Life how short! Eternity how long!
Foster Historical Cemetery No. 38
Foster, RI
September 3, 2015
Resting Place of Peleg Walker
In 1799, the Ram Tail Factory was running in full glory. Peleg Walker was a partner in the company with his father-in-law, William Potter. Legend has it Peleg enjoyed the finer things in life from possessions and clothing and ran up a debt to the company of about $500. ($100,000 in todays age) A disagreement came between the men and he was demoted to Night watchman. During the argument and demotion, it was said Peleg told Walker that he would one day “need to remove these keys from the pocket of a dead man”. Peleg faithfully continued to rang the bell every morning like clockwork to summons the employees to work. Except on that early morning day of May 19, 1822, when the bell had not been tolled. Employees arrived to work to find Mr. Walker hanging dead from the rope of the bell tower with his keys hanging from his pocket. Peleg was taken down and a service was held where we was buried in the family plot and is still comfortably resting today, 194 Years Later. After his passing many times at the stroke of midnight the bell could still be heard ringing throughout the village, and figures of a man carrying a lantern could be seen roaming the woods and the area of the former Ram Tail Factory. Is it Peleg? We shall never know, but what we do know is where he rests and that according to his grave that “life how short, eternity how long”. - by Kevin Dakin
To hear more about the story, it will be featured at the New England Ghost Stories & Legends at the The Company Theatre Centre for the Arts on September 27th, 2016: companytheatre.com/ne-ghost-stories/
Life how short! Eternity how long!
Foster Historical Cemetery No. 38
Foster, RI
September 3, 2015
Resting Place of Peleg Walker
In 1799, the Ram Tail Factory was running in full glory. Peleg Walker was a partner in the company with his father-in-law, William Potter. Legend has it Peleg enjoyed the finer things in life from possessions and clothing and ran up a debt to the company of about $500. ($100,000 in todays age) A disagreement came between the men and he was demoted to Night watchman. During the argument and demotion, it was said Peleg told Walker that he would one day “need to remove these keys from the pocket of a dead man”. Peleg faithfully continued to rang the bell every morning like clockwork to summons the employees to work. Except on that early morning day of May 19, 1822, when the bell had not been tolled. Employees arrived to work to find Mr. Walker hanging dead from the rope of the bell tower with his keys hanging from his pocket. Peleg was taken down and a service was held where we was buried in the family plot and is still comfortably resting today, 194 Years Later. After his passing many times at the stroke of midnight the bell could still be heard ringing throughout the village, and figures of a man carrying a lantern could be seen roaming the woods and the area of the former Ram Tail Factory. Is it Peleg? We shall never know, but what we do know is where he rests and that according to his grave that “life how short, eternity how long”. - by Kevin Dakin
To hear more about the story, it will be featured at the New England Ghost Stories & Legends at the The Company Theatre Centre for the Arts on September 27th, 2016: companytheatre.com/ne-ghost-stories/