{"id":111173,"date":"2026-10-21T12:07:35","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T16:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/?p=111173"},"modified":"2026-10-21T12:07:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T16:07:36","slug":"new-england-ghost-hunter-and-his-haunted-houses-part-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/new-england-ghost-hunter-and-his-haunted-houses-part-4.html","title":{"rendered":"New England Ghost Hunter and His Haunted Houses (part 4)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, with Halloween approaching, Melissa Davenport Berry writes more about ghost hunter John Parker, focusing on a spooky house in Springfield, Massachusetts. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Today I resume my series on John Cuthbert Parker (1904-1997), architect, artist, and famous paranormal investigator, who bewitched a whole generation of New Englanders with his tales of ghost hunting on some of the most infamous haunted historical properties.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: John C. Parker, age 79, shown in a feature photo from the newspaper article \u201cSpectral Prospects: Ghost Hunter Offers Tales of Feisty Ghosts and Protected Spirits,\u201d October 1984. Credit: Wilma Parker.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Parker\u2019s lectures, known as \u201cGhost Houses of New England: Their Legends and Architecture,\u201d were booked solid and included an illustrated slide show, his watercolor sketches of the homes he investigated, and pamphlets on ghost hunting with a full survey road map.<\/p>\n

Below is a photo of Parker with members of the Holyoke Women\u2019s Club, taken on 6 April 1968 after his lecture on New England ghost houses.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: John Parker with members of the Holyoke Women\u2019s Club, 6 April 1968. Credit: Wilma Parker.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During his career Parker covered over 30 spook dens, which included Jonathan Moulton House<\/a> in Hampton, New Hampshire, Green Mountain Tavern (aka the Second Bowker Tavern)<\/a> in Savoy, Massachusetts, the Ocean-Born Mary House<\/a> in Henniker, New Hampshire, and Porter-Phelps-Huntington House<\/a> in Hadley, Massachusetts, where he became director and official historian.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:
Illustration: Ocean-Born Mary House, Henniker, New Hampshire, by John Parker. Credit: Wilma Parker.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is a news clip reporting on one of Parker\u2019s lectures, presented to the Penelope Terry Abbey Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) at the Enfield, Connecticut, Congregational Church in 1960.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Springfield Daily News (Springfield, Massachusetts), 30 March 1960, page 12<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article reports:<\/p>\n

The speaker\u2019s [Parker] interest in colonial architecture stems from his youth when he lived in the Joshual Hale House<\/a>, Newburyport, Mass. [He had his first ghost encounter there.]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: John Parker\u2019s childhood home, Newburyport, Massachusetts. Credit: Wayne Marshall Chase.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was for 10 years architect at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point. While there he designed many of its buildings including the stone north entrance and Memorial Arch in \u201cflirtation walk.\u201d<\/p>\n

During World War II, he was architect and officer engineer at Westover Field [in Chicopee, Massachusetts.] He has painted eight life-size murals in oils for New York City churches. He has written feature articles for New England newspapers and national magazines.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some of his most interesting experiences were investigating haunted houses. This Springfield Union<\/em> article reports on a poltergeist (noisy ghost) investigation that started out with real promise \u2013 but ended up creating a situation that Parker called a real \u201cStinkeroo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Springfield Union (Springfield, Massachusetts), 16 January 1959, page 30<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Parker was called to visit a home at 13 Butler Street in Springfield, Massachusetts, on 12 January 1959, where 39 windows were mysteriously blown out from the inside.<\/p>\n

The owner, Mrs. Charles Papineau, was an 80-year-old widow who was scared and perplexed. Her home was under siege by an unexplainable phenomenon and a legion of reporters.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Mrs. Papineau in front of shattered windows. Credit: Wilma Parker.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At first the woman thought vandals were responsible. Then a pane quivered and broke right before her eyes.<\/p>\n

The mysterious window shattering began on January 6, and Captain James J. Collins of the Crime Prevention Bureau detected no criminal activity.<\/p>\n

A team of expert engineers, meteorologists, and architects had no scientific explanation.<\/p>\n

However, Parker was convinced that a demonic attack had caused the breakage and his solution was to prepare a \u201cpoltergeist trap.\u201d He referenced a similar case in Seaforth, Long Island, where objects were exploding.<\/p>\n

According to Parker\u2019s daughter Wilma, who accompanied her father at the scene, the poltergeist was manifested by a mix of opposite energy forces. In the Papineau case, an older energy generating from Mrs. P. opposed a younger energy, which would be her 13-year-old grandson, Wayne, who lived on the 2nd floor of the house with his parents.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Wayne Papineau standing before one of the shattered windows. Credit: Wilma Parker.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wilma recalls her father also noted that animals can sense poltergeists and suspected that \u201cSkippie,\u201d the family dog, knew before a strike came.<\/p>\n

Parker prepared for a full-scale psychic stakeout, as seen in the photograph published in the Springfield Union<\/em> news clip shown above.<\/p>\n

However, the local press turned spooky on Parker. A photo of him with a figure of a sheet-clad ghost superimposed into the picture appeared on the front page in another Springfield paper later that afternoon, in an obvious attempt to ridicule and embarrass Parker.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Springfield Daily News (Springfield, Massachusetts), 16 January 1959, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The following day Parker shared his thoughts with the press, telling the Springfield Union<\/em> he was \u201cdropping his investigation in disgust\u201d and said the picture was \u201cvery unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Springfield Union (Springfield, Massachusetts), 17 January 1959, page 18<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He called the Springfield Daily News<\/em> picture a \u201creal Stinkaroo of a job,\u201d said other papers had been objective, and he decided to discontinue his interest in the matter to avoid further ridicule.<\/p>\n

Wilma says her father stood by his theory of a poltergeist breaking the windows, but never publicly spoke of it again.<\/p>\n

To this day the event remains a mystery.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned for more on Parker, who explored spectral evidence on Shelter Island among other places.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/em> some of the graphics in this article have been AI enhanced.<\/p>\n

Create a free account<\/a> at GenealogyBank for 7 days to start your journey and discover the stories your ancestors left behind.<\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> John C. Parker and his daughter Wilma Parker outside his family home in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Credit: Wilma Parker.<\/p>\n

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