October 15, 2024 • 11 mins
In 1799, the ghost of a recently deceased Eleanor Butler began haunting Abner Blaisdell's home. The ghost had a peculiar interest in the Blaisdell family, and her visitations were witnessed by many. Learn about the first documented haunting in America on this minisode of A Study of Strange!
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Theme Music by Matt Glass Instagram: @astudyofstrange Support: astudyofstrange.substack.com Website: www.astudyofstrange.com Hosted by Michael May Email stories, comments, or ideas to astudyofstrange@gmail.com ©2022 Convergent Content, LLC
LINKS
https://www.americanghostwalks.com/articles/nelly-butler-maine-ghost-story https://newengland.com/yankee/history/americas-first-ghost/ https://www.amazon.com/Nelly-Butler-Hauntings-Documentary-Literature/dp/0615394965 https://sullivansorrentohistory.org/pages/5359Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Warning.
This episode contains detailsthat some listeners
may find disturbing.
In 1799, in a small seaside town in Maine.
What began as a chillingknocking sound coming from a cellar.
Soon turned into a spectral voice.
(00:24):
Tonight we explore the first documentedAmerican haunting,
the ghost of Nellie Butler.
A tale of apparitions, love,grief and tragic death.
This is not merely the first documentedcase of a ghost haunting in the USA,
but one that may have influencedthe spiritualist
(00:45):
movement of the 19th century.
This is a study of strange.
(01:07):
Welcome to the show.
I'm Michael May, your host, your guide,whatever you want to call me into.
All sorts of strangeand mysterious stories tonight.
It is the Halloween season,and I thought it fitting
to bring you a ghost story.
And this is one I've been interested inin a while, and I'm excited to share it.
(01:28):
It's also a mini sode,meaning it's just you and me.
Listener. No guest.
This week in the storywe're talking about,
I probably said in the intro,but it's that of Nelly Butler.
Ghost stories aren't new.
They seem to go backto the beginning of civilization.
The belief in life after deathor angels, demons, evil
(01:50):
spirits has always been partof the human existence.
In fact, in 2021, it was reportedthat a 3500 year old tablet
had been discovered with the oldestknown depiction of a ghost.
This is a quotefrom the Smithsonian Magazine.
A tablet made in ancient Babylon in around1500 BCE,
(02:12):
maybe the earliest known depictionof a ghost.
The clay tablet is part of a guideto Exorcizing ghosts
held in the collectionsof the British Museum.
The object still holds carefully detailed
instructionson getting rid of pesky ghosts.
The directions call for the Exorcistto make figurines of a man and woman,
(02:32):
prepare two vessels of beer and at sunrise
speak ritual wordscalling in the Mesopotamian god Shamash,
who was responsiblefor bringing ghost to the underworld.
The inscription also includes the phrase
do not look behind you,so you know humans.
(02:53):
Our desire to develop good jumpscares,I guess, has always been with us.
Additionally, ancient Roman and Greek
writers wrote of ghost stories.
Shakespeare, Thomas Kiddwere also influenced by those writings
and had their own famous ghostsin their work.
The modern view of spiritshas been influenced by all of this
(03:13):
history, of course,
and you can see the idea of a ghostevolving into the modern age.
When you look at all these past storiesand accounts
Long story short,ghost stories have always been around.
But what do we know about ghost storiesin the quote unquote New World in America?
(03:33):
And that brings us back to Sullivan,Maine.
Quick point here.
Some people claimthat this account of Nellie Butler
happened in McKeesport or Franklin, Maine.
But what I can gather,the location of the account
is most likely Sullivan, Maine.
But all those towns
are relatively close together,so that may account for some confusion.
(03:54):
And also the bordershave shifted since 1799.
the story goes that in or around 1797,
a Captain George Butlerhad just suffered a terrible loss.
His wife, Eleanor Hooper Butler,known as Nellie,
passed away in childbirth,Bonelli wasn't about to be forgotten.
(04:16):
Two years later, in 1799, AbnerBlaisdell was concerned
because his daughterheard something strange from the cellar.
Now, depending on which account you read,the sounds coming from the cellar began.
Has just that strange sounds.
Other accountssuggest it began as a disembodied voice.
(04:39):
The voice, unlike a lot of ghostlyaccounts, was very specific.
The ghost was a woman, and she claimedto be the wife of Captain George Butler.
The play styles asked if she was Nelliebecause they knew the family, and the
ghost replied, you betcha,
or at least something like that.
