Littleton Massachusetts, Boudillion, Weird Massachusetts, Nashoba, Tophet, Powers, Shepard
Littleton Massachusetts, Boudillion, Weird Massachusetts, Nashoba, Tophet, Powers, Shepard Field Journal by Daniel V. Boudillion Lake Nagog at Nashoba Indian Village (Sarah Doublet Forest) . Updated 18 December 2009 11 new articles posted since June 19, 2009! A Record of Excursions & Adventures in Massachusetts . . . . 472,800 visitors since July 2001 About this Page Massachusetts has a wealth of unusual and enigmatic stone structures of uncertain antiquity and unknown origin. These have been conjectured to be constructed by ancient Celts, Native Americans, Colonial farmers, and neo-pagans. I have personally located many previously unrecorded dolmen, stone circles, standing stones, prayer seats, underground chambers, altars, turtle shaped boulders, and odd stone arrangements. There are many mysteries here worth investigating. Also in my travels I have come across many other strange and wonderful things tucked away in the woods - such as a Shaker dancing ground from 1840, haunted cemeteries like Spider Gates, various Tophet Swamps, and innumerable small caves called Devil's Den's. The following is a record of my travels and investigations over the last eight years. As I turn these investigations into Field Reports, links will be provided. A photo gallery is also in the works. Enjoy - and if you find anything I might be interested in, please let me know. Thanks! D. V. Boudillion Speaking Engagements • Upcoming: . 2010 - To be determined Boxborough Historical Society 1720: Witchcraft in Littleton & Boxboro • Past: . 2009 - November 19 Littleton Historical Society 1720: Witchcraft in Littleton 2009 - November 14 NEARA Fall Conference The Tophet Swamp Mystery 2009 - March 19 Littleton Historical Society The Tophet Swamp Mystery 2008 - November 20 Carlisle Historical Society The Tophet Swamp Mystery 2008 - November 7 NEARA Fall Conference Nashoba Hill: The Hill that Roars 2008 - October 26 Boxborough Historical Society Nashoba Hill: The Hill that Roars 2008 - June Nashoba Ski Hill Nashoba Hill: The Hill that Roars 2008 - March 27 Littleton Historical Society Nashoba Hill: The Hill that Roars 2006 - November Harvard Historical Society Harvard Shaker's Fountain of Youth I am available to give PowerPoint presentations on my original research and local history in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Please contact me at [email protected] if you would like me to speak. Publications: NEARA Journal & Weird Massachusetts A number of my articles and photographs have seen publication in the NEARA Journal and Weird Massachusetts. There are over 6 million people in Massachusetts, and when Weird Massachusetts was looking for writers, they contacted me - I'm assuming that's a compliment, right? In any event, I contributed a story to Weird U.S. (reprinted in Weird New England). In Weird Massachusetts I have a chapter, and another dozen or so stories sprinkled throughout the book. (Jeff Belanger is the primary author of Weird Massachusetts, with contributions by Christopher Balzano and myself.) There are 2 of my articles in the NEARA Journal, with another 2 scheduled for Fall 2009 and Spring 2010. If you are interested in running a writing assignment by me, please do. My specialties are historical research and the odd and unusual in Massachusetts and New England. Contact me at [email protected]. Field Reports & Links • New England Antiquities Research Association (NEARA) Field Reports by D. V. Boudillion: . Deed Rock & God's Ten Acres A deed to God carved in a rock in Worcester New June 2009 Rattlesnake Hill, Where Are You? Looking for, and finding, Rattlesnake Hill Druid Hill Stone Circle A Stone Circle in Lowell Massachusetts? Pots Point the Way? An Enigma in the Dog Town Woods Father John & the Rock Pile A Recent Donation of an Antique Medicine Bottle? Fountain of Youth Found The Harvard Shakers' Miraculous Spring A Second Shaker Spring Harvard East Family Village The Six Altars Of Nashoba A question of purpose and origin Half Moon Meadow Brook A Solstice Sunrise Site in Boxborough MassachusettsBoxborough Esker As featured in Manitou, a Native ceremonial site in Boxborough Mass Burnt Hill Stone circle and standing stones on a hill in Heath Mass • Littleton History Field Reports by D. V. Boudillion: . The Indian Fort at Fort Pond Mini-report: Locating the Fort's well New December 2009! Sarah Doublet's Cave Mini-report: Sarah's vision-quest cave found New December 2009! Nashoba Hill: The Hill that Roars Vision