The New Hampshire Ghost Story That Had People Paying to Dig for Pirate Treasure

Welcome back to Garret's Creepy Fact Storytime, where we're counting down to Halloween with some of New Hampshire's strangest stories, creepy legends, and things that might just make you sleep with the lights on.

Credit: Town of Henniker NH via Facebook

Today's story takes us to Henniker, New Hampshire.

And this one has everything.

A sweet newborn baby. A pirate ship and a pirate with a heart. Buried treasure. A mysterious red-haired ghost.

Oh, and a dude who figured out how to make money by charging people to dig holes in his backyard. This might be my favorite part.

Stay with me here.

Credit: Getty Images

It All Started With a Baby and a Pirate

We have to go back more than 300 years, to 1720.

A family is crossing the Atlantic Ocean, headed for a new life in America.

During the voyage, a woman gives birth to a baby girl.

Now, according to the legend from the New England Historical Society, shortly after the baby is born, pirates board the ship.

Not exactly the kind of visitors you want showing up when you've just had a baby.

But here's where things get interesting.

The pirate captain supposedly hears the newborn crying and goes to investigate.

When he discovers the baby, he makes the passengers an unusual offer.

He'll spare everyone aboard the ship if the mother agrees to name her daughter after his own mother.

Mary.

READ MORE: Gilson Road Cemetery in Nashua, New Hampshire May Be The Most Haunted in the U.S.

The mother agrees, the passengers survive, and because the baby was born at sea, she becomes known as Ocean-Born Mary.

A pirate with a soft spot for babies.

Didn't see that coming.

There's even a part of the legend that says the pirate gave the family beautiful green silk, which Mary would eventually wear as her wedding dress.

And while historians have questioned parts of the pirate story, Mary herself was a real person.

Then Things Got Really Weird in Henniker

Mary eventually grew up in New Hampshire, got married, raised a family, and spent her later years in Henniker.

That's where the story takes a much creepier turn.

According to local legend on Seacoast NH, the pirate captain who saved Mary's life eventually returned to find her.

Some versions claim he brought a fortune in stolen treasure.

Others say he died under mysterious circumstances and was secretly buried beneath the fireplace of an old house, with his treasure hidden somewhere nearby.

And what about Mary?

Well, the ghost stories say that she never really left.

You would hear stories about a tall woman with flowing red hair appearing around an old house in Henniker.

Some claimed to see her standing near the house.

Others believed she was still guarding the pirate's buried fortune.

Can you imagine looking out your window at night and seeing a red-haired woman standing in your yard?

Nope. No thank you.  Not today.

I'm closing the blinds and moving.

But here's the question everybody wanted answered. Where was the treasure?

Credit: Getty Images

The Man Who Turned a Ghost Story Into a Business

Here's where this story becomes one of my favorites.

In 1917, a man named Louis "Gus" Roy purchased an old house in Henniker.

And Roy apparently had quite the imagination.

He began promoting the property as the home of Ocean-Born Mary.

He told stories to the visitors about the mysterious pirate, the buried treasure, and the ghost of the red-haired woman who supposedly haunted the property.

People became fascinated with all of it and tourists started showing up, hoping to see a ghost or maybe even strike it rich.

Roy was smart. He saw an opportunity.

He actually rented shovels to tourists so they could dig around his backyard looking for pirate treasure.

For 50 cents, you could dig for buried gold.

Really though?

This man convinced people to pay him money to perform manual labor on his property.

That might be the greatest tourist business model in New Hampshire history.

Forget the treasure. He was already making money!

According to historical investigations by SeacoastNH and the New England Historical Society, Roy's stories helped turn the house into a tourist attraction, complete with alleged ghost sightings, historical artifacts, and tales of hidden riches.

There are even a couple of books out about Ocean-Born Mary. Ocean-Born Mary: The Truth Behind a New Hampshire Legend (American Legends)

Credit: The History Press / Jeremy D'Entremont (Author)

But Here's the Biggest Twist of All

Eventually, historians began separating the facts from the folklore.

They discovered that Ocean-Born Mary really did exist.

She really did live in New Hampshire.

She really did spend her later years in Henniker.

But... she never lived in the famous house that tourists were visiting.

The house had belonged to one of her sons.

The pirate treasure? No credible evidence that it even existed.

The ghost sightings? No actual proof at all.

The pirate supposedly buried under the fireplace? Another part of the legend.

Researchers concluded that Roy had promoted and embellished much of the supernatural story to attract visitors.

Think about that for a second.

People traveled to Henniker, paid money, and spent hours digging for buried pirate treasure.

At a house where Ocean-Born Mary never even lived.

And the whole time, Gus Roy was collecting shovel rental fees.

I don't know what's more unbelievable.

That people thought they might find pirate treasure in a New Hampshire backyard.

Or that somebody figured out how to charge them for the privilege of digging it up.

Maybe the real treasure was the 50 cents Gus collected along the way.

And that is today's Creepy Fact Storytime.