In Episode 360 Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore the haunted Frost Sawyer Tavern and Three Chimneys Inn in Durham, New Hampshire. With the oldest section of the building dating back to 1649, it’s bound to have a ghost or two knocking around, but who is haunting the building and why? This old building was once home to a plague called Typhoid that ravaged the community.
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Produced and hosted by: Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger
Edited by: Ray Auger
Theme Music by: John Judd
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The haunted Three Chimneys Inn and Frost Sawyer Tavern in Durham, New Hampshire.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
*A note on the text: Please forgive punctuation, spelling, and grammar mistakes. Like us, the transcripts ain’t perfect.
[DRIVING]
RAY: Durham, New Hampshire, is right next to my old stomping grounds of Portsmouth.
JEFF: That’s right! It’s pretty much the next town up Route 4 from Portsmouth. (BEAT) Okay, we’re going to make a left onto Rt. 108.
[BLINKAH]
RAY: Got it.
JEFF: And our destination is coming up on our left.
RAY: Where?
JEFF: Right up there.
RAY: Okayyy… The Three Chimneys Inn and Frost Sawyer Tavern.
[BLINKAH]
RAY: Well, this place looks charming… and old too!
JEFF: It’s definitely old. The oldest part of the building dates back to 1649.
RAY: Yup, that’s old! Even by New England standards.
JEFF: What started as a private residence eventually became a tavern and then an inn. And today… almost four centuries later… it’s haunted.
[INTRO]
JEFF: Hello, I’m Jeff Belanger.
RAY: And I’m Ray Auger. Welcome to Episode 360 of the New England Legends podcast. We’ve been at this seven years today if you’re keeping score. Happy anniversary, Jeff!
JEFF: Happy anniversary to you too, Ray!
RAY: That’s seven years of ghosts, monsters, roadside oddities, eccentrics, aliens, and the just plain weird. Most of our story leads come from you, so please reach out to us anytime through our Web site. We love to hear from you. Our Web site is also the place where you can find dates for Jeff’s Fall story tour, dates to see my band the Pub Kings, and everything else we have going on.
JEFF: We’ll explore the ghosts of the Three Chimneys Inn right after this word from our sponsor.
SPONSOR
RAY: In our experience, when a building dates back almost four centuries, there’s bound to be a ghost or two knocking around.
JEFF: So true. Buildings this old have seen a lot of history. The earliest section was built just a couple of decades after the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. I love to imagine the windows of a building almost like eyes looking outward to the world. This house saw wars, an American Revolution, a Civil War, the first electricity, car, airplane, rocket, the Internet, and the launch of the New England Legends podcast seven years ago on a night just like this one.
RAY: All great moments in history for sure.
JEFF: Right.
RAY: So the main house is a two-story building. It’s yellow with white trim and there are indeed… one, two… yup… three chimneys on top. But it wasn’t always called the Three Chimneys Inn.
JEFF: No, that’s a relatively new name in the last couple of decades.
RAY: Way back in 1649, a man named Valentine Hill built his home here just north of Oyster River, where he had his sawmill. In 1659, Valentine’s daughter Hannah got married at the age of 20. But there’s no mention of her again. We suspect she may have died young here. In 1699, Valentine’s son, Nathaniel Hill added the second story to the house. The building already had a feature called Indian Shutters which was a defense mechanism used during Indian raids. One happened here in 1694 that took out some neighboring houses. But this house survived.
JEFF: As time passes, the rest of the town is growing too. In the 1700s, the home passed into the Woodman Family, who were related to the Hills by marriage. By 1795, a chunk of the property was deeded to the town of Durham to be used as a cemetery, which explains why it’s right next-door to a small cemetery…
RAY: (INTERRUPTING) Which only adds a little extra to its haunted reputation, of course.
JEFF: Of course. By the 1800s, George Ffrost – that’s Frost with two Fs which is an old-fashioned way to spell it—bought the property and had the building fixed up in the Federalist style turning it into a tavern and inn. Frost also had the hand-dug well in the front of the property built. It’s 12-feet across and 40-feet deep. The Frost sisters took over the property by the 1900s and built extensive and lush gardens turning it into the grand estate it is today.
RAY: Back in 1600s, 1700s, the 1800s, and even the early 1900s, people often died in their homes. Or at the very least, wakes and funerals were held in the home. So we have no doubt a few people likely passed away inside and held their funerals here.
JEFF: That’s true. People come and go. It’s the natural order of things. But sometimes a plague comes along and rattles us like we’ve never been rattled before. So let’s head back to the year 1909 and check out this historic and haunted inn.
