10 Oct 2008
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081010/NEWS01/310109928/-1/ARTSANDLIVING
Ghost hunters look for proof Merrimack eatery is haunted
By JOSEPH G. COTE Staff Writer
MERRIMACK – Many people believe the Common Man restaurant in Merrimack is haunted, perhaps by the ghost of Matthew Thornton and his son. On Thursday, the amateur professionals were at the scene to see if they could prove it.
Catherine Brown, a Hudson resident and member of the Nocturnal Society of Paranormal Research and Investigations, was at the restaurant Thursday night with her colleagues preparing to stake out the 1790s-era building in an attempt to catch visual or audio proof of paranormal activity.
Waiters, managers, cooks and bartenders at the Daniel Webster Highway restaurant said they've experienced odd, unexplained phenomena on a somewhat regular basis since it became the Common Man a few years ago. The unexplained events range from shadowy figures and disembodied voices to objects moving apparently of their own volition.
Jaime Saxe managed the restaurant when it opened in 2005. She's now an assistant manager of the Common Man in Ashland.
"I've definitely had things happen," she said.
She described seeing a shadowy figure in a particular doorway on more than one occasion. In the basement, which she said was part of the Underground Railroad, she heard a woman humming but was unable to find anyone else in the room.
There have been several occasions when lights have flickered when someone talked about the possibility of ghosts or spirits inhabiting the building, Saxe said.
"I've experienced firsthand the weirdness around here," said server Julie Grant, a 27-year-old Merrimack resident.
Several of the staff members said chairs often have to be set straight repeatedly and move without anyone being around and bottles of liquor fall – or jump – off shelves for no explainable reason.
Bartender Ginger Monroe, a Nashua resident, vividly remembers Father's Day 2007. She waited on two guests in one of the restaurant's several dining rooms, filled their water glasses and moved on to another table when the couple went downstairs to the buffet.
As she introduced herself to the second table, she heard a crash behind her and looked over in time to see the water glasses she just filled land upside down on the floor. The people at the second table said they saw them jump off the table.
"Things like that happen," Saxe said. "Glasses jump. Lights flicker."
The restaurant has a reputation too. Saxe said many people, when they hear she worked at the Common Man in Merrimack, ask her if it really is haunted.
Monroe said working in the restaurant has turned her into a believer.
"I don't know how to explain it, but I believe in it," she said.
The plan Thursday was straightforward. Members of the Nocturnal Society talked to a handful of employees to find out where most of the unusual activity seemed to take place.
When the restaurant emptied around 11 p.m., they planned to set up a night vision-enabled video camera in those spots, turn out the lights and start recording, while also taking 1,500-2,000 digital photos.
Meanwhile someone else would turn on an audio recorder and ask the ghosts or spirits to announce themselves, hoping to capture the ghosts' often-inaudible responses, or electronic voice phenomenon, according to Nocturnal Society member and Nashua resident Carolyn Michaud.
All of that footage will be pored over by at least two people at a time over the next few days to see if anything paranormal is captured. Most of the time, though, the ghost hunters find nothing.
"We throw out more stuff than we rejoice over," Brown said.
Nancy Morin, a Merrimack resident, was there with her daughter, Rebecca, and son, Chris. Chris is a prep cook at the restaurant.
Rebecca and Nancy Morin said they often sense different "energies" around them and definitely noticed them in the Common Man on Thursday night.
"I just think it's cool to see the professionals come in and see how they do everything," Nancy Morin said.
Rebecca said she's seen figures along the stretch of Daniel Webster Highway between the Common Man, Buckley's Great Steaks and Tortilla Flats.
One day she slammed on the brakes of her car as she was driving past the restaurant because she saw a 5- or 6-year-old boy with blond hair wearing overalls in the middle of the road.
On second look, nothing was there. That was the first and most memorable encounter, she said, but not the last.
Matthew Thornton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and original owner of the building before he died in 1803, is buried in a cemetery across the street.
One theory is that Thornton, or his son, who some believe hung himself in one of the building's converted dining rooms, haunts the Common Man and the other two restaurants. All three restaurants were reportedly stops on the Underground Railroad, Nancy Morin said.
• part of the Underground Railroad, she heard a woman humming but was unable to find anyone else in the room.
There have been several occasions when lights have flickered when someone talked about the possibility of ghosts or spirits inhabiting the building, Saxe said.
"I've experienced firsthand the weirdness around here," said server Julie Grant, a 27-year-old Merrimack resident.
Several of the staff members said chairs often have to be set straight repeatedly and move without anyone being around and bottles of liquor fall – or jump – off shelves for no explainable reason.
Bartender Ginger Monroe, a Nashua resident, vividly remembers Father's Day 2007. She waited on two guests in one of the restaurant's several dining rooms, filled their water glasses and moved on to another table when the couple went downstairs to the buffet.
As she introduced herself to the second table, she heard a crash behind her and looked over in time to see the water glasses she just filled land upside down on the floor. The people at the second table said they saw them jump off the table.
"Things like that happen," Saxe said. "Glasses jump. Lights flicker."
The restaurant has a reputation too. Saxe said many people, when they hear she worked at the Common Man in Merrimack, ask her if it really is haunted.
Monroe said working in the restaurant has turned her into a believer.
"I don't know how to explain it, but I believe in it," she said.
The plan Thursday was straightforward. Members of the Nocturnal Society talked to a handful of employees to find out where most of the unusual activity seemed to take place.
When the restaurant emptied around 11 p.m., they planned to set up a night vision-enabled video camera in those spots, turn out the lights and start recording, while also taking 1,500-2,000 digital photos.
Meanwhile someone else would turn on an audio recorder and ask the ghosts or spirits to announce themselves, hoping to capture the ghosts' often-inaudible responses, or electronic voice phenomenon, according to Nocturnal Society member and Nashua resident Carolyn Michaud.
All of that footage will be pored over by at least two people at a time over the next few days to see if anything paranormal is captured. Most of the time, though, the ghost hunters find nothing.
"We throw out more stuff than we rejoice over," Brown said.
Nancy Morin, a Merrimack resident, was there with her daughter, Rebecca, and son, Chris. Chris is a prep cook at the restaurant.
Rebecca and Nancy Morin said they often sense different "energies" around them and definitely noticed them in the Common Man on Thursday night.
"I just think it's cool to see the professionals come in and see how they do everything," Nancy Morin said.
Rebecca said she's seen figures along the stretch of Daniel Webster Highway between the Common Man, Buckley's Great Steaks and Tortilla Flats.
One day she slammed on the brakes of her car as she was driving past the restaurant because she saw a 5- or 6-year-old boy with blond hair wearing overalls in the middle of the road.
On second look, nothing was there. That was the first and most memorable encounter, she said, but not the last.
Matthew Thornton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and original owner of the building before he died in 1803, is buried in a cemetery across the street.
One theory is that Thornton, or his son, who some believe hung himself in one of the building's converted dining rooms, haunts the Common Man and the other two restaurants. All three restaurants were reportedly stops on the Underground Railroad, Nancy Morin said.
Photo by COREY PERRINE
Waitress Hovanec of Manchester, vacuums after near closing time Thursday, Oct. 9 at the Common Man restaurant in Merrimack. The house built by Matthew Thornton in 1794 is said to be haunted and his son James Thornton apparently hung himself from one of these beams. James is said to haunt the building.
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