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Pine Hill Cemetery

Pine Hill Cemetery is located in "Hollis, New Hampshire" again with the surprise of being located on "Pine Hill Road". Another small cemetery, this one is supposedly the home to an entire ghostly family killed in the late 1800's. Not only the cemetery, but supposedly the road along side it is home to a ghostly boy trying to flag down cars for some reason.

I don't know if the story of the murder is true, regardless of any ghostly activity, but there is in the cemetery a set of stones which lends authority to it. A row of stones, starting with an older man, his wife, another couple, two others, and finally two children. All set alongside one another, in sized order from largest to smallest. The last picture on the bottom shows it.

This is from a website of someone who actually investigated this story and emailed me.

"On a knoll in the center of the ancient Pine Hill Cemetery in Hollis, New Hampshire, alongside a quiet country road framed by trees and apple orchards, lies the grave of Abel Blood of Internet ghostly fame. It is said that strange aberrations appear on film when photographs are taken at night. Strange noises and tapings also are said to appear on sound recordings. I have lived in this town for over 20 years, and having never heard the story of the haunting of Pine Hill until I stumbled across it on the Internet, and never having heard the cemetery referred to as "Blood Cemetery", I decided to do some first-hand investigating.

In this site I will share what I uncover, as I uncover it. My first thought was to find out who these people were. Who was Abel Blood, and who were the people with whom he is buried. And to see if there was any truth to the rumor that his whole family was murdered.

The land for the cemetery was donated by Benjamin Parker Jr. when his sold his farm nearby in 1769. Pine Hill Cemetery is the final resting place for a number of the old founding families. Many of the ancient markers have not survived the passage of time, and many of the graves now lie un-marked. 291 souls are recorded as being buried in Pine Hill Cemetery.

There appear today to be two family groups of Bloods. One is a grouping of two stones. The second, is a grouping of seven. Abel's grave is among this second group.

In Abel's group, the 7 stones are all in a row. Sadly, the marker of the founder of this line of Bloods is no longer there. His name was Elnathan Blood. He was Abel's grandfather.

Elnathan Blood was born in Groton, MA, September 5, 1717. He came to Hollis and made his home on what we now call Pine Hill Road. His name was on the tax list in 1740. He was a farmer. He married Elizabeth Boynton in Groton in 1741. He served his country as a soldier in the French War in 1757. He served the town as selectman in 1773. He is thought to be buried in Pine Hill Cemetery. His grave marker was noted in earlier records. Elnathan died around 1789.

The first of the 7 stones still standing belongs to Elnathan's wife Elizabeth, grandmother of Abel Blood. Her stone reads "Retire my Friends dry up your tears, Here I must lie till Christ appears." Elizabeth Boynton Blood was born July 10, 1720, possibly in Rowley, MA, possibly in Groton. Elizabeth died March 30, 1789.

The second stone reads Sarah B, (Sarah Blood), wife of Daniel Cram. Died Feb 3, 1878, age 71 years, 8 months. Sarah was born June 9, 1806 in Merrimack, N.H. She is a sister of Abel Blood Jr.

The third stone reads Besty, wife of Thomas Hardy. Died May 6, 1861 about age 69. There is a record in Hollis of Mehitable Blood, daughter of Abel Blood (Sr.) and Sarah, marrying Thomas Hardy, Jan 25, 1821. "Betsy" could be our Abel Blood's sister, Mehitable.

The fourth stone belongs to Abel Blood Sr, our Abel's father. Abel Sr. was a son of Elnathan Blood and Elizabeth Boynton, and was born July 13, 1754. Abel Blood Sr. served his country in the Continental Army for 6 months in 1780. He died Nov 21, 1820.

The fifth stone belongs to Sarah, wife of Abel Blood, and our Abel's mother. Sarah died Feb 13, 1852, about age 85.

The sixth stone belongs to Abel Blood Jr. , the Abel of Internet fame. Abel was born May 5, 1791, and died Jan 8, 1867, aged 76 years. His stone also lists his wife, Betsy, who died at about age 26, on June 1, 1827, two months after giving birth to their one and only child, George. George does not survive his childhood, and died at age 3 1/2 on Oct 4, 1830.

And finally, the seventh stone belongs to Leonard Blood,, who died September 16, 1832. Leonard was also a son of Abel and Sarah Blood, a brother to our Abel. Also listed on Leonard's stone is his wife, Hannah, who died Dec 23, 1826, about age 27.

It would appear, then, that there is no evidence here of any type of group tragedy involving these people. They all died at different times, as the dates on their gravestones and in the town records attest. The rumor of a family by the name of Blood having been murdered is simply that.....a rumor."

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