Then the ghost asked for her father.
She wanted to see him.
(04:59):
His name was David Hooper.
So Abner sent for David Hooper.
Now, Abner Blaisdellwas a respected person in the community.
He was God fearing.
He fought in the War of Independence.
This naturally made people believethat this was a true story going on,
because Abnergave credibility to the situation.
(05:20):
There's also fear in the community as thestory spread because, well, it's a ghost.
And that could be demonic.
And then Nellie's father came by.
Mr.. Mr.
Hooper himself arrivedand he confirmed that
the spirit voicewas indeed his daughter, Nellie.
And over time,the voice didn't stay a voice.
People said that this thing,this presence in the house
(05:45):
beganappearing as a white floating specter.
The story of Nellie's ghost, as you can
imagine, spreadlike wildfire through the town.
Yet even some of the most hardenednonbelievers couldn't dismiss
what they were experiencing.
Local townspeople began gathering outsidethe Blaze Dells home,
and in one of the mostcompelling moments of the case,
(06:07):
Nellie's ghostly voice was heardby multiple witnesses at once.
Among them,some of the town's most prominent figures.
You know, apparently the ghost of Nelliewould preach about the Gospels.
and one timeshe even led a group of people on a hike
through the area, preaching along the way.
(06:27):
The spirit allegedly could transforminto a child sized figure at time,
and then it would sort of grow and morphinto a full sized adult apparition.
It was frightening and magicalall at the same time.
Nellie's ghost soondelivered a cryptic message George Butler,
her widowedhusband, was to marry Lydia Blaisdell.
(06:52):
At first the idea seemed ludicrous,especially considering
the difference in age.
Lydia was 15.
George, I believe, was 29 at the time.
But Nellie's spirit would not be silenced.
She appeared again and again,repeating the same message.
Lydia should marry George.
Georgemarry Lydia and live happily ever after.
Faced with the mounting pressurefrom a ghost, George Butler
(07:15):
and Lydia Blaisdell were married in 1800.
It was a controversial union,but one that seemed to satisfy the demands
of the Inspector of Nellie Butler,because after the marriage, Nellie's ghost
reportedly appearedone final time, blessing the couple
and expressing peace.
Before she left, though,Nellie made some predictions.
(07:39):
One was thatLydia would die during childbirth
and some years later that indeed happened.
She also predicted the death of her fatherAnd one of the members
of the Blaisdell family.
But that's not the end of the story.
There is some speculationthat George Butler may have killed Nellie,
and the whole ghost storywas this weird ruse,
(08:02):
one in which George hopedto convince Lydia to marry him
and the rumors at the time suggestthat George had been trying to court Lydia
for quite a long timebefore this ghost appeared.
But no evidence exists to conclude this
one way or the other, especially now,you know, hundreds of years later.
So what's the truth of the Nellie Butlerhaunting?
(08:25):
like any older supernatural tale,it's difficult to piece together
the real from the fiction,the truth from the rumors,
even though there are accountsfrom a time, there's still debate
about even exactlywhere this whole story took place.
But it is a true account,insomuch as that something happened
that intrigued the residents of the areathat made them believe a ghost
(08:47):
was there at the blaze Dale house,
and it forced them to questiontheir own beliefs about the afterlife.
Lastly, I find it very interesting thatthe blaze Dale cellar was the location
of Nellie's Ghost and was basically,you know, the home for like ghost.
From what I can tell,she had no connection to that home.
(09:10):
Besides the latermarriage of Lydia Blaisdell to Nellie's
widowed husband, there'sno connection to the families at all.
There's really no reason for herto haunt that house.
as someone that loves investigating thesestories with a skeptic side,
I think
this is an important piece of the story.
And so the question remains,was Nellie Butler's ghost merely
(09:33):
a collective delusion, born out of griefand superstition and desire?
Or was Nellie's ghost a genuine phenomena?
And one final thought for those that love
to explorehow everything in history is connected.
You can see similaritiesin the Nellie Butler haunting stories
to those beliefs and accountsfrom the spiritualist movement,
(09:55):
which began about a half a centuryafter this event.
and that movement had a profound impacton how Western society
thinks about ghosts,the afterlife spirits.
You can see that in our fictionand our writing and our entertainment
and movies still through this day.
Thank you for listeningto a study of strange.
(10:17):
I hope you enjoyed this minisode of the Nellie Butler ghost hunting.
