Mike Knapik readies himself to make his presentation to the visitors of the annual Ghost Tours last year. (WNG file photo)
WESTFIELD – Tickets went on sale Saturday at the Westfield Athenaeum for the Haunted Ghost Tours at the Old Burying Ground on Mechanic Street on September 28 and 29, and by Monday morning 23 of the 420 available spots had been sold for the event, which sells out every year. The tickets are $10 each, and available only at the Athenaeum.
This year’s ghost tour will be special, according to Cynthia Gaylord of the Historical Commission, as it will focus on the thirteen founding families of Westfield in honor of the upcoming 350th anniversary in May, 2019.
In 1667 and 1668, thirteen young men accepted an offer from Thomas Pynchon in Springfield for home lots to people willing to move west of the city. The men were given the challenge of building a home and finding a settled minister within two years. All of the men were English settlers, most of whom had come through Windsor.
One of the settlers, Thomas Dewey, was given the job of procuring the minister. He went out at the end of November and found Rev. Edward Taylor, who was studying at Harvard. He brought him back to the new settlement in the middle of winter, during a snowstorm. Gaylord said the event is detailed in Taylor’s memoir, including walking across the river with the ice cracking at every step. Westfield was the westernmost territory until 1725.
James Homan, left, portrays Lt. Richard Falley during a previous Ghost Tour fundraiser at the Mechanic Street Cemetery Friday. The tours raise funds to preserve the historic memorial stones. Tours will be Friday, September 28 and Saturday, September 29 starting at 6 p.m. and continuing each hour until 8:30. The fundraiser is spearheaded by the Westfield Historical Commission for preservation of the Old Burying Ground. Parking is allowed at the Saint Mary Elementary School. (WNG file photo)
Edward Taylor is one of the Old Burying Ground’s most prominent stones, as he is considered one of the most well-known poets of the colonial era. Gaylord said his poetry wasn’t published until the 1900’s by his descendants, but visitors from around the world have come to visit his burying place. Taylor also became the leader of the town, a doctor and teacher as well as minister, and led the town through the King Philip Indian Wars.
All thirteen of the original settlers survived, although a couple of them moved on, Gaylord said. She said the names are well-known to Westfield residents from street names, and include John Sackett, John Ingersoll, James Cornish, John Moseley, Thomas Bancroft, Samuel Moseley, Thomas Dewey, John Root.
The tour will also visit the stone of Eleanor Fowler, wife of Daniel Fowler, who were not founders but who built the Fowler Tavern in 1755.
Two people on the tour will also speak about King Philip’s wars. Metacom, also known as King Philip, was the son of Massasoit. After the English had taken all the lands and broken all of the treaties, he waged two-years of bloody attacks on the area. Westfield and Hadley were the only two of twelve Western Mass settlements that were not destroyed or partially destroyed, although they suffered some damage in outlying areas, Gaylord said.
The ghost tours take one hour and visit stones where actors dressed in period garb tell the story of the person buried there. This year, the story tellers include Michael Knapik, Michael McCabe, Art Sousa, Kathy Palmer, James Homan, Bob Plasse, Patrick Berry, middle school teachers C.C. Costello and Crystal Hollister, and fifth grader Joey Roselli, who will be talking about Joshua Root, the son of John Root. Jay Pagluica does all the lighting for the tour, and serves as a tour guide along with Amanda Goodheart. Gaylord and Plasse will also be guiding tours. In addition, Carly Bannish organizes visitors at the front gate, and Harry Rock “sets up the crowd,” Gaylord said.
The tours begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 28 and Saturday, Sept. 29, and run every half hour through 8:30 p.m. Each tour is limited to 35 people. The only rain date will be on Sunday, Sept. 30.
Gaylord said the tour is not recommended for children under 8 years old, adding that it is an hour long program, in the cemetery, in the dark.
