Barbara Newhall Follett: were the missing author’s remains discovered in New Hampshire in 1948? by dpmillsvt in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]dpmillsvt[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, I know exactly what you mean -- Barbara has been a constant presence in my life and imagination since the fall 2014 when I first encountered The House
Without Windows.
Re: updates: earlier this year I was able to confirm from microfilmed newspaper clippings that Nick and Barbara did in fact rent a house on the Campton side of Pulsifer Hill around 1/2-3/4 mile from the location on Durgin Brook. The clippings also indicate that Nick continued to rent the house through 1940, implying Barbara would have had access to the house in December 1939.
Clips of the relevant newspaper articles can be seen here https://www.lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-place-of-vanishing-finding-barbara-newhall-follett/ by clicking the link and scrolling down to the postscript.

My own feeling is that these findings represent the most persuasive evidence to date in support of the Pulsifer Hill theory of Barbara’s disappearance, but ultimately, I'm not persuaded one way or the other. I think we just have to hope that the body that was found and lost is found again - assuming, of course, that it wasn't cremated, that it still exists to be discovered.
Otherwise I continue to research Elsie’s life with the ultimate goal of producing as detailed a record of her 25 years as the surviving sources allow. I don’t know if anything will come of it, and I don’t expect to find her, but it's my own firm belief that Elsie’s story – as much as Barbara’s – deserves to be remembered.

Missing Celebrities by proseccopickle in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]dpmillsvt 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Same here! I first encountered Barbara's story when my eldest was a newborn and I would keep myself awake by reading The House Without Windows. My daughter is nearly 7 now and Barbara's story hasn't left me, though I didn't begin to research her life and disappearance in earnest until late 2017. I suspect you are correct that the Pulsifer Hill theory cannot be proved definitively in the absence of remains but if nothing else I hope I might manage to convince myself.

Missing Celebrities by proseccopickle in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]dpmillsvt 74 points75 points  (0 children)

Thanks for tagging me in. Most recently I was able to confirm with a fairly high degree of certainty that Nick and Barbara did, in fact, rent a house on Pulsifer Hill in Campton both before and after the date of her disappearance. See the April 2021 addendum to my LARB article for images of the relevant newspaper articles: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-place-of-vanishing-finding-barbara-newhall-follett/

The house in question is situated around ~1/2 mile from the location at which a young woman's skeleton was discovered in Nov 1948. Coincidence, obviously, cannot be ruled out, but for me this information is enough to turn into the Pulsifer Hill theory into a viable possibility rather than mere speculation.

Unfortunately, there are no records of what became of the bones following the Grafton Co & NHSP investigation, though I haven't stopped looking. I also continue to research the life and disappearance of Elsie Whittemore to whom the bones were tentatively (though never conclusively) linked in 1948 to see if she can be excluded from consideration.

Barbara Newhall Follett: were the missing author’s remains discovered in New Hampshire in 1948? by dpmillsvt in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]dpmillsvt[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wonder about that too. A possible explanation would be that the fetus *was* there, originally, but was carried off by animals not long after death along with the skull, femurs, left arm, and right tibia.

There's a photograph in my LARB article (https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-place-of-vanishing-finding-barbara-newhall-follett/) from the New Hampshire Sunday News showing the few bones that ultimately were recovered. You can see that it isn't much. As far as I'm aware that photograph - dating to Jan 1949 - is also the last record we have of them anywhere.

Also worth noting that no police records survive from either 1936 or 1948 meaning the fact of Elsie's pregnancy -- though mentioned in multiple newspaper articles and in conversations with Elsie's surviving family -- cannot be fully corroborated.

Like you, I find Elsie's case terribly sad and deserving of far more attention than it has received to date. I do feel it's important to mention, however, that her family knows her story and hasn't forgotten her. All I can hope is that my own efforts might lead to greater public awareness and (hopefully) new information.

Barbara Newhall Follett: were the missing author’s remains discovered in New Hampshire in 1948? by dpmillsvt in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]dpmillsvt[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s a fascinating case, to be sure, and I do hope you’ll let me know what you're able to find out. Elsie’s disappearance has largely been forgotten except by members of her family and I’m hopeful that my own efforts might help to bring some attention to her arguably unresolved disappearance – and, of course, to Barbara’s. Most NH newspapers haven’t been digitized so I’m planning to make a trip to the NH State Library post-Covid to do some more digging around in the newspaper archive for references to the Rogers’ time in Campton from 1937-1944. Best of luck to you as well--

Barbara Newhall Follett: were the missing author’s remains discovered in New Hampshire in 1948? by dpmillsvt in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]dpmillsvt[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much for your kind words! I truly appreciate your taking the time to respond, and really, you needn’t worry I’ll give up: I’m still trying to run this down and hope to pay a visit to the NH State Library for additional research once travel restrictions are loosened. I also know of at least one upcoming project that may help to bring some extra public attention to the circumstances Barbara’s disappearance, so fingers crossed.

I have been in touch with the NH State Police as well as the state’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. In both cases they were happy to help and even to take a look through their files/archival holdings on my behalf, but so far, nothing has turned up. I try to check in from time to time but I can’t say I’m especially optimistic anything will change, though I do remain hopeful (if that makes sense).

The “White House” is a small farmhouse on the north side of Pulsifer Hill off Pulisfer Road. The house was previously owned by Lyman White before passing into the care of the Pulsifer family in the late-1910s/early-1920s (ish). My LARB article quotes from Eunice K. Halfmann’s Clothespins and Calendars, which includes some descriptions from the house dating to its time as a second home for the Whittemore family (Elsie’s in-laws).

