We're Still Here: The Secret World of Bunker Hill's Historical Spirits

We’re Still Here: The Secret World of Bunker Hill’s Historical Spirits

© 2015 MaryLee Trettenero. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying without written permission of the publisher or author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in the critical articles or reviews and pages where permission is specifically granted by the publisher or author.

Although every precaution has been taken to verify the accuracy of the information contained herein, the author and publisher assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for damages that may result from the use of information contained within.

Books may be purchased by contacting the publisher and author at www.BunkerHillSpirits.com

Cover Design: BeSpoke Book Covers

Interior Design: Anita Stumbo

Publisher: Happy Otter Press

Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2015901539

ISBN – 13: 978-0-9864053-0-3 Print Edition

ISBN – 10: 0986405302

ISBN – 13: 978-0-9864053-1-0 Digital Edition

ISBN – 10: 0986405310

1. Spirituality 2. History 3. New Age 4. American Revolution 5. Paranormal

First Edition

Printed in the United States

This book is dedicated to my family, friends, and colleagues who supported this project from the beginning. I love you all and I’m so grateful that you’re in my life. Thank you to my spirit guides for their wisdom and guidance and to the spirits of Charlestown, who wanted their stories to be told.

Contents

Introduction

 1. My Family

 2. My Early Career Years

 3. The Psychic Detectives Tour

 4. From the Psychic Tour to the Spirits of Charlestown

 5. Experiment at City Square Park

 6. Reading Three Cranes Tavern

 7. Charlestown’s Energy History

 8. Second Reading of Three Cranes Tavern

 9. Third Reading of Three Cranes Tavern

10. The Different Kinds of Hauntings

11. Readings at John Harvard Mall

12. Psychometry Session at the Boston Archaeological Archives

13. Past Life Perspectives

14. Readings at Bunker Hill Monument and Burial Ground

15. Readings at the Training Field

16. Second Reading at the Training Field

17. Paranormal Investigation of the Warren Tavern

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Bibliography

List of Illustrations

About The Author

Introduction

T

he story

I’m about to tell you may sound fanciful, even unbelievable. But like the Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris, in which Gil Porter, a screenwriter, travels back in time and mingles with great authors and artists from the 1920s, I, too, have done some time traveling. The difference is that my story is not a work of fantasy.

I am a professional intuitive and a medium, a clairvoyant by trade. As a psychometrist, I can hold an object in my hand and see vignettes of what has happened to that object, and around that object, over time. I am reading its energy, which contains the object’s history. Using psychometry, I can place my hands on a wall and see images, feel emotions, or hear dialogue from the past. Even as a small child, I was extremely sensitive to energy. I have a delicate nervous system, which means it can be easily overtaxed, but I have trained myself to turn these sensitivities into strengths.

I will tell you about my firsthand experiences, and I’ll share my background so you understand how I came to be doing this work. I’m going to reveal my conversations with the spirits of Charlestown, Massachusetts, at historic sites, some places with buildings and some without. I will tell you about a few of my past life regressions and how they relate to my work with energy and spirits at these sites. Some of this book is about education; you’ll learn about psychic specialties and techniques. I’ve cross-referenced this material with extensive historical verification. There’s a lot to understand, and I hope you’ll have a more sophisticated understanding of ghosts when you’re done.

This book is the result of years of study and experimentation, using my sensitivity to detect place memory, the energy embedded in the land and in the buildings, and to connect with the spirits who linger there. The information in these pages comes from a variety of different types of investigations, including those using my own psychic sensitivity to energy and spirits, as well as the work of paranormal investigators, an archeologist, and other mediums who speak with the spirits of the dead. You will read about the commonly understood history of Charlestown’s historic sites that played important roles in our nation’s history, and you’ll learn the intimate details of what the spirits of Charlestown want you to know.

An interesting aspect to this book is the quirky language that the spirits used. Their voices are noted by italics and quotes. As you read through various chapters, you’ll come across random comments and incomplete sentences, which I transcribed the way they said them. It’s choppy and not how we speak today, yet I believe you’ll find these passages to be thought provoking and meaningful. The spirits communicated in an eloquent multisensory way. As they described the living conditions they endured, I heard their voices, saw the images they wanted me to see, and felt how they felt. When they talked to me, the spirits frequently spoke in a range of points of view, using first, second, and third person all in the same paragraph. They described time in the same way, fluidly moving between the past, the present, and the future. Though it can be disconcerting, it’s an example of what we believe about the spirit world—that there is no time and space there. I’ve had an artist’s dilemma of trying to remain pure to what the spirits told me while providing a text that is easily readable. Therefore, I limited how much I changed their sentences, doing so only to prevent confusion.

