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Daniel Benton Homestead
If ever there was a place that had all the possibilities
of holding paranormal activity, it would be the Daniel Benton Homestead in Tolland. Almost 300 years of history are
held in these walls. Love, sickness, sorrow, pain, suffering, imprisonment . . . all these feelings and emotions have
been experienced here. And when you are searching for the paranormal, these feelings and emotions are said to fuel activity.
The History
The Daniel Benton Homestead was built in 1720 by Daniel
Benton; the same year Tolland became a town. It is the oldest standing structure in Tolland. Daniel Benton built
the home which was very large for its time. Daniel had a son who fought in the French and Indian War, as well as several
grandchildren who fought in the Revolutionary War. During the War of Independence, Daniel opened up his basement to
the Continental officers so that they might use it to detain British and Hessian soldiers. Eighteen soldiers, including
two officers, were held here until the war's end. Daniel's grandson, Elisha, is a big part of the history here.
He left home to answer the Lexington alarm, joined the freedom fighters, and fought for his new country. In 1776, Elisha
was captured by the British during the Battle of Long Island and was moved to New York Harbor where he was held in a prison
ship. The filthy British prison ships were not a place to be, for disease ran rampant upon them. Shortly after his capture, Elisha contracted smallpox. He was traded for another British
soldier and allowed to return home. He made it as far as Hartford before he could not go on. His family got work
and made arrangements for him to come home.
Now, before his enlistment in the Continental Army, Elisha
had fallen deeply in love with a young Tolland girl named Jemima Barrows. Jemima was twelve years younger and the Benton
family vowed that the marriage would never take place. Elisha Benton's homecoming was greeted with mixed emotions by
his family. As glad as they were to see him again, he was in a seriously weakened condition and wracked by a disease
so contagious and frequently fatal that his mere presence became a threat to everyone around him. Since only those who
had survived smallpox could safely care for a victim (since they had effectively developed an immunity to the disease) the
family faced a real dilemma: none of them had ever been exposed to it.
No doubt their relief was great when Jemima
Barrows, the girl who had been faithful to Elisha through all the months of his absence, offered to nurse the critically-ill
ex-soldier she loved so much. Mercifully, her vigil lasted only a few weeks, for on January 21, 1777, Daniel joined
his two other brothers in death as a result of the British. Shortly after Daniel's death, Jemima died. Social protocol of the period forbade the two being buried together, so both families agreed
to bury Elisha and Jemima on both sides of the carriage drive.
It is not clear just how long stories regarding a
supernatural presence within the Homestead have circulated, but the tradition is certainly alive today. Gail White,
the Director of the Homestead, told us that sightings of a soldier on the front side of the house have been made. Neighbors
say there have been lights and figures that move in front of the windows at night when no one is there. Many reports
of voices coming from the basement (where the prisoners were held) have also been made.
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| Was a ghost seen outside this homestead? |
The Investigation
Our investigation lasted three nights. Gail allowed
us inside the home until 7:00 p.m. and then she would lock up and set the alarm. We would then set up video cameras
with infrared boosters (allowing us to see in the dark) in areas of reported high activity. We also set up digital audio
recorders for EVPs and shot several hundred digital pictures of the home.
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| The basement that was a former prison |
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| John and his crew setting up the equipment |
The Evidence
Our findings over the three nights took a lot of time to
review. We had taken thirty-plus hours of video and thousands of pictures. The strangest thing we picked up was
a picture captured by one of our investigators, Mandi. She caught what appears to be a soldier in a window. We
returned and tried to debunk it with no luck. I truly feel something was there that night watching us. If you
look closely at the picture, you can see a flesh colored face. Below it could be a button lapel and in the third window
down, it appears to be two brass buttons.
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| Is this the face of a Revolutionary War soldier? |
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| The same shot as above (filtered in greyscale) |
The Daniel Benton Homestead should be enjoyed by all.
Its sagging roof, which shows the age of the house, the stone walls, and the stone well in the back yard transport you
back in time the minute you exit your car.
GOOSEBUMP FACTOR: 80
Respectfully Submitted by John Z.
November 2, 2006
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