Quest and Nashoba Praying Indian Village Updated December 2009 Rattlesnake Hill, Where Are You? Looking for, and finding, Rattlesnake Hill Ceremonial Time The facts vs. Mitchell's fictions in the Littleton 1720 Dudley witch accusations • Misc. Field Reports by D. V. Boudillion: . Picture Glossary Pictorial of New England Lithic Constructions New October 2009! Gallows Hill: Where Were the Salem Witches Hung? The real site of the hangings New September 2009 Witch Caves & Salem End Road The tale of Salem's Towne sisters New July 2009 The Ecstatic Spirits of Holy Hill How the Shakers Invented Spiritualism New July 2009 Pierce Tomb in Old Hill Burying Ground Newburyport's weirdest clubhouse New June 2009 Devil's Footprints Leaving infernal footprints in Ipswich & Norton New June 2009 Witch Bridge: Norton, Massachusetts A lady + a buggy = a witch? New June 2009 Mormon Temple Alignments A look at a curious alignment in Palmyra Spider Gates: Photo Fakery & Photo Theft Fake "ghost" photos busted! Hoosac Tunnel: Abode of the Damned? An Exploration of the "Bloody Pit" Alistair Crowley's Lam & the Little Grey Men Another striking resemblance? Updated September 2009 Nothing is easier to see then lights in the sky at night An obvious observation about UFOs Acrobatic Nocturnal Lights Are we looking in the wrong direction? Interview with Raymond Fowler UFO Investigator, Author of the Andreasson Affair. Mothman & The Thunderbird A striking resemblance between two creatures of legend. Updated September 2009 Spider Gates The most haunted cemetery in Massachusetts? Updated September 2009 • Special Features, updated regularly and irregularly, by D. V. Boudillion: . Roadside Architecture Weird and whacky stuff seen on the side of the road in Mass Updated April 2009! Antique Postcards of Littleton Massachusetts & Vicinity 15 new postcards - revised January 2007! MST3K Reviews Reviews of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes Awesome Chipmunk Stories How history really happened Rogues Gallery All the usual suspects at all the usual places. Updated October 2009! • Links: . New England Antiquities Research Association Reports and pictures of lithic constructions Berkshire Mountain Man Jim is the foremost cave expert, locator, and explorer in Mass Littleton Historical Society Littleton Massachusetts Historical Society The Hoosac Tunnel: Now and Then A comprehensive site by Jerry Kelley Carol A. Hanny Megaliths, caves and other interesting stuff! (Litchfield County Ct) Concord Lithics Peter Waksman's home page of lithics in and around Concord Ma Hockomock Journals Reports on excursions in Southeast Massachusetts Memoirs of a Rolling Stone Jim Moore's New England Cave & Lithic Blog New October 2009 Waking Up On Turtle Island Tim MacSweeney's turtle rocks blog in CT Avalon Foundation Nick Reiter's many articles on the paranormal and historical oddities Jeff Belanger Author and investigator of all that Weird in Massachusetts Rockpile Blogspot Unusual and interesting (native?) rockpiles and lithics in New England Mormon Temple Alignments Adding some more info to previous work Hoosac Tunnel Marc Howes Hoosac Tunnel page Worcester Friends Cemetery Official Spider Gates webpage with cemetery policy. New England Oddities All that's strange, weird and wonderful in New England Indian Rock Piles Peter Waksman's rock pile website New England Anomaly A wide variety of links to the anomalous in Massachusetts Paranormal Crossroads Christopher Balzano's Massachusetts Paranormal Crossroads Ghost Village by Jeff Belanger, the web's largest and most popular supernatural community • Email: . [email protected] Email Daniel V. Boudillion If you are looking for directions to some of the locations I have visited, bear in mind that I am not always at liberty to divulge this, especially in the case of places in private ownership or of a hazardous nature. Also note, if you can't be bothered to say hello, please, and thank you, I can't be bothered to write you back. Field Journal Et in Arcadia ego. Field Journal 2009 • December 5, 2009: Sarah Doublet Forest in Littleton with NEARA - results: led field trip and looked at the various lithic structures. South Shaker Village in Harvard with NEARA - results: looked at standing stone and rocking stone. • November 8, 2009: Fox Sisters Farm in Hydesville New York with Nick Reiter - results: looked at the foundation of the old Fox Farmhouse where Spiritualism first began. • November 7, 2009: Mormon Temple in Palmyra New York with Nick Reiter - results: took pictures of the Moon Stones, Sun