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Episode 117: Spooky Salem pt.1
486 Plays5 months ago
Welcome back, Witches! In this spine-chilling episode, we delve into the eerie history and ghostly legends surrounding Salem's most haunted sites. So get in losers, we're covering the Old Burying Point Cemetery, the Haunted Merchant, the Salem Witch House, and the Salem Inn.
We would be forever thankful if you left our podcast a 5-Star review. If you really loved the show and want more Get in Loser content, check out our Supercast & Buy Me a Coffee links below. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @GetinWitches, on TikTok @weredoingwitchcraft, or email us at [email protected]. You can support our show through our links below.
Supercast: https://getinloserweredoingwitchcraft.supercast.com
Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/getinwitches
Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio- The Witch
References:
- Salem Witch House (n.d.). Haunted US. https://hauntedus.com/massachusetts/salem-witch-house/
- The Salem Witch House (n.d.). Ghost City Tours. https://ghostcitytours.com/salem/haunted-places/witch-house/
- The Ghosts of Salem Inn (n.d.). Ghost City Tours. https://ghostcitytours.com/salem/haunted-places/salem-inn/
- Ghost City Tours. Salem’s MOST HAUNTED Locations. (2023) https://ghostcitytours.com/salem/haunted-places/
- Cemetery Guidelines & FAQ’s. https://www.salem.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/charter-street-cemetery-faq.pdf
- Old Burying Point/Charter Street Cemetery. https://salemwitchmuseum.com/locations/old-burying-point-charter-street-cemetery/
- George Corwin House/Joshua Ward House. https://salemwitchmuseum.com/locations/site-of-george-corwin-house-joshua-ward-house/
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Transcript
Introduction & Salem Adventure
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you feel drawn to learn more about witchcraft and the occult, but feel lost on where to start? Then welcome to Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft, a podcast all about what it means to be a witch and where to get started on your journey. Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we have learned about the craft. So get in witches as we get spooky and travel to another haunted destination, this time to Salem.
Travel Logistics & Challenges
00:00:45
Speaker
I lit this candle. Um, Mike, whenever he went back to the States on emergency leave earlier this year, cause I've been wanting diptyque candles and you know, they're really hard to find here unless you're in a duty free. And so he brought back. some candles and I'm almost done. like it's almost It's so low. You can't even see it, but it smells so good. And now I'm just like, well, I guess it's good that we're going somewhere soon because I am absolutely going to be buying more. You're going to be mailing your stuff, so like so much stuff home. Yeah. Yeah. I always pack so light whenever we like go back to the States. we haven't I mean, we haven't gone back since we've gotten here this time, but last time we would pack like
00:01:34
Speaker
minimally in our suitcase. Cause we knew we were going to like buy a bunch of shit that we missed from the States or couldn't find over here. And then we would like load up our suitcases to go home. Yes. I'm going to be mailing boxes, I think. Um, and then with our suitcases, I bought these new packing cubes that are like compression packing cubes. And also I love doing like the vacuum seal bags and your luggages. And so I've been doing that a lot too. Whenever we've been flying places I did it first coming out here like when we were PCS-ing and I'm like why have I never done this before? I know I do it all the time and I love it so I'm gonna do that as well so that we have more space and then I
00:02:14
Speaker
I was talking with Mike about it and he's like, we could just buy another suitcase while we're there and like bring it back with us. And I'm like, yes, we can. So it'd probably be cheaper than shipping yourself, you know, boxes. Yes. Yeah. So I think we're going to do that. And I'm excited to go stock up on all the things that I've missed. And you guys are out there for like a whole, almost a whole month. Almost a whole month. Yeah. Basically a whole month. Yeah. Still are not bought yet. We're still waiting on the orders from MPF. So we'll see. Way to stress you guys out. Like the military kills me with that kind of shit. You're literally leaving like next week. and Yeah, literally. And they're like, well get there sorry, we'll get there. And I'm like, I keep telling mike like Michael. We literally had to put this off because of you military. Yeah.
00:03:03
Speaker
Yeah. And Mike's like, well, we can postpone the trip. And I'm like, no, I'm about to start a new job. And you've already told all of your family and everybody that we're coming. We're not doing that again. Yeah. We'll see. I told Anthony you guys were finally using your cot leave. And he was like, they could have came to Germany. I know. That's what I told him. I said, why? Why don't we just go to Europe? Yeah. And he's like, no. I want to see my family. And I'm like, I mean, I love your family. We have a loving family. but Yeah, but also I really want to go back to Europe. So yeah, that's now we just need to start planning your trip here. Yes. And our trip there because we also need
Podcast Updates & Merchandise
00:03:43
Speaker
to do that. Yes, it's gonna be so much fun. I can't wait. I can't either. But yeah, I guess we should get into it. We're not talking about trips. No, but we do have some announcements. Yes. So
00:03:58
Speaker
We have some new Supercast perks coming in what, July? Well, we kind of already started the promo code one. Yeah. We were doing the promo code one. And then like we were failing at putting out new designs because life is crazy. And so we weren't really doing that one for a while. But we did start that one back up. So if you are a Supercast subscriber, if you go under, Supercast has made a bunch of updates. And so everything's so organized now. If you click on post, you'll be able to find the monthly promo code. Yeah. And then for our top two tiers, which are the Spelman's and the Charmed ones, you guys are going to be getting two shadow work pages a month and they're printable. So you can print them out and do your little shadow work journal prompts. And for the Charmed ones, you're also going to be getting a monthly printable grimoire page.
