98 North Main Street, Avon, Massachusetts 02322
Tel: 508-587-2884
Tel: 508-587-2884
Blanchard's Colonial Tavern
Henry Lawton Blanchard Museum
Home of Captain Sam Robbins
Home of Captain Sam Robbins
Blanchard's Colonial Tavern Museum
98 North Main Street
Avon, MA 02322
(508) 587-2884
Home of Captain Sam Robbins Museum
188 Main Street
Avon, MA 02322
(508)583-7616
98 North Main Street
Avon, MA 02322
(508) 587-2884
Home of Captain Sam Robbins Museum
188 Main Street
Avon, MA 02322
(508)583-7616
Blanchard' s Tavern in Avon dates back to the Revolutionary War. It served as a tavern and general store through much of the nineteenth century . In 1937 it became the Avon Town Hall and in 1975 was restored as a colonial tavern offering drinks, snacks, and entertainment of the period .
Many of the staff have became aware of a ghost - footsteps, coughing, glasses flying off shelves, and hats hurled about but he or she has never materialized . His noises are infrequent, perhaps twice a year, yet often enough to convince the tavern keeper that the patrons are trespassing within his domain.
Now comes a report from England that a dozen pubs are inhabited by visible ghosts, the list appears in the October issue of IN BRITAIN. These pubs are scattered throughout England, Scotland and Wales and are hundreds of years old.
There was a chemistry professor at King's College London who investigated ghosts for thirty years. With every report of a haunted house he'd set up his audio equipment and cameras, both visible and infrared, and hope for the best. He concluded after three decades of investigations that either there were no ghosts or he always scared them off.
Like old brandy ghosts may need hundreds of years to mature. As spirits, though, they do not come out of a bottle. The ghost at Blanchard's Tavern has been called David although we are not certain of its gender. The best known English ghost appears at Ye Olde Salutation Inn in Nottingham, a town noted for Robin Hood and the nearby Sherwood Forest. This Inn stands at the site of a former pub dating to the pilgrimage days of 1246 when it was called the Archangel Gabriel Saluting the Blessed Virgin Mary . It is haunted by Rosie, a four-year-old urchin who was run down by a carriage in the 17th century. She roams the building and performs pranks like hiding keys and throwing things .
We at Blanchard's are waiting for David to reveal himself. Last Thanksgiving he threw half a dozen glasses to the floor, shattering them all and frightening the tavern staff who were serving breakfast. 'We hope' David reads this newspaper and decides to make himself visible.
Many of the staff have became aware of a ghost - footsteps, coughing, glasses flying off shelves, and hats hurled about but he or she has never materialized . His noises are infrequent, perhaps twice a year, yet often enough to convince the tavern keeper that the patrons are trespassing within his domain.
Now comes a report from England that a dozen pubs are inhabited by visible ghosts, the list appears in the October issue of IN BRITAIN. These pubs are scattered throughout England, Scotland and Wales and are hundreds of years old.
There was a chemistry professor at King's College London who investigated ghosts for thirty years. With every report of a haunted house he'd set up his audio equipment and cameras, both visible and infrared, and hope for the best. He concluded after three decades of investigations that either there were no ghosts or he always scared them off.
Like old brandy ghosts may need hundreds of years to mature. As spirits, though, they do not come out of a bottle. The ghost at Blanchard's Tavern has been called David although we are not certain of its gender. The best known English ghost appears at Ye Olde Salutation Inn in Nottingham, a town noted for Robin Hood and the nearby Sherwood Forest. This Inn stands at the site of a former pub dating to the pilgrimage days of 1246 when it was called the Archangel Gabriel Saluting the Blessed Virgin Mary . It is haunted by Rosie, a four-year-old urchin who was run down by a carriage in the 17th century. She roams the building and performs pranks like hiding keys and throwing things .
We at Blanchard's are waiting for David to reveal himself. Last Thanksgiving he threw half a dozen glasses to the floor, shattering them all and frightening the tavern staff who were serving breakfast. 'We hope' David reads this newspaper and decides to make himself visible.
THE BLANCHARD TAVERN GHOST
Capt. Sam Robbins
Blanchard's Colonial Tavern Museum
Copyright © 2013 by "Henry Lawton Blanchard Fund" • All Rights reserved •
The Blanchard tavern has a resident spirit that we call David.
We have been told by mediums that he is a large man who was killed near the fireplace in 1860s.
( I have not been able to find any record of any person with a first or last name of David or Davis that had been killed in East Stoughton between 1800 and 1899. )
David has made himself known to us by making noises, banging things around, and picking things up and dropping them.
There have been many stories over the years of Davids activities.