All right. Let’s begin.

The Charlestown Spirit project was born one afternoon in late spring of 2006 when I walked over to City Square Park, a one-acre park at the site of Charlestown’s historic Market Square (established 1629), on the waterfront. I had my notepad in hand, but I don’t recall thinking too much ahead of time about why I did; it was inspired. I had lived in Charlestown for seventeen years and had a successful private practice as an intuitive, a medium, and a healer. It crossed my mind that it would be an interesting experiment to go to the park and open myself up to the history of that location, just see what happened. I knew foundation stones had been found in the park during an archaeological dig in the 1980s, and I understood the stones to be from a very old tavern from before the American Revolution. That was the extent of my knowledge of that site’s history.

Charlestown is a picturesque community on the other side of the harbor from Boston’s Italian North End. Walking over the Charlestown Bridge, you see a thriving marina on your right and the Charles River Basin dams and locks to your left. Sometimes while walking over the bridge, I have imagined people from earlier centuries walking beside me and have wondered what their lives were like.

When I arrived at the park that afternoon, I sat on the foundation stones for Three Cranes Tavern. I began as I would with a normal psychic reading, only this time I was reading land, not a person. Psychic mediums are regularly asked to tune in to the spirits that are around a person or in a building; however, it’s rare that we tune in to outdoor spaces. Still, it seemed like a rational undertaking to me in a Disney kind of way.

I didn’t have any preconceived ideas about what might happen when I sat down on the grass inside the original stones where the foundation had been. In psychic classes, this is called quite naturally conducting an experiment. We try new applications for psychic ability to test the limits of our psychic skills.

It wouldn’t have been so terrible if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. Ghosts were only a hobby for me at that time. I’d been collecting ghost books from most of the small towns that I’d visited over the years, places that people had reported supernatural happenings. However, I had never come across any books about Charlestown’s ghosts, so my mindset was simply, If they’re here, they’re here, and if they’re not, they’re not.

As it turned out, they were there. That particular experiment at City Square Park turned into something much grander than anything I could have imagined at the time. It was the seed that grew into this book, and you’ll read all about my first experiment into historical reading in chapter five.

After many hours of historical research, psychic investigations, and talking to residents, both on my own and with the assistance of colleagues, I know for certain there are spirits in Charlestown—spirits from the time of the American Revolution, as well as from many other periods in history. They’re everywhere. And not only are there spirits in Charlestown, but they have a story to tell.

I began making my Charlestown recordings in late May of 2006. From then on, day after day, I would take my recorder and sit in various historical locations in Charlestown. At each of these locations, after working with prayer and psychic protection, I opened myself to spirits and energy residing in the land. History came alive for me at these sites, and I heard dialogue and narratives from people who had inhabited or visited Charlestown long ago.

Some of the spirits I encountered described how they physically appeared during their lifetimes and the kind of clothing they were wearing at the time of the events they are narrating. Additionally, they provided key images of objects or symbols particularly important to them. After recording impressions, I conducted extensive research into the details I was given, trying to understand the communications more clearly.

Working with multiple spirits who crossed over centuries ago is one of the unique features of the Spirits of Charlestown project. Traditionally, mediums, including myself, work with spirits from the present generation, or from one or two generations back. We provide information, referred to as evidence, from a spirit that the person getting a reading can validate. It should be individual, specific, and touch the sitter’s heart—such as a physical description of the spirit when he or she was alive, how old the person was when he or she died, or how the person died.

When I work historically and communicate with spirits from hundreds of years ago, I still receive evidence. However, the only way to validate the evidence is by doing historical research. The information is still specific enough that it can be validated, but in most cases, it has to be validated through historical documentation or a descendant with family papers or someone who simply knew of them.

At that time, I continued to avoid any articles, books, movies, and television shows related to American history, as I knew they could cause contamination. Even after I finished recording for the day, until I brought my work to a close at that site, I did not try to validate any information I received. When I did begin the research phase at a site, I tried to put blinders on so that I went only so far and didn’t risk influencing my later investigations.

There were days when I headed out to an historical site and heard nothing—and I wondered if my project was just plain silly. And there were days when I felt as if I’d been transported back into a previous century. Sometimes the stories seemed to leave off with one spirit and pick back up next door or down the street with another.