Stones, and Star Stones on the Temple. • October 31, 2009: Blanchard & Dudley Witchcraft sites in Littleton - results: took pictures of the Dudley and Blanchard houses. • October 18, 2009: Witchtrot Road in South Berwick Maine with Gary Boston - results: the road the Reverend George Burroughs was escorted on in a thunderstorm back to Salem, and thence hung as a witch. Etiole the 300 year old alien of Old Orchard Beach Maine with Gary Boston - results: found the house, but not the car he lives in. (See Eelkat's blog.) • October 17, 2009: Joseph Smith Birthplace in Royalton Vermont with Gary Boston - results: Joseph Smith birthplace house foundation, memorial obelisk. Lithic monuments in Royalton Vermont with Gary Boston - results: McIntosh chamber adjacent to Smith birthplace. • September 18, 2009: Walter Powers Farm in Littleton with Dave Powers - results: looked at all the Walter Power sites in Littleton. • April 5, 2009: Nashoba Brook in Acton with Andy Bowers - results: the old mill run and damn of the Thoreau Pencil Factory. • March 28, 2009: Odd named hills in Northborough with Gary Boston - results: visited Ghost Hill, Fay Hill, Sulfur Hill, and Mt Pisgah. • March 22, 2009: Dudley House in Littleton - results: toured the 1700 Samuel & Abigail Dudley house. Field Journal 2008 • November 23, 2008: Tophet Swamp in Littleton with Gary Boston - results: investigated mounds in the swamp and found a solstice sunrise alignment. • November 22, 2008: Tophet Swamp in Littleton - results: took various pictures in the swamp for upcoming presentation in Carlisle. • November 15, 2008: Nashoba Praying Indian Village in Littleton with Hugh Newman and Glenn Broughton - results: looked at chambers and lithics including the Whitcome Ave chamber and the restored Nashoba Brook chamber. • May 1, 2008: Magnetic Hill Road in Leominster with Andy Bowers - results: drove down the "magnetic road" near Magnetic Hill, no untoward effects noted. Bancroft Silver Mine in Harvard with Andy Bowers - results: located the "cut" where the mine used to be. • April 27, 2008: Nashoba Hill in Littleton with Gary Boston - results: large white quartz boulder at top, very wide stone wall. Field Journal 2007 • June 3, 2007: Witch Brook in Townsend - results: Nissitissit Village on Witch Brook on old North Road in North Pepperell, said to have been cursed. • June2, 2007: Blanchard House in Boxborough - results: house where the Blanchard girls lived. • June 1, 2007: Wizard's Glen in Dalton with Gary Boston - results: Wizard's Glen, Altar Rock, Indian Painting, Lucky Seven Cave. Witch Rocks in Framingham with Gary Boston - results: caves where escapees from the Salem witch trials hid for a winter. • May 30, 2007: Shaker Village in Harvard with Gary Boston - results: main street, avenue to the Holy Hill of Zion, Holy Hill of Zion dancing ground. Silver Mine in Harvard with Gary Boston - results: tunnel is somewhere along this ridge. • May 26, 2007: Salem End Road in Framingham with Gary Boston - results: houses built by Salem witch trial refugees, (Towne, Nurse, Cloyes, and Bridges). Danforth Rock in Framingham with Gary Boston - results: a large rock that was supposed to signal safety to Salem Refugees. Old Burying Ground in Framingham with Gary Boston - results: Cloyes graves, "struck by lightning." Death Valley in Topsfield with Gary Boston - results: stretch of road with high traffic fatalities. Witch Hill in Topsfield with Gary Boston - results: location where Mary Easty was arrested. Towne & Easty sites in Topsfield with Gary Boston - results: William Towne homestead site, Isaac and Mary Easty homestead site. Devils Footprint in Ipswich with Gary Boston - results: a rock where the devil left his footprint. • April 21, 2007: Tophet Swamp in Lynnfield with Gary Boston - results: Tophet Swamp. Tophet Swamp in Carlisle with Gary Boston - results: Tophet Swamp. • April 14, 2007: Satan's Kingdom in Westwood with Gary Boston - results: a rocky hill with a spectacular view. Devil's Oven in Westwood with Gary Boston - results: old filled in cave, supposedly an Indain tunnel. Devil's Brook in Sharon with Gary Boston - results: brook. Witch Pond in Foxborough with Gary Boston - results: pond. • April 7, 2007: Podunk in East Brookfield with Gary Boston - results: Quaboag Pond, Podunk Road, Podunk Village & Cemetery, and an old section of Podunk Road. • March 31, 2007: Deed Rock in Worcester with Gary Boston - results: A deed of land to God carved in a rock, foundations of Solomon Parson's Forest Sanctuary Temple, old foundations of Brown's