Ghosthunting Southern New England. Andrew Lake

train, was run over and instantly killed.” Since the days of Cappy Fournier, people have been saying that the little girl who haunts the building was struck by a train and her body was brought inside the hotel. A young girl’s apron, matching the same time period, was found in the attic several years ago. Some believe it may have belonged to Mary Jane Smith, though there is no evidence of this. The apron has since been framed under glass and is displayed on the second floor.

      The death of Mary Jane Smith could explain the identity of the restaurant’s best-known ghost, but what of the “other” children? David Francis told me that on two separate occasions, children were seen at the windows on the second floor by customers eating outside on the patio. A concerned lady reported to one of the waitresses that she had seen a little girl hanging out of one of the upstairs windows. When the waitress went out on the patio to see for herself, there was no girl at the window. The waitress then explained that those rooms are used for storage only and no one could have been up there. She also pointed out to the customer that the window the child was hanging out of was in fact closed. Not too long after that sighting, another customer complained about seeing children, looking very distressed, standing at the windows above the patio. David Francis has no theories as to who these little ghosts are or why they would be haunting an old railway inn.

      David Francis has compiled an extensive timeline of the building’s long history. It was his research that uncovered the tragic events that plagued the former owner, William A. Scott. In the forty-five years Scott owned the hotel he lost two of his sons, Lawrence and Edward, to cirrhosis of the liver and a third, George, to madness. Before George was committed to the Worcester Lunatic Asylum, he attacked two people in the hotel. His father beat him with a cane in order to stop the assault.

      In 1889, a fire in the stables killed nine horses and damaged the hotel. It is said the fire devastated Scott emotionally. In 1899, W. A. Scott attempted suicide with a revolver. He lost his wife, Caroline, two years later. She had suffered for many months from kidney disease before finally passing away. It is possible that the pain and torment of the Scott family has tainted the building psychically.

      I was given a compact disc containing eighteen very impressive examples of EVP that were recorded by David Francis and his fellow investigators at Stone’s over a four-year period. Three of the EVPs suggest that members of the Scott family may still linger within the walls of the old building. A woman’s voice was captured twice on the third floor. Her first comment was, “You’re all drunk.” The second time she is heard saying, “I see that you’re all drunk.” This could be Mrs. Scott addressing her sons Lawrence and Edward. The third EVP was recorded on the second floor as an electromagnetic field meter sounded a reaction. It is a male voice saying the name, “Lawrence.”