Sunday Talks: Michelle Shores on America's First Ghost

It’s the month for a good ghost story and a Maine author has the perfect tale: an account of North America’s first documented ghost, a specter that appeared in 1799 in Downeast Maine.

Michelle Shores’ book, “The Gathering Room,” concerns the haunting of the coastal town of Sullivan by Nelly Butler, the young wife of Capt. George Butler. She had died in childbirth three years before but returned in ghostly garb to urge her husband to marry another woman.

Nelly’s ghost appeared for months and was observed by dozens of people who would come to hear her speak. Their testimonies regarding the haunting were captured in a pamphlet written by a traveling preacher as well as in letters and interviews with onlookers.

Although several books have been written on Nelly and George Butler, Shores’ book takes the liberty of filling in the personal gaps with imaginings of what might have…