Hermitage, Rattlesnake Ledge, a talus cave, and the Hanging Tree. Field Journal 2006 • December 21, 2006: Littleton/Westford line - results: took photos at "prayer seat" of Winter Solstice Sunset alignment over esker. • December 20, 2006: Littleton/Westford line - results: set up sightlines at "prayer seat" for possible Winter Solstice Sunset alignment over esker. • December 19, 2006: Gallows Hill in Salem with Gary Boston - results: took more pictures of the Perley site but camera malfunctioned again. Witch Rock in Danvers with Gary Boston - results: examined the rock with flash lamps for markings - one marking found, but does not resemble the supposed markings. • December 8, 2006: Sarah Doublet Forest in Littleton with Kevin Crispell - results: examined the "praying pet cemetery." • November 19, 2006: Gallows Hill in Salem - results: took pictures of the Perley gallows site, camera malfunctioned. Castle Hill in Salem - results: most of the hill has been excavated for a warehouse. Witch Rock in Danvers - results: looked for the sigils but were unable to locate them. • October 15, 2006: Littleton/Westford line - results: found an apparent Prayer Seat that appears aligned to view the Winter Solstice Sunset over an esker. • May 28, 2006: Underground Chamber in Harvard - results: viewed subterranean chamber used in the Underground Railroad. • May 5, 2006: Cow Culvert in Littleton - results: located the old cow culvert under Route 2A near Mannion Place. Took pictures of the last remaining stone wall section at the Old Powers Graveyard. • April 31, 2006: Powers Farm in Littleton - results: took pictures of some of the fields that have been in cultivation since 1675. • April 22, 2006: Mormon Temple in Palmyra NY with Scurv Dawg - results: took GPS and compass readings. Toured the Joseph Smith Sr. Farm in Palmyra NY where Joe Jr. said he had visions. Toured the Grandin Print Shop in Palmyra NY where the Book of Mormon was originally printed. (See the Palmyra Report for pictures and more info.) • April 21, 2006: Cumorah Hill in Palmyra NY with Scurv Dawg - results: took compass readings at the Hill Cumorah Moroni Monument. Walked around the Sacred Grove in Palmyra NY where Joseph Smith Jr. had visions. • April 9, 2006: Lake Nagog in Littleton - results: took GPS readings at the original North Corner of the 1660 Nashoba Praying Indian Village. • April 8, 2006: Lake Nagog in Acton with Colin Duncan - results: took GPS readings and confirmed the East Corner of the 500 acre Indian reservation of 1714. Field Journal 2005 • October 2, 2005: Old Hill Cemetery in Newburyport with Carlton Jablonski - results: examined the repeatedly violated Pierce Tomb, looked for the "ghost head," saw the gopher. Dog Town in Gloucester with Carlton Jablonski. • September 22, 2005: Indian Point on Mt. Desert Island, Maine - results: took measurements of a large mound. Several smaller mounds found to be in alignment with it. • September 17, 2005: Cross Point in Edgecomb, Maine with Ros Strong & Susanne Carlson - results: examined several stone mounds. • April 30, 2005: Shabokin in Ayer - results: located Hell Pond in the "place of the departed souls." • April 30, 2005: Fort Pond Hill in Littleton/Acton with Gary Boston - results: located the "row of stones" bounding the westerly side of the 1714 Indian New Town as mentioned in the 1735 Jones deed. The boundary line crosses Fort Pond and picks up on the far side here. Saw a series of unusual rows in the area as well. • April 23, 2005: Fort Pond Hill in Littleton/Acton - results: looked for Southwest Corner of the 1714 Indian New Town as extrapolated from Harwood's 1894 account. Approximate location is around here, but nothing obvious found. Funky wall construction in general area. Lake Nagog in Littleton/Acton - results: found Southeast Corner Cairn at Lake Nagog as extrapolated from Harwood's 1894 account. Found old Littleton/Acton town corner, and 1911 General Court established Littleton/Acton town corner. • April 17, 2005: Cobb's Woods in Littleton - results: Harwood's 1894 location of the Northeast Corner of the 1714 Indian "New Town," an unusual cairn there, and the eastern boundary of the "New Town" based on the Harwood corner. Fort Pond Swamp in Littleton - results: a non-engraved marker slab under and ancient apple tree. Nashoba Road in Littleton - results: a pyramid shaped rock at approximate place the Northern boundary of the "New Town," based on the Harwood corner, crosses Nashoba Road. • April 16, 2005: Fort Pond Hill in Littlet… truncated (31,940 more characters in archive)