32 replies to this topic

[cooolchick647]

wow that sheds some light on the situation.......thanks mike..........

[Rozzie]

Hi all, I am new to the site and had a question and a story in regards to the witch of Monroe.

Does anyone have a picture of Hannah Cranna or know where you can find one?

I ask this because as a little girl growing up in Monroe (off Cutlers Farm Road) I awoke one night to woman staring into my window...I have never forgotten her face and it has become part of a memory I can never forget. I remeber looking at her and wishing she would go away, I would close my eyes, and open them but there she would be. She was laughing at me, and the only thing I could think of while she was there were pies, she kept sending me some message about pies!!! That is what would make think it was Hannah Cranna who had come to visit me that night through the window. I know to you guys I may not sound crazy, but to the rest of my family when I told them of my story they said I had let my imagination once again get the best of me!!! I hope someone on this site can help put a long question of mine to rest. Was it Hannah Cranna or not???

Thanks for any help or insight!!!

[cathylj73]

Rozzie Hi sorry it took me so long to write back I have been busy. I do not have a picture of Hannah I will see what I can find of her and post it for you. Hopefully this will help
Cathy

[cathylj73]

http://hometown.aol.com/whiskeyhill1/

I found this one site about her but not much more then I already have. But maybe if you write him he will have a photo of her?

[Rozzie]

Thank you for your help.

[cathylj73]

Thought I would bring this topic back up it has been a while since it was posted and to this day I still cant find a photo of her , If anyone knows of where to get one please let me know....
Cathy

[Nespara_Christine]

Apparently people were afraid of her and she took advantage of it..when she died it was shortly after her pet Rooster did..which is kind of a wierd pet my only my opinon ,but the time of year she died it was very cold and a lot of snow was on the ground.
The 'story' goes "she wanted to be buried after sundown and wanted her coffin to be carried by 'ample' men from her house to her grave,,she said no other way was acceptable and said they would be cursed if they did not do it her way.
Hannah said according to folklore “Obey my wishes if you would avoid trouble and vexation.”
Hannah died that night.
My guess since I know little about her, etc is that she could not be buried due to the cold and therefore icy ground she was not buried in time..lol her time and so that stored her on ice or more probably in a basement,, holding out until the Spring thaw.. .I recall reading something about her coffin sliding down a big hill as it was so hard for them to hold onto it.
That is a pretty fair reason for two dates on her tombstone...it happened all the time in fact I recall in Watertown CT when they were demolishing a beautiful old home to put up condos,they found a body in a basement,,,they figured it was the same scenerio...too cold ot be buried and in his case they simply forgot him...then found hime about 100 years later and buried him.

Over the years fiction merges with fact and while I am not saying she was not a mean,evil perhaps, woman but people (especially then) tended to embellish.

[rayzrwyre]

Thanks Cathy, love the informative history of the "witch". Good read!

[Darcy]

Did Hannah live on Cutlers Farm Rd? Along time ago my father used to help his friend bail hay in the large field that used to be there. I was really young at the time but i do remember this. In one of the fields (where the newer houses are now) we found a cauldron in the middle of the field with looked like cow bones around it. I asked my dad (he was a Monroe police man at the time) what it was and of course he didn't tell me but i heard him tak to his friend and he said something about a witch. I lived in Monroe my whole life, iasked my dad many times and he ignored me. So i never got to find out what it was, but i find it interesting. I have many pictures of Hannah's grave site but i never caught anything on film, maybe cause it was during the day i don't know.

[paraviews]

Very interesting story and history.

[cathylj73]

Wow I never heard about the cauldron, but yes I think she did live in that general area. I have been watched her grave during the night/ day but I too have never caught anything. I plan on going back that way soon I no longer live in Trumbull and I dont work next to the grave anymore so going there is a bit hard. But If I catch anything Ill post it and if I find anything out about the cauldron Ill be sure to let you and everyone know!

[brass city paranormal]

I have two things to add to this:

The first in regards to the original request of a picture, though not impossible, I find it highly unlike there is a picture of Hannah, because photography was still in development at the time. Photography was used in military documentation and while galleries abound in the large cities, it was also expensive.

The second item is the cauldron...while finding a 100+ year old cauldron, from a historical standpoint is wonderful and yes Cutler's Farm is the purported vacinity of her residence, we need to move on past the stereotypes. Most settlers and pre-20th century residents had fireplaces and used cauldrons.
Teflon wasn't invented until 1938 and gas and electricity replaced wood as home heating sources in the 1940s.

[Tam13]

cathylj73, on Sep 24 2005, 08:03 PM, said:

Mike I have been looking around and all I found was this little bit. But at the bottom of it there is a button that says "contact us" maybe if you write them they can help you find out more information.. Good luck
Cathy
http://www.curbstone...cfm?webpage=105

When i grew up I lived on the same road as the cemetery for Hanna Cranna nobody would ever come to the farmhouse where i grew up in for it was suppose to be haunted by Hannah as far as i am concern it was , alot of strange things happend in that house. The story was told that my house was owned by a farmer who did wrong by hannah and she cursed the land so no crops would ever grow again.. We always walked by the cemetary at night coming home from Tashua pool and always strange stuff would happen .. I haven't been back there in probably 20 years . JUst starting reading a book about hauntings in connecticut and her story was in it and just got me back trying to learn more about her. If anybody knows anything more please blog it

Tam

[meanderer]

Wow! I've never seen this posting before! (Quickly bookmarking the page...)

I'm definitely going to be checking out all the links you folks provided. Seems like a really interesting read! Thanks to everybody for all the info! Wonderful story!

[BBella]

Hey everyone, we are new to the site!

We just bought a house on Cutlers Farm Rd, Monroe, CT. The realtor told us about the Hannah Cranna legend, and that we have a "historical landmark" on our property - the rock which Hannah sat on! The realtor seemed certain about that being THE rock....

Anyone have any specifics to help us determine if this is in fact the rock??? It is at the end of the driveway, at the street. Anyone know where the original property was located??

Thanks!!!