On a regular basis, I have been profoundly moved by the imagery and language that the spirits use. The information is distinctively soulful. The most ordinary conversations were fascinating. For example, in one passage, a British soldier talked about his uniform and how much less suitable it was for the weather conditions (wool uniforms in the summer) than the clothing a Patriot soldier wore (clothing made of linen, cotton, or lightweight flannel). Another soldier in a tavern said that it was only over a stein that he could reconcile himself to the conditions he endured. Another spirit said that polishing anything right then would have been a waste of time. I thought to myself how normal these spirits were, and still are!

I hadn’t found any media reports about the density of psychic energies in Charlestown, which didn’t make sense to me, considering how many people have reported having paranormal experiences. However, every town has its secrets, and Charlestown was no exception. In the beginning, I couldn’t get anyone to step forward. As people got to know me and trust me, however, I heard one story after another.

Though I focused on the historical sites, many residents in the area had reported ghost activity in their homes, such as doors opening and closing and lights going on and off. Some reported seeing British or Patriot soldiers from the American Revolution or sea captains. Sometimes people would hear their names being called out or the sound of footsteps—and yet no one was there. Or they might wake in the morning to find household objects had been moved in the night without explanation.

At one particular non-residential site, our local community college, lights would go on and off for no apparent reason; it happens to be in the exact former location of a federal prison in Massachusetts that committed executions (operating from 1805 until 1955).

As my investigations into the spirits of Charlestown continued, I was invited to look into unexplained activity at a haunted pub and a house that was inhabited by the ghost of a British soldier from the Revolutionary War.

In these pages, you will read a different kind of ghost story, and I will be your guide on this unusual historical journey as we hear from the spirits of people from the past who want to contribute to our understanding of history. One thing I’m very clear about is that the spirits I’ve encountered throughout this project want their stories to be told—and they wish us to be more thorough and accurate when we talk about the history of Charlestown. I also believe, for them, by telling their story, it’s a chance for healing. When I asked the spirits directly how this project was healing for them, I was shown imagery of different spirits from various Charlestown historical sites that I’d visited. I heard that they were bleeding inside, and I saw someone who was covered in gauze. I was shown a young plant that grew but never quite reached maturity. I was impressed with the feeling of being in an energetic prison.

In telling their stories, it seems the spirits are released; they’re like newborn babies. They’re reborn and able to move on, after having fulfilled whatever this aspect is of their soul’s purpose. For my part, when communicating with these spirits and helping get their stories out, I felt joyful and liberated, and I received a multisensory experience of freedom. I felt like a seagull flying over a beach with my wings extended, happy and exhilarated. Perhaps this is the concept of karma.

When spirits take their truths to the grave, their souls’ journeys are incomplete. Giving spirits a voice so they can express what they witnessed can be healing for them and for others who hear their stories. When spirits have been heard, they can move forward spiritually, furthering their evolution. After all, an omnipotent, all-knowing being didn’t write what we know about history. Mere mortal men and women write about history to the best of their imperfect abilities. There are many more stories that still need telling. Ultimately, you will have to decide for yourself what you believe. What I ask from you is that you come to each site—and each story—with an open mind. Whether you believe it’s possible to relive the past in this way or you conclude that this is all pure fiction and imagination, I hope you will enjoy this adventure with the Spirits of Charlestown. ■

Spirits of Charlestown Historical Sites Map

CHAPTER

ONE

My Family

I

was born

in St. Louis, Missouri, and spent the first half of my life in the Midwest. I have five brothers and sisters. My father and mother were born and raised in St. James, Missouri, and Chicago, Illinois. We seemed like a typical family, and our vacations always consisted of all eight of us piling into a station wagon and driving for hours to go see our relatives, who lived at a distance.

There was a time when I questioned where I got my psychic ability. My maternal grandfather, who came from Poland, and his sisters are all known to talk to ghosts. I thought that maybe he was a medium and that I had received my abilities through him. Not long after I had started wondering if I had inherited these abilities through my grandfather, my maternal grandmother popped in when I was being read by another medium. Without my asking, she stated that I got my mediumistic ability from her and that the gift goes back generations.

My mom and her mother were both psychic. Like musical ability or athletic ability, a genetic predisposition to psychic ability runs through my lineage. When I met my cousin on my father’s side of the family, after not having any contact with her since I was eight, I found she also displayed a high degree of psychic sensitivity. Halloween is her favorite holiday, and her son, who is a filmmaker, was making a movie on ghosts. So maybe the psychic sensitivity runs on my father’s side of the family, as well.

Of course,