00:04:54
Speaker
So lots and lots of fun stuff. And then for everyone, we are now releasing new merch designs quarterly. And the next one comes out in July. It's okay. Yay. Hopefully you love it. Look at us getting our shit together finally. It only took a few seasons. Sorry, guys. Thanks for sticking with us.
Salem's Haunting History
00:05:16
Speaker
and Not to like you know complain more, but we over these three seasons, we've have each experienced international moves and changes in jobs and ah circumstances. and yeah life It's crazy. Life is nuts. It's been a wild ride, but we're getting there. We're growing up. Thank you for having patience with us. We love you.
00:05:40
Speaker
ah but yeah where, you know, while we are wanting to talk about, you know, these lovely announcements today, that's not, that's not the the topic of the podcast. It's not. What are we talking about today? We're going to Salem in our minds. unfortunately just in the mind Going in real life. Cause I still haven't been. Same. Yeah. I want to go so bad and I want to live in that area and I just feel like that is just a place for me. I feel like we should just make up a work trip out of it, right? Yeah. I mean. Are these tax deductions? You know, we should really look into that. We had to travel for work. We had to go and do research there and explore it ourselves. We had to take international flights. yeah That's a tax write-off, right? What is it in Schitt's Creek where he's like, you write it off. Do you remember that episode when he was buying all that stuff?
00:06:37
Speaker
on the credit card, but he was like, it's for... I forget how he worded it, but he's like, what do you think a write-off is, David? And he was like, I don't know, you write it off. Yes, yeah, for the store. The fashion store, yes. You write it off. And it's like, that's not how that works. We should do that and then just write it off. Yeah. And then when we get audited, we'd be like, it was a write-off. Yeah. It's for the store. It's for the podcast.
00:07:05
Speaker
Somehow I think that might not work, but... Probably not. But it would be nice if it did. You only live once, right? Let's just do it. Right. But yeah, so we are taking a mental trip to Salem, wishing that we were taking a real trip to Salem. yeah And this is only going to cover like four haunted locations in Salem because they have a lot. So this is probably just a part one. Yes. Yeah. We're just going to go ahead and say that there will be a later episode that'll be a part two and maybe even a part three. Who knows? It's ah it's a lot in Salem. it Yeah, it really is. There's a lot.
00:07:40
Speaker
And like the possibilities were endless of like, I changed the two places that I wanted to cover yeah like three times. Did you? Because I was like, wait, no, not that one. Wait, no, I want to do this one. I don't know. I want to do them all. Well, you know, my little ADD brain, I was like, I need to pick two and that's it. So I just went through the list and I was like, this one, this one, Sam, that's what I'm doing. Okay. That's it. Yeah. yeah And then I'm just like over here indecisive and I'm just like, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do.
00:08:12
Speaker
But the ones I picked, I'm glad I picked because I loved both of the research. There's so much so much history. So much. So we definitely need to go there. But just to kind of kick things off, I have a a brief little background on Salem. Obviously, this is not like a history lesson. This is not like super concise, so but just if you are, say you're listening and you don't know very much about Salem, I'm going to tell you about it. So Salem was founded in 1626 by a group of English Puritans led by Roger Conant or Conant. I don't know how to say his last name. Salem over time became a port and a
00:08:48
Speaker
a big trading center with a strong maritime economy. And it's infamous if you didn't know, which I'm sure probably if you're listening to this episode, you probably know for the Salem witch trials, which we have covered in bits and pieces on the podcast. We haven't done like a super deep dive into yeah the witch trials, which would be you know a great episode in the future. but um We just haven't done like a deep dive yet, but the witch trials are a dark chapter on the town's history, essentially where mass hysteria and superstition led to the accusation of over 200 people of witchcraft. The trials led to 20 executions, primarily those of women, and left a lasting impact on the town's cultural and historical identity.