My first encounter was in the 1980s when after closing the tavern one night and going out into the parking lot to go home, we noticed that all of the lights were on in the tavern. We went back in the tavern and turned the lights off. When we got to our cars in the parking lot again the lights were back on. At that point I said if he wants to have the lights ON then lets leave them on and we went home.
My last encounter with David occurred in 2013 when I was opening the tavern on a Saturday night. Myself and a volunteer were in the kitchen prior to opening the doors, the entertainers were practicing in the front room, we all heard someone walk up the stairs from the tap room to the second floor and slammed the ladies room door. We all met in the taproom and looked at each other, and questioned whether somebody had opened the door and let someone in. We checked the doors and they were still locked. So I went upstairs to see if anyone was there, I checked the second floor and the attic, and then the ladies room. No one was there.
Another incident occurred when we were having work done at the tavern. The kitchen was getting painted and replacement windows were being installed in the building. Janet stopped by to see how the painter was doing on Friday, the window replacement work had been finished on Wednesday. She asked the painter when he would be done and he replied I will be finished before the window guys are done. At that point Janet told him that the window guys finished their work two days ago. The painter was amazed, he said they were still upstairs and had been making noise all morning doing their work. Janet took the painter upstairs to show him that the building was empty. The painter was a little upset. Janet left to do some errands and when she returned the painter was gone.
One time a volunteer in the kitchen was joking that spirits dont exist and that she did not believe in David. All of a sudden, a crock pot full of forks that was sitting on the counter was on the floor. The crock pot did not break and all of the forks pointed in one direction at the girl who had made fun of David.
Another time when the church across the street was having a weekend fair that was very noisy, David made his presence known. At around 2:00 AM on Sunday morning the external alarm on the tavern went off. Janet responded with fire department to the tavern. When they could not clear the alarm, they called the alarm company and asked them to shut off the alarm. The alarm would not shut off. Everyone tried every code they could think of to shut off the alarm but nothing could silence the noise. Just when they were getting ready to shut off the power to the building to silence the alarm. The Alarm stopped. One of the firefighters said I guess that David has woke up the town now, so hes done.
David has never touched or physically bothered anyone.
We have been told by mediums that he is a large man who was killed near the fireplace in 1860s.
( I have not been able to find any record of any person with a first or last name of David or Davis that had been killed in East Stoughton between 1800 and 1899. )
David has made himself known to us by making noises, banging things around, and picking things up and dropping them.
There have been many stories over the years of Davids activities.
My first encounter was in the 1980s when after closing the tavern one night and going out into the parking lot to go home, we noticed that all of the lights were on in the tavern. We went back in the tavern and turned the lights off. When we got to our cars in the parking lot again the lights were back on. At that point I said if he wants to have the lights ON then lets leave them on and we went home.
My last encounter with David occurred in 2013 when I was opening the tavern on a Saturday night. Myself and a volunteer were in the kitchen prior to opening the doors, the entertainers were practicing in the front room, we all heard someone walk up the stairs from the tap room to the second floor and slammed the ladies room door. We all met in the taproom and looked at each other, and questioned whether somebody had opened the door and let someone in. We checked the doors and they were still locked. So I went upstairs to see if anyone was there, I checked the second floor and the attic, and then the ladies room. No one was there.
Another incident occurred when we were having work done at the tavern. The kitchen was getting painted and replacement windows were being installed in the building. Janet stopped by to see how the painter was doing on Friday, the window replacement work had been finished on Wednesday. She asked the painter when he would be done and he replied I will be finished before the window guys are done. At that point Janet told him that the window guys finished their work two days ago. The painter was amazed, he said they were still upstairs and had been making noise all morning doing their work. Janet took the painter upstairs to show him that the building was empty. The painter was a little upset. Janet left to do some errands and when she returned the painter was gone.
One time a volunteer in the kitchen was joking that spirits dont exist and that she did not believe in David. All of a sudden, a crock pot full of forks that was sitting on the counter was on the floor. The crock pot did not break and all of the forks pointed in one direction at the girl who had made fun of David.
Another time when the church across the street was having a weekend fair that was very noisy, David made his presence known. At around 2:00 AM on Sunday morning the external alarm on the tavern went off. Janet responded with fire department to the tavern. When they could not clear the alarm, they called the alarm company and asked them to shut off the alarm. The alarm would not shut off. Everyone tried every code they could think of to shut off the alarm but nothing could silence the noise. Just when they were getting ready to shut off the power to the building to silence the alarm. The Alarm stopped. One of the firefighters said I guess that David has woke up the town now, so hes done.
David has never touched or physically bothered anyone.
The story of David, the spirit of Blanchard's Tavern