THE VALLEY MURDERS FACT & FICTION

Many murders have been committed over the years in the area known as THE TWIN-STATE VALLEY, which is split by the flowing of a river, and though many attempts ahve beenmade to link these murders with areas outside the Valley, most people tend to focus on the areas where the murders known and reported happened,su;ch as, Claremont, Newport, Hartland,etc. Also, attempts to attribute these murders to some well known killers(serial)(like Ted Bundy) the connections at best seem remote and stretched, although evidence needs to be found and analyzed in support of this notion and so far none seems to have been.

THE TATOOED MAN

Years ago,to see tatooed men and perhaps any women, you had to pay a fee, usually at sideshows, circuses, carnivals and fairs,but nowadays you can see all you want, and then some, walking down the street and not have to pay a single cent! It was once true that most sporting tatoo were either seamen,sailors, servicemen, convicts or felons, but now they are members of respectable society, young girls and young men,and top entertainers and celebrities. There is a lucrative trade in being a tatoo artist, but some tatoos I have seen are crude jobs also. Then there is the notion that those sporting heavily tatooed bodies, with nearly every inch outside their bodies, every square inch of skin tatooed, and also with some 'internal' tatoos: mouth and genitals, have some 'sexual' problems, that tend to make many 'sexual deviates', etc

THE GLASS HOUSE

The GLASS HOUSE sat on top of a very high hill in Cornish, or so it seemed to me the only time I was able to go there,when my grandfather, Frank, decided we should go there to see it. He has seen it many times, I guess, and knew the owners of it, and that is how we got permission form the elderly sister who lived in the house near the trail to the top we would take on foot. The original builders and the owner had gone up the trails on donkeys and the materials for the house were sent up the same way. In fact, when we got there, the old donkey sheds were there, filled with firewood for cooking and warming the house, possibly in winter. The house was a sort of legend in itself because the notion was that it was entirely constructed of glass and that there were,not only secret rooms,compartments, and panels, but also concealed-hidden treasure, though no one really was able to find anything in their rambles there for many reasons. Eventually, I was able to learn more about this structure and I will relate more about it in future blogs in this area. ALAS, THE GLASS HOUSE is no more! It was torn down by the heirs or the family and the magnificent woods(imported from Japan and the Orient,etc.) were sold, ostensibly to bring some money to the family and because far too many people were going there, damaging the place, leaving trash,etc. and making a nuisance of themselves. Thus, CORNISH lost a magnificent treasure much as it lost one of the wonderful stone bridges to the modern trend of traffic rush that goes nowhere! More on this another time.

JDS or J.D.S.

I have decided to place this topic here for some obvious reasons. The figure in question is an oddity, a curiosity, an enigma, of sorts who fascinates a great many people around the world,although he has not published much of anything since his initial 'CLASSIC' If you want to read what I have to say about this, go to WRITERS'CRAMP ,where I shall continue the topic. Thanks.

THE WOMAN IN THE RAIN BARREL

Somewhere along the odl Windsor/Cornish Road, now called 'TOWN HOUSE ROAD', is a stone wall and somewhere there is supposedly a woman buried under a stone in it. Her old house,white, stands near the wall. It is not far from the old Church, which became a Grange Hall, and now houses the town Clerk's office. My grandfather, Frank Jones told me the story and showed me the wall,etc. It seems this woman who lived alone in that house came up missing. No one seemd to know where she had gone, but eventually after searching, her body was found in the rainbarrel,under the eave spout or gutter. She was, as far as I know, considered to have either fallen in the barrel and drowned or else drowned herself,but everytime I drive by on that road, I can't help but wonder if she might have been murdered. It happened a long time ago and I don't think my grandfather ever told me her name. Perhaps no one but myself recalls this.

HAPHAZARD HAUNTINGS

New England is replete with many unusual things and a number of books on such have appeared. However, I plan to concentrate on the area in Claremont, Cornish, Windsor, and nearby towns,etc. for the most part. The places mentioned tend to be considered as 'haunted' either by ghosts, spirits or other entities. From my personal viewpoint, THE POWER OF SUGGESTION and THE POWER OF IMAGINATION are contributing factors in any such situation. I suspect that many of the 'ghosts' and 'spirits', benign or malignant, as they may be, are brought there by the people who go to these places. But that is another matter.