00:09:32
Speaker
Yeah, which is really sad. I think episode one is probably where we've mentioned this particular topic the most because we did the history of witchcraft, but we have talked about it's it's in multiple episodes. yes It's just not like, ah here's a deep dive. but Right. Yeah. Yeah. So I'll just kick it off with the first place that I am going to talk about. And that is the Salem witch house. The Salem witch house is probably one of the most recognizable structures in Salem because it's that thick black, huge house that if you look up Salem and you look up, you know, what to do in Salem, this black house is going to show up. Like it is this like two and a half story, huge, foreboding looking house that is
00:10:25
Speaker
would be my perfect place to live. I'm in a fucking and black house. That house was cool as hell. The Salem Witch House is one of the oldest buildings in that area. and so It's about 400 years old and it has direct ties to the Salem Witch Trials. and it's the only surviving structure with direct ties to the witch trials as well. So I thought that was interesting because I didn't know that. So a bit of background, the house was purchased by Judge Jonathan Corwin, who is a magistrate of the Salem witch trials and the house passed through the Corwin family up through the mid 1800s. And he's going to be who I talk about the most when it comes to this house, but because
00:11:07
Speaker
there's a lot of rumors about curses and whatnot so there was a rumor that the which house was where preliminary examinations were held during the which trials by judge jonathan corwin but that has since been disproven that did not happen there that's just a rumor but what has remained through time is an alleged curse called the Corwin curse. And I'll get to that soon, but first before I'm going to kind of talk about like give a brief history of the house. So the foundation of the house was laid between 1620 to 1642 and like the house was built into like a four bedroom house and it was built by a family known as the Davenport's.
00:11:45
Speaker
The Davenport's were a prominent family in Salem at the time. And Richard Davenport, who was kind of like the owner of the house, ended up marrying Elizabeth Hawthorne, who was related to the magistrate, John Hawthorne, which I know you're going to cover in your notes. So I'm not going to go into that. I have lots to say about the Hawthorne's. Yes. But what is interesting is John Hawthorne would work with Jonathan Corwin of the Corwin curse, and I'm going to get to you. in the witch trial executions. Outside of that connection though, Richard and Elizabeth were not tied to the Salem witch trials at all, outside of just her being unfortunately related to a fucking asshole. Richard Davenport did die after being struck by lightning, which I thought was weird. And I put that in there because it's like, is this house really cursed? You know what I mean? Because like ah the odds of that happening are like
00:12:39
Speaker
really fucking low. yeah so But he was struck by lightning in 1665. It did not happen at the house. I will just say it happened somewhere else, but the fact that he like owned the house. And after Richard died, his son inherited the house and his son died fighting in King Philip's war. And that was when the Corwins bought the house. so Jonathan Corwin purchased the house in 1675 and when he bought the house he had it remodeled and new things added like changing the original number of rooms from four to six and adding like five additional fireplaces you know all these extra necessities that you have to have in a cool house and the Corwins a bit about them. While Judge Corwin was less famous than the hanging judge Hawthorne
00:13:24
Speaker
Jonathan Corwin supervised the pretrial examinations for the Salem witch trials and he oversaw 19 executions during his time as a judge in the Salem witch trials. So trash, which really sad. Um, and I hate that, but so let's go into the Corwin curse because it is the thing that is kind of like lived on. When people go to this house, they hear about this fucking curse. So by 17, 18, eight Corwin family members died. which crippled the Korman estate. And mind you, like he bought the house in 1675. Like that is not a short time period for most of their family members to have died. Jonathan and his wife, so they had a fucking ass load of kids. Okay. So when I talk about their children that died in a short amount of time, that's not all their kids. So Jonathan and his wife, Elizabeth had five children between 16 to 84 and 1690. So all whenever they were living in that house,
00:14:23
Speaker
John was born in 1684 and then he died at nine weeks old. Margaret was born in 1685 and she died at six months of age. Anna was born in 1687 and you know what, she lasted a little bit longer than most. She died by the age of 19 though. That's a pretty ripe age for back then though. Right, that is. Yeah, it was like middle age, do you know? Yeah. ah Jonathan Corwin Jr. died before he was three months old and Herbert died when he was about eight weeks old. And again, this all this all happened in the span of like six years, like which is insane. It was probably because they named him Herbert. Right, probably. like He was like, no, thank you. Yeah. I'm going to go ahead and peace out, because what the parents? So during this period, obviously, because it only lasted for like six years, John and Elizabeth stayed in the home. And at some point, another son who was older,
00:15:21
Speaker
and survived past childhood. His name was Reverend George Corwin, oversaw the estate. But in November of 1717, George died from a fever. And only a year later, his wife died as well. Looks like goddamn. And then, if that wasn't bad enough, Jonathan and Elizabeth you know, so like the mom and dad also died of the same fucking fever. And the only children left to the family were two young boys named George Jr. and Samuel. And I'm assuming these were Reverend George's children. It wasn't made clear. So I don't know. But I'm assuming because like, you're going to have two sons named George, like so it has to be I'm assuming it has to be Reverend George's kids. I don't know. I can't even remember the name, but I'm going to talk about a person later who it's like,
00:16:13
Speaker
Oh, this was his name. Like, say it's like, Gem Bob, but there's also Gem Bob. And then there's Gem Bob Jr. who's actually Gem Bob the third. It was this whole confusing thing. I had to read it like five times to be like, which one am I using? Yes, that's crazy. yeah Throughout the 1700s, through basically the 1900s, the house underwent like a lot of renovation, different owners, restoration, and the house was even relocated to another area in Salem. and In 1948, the house was opened to the public by Salem's preservation project. But during the relocation, when they were moving the house, they also found bones
00:16:56
Speaker
they were never identified. So no one knows whose bones they belong to or who they belong to or anything. But you know throughout time, because of like the history and the ties to the Salem Witch Trials, The house has like a very infamous reputation, right? And so many visitors who visit the witch house claim that it's haunted, claim they hear disembodied voices and chills. And those are the most commonly reported activities around the house. I was expecting there to be more like scary stories, but there really wasn't, especially since they talked about this fucking curse. but
00:17:28
Speaker
Whatever. so None of the voices have been positively identified as Judge Corwin or any of his family affected by the Corwin curse, but those who have heard voices in the house have said that they have heard both an adult male and adult female voice as well as the voice of a little girl. and Cold spots are often reported around the house with no explanation of what could be causing the cold spots. Inside of the house, because it's a museum now, there are different artifacts inside the home that were explicitly tied to the house. And so like for instance witch bottles are in the house which are counter magical instruments containing urine, hair, pins,
00:18:09
Speaker
and fingernails to protect the house from evil. And that's something that we've already discussed on the podcast. I'm sure you guys are all familiar with it. And then also within the house, there are puppets that were used for casting sympathetic magic. And one of the puppets in the house was found in the nearby house of Bridget Bishop and may contain the residual energy from the Salem witch trials as she was the first to be executed. But outside of that, I couldn't find too much more on like actual haunted, like, I guess experiences that people have, but I think because of the energy surrounding that house, it could be haunted.
