In Episode 189, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger visit a memorial off the side of the road in Alfred, Maine, that marks the site where America’s first elephant was gunned down in cold blood back in 1816. The elephant named Old Bet had toured throughout New England for eight years before a jealous farmer named Daniel Davis gunned her down as she approached the town of Alfred. Old Bet was part of one of America’s earliest circuses, and if not for the tiny memorial along Route 4, her legend may be lost forever.

The Slaying of Old Bet

Twice each week, legend hunter, author, and historian Jeff Belanger and radio host Ray Auger explore the ghosts, monsters, aliens, folklore, history, roadside oddities, true crime, and legends of New England in this award-winning podcast. If you give us about twenty minutes, we’ll give you something strange to talk about today. The bizarre is closer than you think!

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In Episode 346 Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger investigate the small town of Manchester, Vermont, to explore the unsolved 1812 murder of Russell Colvin. Years after the murder, Amos Boorn had a dream where Russell’s ghost came to him and told him he’d been murdered, and his remains could be found on the Boorn Farm. After sharing details of his dream, an investigation begins, bones are found, and Amos’s nephews Jesse and Stephen Boorn are arrested and convicted of murder. But did they do it?   See more here:  https://ournewenglandlegends.com/podcast-346-the-unsolved-murder-or-russell-colvin/   Listen ad-free plus get early access and bonus episodes at: https://www.patreon.com/NewEnglandLegends

The Unsolved Murder or Russell Colvin

Welcome to New England Legends From the Vault – FtV Episode 57 – Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger hike up to an old cellar hole and cemetery in Pawtuckaway State Park in New Hampshire, in search of an eccentric photographer from the late 1800s named George Goodrich. However, folks around the nearby town of Raymond called him: The Barefoot Farmer. Though he looked like a disheveled vagabond to the untrained eye of tourists, locals knew he was one of the wealthiest men in town. This episode first aired December 10, 2020.   Listen ad-free plus get early access and bonus episodes at: https://www.patreon.com/NewEnglandLegends

FtV – The Barefoot Farmer of Patuckaway

In Episode 345 Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger visit the Newtown Bee parking lot in Newtown, Connecticut, to experience the site of a brutal unsolved axe murder of a local cobbler and the profound haunting that followed soon after. Managing Editor Shannon Hicks from The Bee joins us for this one.    See more here:  https://ournewenglandlegends.com/podcast-345-the-cobblers-ghost-has-no-shoes/   Listen ad-free plus get early access and bonus episodes at: https://www.patreon.com/NewEnglandLegends  

The Cobbler’s Ghost Has No Shoes

Welcome to New England Legends From the Vault – FtV Episode 56 – Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger visit a memorial off the side of the road in Alfred, Maine, that marks the site where America’s first elephant was gunned down in cold blood back in 1816. The elephant named Old Bet had toured throughout New England for eight years before a jealous farmer named Daniel Davis gunned her down as she approached the town of Alfred. Old Bet was part of one of America’s earliest circuses, and if not for the tiny memorial along Route 4, her legend may be lost forever. This episode first aired April 1, 2021.   Listen ad-free plus get early access and bonus episodes at: https://www.patreon.com/NewEnglandLegends

FtV – The Slaying of Old Bet

In Episode 344 Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore Warwick Neck, Rhode Island, to search for the Crime Castle of Carl Rettich. In the 1920s, during the height of Prohibition, Rettich ran Rhode Island’s bootlegging game with an iron fist, and if you crossed him… with a mobster staple of his own invention: cement shoes.    See more here:  https://ournewenglandlegends.com/podcast-344-carl-rettichs-deadly-footwear-and-murder-mansion/   Listen ad-free plus get early access and bonus episodes at: https://www.patreon.com/NewEnglandLegends

The Slaying of Old Bet

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