Esther Cox

[Lotus Flower]

The year was 1878 and the place was Princess Street in Amherst, a town in north central Nova Scotia where the province borders New Brunswick. Esther Cox, 19 years old, lived in a small rented house with her married sister Olive Teed, her husband Daniel Teed, and their two young children. The crowded little cottage was also home to Esther's siblings, Jennie and William, as well as Daniel's brother, John.

Suddenly, into the tedium of this ordinary home, horror struck. But not from some paranormal force, rather from an all-too-human monster: Esther was nearly raped by an acquaintance named Bob MacNeal, a shoemaker with a disdainful reputation of which Esther had been unaware. Although she escaped the attack with minor injuries, the violence against her seemed somehow to open a door to further attacks - this time from an unseen entity or entities. And the Amherst poltergeist mystery began.

Esther Cox, Amhurst Mystery

I found this case very interesting.

It is a case of possession and David St Clair wrote a book based on this story entitled "Mine to Kill" - which can be bought on Amazon, or at least that is where I got my copy.

Some of the things that happened during her ordeal were:

* unexplained fires erupted around the house

* knives and forks were thrown by some entity, sticking violently into woodwork

* lit matches materialized out of thin air and dropped onto beds

* furniture moved about by itself, flipping over or slamming into walls

* loud slaps were heard, followed by the appearance of red finger marks on Esther's face

* sewing pins appeared from nowhere and were jabbed into Esther's face

* a pocketknife was ripped from the hand of a neighborhood boy and stabbed into Esther's back

[JustNormal]

The year was 1878 and the place was Princess Street in Amherst, a town in north central Nova Scotia where the province borders New Brunswick. Esther Cox, 19 years old, lived in a small rented house with her married sister Olive Teed, her husband Daniel Teed, and their two young children. The crowded little cottage was also home to Esther's siblings, Jennie and William, as well as Daniel's brother, John.

Suddenly, into the tedium of this ordinary home, horror struck. But not from some paranormal force, rather from an all-too-human monster: Esther was nearly raped by an acquaintance named Bob MacNeal, a shoemaker with a disdainful reputation of which Esther had been unaware. Although she escaped the attack with minor injuries, the violence against her seemed somehow to open a door to further attacks - this time from an unseen entity or entities. And the Amherst poltergeist mystery began.

Esther Cox, Amhurst Mystery

I found this case very interesting.

It is a case of possession and David St Clair wrote a book based on this story entitled "Mine to Kill" - which can be bought on Amazon, or at least that is where I got my copy.

Some of the things that happened during her ordeal were:

* unexplained fires erupted around the house

* knives and forks were thrown by some entity, sticking violently into woodwork

* lit matches materialized out of thin air and dropped onto beds

* furniture moved about by itself, flipping over or slamming into walls

* loud slaps were heard, followed by the appearance of red finger marks on Esther's face

* sewing pins appeared from nowhere and were jabbed into Esther's face

* a pocketknife was ripped from the hand of a neighborhood boy and stabbed into Esther's back

OMG What a horrible story. Do you think it's true? EWWWWWWWWWWWW...

[Lotus Flower]

OMG What a horrible story. Do you think it's true? EWWWWWWWWWWWW...

Yes, it is a true account and as far as I am aware, when she died at the age of 52, not one newspaper published her obituary, it was almost as if the citizens of Nova Scotia wanted to forget her.

[JustNormal]

Yes, it is a true account and as far as I am aware, when she died at the age of 52, not one newspaper published her obituary, it was almost as if the citizens of Nova Scotia wanted to forget her.

WOW pretty amazing story, however very frightening..Thanks for sharing..JN-

[-=LadyV=-]

Interesting story. As I read the article, I kept thinking back to the story of the Bell Witch. Interesting how after her arrest things quieted down for her as her life went from spinster to wife.

[Jaguat]

Interesting story. As I read the article, I kept thinking back to the story of the Bell Witch. Interesting how after her arrest things quieted down for her as her life went from spinster to wife.

Not interesting, more the fact she couldn't do it anymore as she had a husband who would watch her......