We will be back soonwith our normal programing with guests
and more strange stories and mysteries.
If you like this kind of content,please take a quick second
hit that subscribe button and please leavea rating and review on Spotify or Apple.
It goes a really long wayto helping others find the show.
(10:41):
You can also check out our Substack,which you can find through our website
at City of strange.com.
It's in the support tab,and there you get additional materials,
additional content, and episodes earlyand without advertisements.
Thank you again. Good night.
Warning.
This episode contains detailsthat some listeners
may find disturbing.
In 1799, in a small seaside town in Maine.
What began as a chillingknocking sound coming from a cellar.
Soon turned into a spectral voice.
(00:24):
Tonight we explore the first documentedAmerican haunting,
the ghost of Nellie Butler.
A tale of apparitions, love,grief and tragic death.
This is not merely the first documentedcase of a ghost haunting in the USA,
but one that may have influencedthe spiritualist
(00:45):
movement of the 19th century.
This is a study of strange.
(01:07):
Welcome to the show.
I'm Michael May, your host, your guide,whatever you want to call me into.
All sorts of strangeand mysterious stories tonight.
It is the Halloween season,and I thought it fitting
to bring you a ghost story.
And this is one I've been interested inin a while, and I'm excited to share it.
(01:28):
It's also a mini sode,meaning it's just you and me.
Listener. No guest.
This week in the storywe're talking about,
I probably said in the intro,but it's that of Nelly Butler.
Ghost stories aren't new.
They seem to go backto the beginning of civilization.
The belief in life after deathor angels, demons, evil
(01:50):
spirits has always been partof the human existence.
In fact, in 2021, it was reportedthat a 3500 year old tablet
had been discovered with the oldestknown depiction of a ghost.
This is a quotefrom the Smithsonian Magazine.
A tablet made in ancient Babylon in around1500 BCE,
(02:12):
maybe the earliest known depictionof a ghost.
The clay tablet is part of a guideto Exorcizing ghosts
held in the collectionsof the British Museum.
The object still holds carefully detailed
instructionson getting rid of pesky ghosts.
The directions call for the Exorcistto make figurines of a man and woman,
(02:32):
prepare two vessels of beer and at sunrise
speak ritual wordscalling in the Mesopotamian god Shamash,
who was responsiblefor bringing ghost to the underworld.
The inscription also includes the phrase
do not look behind you,so you know humans.
(02:53):
Our desire to develop good jumpscares,I guess, has always been with us.
Additionally, ancient Roman and Greek
writers wrote of ghost stories.
Shakespeare, Thomas Kiddwere also influenced by those writings
and had their own famous ghostsin their work.
The modern view of spiritshas been influenced by all of this
(03:13):
history, of course,
and you can see the idea of a ghostevolving into the modern age.
When you look at all these past storiesand accounts
Long story short,ghost stories have always been around.
But what do we know about ghost storiesin the quote unquote New World in America?
(03:33):
And that brings us back to Sullivan,Maine.
Quick point here.
Some people claimthat this account of Nellie Butler
happened in McKeesport or Franklin, Maine.
But what I can gather,the location of the account
is most likely Sullivan, Maine.
But all those towns
are relatively close together,so that may account for some confusion.
(03:54):
And also the bordershave shifted since 1799.
the story goes that in or around 1797,
a Captain George Butlerhad just suffered a terrible loss.
His wife, Eleanor Hooper Butler,known as Nellie,
passed away in childbirth,Bonelli wasn't about to be forgotten.
(04:16):
Two years later, in 1799, AbnerBlaisdell was concerned
because his daughterheard something strange from the cellar.
Now, depending on which account you read,the sounds coming from the cellar began.
Has just that strange sounds.
Other accountssuggest it began as a disembodied voice.
(04:39):
The voice, unlike a lot of ghostlyaccounts, was very specific.
The ghost was a woman, and she claimedto be the wife of Captain George Butler.
The play styles asked if she was Nelliebecause they knew the family, and the
ghost replied, you betcha,
or at least something like that.
Then the ghost asked for her father.
She wanted to see him.
(04:59):
His name was David Hooper.
So Abner sent for David Hooper.
Now, Abner Blaisdellwas a respected person in the community.
He was God fearing.
He fought in the War of Independence.
This naturally made people believethat this was a true story going on,
because Abnergave credibility to the situation.
(05:20):
There's also fear in the community as thestory spread because, well, it's a ghost.
