Jerusha Howe (1797 - 1842)

Born 6 Jul 1797 in Sudbury, MA

Ancestors

Died 27 Feb 1842 at age 44 in Sudbury, MA

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NOTE

Tradition has it that the reason why Jerusha is still haunting the "Wayside Inn" is that she is waiting for her lover, who left, promising marriage, and never returned. She also remained unmarried for the rest of her life.

She is said to appear mainly to the male boarders at the Wayside Inn. She has whispered unintelligible words in their ears. She is even supposed to have crawled under the covers with them and "spooned" them. In life she wore a citrus based perfume; and, it is said that when she makes her presence known, there is an aura of orange blossom in the air. There are women who have reported being touched on the shoulder by her. She mainly frequents room number 9; and, that is where most of the experiences of her have occurred. There have been so many experiences of her that patrons started to write their accounts down on paper and then fold up the papers and cram them between the rafters and cracks in the wood work of the rooms. There have been over 100 found in room number 9 alone; and, near 500 in total. Her piano remains at the Inn today; and, it is said that sometimes it starts to play by itself. This instrument was custom made in France as a mini Victorian Grande Square, otherwise known as a "Parlor Piano" and commonly mistaken for a Pianoforte. The Parlor Piano strings cross over at some midpoint and give the piano a different sound than either the spinet or harpsichord which predated it.

The Wayside Inn still operates as an Inn today. It has been restored twice, the last time by Mr. Henry Ford of Detroit, who owned it in the early 20th century. The Wayside Inn Archives contains over half a million documents related to the Howe family and the development of what would eventually become the "Wayside Inn". Henry Ford was the last private owner of the Wayside Inn.