Hempsted Houses Will Be Haunted Saturday

The Hempsted Houses will be haunted Saturday from 4-7 p.m. by local ghouls with creepy stories to tell. They include:

-- Jane Walton, who died with her family in the wreck of the steamship Atlantic off Fishers Island in November 1846. New London was the ship’s last port of call.

-- Elnathan Perkins, a Groton patriot who was killed in the Battle of Fort Griswold with three of his sons.

-- A sailor who was on the Essex out of Nantucket when it was rammed by a whale in the Pacific. He survived the wreck, only to be killed 10 weeks later on a lifeboat.

-- Sarah Bramble of New London, hung on Gallows Lane in 1753 for allegedly killing her newborn baby.

-- Anna Warner Bailey, an outspoken Groton tavern-keeper who donated her petticoat for gun wadding in the War of 1812. She died in 1851 when she dozed off in front of the fire. A spark ignited her skirt.

Visitors are invited to talk with the ghosts and can roast marshmallows with Mrs. Bailey for s’mores.

Suggested donation is $7 for adults; $6 for AAA and seniors; $4 for kids 6-18, and $15 for families. Free for Connecticut Landmarks members. The ghosts are portrayed by staff members and participants in the site’s youth program.

The Hempsted Houses are at 11 Hempstead St. in New London. More information.