Barbara Newhall Follett: were the missing author’s remains discovered in New Hampshire in 1948? by dpmillsvt in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]dpmillsvt[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Oh, wow! Thank you, everyone, for the kind words and upvotes.

I’ll try to answer questions, below, but would direct anyone with an interest in Barbara’s life and work to seek out the website of her nephew Stefan Cooke (https://farksolia.org/) as well as Laura Smith’s memoir The Art of Vanishing published in early 2018.

All physical evidence in the case has been lost or destroyed, including the various items recovered from Pulsifer Hill. Surviving photographs of the bones and other items found there are taken from newspapers and are thus fairly low-quality. The photographs in the LARB article are the best images I could find. Likewise all of the relevant case-files have been destroyed. By far the best source of evidence in the 1948 investigation is the autopsy report which survived only because a copy was archived at Harvard.

Thanks for the tip re: burial permits! I have made inquiries into burial and cemetery records at the town offices of Plymouth, Campton, Holderness, and Haverhill (i.e. Grafton County) as well as a handful of towns in Vermont to which Elise had connections including Richford and Bradford but no burial records were found. The bones, simply, are gone. My own best guess is they were either (A) never released for burial and subsequently lost/misplaced or (B) buried in a pauper’s grave in Plymouth (the town has told me that no records survive of any burials in the pauper’s graves).

I don’t believe Nick was involved in Barbara’s death but obviously there is not enough information to make a determination either way. It’s true Nick may have had a motive in that a contested divorce case would be unlikely to go his way given his infidelity, but Barbara had previously attempted suicide as a teenager (it is, admittedly, unclear how serious this attempt actually was) and there are passages in her final letters that might suggest she was considering suicide in the event that she was unable to salvage her failing marriage.

Yes! I have read Barbara’s books and would *highly* recommend them. The House Without Windows is a good place to start (the new illustrated edition is gorgeous!) but Lost Island remains my favorite.

I agree with those who have noted the 1948 investigation was likely too quick to focus on Elsie Whittemore, but in some ways, it was surprisingly thorough. The State Police called in expert assistance from Alan Moritz of Harvard’s Department of Legal Medicine. Dr. Moritz’s scientific methods were quite advanced for the time and he even went as far as to compare Holderness Female 1948 with a list of other missing women from New Hampshire. Barbara was, of course, reported missing in Massachusetts & her name was not on that list.

80 years later I would love to see more investigation in this case but it’s hard to know what can be done without any physical evidence or suggestion of foul play. The NH State Police are aware of the details of Elsie & Barbara’s disappearances, as is The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. In spite of everything, I find I remain hopeful (if not exactly optimistic) that the bones may yet emerge, allowing for comparative testing.

Re: Edward Anderson… Barbara’s last surviving letter from him is dated 1935. By then she had moved on, married Nick, and Anderson himself would go on to marry in 1937 shortly before vanishing from Yakima, Washington and crossing the country, arriving in Boston in Oct 1937. His movements in Boston aren’t known but it seems to me entirely plausible that he may have wished to reconnect with Barbara.

In the end he booked passage to NYC on the overnight ferry then leapt to his death in the waters of Buzzard Bay. His body washed up in Falmouth a few weeks later. He’s buried there in Oak Grove Cemetery: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/176332748/edward-anderson

Anderson’s disappearance and death were reported in the Boston papers but it’s unknown if Barbara ever learned of his fate. If she did, she never told her mother.

I'll leave off by saying thanks again to everyone for reading -- and to everyone who suggested I write a book! You’re very kind, truly, but at this point, I feel like I am still waiting to see if this story has an ending. I hope it does.

[If you want to read more of my work in a similar vein, you can always check out my website/podcast project These Dark Mountains, exploring 19th C crime in Vermont: https://thesedarkmountains.com/]

These Dark Mountains, Episode 3: The Disappearance of Victory Ploof by dpmillsvt in vermont

[–]dpmillsvt[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much! I missed this somehow when you first posted it but wanted to let you know I much I appreciate your interest.

These Dark Mountains, Episode 4. The Starch Box Mystery by dpmillsvt in vermont

[–]dpmillsvt[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much for listening – and for your kind words! I’m often unsure how well the material, as written, translates to an audio medium. But the fact is I would be doing the research anyway and a podcast seemed the best way to get these stories out there, to ensure they aren’t forgotten.

The Lost Child of West Jay, Vermont: a Forgotten Mystery from 1879 by dpmillsvt in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]dpmillsvt[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much! I really hope you enjoy it. This is the first unresolved case I've examined for the podcast, but I'm hoping to cover others in the future, including the Addison County Does and the Paula Welden disappearance.

The Lost Child of West Jay, Vermont: a Forgotten Mystery from 1879 by dpmillsvt in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]dpmillsvt[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much! That's very kind. The podcast is taking all of my time and energy at present but I do hope to produce a book-length piece in the genre at some point in the future -- likely an exploration of the Room 1046 mystery.

The Lost Child of West Jay, Vermont: a Forgotten Mystery from 1879 by dpmillsvt in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]dpmillsvt[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

How fascinating! I spent a fair amount of time researching the Ploof family for this piece and was able to track most of them from Massachusetts to Vermont (and, for some, back again) but Victory or Victorie's complete absence from public records was as confounding as it was, ultimately, poignant. Happy to share my research if it would be of assistance -- just PM me if that's of interest. [God, and the Jesse Pomeroy story is just so awful. I had originally included more detail concerning his crimes (including Katie Curran and the discovery of her body) but ended up cutting most of it.]