Amazing Tales from Off the Beaten Path

The Mystery Behind the Eerie Moodus Noises

The sound has been described as eerie, dreadful, and fearful. It’s been heard for at least a few centuries, and perhaps longer. The so-called “Moodus noises” have come to define the small village in East Haddam where the sounds come from. The legends that have grown around these noises have a fascinating background, which we’ll examine more closely with a Professor of Folklore at the University of Massachusetts, Stephen Gencarella.

The Strongest Man in the World

Elmer Bitgood, a farmer from eastern Voluntown, was said to be the strongest man in the world. With his 20-inch biceps, he was said to have lifted 2,000 pounds and drank 10 gallons of milk at lunchtime to wash down his several dozen pounds of hamburger. He received challenges from the other strongest men in the world for contests, but the humble gentle giant turned them down. We’ll hear all about his legendary exploits from the Vice President of the Voluntown Historical Society, Karen Britt.

Could You Move a 5,000-Man, Foreign-Speaking Army Across Colonial CT?

When we talk about Rochambeau’s French army marching across CT on its way to Virginia during the Revolutionary War, have you ever stopped to think what that was really like – the complexities, the logistics, the massive coordination, the hurdles to overcome? The movement of 5,000 men, 4,000 animals, and tons of food, ammunition, and supplies on wagons on muddy dirt paths and across rivers was an incredible undertaking. We’ll hear the inside scoop from the chief consultant to the National Parks Service for the Rochambeau Trail, Dr. Robert Selig.

CT’s History Starts with The Mayflower

Connecticut has a direct connection to The Mayflower, which landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts more than 400 years ago. Some of the Pilgrims on that ship would establish the first British settlement in CT. The real story behind the Mayflower voyage is not well known – it wasn’t just for religious freedom, as is commonly taught in schools. The stories behind the very difficult two-month voyage, the miracle that saved the Bush and Roosevelt political dynasties, the Plymouth Plantation, the Mayflower Compact, how Native Americans saved the Pilgrims, and the truth of the first Thanksgiving are all told by Jack McLaughlin, an Interpreter for the Mayflower II Museum boat in Plymouth.

She May Have Been CT’s Most Famous Resident

Katharine Hepburn may have been CT’s most famous resident. She still holds the record for the most Oscars for acting, with four. Her career survived the so-called “poison box office letter” and her feisty on-screen persona competed with her romantic engagements with Howard Hughes and Spencer Tracy for attention. Her years in this state, as a born-and-bred CT native, include a harrowing escape during the Hurricane of ’38. The story is mesmerizing, as told by the Coordinator of Old Saybrook’s Katharine Hepburn Museum, Elise Maragliano

The Most Important Man in CT History

He’s arguably the most important man in Connecticut history – John Winthrop, Jr. One of the state’s earliest Governors, in the 1600s, he secured the first Royal Charter that legitimized CT as a new colony, provided extensive autonomy, and gave the settlers huge land holdings out west. He also founded Saybrook and New London, while introducing modern concepts for industrial ventures and financing social movements. Winthrop’s story is told by perhaps the leading researcher in the field, CT State Historian Emeritus Dr. Walt Woodward.

The Best Story Ever Told in Connecticut

This story from the 1600s has a little bit of everything. It involves a critical part of CT history. It was a “who done it” – with candles suddenly going out during an important meeting of top British and Patriot officials in Hartford. It concerns a hiding place inside a huge tree that could fit 10 people standing. It created one of the most iconic visual and political images of the state of Connecticut. Hear the story of the Charter Oak from the retired, long-time Curator of the Museum of Connecticut History, Dave Corrigan.

Digging for Evidence at Gallows Hill

When a team of archeologists found burned rocks, burned bones, broken rum bottles, old nails, and musket balls at a site in western CT, they knew they had found a winter encampment for Revolutionary War soldiers – a place where two Patriot soldiers had been executed for desertion during the winter of 1778-79. They also had uncovered evidence of how the other 1,000 soldiers survived that winter. Hear the intriguing and meticulous way that Western Connecticut State University Professor Emeritus of Anthropology Dr. Laurie Weinstein and her team uncovered these 250-year-old secrets.

As Slavery Ended in CT, Ugliness at the State’s First All-Black School

Prudence Crandall, CT’s State Heroine, opened the first all-black female school in CT, in the 1830s. It led to some of the ugliest, most violent and disgraceful bigotry in state history. The white community took multiple vigilante and legal steps to try to stop her from operating. In the end, the case gave rise to critical concepts in one of the key civil rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Hear this fascinating story from the Curator of the Prudence Crandall Museum, Joan DiMartino. RSSVERIFY

When CT Residents Were Sent to the Poor House

If you couldn’t pay your bills in the old days, you were sent to the poor house. Every CT town had either a poor house or a town farm to help care for poor, disabled, and mentally handicapped. The last one closed only in 1991. Poor houses were unique places that were largely unregulated for a good portion of their existence. Hear the story behind Alms Houses from the author of the book, The Road to the Poor House, Michael Westerfield.