Cemetery Tales & Ghost Tours
00:18:46
Speaker
People claim that like you know they hear things and maybe it is picking up some residual energy from other places or just being in Salem and then all of the the terrible things that have happened have kind of left you know a really bad dank shit yeah like energy on this space. I don't know, but the core and curse could be real or it could not be. Who knows?
00:19:09
Speaker
I also don't know why it's so funny to me, but when when they pick up houses and relocate them, it cracks me up for no reason. It's like, let's just move it. Let's just move it. like it's no reveal it works I don't like this location. let's just The whole house. Pick it up and just set it down here. I wouldn't be afraid to live in it after that. like No, thank you. You've moved everything around. yeah The foundation's fucked up, probably. You had to put a new foundation. Yeah, it sounds terrible. Yeah, terrible. All right. Well, my first one is going to be the Old Burying Point Cemetery. It's also known as Charter Street Cemetery. This cemetery is the oldest in Salem and the second oldest in the country. It was established in 1637 and its oldest gravestone
00:20:01
Speaker
dates back to 1673 and it belongs to Dorothy <unk>ome Cromwell. chromo I'm not sure. It is often described as a step back in time to an era when the lines between the wicked and the innocent were blurred. And as we know, yeah, right? and yeah I was like, I love this. It was on like three different pages that I went to and I was like, okay, well then I'm using it. Yeah. yeah yeah and you know As we know, those accused of witchcraft were not actual witches, but rather just everyday women. And then just a side note, the gap in the dates from the cemetery's inception and the oldest gravestone relates to the fact that the earliest grave markers were made of wood.
00:20:45
Speaker
So that means that they deteriorated over time. So there's people buried there that we just don't know who they are or even where they are, because they're little stones, wood stones, whatever you call them, wood markers. and je sad and a way right It should also be noted that while this cemetery is a popular tourist attraction, it also marks a dark period in our history, one that costs many innocent people their lives. The cemetery is located near the South River on Charter Street, and it was a two block stretch of land that was voted by the original townspeople to be set aside as a cemetery since they had many colonists pass from sickness. Because of its size, it houses only 347 people.
00:21:30
Speaker
In front of the cemetery stands a memorial listing the names of the accused during the witch trials, and within the cemetery are the graves of the very people who accused, judged, and executed townspeople for witchcraft. And just as an even more like horrific dark piece of this history, Those that were accused and executed on the grounds of witchcraft during the trials were not given like quote unquote Christian burials. So what that means is basically their bodies were just thrown in a pit or a shallow grave by the gallows. And many of their family members would actually return after dark to steal back their loved one's bodies and give them like unmarked burials on their own properties, which is horrible. That is horrible. I can't even imagine
00:22:14
Speaker
Like I felt like coming into this because, you know, I've never been to Salem and I know like some of the history of it, but I thought the cemeteries were like where these people were buried. And it turns out the cemeteries were not where they were buried because they weren't considered like Godly. So they weren't given like marked burials and the cemeteries just held the shitty people that did this. So yeah. I hate that. I was reading this and I'm like, this is so sad. I can't even imagine being in that situation where somebody that I'm really close to, a family friend or whatever, is accused of something they didn't do, killed for it, and then I have to go dick up their body and try and secret. And not get caught.