[goalienan]

Very interesting story..This poor woman went through hell, but what was interesting was after spending time in jail, these activities stopped..thanks for sharing

[Veritas81]

Interesting story. As I read the article, I kept thinking back to the story of the Bell Witch. Interesting how after her arrest things quieted down for her as her life went from spinster to wife.

Yeah, exactly what I was thinking.

Does anybody have information of people who witnessed the occurences? I mean who documented this originally? How did the story get out?

[sunburst]

ooooooooo very scary!!!!

some1 hold me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

she had knifes and stuff thrown at her. and other stuff...all after she was nearky raped? this is interesting....how could a near raped caused all of this afterward?

[goalienan]

ooooooooo very scary!!!!

some1 hold me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

she had knifes and stuff thrown at her. and other stuff...all after she was nearky raped? this is interesting....how could a near raped caused all of this afterward?

Being nearly raped or raped is very traumatic...It obviously manifested these attacks.

[Lotus Flower]

Not interesting, more the fact she couldn't do it anymore as she had a husband who would watch her......

Eh?? Elaborate

'Sunburst' date='Aug 24 2007, 04:23 PM' post='1848533']

ooooooooo very scary!!!!

some1 hold me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

she had knifes and stuff thrown at her. and other stuff...all after she was nearky raped? this is interesting....how could a near raped caused all of this afterward?

I think -and this is only my own opinion - that such a traumatic experience (for her), opened up channels that would have otherwise remained closed. The rapist "Bob MacNeil", almost had overpowered her will.

What I think is to be understood from this story, is that the whole concept of "will" can so easily be overcome and yet on the other hand it is so difficult. To totally "overpower" another is not easy (thank God), however, it is not impossible. To overpower another's will is against, viritually every worthwhile belief, it is not worth it, not for the "victim" nor the perpetrator.

[ccm989]

Just finished Walter Hubbel's account of Esther Cox's story in The Haunted House (available as a free download from Kindle). Hate to say it but Esther was a phony. During the time period (1880s) supernatural/spirituals/ghosts were hugely popular. Lighting in most houses was poor at best. If you were a fat, unattractive teenager like Esther living in a cramped cottage with your married sister, her children, your much prettier sister, your brother, your brother-in-law and his brother, and didn't have a job outside of the house, you'd be looking for excitement too. Esther's one hope was Bob MacNeal, her beau who was a penniless though handsome fellow. One night Bob arrives (after have gone missing the previous evening) and takes her for a carriage ride. During the ride, Esther later tells her family that Bob attacked her and pointed a gun at her (although it took several weeks for the story to actually come out/yet no one thought hey maybe I should call the police and file a complaint). What Esther does is cry every night for a couple of weeks and that's when the real fun starts. Things begin to go bump in the night. Esther doesn't want to admit that Bob has simply dumped her for some other girl so a "poltergeist" appears and begins attacking Esther!

The poltergeist pulls off her bed's sheets, it pokes her with pins, it drops things from the ceiling, it even scrawls "Esther Cox you are mine to kill!" on the wall. All of these tricks were done by Esther herself. She is using strings to pull off the sheets, hiding things to drop from the ceiling when you step on the wobbly floors hard enough and the writing on the wall -- oldest trick in the book -- written beforehand with lemon juice. When her family begins inspecting the room for the poltergeist, they move a lit candle along the wall, warming it and making the writing suddenly visible. Esther has a doctor come, the neighbors come, spectators from everywhere come to see what's happening (including the actor Walter Hubbell who wrote the book). They decide to hold a seance where it turns out there are four or more ghosts haunting the place! The meanest ghost is Bob Nickel! (Bob MacNeal, the penniless traitor who broke her heart?). Another ghost is named Jane Nickel (the girl who stole Bob away?).

Most poltergeists turn out to be bored teenagers. Sure enough once Esther was put in jail for suspicion of burning down a barn, the poltergeist activity instantly stopped. When she visited friends and relatives outside of the cottage, the "poltergeist" was up to his old tricks because Esther was able to perform them herself! Once you start examining the story carefully, you realize it is all a hoax.

[sinewave]

It is important to remember this is just a story like thousands of others. That it was told does not make it true. The paranormal exists solely in anecdotes which are the lowest form of evidence.