"During the seance one of the participants in a voice not his own, called out the name 'Nancy', and began crying violently. Later, when questioned, the individual didn't remember anything about the incident except arriving at the Peckham family [burial] plot earlier in the evening." In the ensuing weeks there were several incidents involving loud noises, moving furniture and disappearing items reappearing in unusual places. In 1965, two additional seances were held in the fraternity house for the purpose of banishing Peckham's ghost: ". . . all power in the house was cut off, the candle went out and the room became extremely cold. The same individual became possessed and this time cried out in a voice not his own, 'no, no, no, . . not any more!'" There are some problems with this story, the major one being that Will Peckham could not have been executed in 1884. The last person executed in Rhode Island was John Gordon, and that occurred fifteen years before William Peckham was born! For more on John Gordon, the haunting of Sprague Mansion and a seance there, read on.

Text © Dr. Michael Bell