00:23:00
Speaker
yeah Cause if you get caught now you're in trouble. Yeah. And you're trying to like so sad do your best and like, you know, they're buried there, but nobody else will ever know kind of thing. Like it's hard. It was awful. Yeah. So this location has around 400 years of ghost encounters. And it's believed that the grounds are saturated with restless spirits, which makes sense considering the tragedy tied to this down's history. It's said that any of those containing Claire gifts that visit the cemetery,
00:23:31
Speaker
report that they quickly become overwhelmed with sensations of sadness and despair alongside feelings of depression. And there have been many successful EVPs captured of voices as well as photos of shadows emanating lights orbs, white mist, and apparitions. So as we just said, the people buried there were not the people who were accused and executed for witchcraft. They were all people that participated in doing those actions. And so the notable occupants, I'm only going to give a brief history of it because i didn't feel like it I didn't feel like it was worth talking about them a whole lot after reading all of that. So the first one is John Hawthorne.
00:24:14
Speaker
who we you know sans already kind of mentioned. So he is the great great grandfather of the author Nathaniel Hawthorne who was noted to have been ashamed of his ancestors and their actions so much so that he changed the spelling of his last name adding a W in hopes to separate himself from the atrocities. And just a fun fact about Nathaniel, he and his wife Sophia used to take midnight strolls through the cemetery and it's why many of the names there can be found in like his books. So like House of the Seven Gables actually has several names from the cemetery and like the witches that were accused used as characters. Interesting. was cute. But John Hathorn was a judge during the Salem Witch Trials, and he is noted to have been completely unapologetic in his involvement, even on his deathbed, because he's trash. Absolute trash.
00:25:09
Speaker
yeah The next one is Simon Bradstreet. So he was the last governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and one of the original founders of the Puritan community there. He was also noted to be an outspoken critic of the witchcraft trials. He was married to America's first published poet, Anne Bradstreet, and Bradstreet was buried in a grand tomb on the right side of the cemetery, along with two ministers, Reverend John Higginson and Reverend Nicholas Noyes or Noyes. I don't know. It's N-O-Y-E-S. So however you pronounce that. I'm gonna say Noyes because it feels correct. i don't know yeah I don't know. Yeah. So Reverend Nicholas Noyes was ah the assistant to John Higgins, Reverend John Higgins. And Noyes took the lead in the proceedings of the witchcraft trials
00:26:03
Speaker
In the 1790s, the Bradstreet tomb was sold to the Hawthorne Ingersoll family, who discarded the remains nearby, just took them out and dumped them on the side somewhere to make room for new burials of their own family. Yeah. Yeah. So the two reverends and Simon Bradstreet, who are all in this tomb, were just chucked off. but Yeah, like, sorry. Sorry. and We bought your tomb. They were but dead for that long, where it's just bones. You know what I mean? No, no. It's like bodies. All bodies. It probably still has hair. They probably look like Billy and Hocus Pocus. Yes, yeah. That's what I'm imagining, and they're just like chucking them off.
00:26:48
Speaker
Yeah, wearing the same outfit and everything. I was mortified reading this. Captain John Higginson III, his gravestone reads junior if you go to the cemetery and you're looking for him. He was the son of Colonel John Higginson, who served as justice of the peace during the Salem witch hysteria. The next one is Bartholomew Gennie, and he was another judge during the witchcraft trials. He was a physician by trade and the third Salem town magistrate, who was often found in the company of Hawthorne. Eleanor Hollingworth was the mother of Mary English, who was the wife of one of Salem's richest merchants, Philip English.
00:27:27
Speaker
Both Mary and Philip were accused of witchcraft, examined, and jailed, but Philip's wealth allowed them to escape to New York until the witch hunts passed, and they returned to Salem where Mary ran the Blue Anchor Tavern. And the last one that I have is Samuel Shaddox, and this is the one that was really confusing at first. So Samuel Shaddox is the name of grandpa, son, and grandson. But the one I'm talking about is Grandpa Shaddix here. So Grandpa Shaddix gave testimony against Bridget Bishop stating that he believed Bishop was creating a puppet because she bought small pieces of lace from his shop. The Shaddix accused her of witchcraft when son Shaddix became ill at the age of four and his testimony led Bridget Bishop to be the first to be executed as a witch in 1692 because he's trash. Yeah, like okay.
00:28:24
Speaker
I'm just going to buy some lace. Yeah. What about that? Right? Because we can't do anything. No. Yeah. I read that and I was just like, what a piece of shit. okay So, notable ghost of the old burying point cemetery. The first and like, one of like the most often seen is Mary Bright Corey. The spelling of her last name is usually traditional, like C-O-R-E-Y, but sometimes it's also C-O-R-R-Y.
00:28:56
Speaker
She died eight years before the witch trials in August 28th of 1684, and Mary was the second wife of Giles Corey, who later became a victim of the witch trials. Giles was tortured at the hands of Sheriff George Corwin, and he died as a result of being slowly crushed to death by stones on September 19th, 1692. Giles Corey's ghost is not seen in the cemetery, but he's recovered in my next location. And then the next one is the lady in the blue dress. So many have reported seeing a figure of a woman who will often appear in the back corner of the cemetery wearing a powder blue dress and holding a picnic basket. Sometimes there's also a young boy that appears with her and they're thought to be the ghost of a mother and son who died in a fire, which is really sad.
