Ghost Stories and Legends of Eastern Connecticut by Donna Kent

Author:Donna Kent [Kent, Donna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Folklore & Mythology, Photography, Subjects & Themes, Historical, Body; Mind & Spirit, Supernatural (Incl. Ghosts), History, United States, State & Local, New England (CT; MA; ME; NH; RI; VT)
ISBN: 9781614233787
Google: ZHl2CQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Published: 2007-10-24T16:20:46+00:00

The White Horse Inn at Vernon Stiles Restaurant, Thompson

Sitting quietly in the center of Thompson right on the edge of the green is the White Horse Inn at Vernon Stiles. Thompson is located in the most northeastern corner of Connecticut, bordered by Rhode Island to the east and Massachusetts to the north. In the 1640s this was Nipmuck territory, and coaxed by Christian missionaries, over one hundred Nipmuck people set up camp there. A gigantic wigwam was built, which could still be seen as late as 1730. Quinnatisset was the Nipmuck word for their territory—the area now known as Thompson Hill—and translated it meant “little long river” or “long brook.”

For Thompson, its location was a launch pad for prosperity. Three important rivers run through the town. The French and the Quinebaug pour through the west side, and the Assawaga (also called the Five Mile River) flows down the east side. The town survived for all these years on the production of the mills that were functioning along the riverbanks. Streams and reservoirs sprung off of these rivers creating a complex and copious system of waterways that made manufacturing plants plentiful and mills abundant.

The Native Americans around Thompson were among the first natives to convert to Christianity in America. By 1650, native converts to Christianity had begun moving to Natick, Massachusetts, to organize what would become the first of several villages known as “praying towns.” The Native Americans who resided in these towns were known as “praying Indians.” By about 1660, seven new praying towns were established in Nipmuck territory, including three, which existed in present-day Windham County. Here, as in all of the praying towns that followed, Native Americans renounced their native language, ceremonies, beliefs, traditional dress and customs—effectively becoming “red” Puritans.

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