In Hampton ghost stories have been floating around since Goody Cole died a restless spirit, 24 years after she was convicted of witchcraft in 1656.

A police officer, for instance, is said to have encountered the old woman wearing a shawl and buckled boots on a busy street in town.

"I guess I'll get along all right," she told him. "I've been walking along these roads for hundreds of years."

And then there was Valentine Marston, born Feb. 14, 1879, who died at age 11 of blood poisoning after accidentally shooting himself.

Marston is buried in the High Street Cemetery, but his ghost is said to return to homes once occupied by the extended Marston family.

On Tide Mill Road, a woman was hanging clothes when she reached into her clothes pin bag and felt a hand in her own. Looking down, she saw a boy in a sailor suit and hat smiling at her. Then he disappeared.

Shown a photo of Val Marston, the woman confirmed he was the boy she saw.