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Gunntown Cemetery
In the historic village of Naugatuck, between
the shadow of two high ridges, lies the small, quaint, and (some say) very haunted Gunntown Cemetery. For many decades,
people have reported multiple sightings of ghosts, misty forms, orbs, dark shapes, voices and equipment malfunctions.
GHOST members arrived on the mother-of-all ghostly days, Halloween, to find the truth.
The History
Naugatuck is an Algonquin Indian name meaning "lone tree
by the fishing place". The town has had quite a few different names over the centuries. The original name of the
town was Matetacoke (or Mattatuck). It was also called Judd's Meadow for a time and then Salem Bridge. Finally,
in 1844, the town reverted to its original Indian name of Naugatuck.
Early after the land was purchased in 1657 by two miners
(Deacon Thomas Judd and John Standley) Naugatuck was considered to be part of Waterbury. At the time, settlers referred
to the village as Mattatuck Plantation. Though large deposits of lead were never discovered (the original reason for
the miners purchasing the land in the first place) the purchase itself encouraged twenty-six Farmington men to travel to Mattatuck
Plantation in 1673. These men built homes and began to farm the land, which marked the first major interest in the Naugatuck
Valley. Others purchased land nearby, including the families of Scott, Porter, Andrus and Bronson. Two years later,
the Mattatuck Plantation was renamed Waterbury, becoming the 27th town in the Colony of Connecticut.
The first settlers to inhabit Judd's Meadow were Samuel
Hickox, his wife, Elizabeth, and their seven children, arriving in 1702. Samuel was an enterprising man who was granted
permission to erect and operate a textile carding and fulling mill on a stream which became known as Fulling Mill Brook.
His son, Gideon, was the first child born in the new settlement in 1705.
In 1733, Judd's Meadow became Salem Bridge, after a small
bridge built near the fording over the Naugatuck River. By 1740, over 30 families lived in Salem Bridge, including the
Gunns who operated a sawmill on their 800 acres in Gunntown, which is located on present-day Rubber Avenue Extension near
the Oxford line.
Gunntown Cemetery is the resting place of a few "famous"
individuals, including Jobamah Gunn. Sixteen-year-old Chauncey Judd was the son of a staunchly patriotic family who
favored independence from the British during the American Revolution. One night in 1776, while Chauncey was on his way
home from a neighborhood quilting bee, he was kidnapped by a band of Tories (people who favored remaining under British rule).
Chauncey won his release five days later, and one of the most influential men in the area, Jobamah Gunn, was charged with
housing and feeding the kidnapping party. Jobamah was fined $1,800, an enormous sum of money in those days, and his
family name was forever tarnished. The story of Chauncey Judd is remembered because his kidnapping helped arouse the
citizens of the area as they joined the revolutionary forces to oppose British rule. The main house at Naugatuck High
School, the Judd House, is named in remembrance of Chauncey Judd.
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| Left of the front entrance |
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| Silas Gunn's Monument (in the dark corner) |
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| The Grave of Silas Gunn |
The Event
GHOST members arrived at the
cemetery at approximately 3:45 in the afternoon, but due to Daylight Savings Time, the sun was already low on the horizon.
We scrambled to set up our equipment and do some test walk-throughs before actually getting into the cemetery to perform the
investigation. The cemetery is settled upon a small plateau which overlooks a livestock farm to the northeast.
There were many sounds of animals coming from the direction of the farm, as well as wildlife in general. The front gates
are impressive and the cemetery is quaint. The extremely small size of the cemetery belies its larger-than-life reputation.
The road which leads to the cemetery is fairly well-traveled and traffic seemed pretty steady, although the road itself is
small, narrow and serpentine.
Within, the pressing sense of closeness immediately envelopes
you as you walk amongst the stones. The oldest headstone in the cemetery is Elias Scovil (no dates available) but it
appears that the next in chronological order is Susan Tounsend (d. October 11, 1801 at 4 years old). To the immediate
right as you enter the cemetery is a large, old, gnarled tree which overhangs the monument of Silas Gunn. It is a foreboding
corner and gives a sense of plunging darkness. Throughout the cemetery are very well-preserved ancient headstones and
one wonders why the Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery in Burlington didn't mark the same good fortune (see below).
As GHOST members fanned out amongst
the stones, it became apparent that we were losing light quickly and we chose to stay a bit past the time that we usually
like to for the sake of thoroughness. Two events occurred which were out of the ordinary. One is that our EMF
device picked up massive fluctuations in the area of the Nichols' family plot in the very back of the cemetary (center) as
well as near the headstone of Hannah Tomlinson Scovill (b. Nov. 12, 1801, d. unmarried Jan. 24, 1870 AE 69, daughter of Noah
Scovill & Abigail Gunn).
Hannah's headstone was toppled (one of the few that was)
onto its back and broken into several pieces, facing the sky. While it was still readable, it appeared to be a double
headstone, bearing the name of another person (which was unreadable). Near her headstone, while filming, the camera
suffered a momentary battery drain before re-emerging as fully charged. Some paranormal experts believe this to be the
result of a spirit attempting to take an active corporeal form. In order to do so, the spirit must engage massive amounts
of energy from its surrounding area, in essence, draining any sources of energy in its vicinity. We don't know what
exactly caused this to occur, but the same exact thing occurred earlier in the day at Holy Land USA in Waterbury. Upon checking the equipment, everything appeared to be in good working order and this anomaly has
not reoccurred.
Another more interesting event that occurred, however, was
that our EMF device (which registers Electromagnetic Frequencies) picked up what appeared to sound like voices near the Nichols'
family burial plot. The voices were muddied and jumbled, whispering and faint, but were nevertheless heard by not one
or two, but three of the GHOST members through the headphones. This was probably a
mistake with the equipment. We're currently checking into this.
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| The many graves at Gunntown . . . |
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| Hannah Tomlinson Scovill |
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| More graves . . . |
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| Sun is setting! |
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| Donna & Drew take EMF readings at the Scovill grave |
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| Grave Etchings |
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| Columns at dusk |
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| The sun has set! |
Conclusion
In looking through the film evidence, we found nothing of
significance, even having snapped photos of the surrounding anomaly-ridden areas after said incidents. Both normal and
Nightshot video revealed nothing in particular, but there was a sense that we were hurrying through the investigation and
will be returning for a more thorough look. There is apparently EVP evidence out there of a little girl's voice, as
well as an accompanying photograph of a little girl's form caught on film. I have seen the photo, but have not heard
the EVP.
NOTE: The link that was formerly listed here is no
longer operable; therefore, we are attempting to contact the source for permission to display this photograph.
Regardless, it was interesting hearing the story from a
Naugatuck resident, Cathy. She revealed another story regarding a dark form issuing from the area in the front right
corner (the gnarled tree) and disappearing from view on one of her many visits.
Creepy Connecticut
will be continuing to pore over the evidence and will keep you posted if anything else appears.
GOOSEBUMP FACTOR: 10
Barry A. A. Dillinger
October 31st, 2005
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| Darkness approaches |
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| Goodbye Gunntown . . . for now |
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