The Dark Side of Massachusetts

The Ashley House Restaurant on Riverdale Road in West Springfield, MA. is a mix and match of old and new architectural design having had various owners from 1829 through the 1900s. When Charles Ashley constructed it in 1829 it was done in Greek Revival style. Ashley family members lived there until the 1920s. Afterwards the house became a tavern and pub and a restaurant twice. Each time its form changing.

Ashley House consists of 2 stories the first having the dining and drinking areas and the second the restaurant offices. During its tavern days the second floor had bedrooms for overnight guests and there were cock fights and boisterous parties.

The basement of the restaurant is inhabited by spirits. An employee on a cigarette break went downstairs and noticed that in a certain area a strange mist rose from the basement floor. Psychic/medium Ceil Leionchuk having gone downstairs saw the spirits of two elderly people a woman and a man. They were sitting before a fireplace dressed in antique clothes. They were discussing an upcoming wedding and Ceil felt that they had been part of the Ashley family.

At one time this restaurant was owned by a man called Mr. Vincent and known a Vincent’s Steak House. Mr. Vincent was a very hard working man and expected nothing but the best for his restaurant. He made it a very big success. Then toward the end of his life he started another restaurant in the downtown area but it failed distressing him to no end.

In the present restaurants foyer a 4 x 4 ft. sq. area guests have smelled a terribly foul odor. When they step out of this area the odor disappears. Note parapsychologist Enid Hoffmann states that when an entity dies in a state of rage or guilt they emit a foul odor. It is theorized that Mr. Vincent emitted this odor when things were not done according to his high standards.

During the task of preparing lunch a chef who once also worked for Mr. Vincent saw his full apparition in detail. Employees have felt tugs on their shirts, white wisps have been seen, things have been rearranged differently and footsteps have been hear in the restaurant when it should have been empty.

Upstairs in the offices numbers have appeared on an adding machine that had no meaning for the living. The banquet manager using the Xerox machine has had someone bump into her as if while she was copying someone was about and looking over her shoulder.

In the 1980s the son of the then owner while working in Mr. Vincent’s former office felt a presence keeping him company and eventually touching his shoulder. Psychic Ceil confirmed Mr. Vincent’s presence when she walked into a storeroom which held a lot of his belongings and felt a tightness in her throat and a pain in her stomach. Apparently Mr. Vincent wants to be sure the restaurant keeps doing a good business.

In Cape Cod in Yarmouthport is the Old Yarmouth Inn Restaurant and Tavern. It was built in 1696 and today it is a high quality restaurant and tavern. Described as a two story white colonial structure with an attic and a basement. There is an inn, three distinct dining rooms and an informal tavern. The Old Yarmouth has the distinction of being the oldest inn in America. Interestingly enough before the Civil War the owners were part of the underground railroad and hid runaway slaves in a secret room in the attic.

The following apparitions have been felt or seen. In one of the guest rooms called the Quisset Harbor Room a guest awoke in the early morning hours and discovered that a jowly individual with full cheeks dressed in a 19th century costume happened to be interested as to why this particular guest was sleeping in what he apparently took to be his room.

A most frightening moment came for a guest who was afraid of ghosts. He awoke to find a ghostly form sitting on the end of his bed. The guest then hid under the covers after which the ghost started massaging his feet getting no response to this action the ghostly entity started to shake the bed. Frightened nearly to death the guest ran out on to the porch and spent the rest of the night there.

In the dining rooms when lights have been turned off for the night they suddenly go on again. After all maybe ghosts also don’t like to be in the dark all the time. Unexplained cold spots and drafts have been felt by the employees and they have heard an unknown someone whispering their names.

Early one morning a relative of the owner went to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. While there the kitchen mixer started working by itself. Providing the entity with an amusing reaction to his or her prank. At another time a guest heading for the kitchen wondered how to open the door and a voice simply told her "Push!"

There’s also playtime in the bar. A female bartender has had to hold onto glasses while pouring drinks and there’s someone who likes to slide ashtrays the length of the bar and then flip them in the air. The worst came to a tavern customer who scoffed at the idea of ghosts. The air conditioner cover came undone, flew 10 feet across the room and grazed his head. The customer’s a believer now! Don’t make ghosts angry.

Window panes come loose at the hinges and doors open and shut by themselves. Spirits enjoy themselves at the inn.

The Colonial House Inn can be found on the north shore in Cape Cod in Yarmouthport. It was built in 1716 by Captain John Minot who was a soldier and a physician. In 1730 Joshua Rider built a Federal style house with a hip roof, an attic and a basement right next to the Minot house. This house is now another part of the present building. At that time this house was bought by Captain John Eldrige and during the Revolutionary War it was used as a hospital and Dr. Minot’s operating room used to be in what is today Room224.

For the next 100 years it was known as the Eldrige House. Passed down from descendant to descendant. As more room was needed a house was floated down from Nantucket and added on to a foundation at the rear of the Eldrige building. In 1860 the Nantucket house was added on to the main structure and a third floor was built. Minot house also became part of the Eldrige building as well as two other 19th century buildings.

In 1979 The Colonial House was renovated by its owner Malcolm Perna three intimate dining rooms and guest rooms with private baths were created. The carriage house was turned into suites and a conference area.

There is a lot of history behind the inn. Being built so close to the King’s Highway Indians and other people would pass right by the property on the way to town and during the Revolutionary War a hospital was established there.

The most interesting ghostly action occurs in Room 224 where you can meet the spirits of Dr. John Minot, an Indian girl and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

A young bride had the pleasure of meeting the good doctor while her husband slept. His misty gray figure appeared about four feet from the side of the bed. It looked at her and slowly faded away. The young Indian girl is thought to have had some connection to this room and Ralph Waldo Emerson is thought to have stayed here at some time perhaps spending some quite time in Cape Cod writing.

Investigators have been able to record the Indian girl singing a native song, feelings of sadness and pain have been felt in this room which could be explained by the fact that it once was Dr. Minot’s operating room and both investigators staying here have felt cold hands touching them.

In the dining area a waiter wanting to put a customer’s credit card through the machine had it grabbed out of his hand and taken away. It was later found in a cabinet under the payment counter. A ghostly monk haunts the front office and shows his enjoyment of reading by knocking book off of their shelves.

The owners have accepted their non paying guests and the living and non living coexist side by side.