This story takes place near the end of the American Revolution. So nearing the end here in the early 1780s when the Continental Army had basically won their freedom, the British still had several ships in the Boston Harbor. And this is why Evacuation Day is “celebrated” on March 17th: when the British military fled from Boston. On board the British ships were 11,000 soldiers and 1,019 citizens who remained loyal to King George and wanted to return to England. William and Mary Burton were on one of these ships that were in the harbor. They were newlyweds who were in Boston at the time, and I think it was due to all the chaos surrounding the war that caused them to want to flee. As the ship was attempting to sail out of the Boston Harbor when a cannonball from the Long Island Battery that was aimed at the ship ended up hitting Mary in the back of her head. As you can imagine, that was definitely a traumatizing way to die. The ghost of Mary Burton, the Lady in Scarlet, is said to haunt this area, stumbling around for her husband. Be sure to give this episode a listen for more details about her life as well as some bonus spooky stories about Boston's lighthouses and Devil Island. 

Stay safe out there.

With love,

Saaniya and Maddie x

Sources:

https://www.ghostsandgravestones.com/boston/ghost-stories

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_in_Red_(ghost)

https://patch.com/massachusetts/westroxbury/bp--remembering-the-lady-in-red-on-evacuation-day

https://books.google.com/books?id=ifV3DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=mary+burton+boston+ghost&source=bl&ots=YK2BaiYi9R&sig=ACfU3U2g8nxx9-iRVosXYj10hT4NHR3Kcg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwim5tjdpPXqAhUTgnIEHbetAvo4ChDoATABegQICxAB#v=onepage&q=mary%20burton%20boston%20ghost&f=false

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/american-revolution-history

https://www.colonialsociety.org/publications/3648/register-burials-and-funerals-1714-1776

http://www.lighthousedigest.com/Digest/StoryPage.cfm?StoryKey=863