Jeremy D’Entremont traces the true story of Ocean-Born Mary

A baby girl was born to immigrant parents on their way to New Hampshire in 1720, either during or just before the ship was boarded by pirates. With her, a legend also was born.

Just moments into her own life, the story goes, the baby saved the lives of everyone onboard. The pirate spared them on the condition that she be named Mary. Instead of taking everything on the ship, he is said to have given her some silk to wear on her wedding day, which she did.  

Mary’s effortless heroics were celebrated every year in her hometown of Londonderry, and her long life led to an impressive lineage that settled that part of the state.

But, years after her death, the legend continued to grow.

“Legends get a life of their own,” said Jeremy D’Entremont.

His 126-page book, “Ocean-Born Mary,” was recently released by The History Press. He set out to tell the truth behind the legend, as well as how various falsities came about.

“All of what I first heard was not true,” he said. “I first heard it as a ghost story.”

D’Entremont had a childhood friend who, with his family, visited the so-called Ocean-Born Mary House in Henniker. At the time, tours were given of the house, which was reputed to be haunted.

A former owner, photographer Gussie Roy, seems primarily responsible for spreading ghost stories about the house. Some said Mary’s spirit still haunted the house, and others suggested the pirate built the house and buried treasure there. Roy promoted the haunted house tale, newspapers recounted the stories, and people lined up to see it. 

The truth, according to D’Enremont, is that the house belonged to one of Mary’s sons and she never even lived there.

“If you repeat something enough, it becomes quote-unquote fact,” he said.

But D’Entremont admits it’s a compelling story.

“It’s like a chowder with a mix of fascinating ingredients, like pirates and ghosts,” he said.

It’s rare for D’Entremont to focus on a ghost story. His specialty is maritime history, and this story only starts out at sea. But he does not shy away from the topic of poltergeists.

“I actually have a very open mind about the paranormal,” D’Entremont said.

He has participated in paranormal investigations, most notably at the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse with the TV show “Ghost Hunters.” He is president of the American Lighthouse Foundation and founder of Friends of the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, through which he gives tours, including haunted ones.

Still, he said, he did not get any sense that the Henniker house, described and pictured in the book, is haunted.

Elsewhere, he has witnessed what he thinks could be evidence of the paranormal. He said he’s heard strange voices from inside buildings and has felt an invisible, physical presence.

He said he was surprised that the hosts of “Ghost Hunters” didn’t believe there was enough evidence to prove Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse is haunted. “Quite a bit happened that they had no explanation for,” he said.

During a different incident, in 2005, he accompanied a group from the New England Ghost Project to the lighthouse. He said he was skeptical at first, but a psychic medium was able to channel spirits of the dead in a convincing way. She seemed to be taken over by the spirit of Connie Small, who had been the last living wife of a former lighthouse keeper but had died six months prior. The psychic mentioned things that only a few people could have known.

“So that was pretty weird,” he said.

In “Ocean-Born Mary,” D’Entremont writes with an ideal balance covering both fiction and facts, so the book is as entertaining as it is educational. The language is clearly stated, the pace is steady, and the voice comes across as sincere, respectful and eager to share.

“I just find human history interesting,” he said. “Stories like this give character to a region.”

Mary’s family was part of a significant sector of Scot immigrants who were living in Northern Ireland and came to America for economic opportunities and religious freedom. It’s estimated that as many as 27 million Americans carry some part of this heritage.

Mary’s story helps us understand what immigrants went through and how they helped establish New England.

“We can learn from a legend about the way people thought and what they cared about,” he said.

D’Entremont will sign copies of his book at RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth on Thursday, Sept. 8.