00:29:46
Speaker
Yeah, I see. The next one is the ghostly lady in white. This particular ghost is seen very often and while there is photographic evidence of her, she's thought to be camera shy because apparently she's really hard to catch on camera. And that a lot of sources note that if she even sees a camera come out, she'll either transform into bright orbs or she just like disappears altogether. The Lady in White is theorized by some to actually be the ghost of Mary Corey, while others believe that she was an Irish Catholic immigrant because she tends to appear in the area of the cemetery where the Irish were buried because Anglo-Saxon America's trashy history of segregation also extended to the Irish in Massachusetts. Of course it did. Because trash.
00:30:35
Speaker
and if like you're planning to visit Bering Point Cemetery is open from dawn to dusk and the entry is free but it's noted that in quotes okay this comes from the cemetery itself miscreants will pay with their eternal souls there are a ton of rules associated with the cemetery so please make sure that you inform yourselves prior to entry And if you want to visit with a guide, there's several walking tours that go to the cemetery. A couple of these that I found were ghost city tours, Bewitched After Dark, Sinister Stories, Spellbound Tours, and Salem Heritage Tours. But, you know, I've never been, so I can't like personally recommend one. But I did a quick Google search, found all of these and more, and there's a lot of reviews for them. So just kind of pick and choose what fits what you're looking for.
00:31:24
Speaker
I love it. I'm wondering, I'm assuming it's probably the same Corwin, but when you mentioned the giles was tortured at the hands of Sheriff George Corwin, I wonder if that's the same George Corwin, that's the son of Jonathan Corwin and he eventually became a reference.
Haunted Accommodations in Salem
00:31:43
Speaker
No wonder that there's a curse. He becomes the, you know, it's in my notes later, but he becomes some big sheriff of the town during the witch trials. He's known as the Strangler. He is a piece of shit. so Wow. What a piece of trash. No wonder that curse affected that family. Yeah. Jeez. Don't be a bad person. Okay. So the second location I'm going to cover is the Salem Inn.
00:32:12
Speaker
The actual Salem Inn, as it's known today, is only about 30 years old, but it was bought by a couple, about thirty again, like 30 years ago, who wanted to open the best inn in Salem. It is comprised of three houses, all of which date back to the 19th century. The first house is the West House, and that was built in 1834 by Captain Nathaniel West, who was one of the first captains and merchants in Salem. It's considered the main house of the three that comprises the Salem Inn, The West House is not small by any means, and it contains like 22 fucking rooms and suites, which is insane. This place is massive. The West House was also home to the Union Civil War General William Cogswell, who was also the 16th mayor of Salem.
00:32:58
Speaker
The second house is the Kerwin House, and this house was built about two decades after the West House. And the third house was the Peabody House, which was built in 1874. So those are just like the three houses, but the couple who bought the three properties in pursuit of making them the best and in Salem had to complete a lot of painstaking restoration to become what it is today, which as we know, when there is talk of restoration and remodeling, there is always talk of ghosts. Let's get into the hauntings. Before the Inn ever opened, there were reports of paranormal happenings within the property. So whether that be that all three of the houses were haunted or the locations were haunted, who knows? But people have reported coal logs vanishing from fireplaces and candlesticks disappearing. The Inn also keeps a guestbook where people share their accounts. And I've tried looking online for like pictures like on Reddit and stuff of like the guest book. And there's none. And I'm just like, what the fuck? So I was really hoping to find more stories. You have someone else working somewhere. Exactly. I'm just like, what the heck? So I couldn't find a lot of the like written accounts that are supposed to be shared in this guest book. But you know when we go there, I'm going to take pictures. And then then I'll post it on the podcast. um
00:34:18
Speaker
So one hotel guest who stayed in room 40 reported to be watching television when they heard the balcony door open slowly. So when they got up to investigate the noise, they saw the door open wider before it slammed shut. And honestly, that would just be too much for me. I would be like, bye, because ain't no fucking way. But Room 17 is infamous for the amount of people who claim to experience paranormal activity. So people claim to see shadows and they report things being moved around the room. And most believe that the room is haunted by a woman and have named her Elizabeth after the name of Captain Nathaniel West's wife, who divorced his ass due to him cheating on her. Which, good for you, ma'am. Like, what the fuck? Back in that time, too? Right. Proud of you. Proud of you.
00:35:07
Speaker
Other people believe the name of the spirit who haunts the room is a ghost named Catherine. No one knows for sure, but there was a medium who visited the Salem Inn who claimed that not only is Room 17 haunted, but it's haunted by the ghost of a woman who was killed by her husband, which would mean like this wouldn't be Elizabeth, maybe it could be the Catherine, who knows. But additionally, men are usually the most affected by the bulk of unexplained behavior in Room 17 from causing loud noises in the closet, stomping around the room, basically any sort of noise to disrupt asleep. If you are a man who is checked into room 17, you're more likely to experience this type of paranormal activity. But legends state that if you leave a glass of whiskey for the ghost in room 17, she will leave you alone.
