Captain Don Pedro melted with compassion. It is rumored that the pirate responded because he was the black sheep of an English noble family cast aside when very young.
Capt. Don Pedro promised to spare the crew and all the bounty loot if Elizabeth agreed to name the babe after his mother Mary. She consented and saved the ship. More on this in “Baby Mascot on the Sea Won a Pirate’s Heart.”
In his benevolent mood, Capt. Don Pedro presented a bolt of green Chinese silk to baby Mary for her wedding dress. Nutfield Genealogy shares a photo of the cloth pieces and other items donated by the descendants of Ocean-Born Mary.
The legend has it that Mary grew to be tall and beautiful and was a real heart throbber. She had long, curly red hair and piercing dark green eyes that were like hooks to a soul. She married Thomas Wallace on 18 December 1742 and left several scions. A story on all these lucky offshoots is in the works.
John Parker was not the only ghost hunter to investigate the historic home. Hans Holzer was among them, and he writes about it in Yankee Ghost.
There is another part to this tale. Some say Capt. Don Pedro returned to Henniker to find Mary, and built this home for them to live in. He was slain in an orchard near the house and his body, along with a bounty of treasure, is said to be buried beneath the kitchen hearth, hence the treasure hunts hosted by the Roy family.
The truth is Parker fell in love with the house and all its supernatural lore. He detected paranormal activity there, but believed it was of the friendly kind. He worked with later owners preserving the structure of the home.
In fact, in 1962 Parker wrote a letter to Edward Rowe Snow (who published the story of Ocean-Born Mary in his book Legends of the New England Coast) warning him about an editorial written by Feda Newton Bunner, who was debunking his version of the tale. Bunner also criticized another account written by Carroll Burleigh Colby in his book Strangely Enough.
In his letter, Parker writes:
Dear Mr. Snow:
A clipping is enclosed about your story of the legend of Ocean-Born Mary. I think that you should know about it. The writer states that both you and another writer are not telling the same legend that he [Bunner] heard years ago.
I am upset at the tone of the article. It indicates that the other writer, C. B. Colby, is building up the story.
The Ocean-Born legend is a wonderful story, and I think that this magnificent house in a breathtaking location should be appreciated.
You may know that the house was recently purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Russell of Chelmsford. I am giving them architectural advice as I specialize in this style, and also in the best of Cape Cod designs.
I agree with Parker because, after all, it was the tales of these authors that made Ocean-Born Mary one of America’s favorite and most-beloved ghosts.
I do need to point out that Mr. Bunner was correct in his claim: Ocean-Born Mary did not live in the house until many years later. It was built by her son, Robert Wallace, and she only moved into the house much later in her life – the date is believed to be 6 July 1798 when Mary was 78 years old. And like I mentioned earlier, I will cover the history and genealogy of this prolific family in another story.
The Ocean-Born Mary House was put up for sale in 1973 by the House of Hurd, Realtors, whose ad noted: The “spooks” have been evicted but the charm remains!
I found another recent sale of the house, from 2017, and you can view the article and photos at the New England Yankee online site.
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Note on the header image: Ocean-Born Mary House and ghost. Credit: Melissa Davenport Berry.
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