[TRANSITION]
RAY: It’s late October of 1909 here in Durham, New Hampshire. The Chinese Revolution is happening, but that’s a world away from here. The airplane is becoming a more common sight in the skies, but here in Durham, people are scared.
JEFF: They’re scared because there’s a sickness going around.
RAY: Is it Consumption?
JEFF: Consumption is kind of an on-going issue. Something folks around here are used to. But this one is new… Typhoid.
RAY: Typhoid. Oh man, that sounds bad.
JEFF: It is. Typhoid is a bacteria that affects the intestines and can get into the bloodstream. It can cause a fever that can often be lethal. The bacteria is called Salmonella Typhi and it gets into the system through contaminated food and water. When waste water runs into drinking water, communities can have a very big problem.
RAY: Right now, Durham has a very big problem because people are getting sick. And here at the Frost homestead, Anna Pepperrell Frost, is sick.
JEFF: The girl is feverish and is having difficulty holding down food and even water. Typhoid moves through you relatively slowly. It infects different parts of your body which only makes your condition worse and worse.
RAY: As days pass, Anna’s siblings and neighbors are growing despondent.
[WOMAN BREATHS HER LAST BREATH]
RAY: It’s November 26th when Anna Frost takes her last breath.
[FUNERAL ORGAN MUSIC]
JEFF: The wake and funeral service are held in the Frost Homestead house. The Reverend Telesphore Taisne presides over the service.
RAY: After the service, Anna Frost is buried in Pine Hill Cemetery in nearby Dover, New Hampshire.
JEFF: Meanwhile, back in Durham, Typhoid continues to spread through town.
[DIG DIG DIG]
JEFF: It’s 1912. The town of Durham closes off the Frost family well in the front of their property to try and stop the spread of Typhoid. Other wells are soon also capped off. People are scared and desperate.
RAY: Typhoid has taken a heavy toll on the community. People are scared. So many people have been affected. When a plague hits like this you can’t help but wonder if you’re cursed. If God is punishing you. Or if maybe this is the end for everyone. When will it stop?
JEFF: More years pass, and the plague of Typhoid moves along. But not before leaving a scar on the Frost Homestead and the surrounding community. And that brings us back to today.
[TRANSITION]
RAY: After the 19-teens, the home moved through various families and then mostly fell into disrepair until eventually it was revitalized starting in 1987. Restoration was completed in 1997. Today it’s the Three Chimneys Inn, the Frost-Sawyer Tavern, and the Maples. It’s a tavern, restaurant, and inn.
JEFF: It’s a pretty spot too. And they say it’s haunted. Should we head inside?
[DOOR OPENS]
[BAR CROWD NOISE]
RAY: Wow! I know we’re back in present day, but stepping into the tavern feels like a time warp back to the late 1600s. There’s great woodwork in here. It looks like the bar and parts of some of the walls were hand-cut on an old sawmill. There’s a gorgeous fireplace over on that side of the room.
JEFF: Those beer-taps look modern enough. (AWAY FROM MIC) Two beers please!
[CLINK]
JEFF/RAY: Cheers!
JEFF: Let’s head over to the main house and see the inn.
[DOOR OPENS / CLOSES]
RAY: The main house is also beautiful. They’ve clearly done an incredible job restoring the building.
JEFF: And they claim there’s still a few wood beams in the house that date all the way back to 1649.
RAY: And this place is haunted?
JEFF: That’s what they say. Guests have reported hearing furniture moving around in empty guest rooms, one guest heard an older woman whisper in her ear in one of the guest rooms. Sometimes employees get locked inside some of the rooms. Doors will open and close on their own, and items go missing only to turn up later in peculiar places.
RAY: Who do they think the ghost is?
JEFF: Some claim it’s the ghost of Hannah Hill, the daughter of the original owner. Others think maybe it’s Anna Pepperrell Frost whose funeral was held here. We can’t say for certain. With close to four centuries of history, it’s difficult to identify everything that bumps in the night. But we do know these buildings have seen quite a lot over the centuries. And when you step inside it is like a time warp. Your body and mind go to a place long ago to a simpler time, but one not terribly different than right now. We have a lot of the same struggles, just different technology.
RAY: We’ve said before. The simplest definition of a ghost is a connection. It’s a connection to our past in a particular place. The more the place connects us to the past, the more likely we are to see or experience a ghost. With so much history there’s bound to be tragedies like plagues and untimely deaths. And that will always haunt us.
[OUTTRO]
JEFF: That it will. That takes us to After the Legend where we dive deeper into this week’s story and sometimes veer off course.
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To see some pictures of the Frost Tavern and Three Chimneys Inn, click on the link in our episode description, or go to our Web site and click on Episode 360.
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Until next time remember… the bizarre is closer than you think.