00:35:53
Speaker
So you know we love that. She just wants a fucking nightcap. Come on. She's like, come on, someone give me a goddamn drink. Right. It's been a rough hundred years. Yes. like I am not having a good time. um So there's also reports of a cat ghost, which I love. I love this. So there are many reports of a cat haunting the inn, and many of the staff over the years have reported seeing a cat dart from room to room. And even guests who are allergic to cats have questioned the staff about cats being around in the inn. After suffering allergic reactions, they would normally see when a cat is present. But there are no cats in the inn. It's just the ghost cat leaving its ghost dander, I guess, all the way back in place.
00:36:38
Speaker
Like the Badger Boris. Yeah. Little cat hairs in the lingerie. Yeah. And if you don't know what that reference is from, you should be a supercast subscriber because that's from our class. You could have hated it with us. ah Yeah. I didn't like hate it, hate it, but it was okay. There was also a report of a woman named Kathy who stayed at the inn in room 11. She reported experiencing a slight pressure on the bed when she was trying to sleep, like what you would expect if a small animal jumped on the bed. And she also reported feeling a cat paw at her feet and like it was keeping her up at night. So she like kind of kicked around like you would like if a cat or like a dog is like yeah being a little
00:37:19
Speaker
asshole while you're trying to sleep. She kind of like kicked around and it left her alone. So but yeah, I thought that was interesting as well. And then that shit happened to us in Eureka Springs. Oh, yeah, that's right. yeah Yeah. Well, first of all, the hotel also had a ghost cat, but they also have like cats on the ground all the time. And then our Airbnb, Julia and I slept in bunk beds because it's hilarious, but she had something crawl on the bed with her and there was nothing there. so And it she said it felt small like a cat too. Well, maybe it was there trying to protect her from like the evil spirit that was in your fucking hotel room. That trip was something. It was a trip. For real. So lastly,
00:38:03
Speaker
But first, before I say that, though, also, if you are interested in here, like say you're the first time you heard about Tiffany's crazy fucking experiences in Eureka Springs, there is a spooky episode in season one where we talk about that. So there's a lot there. If you like spooky shit, go to Eureka Springs. It's full of it. but Yeah, we have a whole episode. It's one of our spooky destinations on Eureka Springs. So go check it out. So lastly, The last ghost often seen in the inn is that of a child, and the staff reports hearing a child laugh even when there are no children staying in the inn. Don't like that. Yeah, don't like that at all. I would rather have the cat, thank you. Honestly. But other staff members have heard footsteps following them around the inn that sound kind of like a child, like walking. No. I don't like that either. There's nothing worse than ghost children. No, yeah. No. I don't like it.
00:39:00
Speaker
So, but I am really interested. So when we do go to Salem and we do go to that inn, we should yeah try to stay in Room 17. That'd be cool. We should. We should. We're going to make it happen. Exactly. And then we'll write it off. Yeah. And the next one I'm covering is The Haunted Merchant. This is also known as the George Corwin House and the Joshua Ward House. So the merchant is considered the most haunted house in Massachusetts by Salem locals, but the hauntings predate the house itself and seem to be tied to the land that the house sits on. The merchant wasn't built until 1784, but the property itself is connected to the Salem witch trials as it occupies the land of George Corwin, who was the high sheriff of Essex County. And he's also known as the strangler of the Salem witch hysteria. And he's also, in my book, trash.
00:39:56
Speaker
So High Sheriff Corwin was considered sadistic and was just 25 years old with a reputation of strangulation. His appointment to High Sheriff was the outcome of him being the nephew of the magistrates Jonathan Corwin and Waite Winthrop, as well as the son-in-law of Judge Bartholomew Gedney, and not due to any like qualifications, accolades, or accomplishments. His nickname of the strangler came from his apparent ah enjoyment of tying the necks of his victims to their ankles. So Corwin signed all of the arrest warrants for those convicted of witchcraft and even chose the execution site of Proctor's Ledge for the 19 who were hanged.
00:40:37
Speaker
Also, i in my notes, I kept going back and forth with hung and hanged. Hung and hanged. I know it's supposed to be hanged. Hung sounds more normal. It does. It does. He was also in charge of the transportation of the accused, carding Rebecca Nurse, Susanna Martin, Elizabeth Howe, Sarah Wilds, and Sarah Good to Proctor's ledge and he's connected to Bridget Bishop's execution. Corwin was directly responsible for the arrest of over 200 and for the deaths of 19. He also oversaw the interrogation of Giles Corey, and he had Giles slowly crushed to death for refusing to confess to witchcraft. For every time that Giles refused to confess,
00:41:18
Speaker
They would place a heavier stone on him until he died from the weight. And Corwin was said to have put a curse on Corwin with his dying breath. And just another piece of information that ties the hauntings to this land. Corwin said to have had a witch dungeon under his hearth where he carried out tortures. After his death, Corwin was buried on the property in 1696 at the age of 38. I don't remember exactly when, but eventually he was moved to um the cemetery. but originally he was just buried on the property. And his death was due to a heart attack, and many connected it to the curse of Corey Giles, as Giles suffocated while his chest was being crushed by stones just four years prior. So notable ghost on the property. Sheriff Corwin, obviously. So he's been seen sitting by the fireplace, and many of those that have visited the house said that they almost feel a sensation of being suffocated, which, no thank you, not interested in that.