And that could be demonic.
And then Nellie's father came by.
Mr.. Mr.
Hooper himself arrivedand he confirmed that
the spirit voicewas indeed his daughter, Nellie.
And over time,the voice didn't stay a voice.
People said that this thing,this presence in the house
(05:45):
beganappearing as a white floating specter.
The story of Nellie's ghost, as you can
imagine, spreadlike wildfire through the town.
Yet even some of the most hardenednonbelievers couldn't dismiss
what they were experiencing.
Local townspeople began gathering outsidethe Blaze Dells home,
and in one of the mostcompelling moments of the case,
(06:07):
Nellie's ghostly voice was heardby multiple witnesses at once.
Among them,some of the town's most prominent figures.
You know, apparently the ghost of Nelliewould preach about the Gospels.
and one timeshe even led a group of people on a hike
through the area, preaching along the way.
(06:27):
The spirit allegedly could transforminto a child sized figure at time,
and then it would sort of grow and morphinto a full sized adult apparition.
It was frightening and magicalall at the same time.
Nellie's ghost soondelivered a cryptic message George Butler,
her widowedhusband, was to marry Lydia Blaisdell.
(06:52):
At first the idea seemed ludicrous,especially considering
the difference in age.
Lydia was 15.
George, I believe, was 29 at the time.
But Nellie's spirit would not be silenced.
She appeared again and again,repeating the same message.
Lydia should marry George.
Georgemarry Lydia and live happily ever after.
Faced with the mounting pressurefrom a ghost, George Butler
(07:15):
and Lydia Blaisdell were married in 1800.
It was a controversial union,but one that seemed to satisfy the demands
of the Inspector of Nellie Butler,because after the marriage, Nellie's ghost
reportedly appearedone final time, blessing the couple
and expressing peace.
Before she left, though,Nellie made some predictions.
(07:39):
One was thatLydia would die during childbirth
and some years later that indeed happened.
She also predicted the death of her fatherAnd one of the members
of the Blaisdell family.
But that's not the end of the story.
There is some speculationthat George Butler may have killed Nellie,
and the whole ghost storywas this weird ruse,
(08:02):
one in which George hopedto convince Lydia to marry him
and the rumors at the time suggestthat George had been trying to court Lydia
for quite a long timebefore this ghost appeared.
But no evidence exists to conclude this
one way or the other, especially now,you know, hundreds of years later.
So what's the truth of the Nellie Butlerhaunting?
(08:25):
like any older supernatural tale,it's difficult to piece together
the real from the fiction,the truth from the rumors,
even though there are accountsfrom a time, there's still debate
about even exactlywhere this whole story took place.
But it is a true account,insomuch as that something happened
that intrigued the residents of the areathat made them believe a ghost
(08:47):
was there at the blaze Dale house,
and it forced them to questiontheir own beliefs about the afterlife.
Lastly, I find it very interesting thatthe blaze Dale cellar was the location
of Nellie's Ghost and was basically,you know, the home for like ghost.
From what I can tell,she had no connection to that home.
(09:10):
Besides the latermarriage of Lydia Blaisdell to Nellie's
widowed husband, there'sno connection to the families at all.
There's really no reason for herto haunt that house.
as someone that loves investigating thesestories with a skeptic side,
I think
this is an important piece of the story.
And so the question remains,was Nellie Butler's ghost merely
(09:33):
a collective delusion, born out of griefand superstition and desire?
Or was Nellie's ghost a genuine phenomena?
And one final thought for those that love
to explorehow everything in history is connected.
You can see similaritiesin the Nellie Butler haunting stories
to those beliefs and accountsfrom the spiritualist movement,
(09:55):
which began about a half a centuryafter this event.
and that movement had a profound impacton how Western society
thinks about ghosts,the afterlife spirits.
You can see that in our fictionand our writing and our entertainment
and movies still through this day.
Thank you for listeningto a study of strange.
(10:17):
I hope you enjoyed this minisode of the Nellie Butler ghost hunting.
We will be back soonwith our normal programing with guests
and more strange stories and mysteries.
If you like this kind of content,please take a quick second
hit that subscribe button and please leavea rating and review on Spotify or Apple.
It goes a really long wayto helping others find the show.
(10:41):
You can also check out our Substack,which you can find through our website
at City of strange.com.
It's in the support tab,and there you get additional materials,
additional content, and episodes earlyand without advertisements.
Thank you again. Good night.
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