00:42:17
Speaker
Giles Corey is said to haunt the land that once belonged to his torturer and executioner. He's often seen on the grounds around the house. Corey is known by most to knock over candlesticks, overturn trash cans, misplace items, and even open and close deadbolt locks. Which again, no thank you. If I see a deadbolt just opening clothes on its own, I gotta go. Yeah, no, I've overstayed my welcome. you yeah Thank you. um The next is the lady in black, so she's described as a female spirit in a black dress with black curls. um Many describe her skin as being transparent or glass-like, and there's also been photographic evidence of this particular ghost, and it's theorized that she may have been a victim of Sheriff Corwin. And my favorite one
00:43:08
Speaker
is the spirit of George Washington, which was debunked. And this one's just really funny. So apparently this house is like super impressive, right? And so back in its day, George Washington requested to stay in the house during his visit in 1789. A bust of Washington was placed on the second floor in the window, and to those from the outside, they thought they were seeing the spirit of the late George Washington, but it was just his marble bust. and so There was this like long flowing rumor about George Washington haunting the house, like the haunted merchant, but really it was just his statue.
00:43:47
Speaker
and you imagine being like That would probably be terrifying, especially if you've never seen a multiple bus before. You're just like this normal like Salem resident walking street down the street and you're like... cream Oh my gosh, George Washington? He's dead. That's so funny. That one made me laugh really hard. And today the haunted merchant is one of Salem's historic boutique hotels, which means that if you're planning a trip to Salem, you could stay in the haunted property. And if you want to stay where George Washington stayed, you can even book the George Washington King Deluxe Room. Where he does not haunt.
00:44:22
Speaker
where he doesn't haunt but his marble bust is there.
Giles Corey & Closing Thoughts
00:44:25
Speaker
yeah And something that I thought was really like just kind of showed who like Sheriff Corwin was when I was reading that when Corey Giles finally like succumbs to the like suffocation and being crushed to death and lets out this curse As he dies, his tongue falls out of his mouth and apparently Corwin just took his cane and shoved it back in his mouth. And I'm like, you deserved to die of a heart attack. At a really young age. Yeah. Yeah. Like evil, straight up evil. Yeah. So gross. Yeah. So, and then I saw on your notes, he was the nephew of Jonathan.
00:45:10
Speaker
yeah yeah Yeah, and the whole thing that like it's like he didn't even do anything really to become this like high sheriff of Essex County. like It was just like, oh, well, you know I'm connected to these people. so because i like It's like nepotism at its finest, right? Literally, yeah. Literally. Yeah. Yeah. So that is a haunted merchant. That is a haunted merchant. It is a beautiful hotel. I looked at pictures of it. It's very like, it's been done very nicely. It's beautiful. So if you do go, maybe check out stay in there. Yes. Lots of haunted activity. ah I'm really sad to have debunked something just now. i Oh no. Which one? Um, so,
00:46:02
Speaker
the Corwin family that I talked about first, like the uncle and his kids could not have been affected by the Corwin curse because Giles Corey died after all of their like children died in that period. They two years before. So. I think the universe was just like these people are shitty. Yeah, we don't need to them to reproduce. Let's just kill them all. Yeah. It was like a universal curse trying to prevent half of this shit. Yeah. So, you know, curse or like terrible living conditions could be either. You know, we'll take, I'll take a curse though. You choose. But yeah, that's, there was so much
00:46:51
Speaker
more that could have been said about, especially the two that I did that I know of. you know But I was trying to keep this not 20 years long because there's a lot of history tied to these like events and properties and just Salem in general. So I thought it was easier to not talk as much about the shitty people as possible and just talk about the ghost. But if you're interested in like The full history of it there, you could read for days on Salem. You can read for days on just the two locations that I covered. And I'm sure the two that you did, yeah that isn't included in this episode. There's just a lot of awful shit tied to these places. So keep that in mind too, if you're trying to, if you're like, oh, I'm interested in this topic. It's not a happy, fun topic. No, it's not. It is not. It's not a good time.
00:47:47
Speaker
But you know what? It needs to be discussed. It just means we don't want history to repeat itself. But come you know it has, which really sucks. But that's it. That's it. That's all for now.
00:48:10
Speaker
That's it for this episode of Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft. You can find our source material for this episode named in the show notes. If you love this episode, we would be forever thankful if you leave us a five-star review on wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you really love the show and want more Get In Loser content, check out our Supercast link provided in the show notes or search the Supercast website for Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft. There you can purchase a membership to our podcast and obtain exclusives like any of these things early. Shoutouts on the show, access to our Ask Me Anything forum, our monthly newsletter, a promo code for merchandise, and more. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at Giddin, which is, or email us, at we'redoingwitchcraftatgmail.com. Join us next week for part five of our female occultist series. Until then, blessed be with you.