Ghosts of the SouthCoast by Tim Weisberg

Freeman’s Purchase, a large tract of land that would eventually split into Fall River and Freetown, including the villages of East Freetown and Assonet (an Indian word to describe its rocky geography). It was the last land purchase made from the Wampanoags before the outbreak of King Philip’s War.
    Included in the deal was “a debt satisfied to John Barnes,” which allegedly was for a large alcohol tab Massasoit had racked up in Barnes’s tavern.
    An interesting note regarding Freetown history: In 1699, the town voted to erect a meetinghouse to comply with the law of the colony, but it wasn’t completed until 1713. It took even longer to find a clergyman to serve the town because they were more liberal in their beliefs and couldn’t agree on who would suit the congregation as a whole. It wasn’t until 1747 that they finally agreed on someone, and even then they forced him to sign a contract that stated that the town wouldn’t pay his salary and, instead, he’d have to live on donations.
    Lakeville, meanwhile, was part of the Middleboro settlement all the way until it was incorporated as its own separate town in 1853 and named for the large ponds found throughout.
Assawompset Pond
    Assawompset Pond in Lakeville has the distinction of being the site where King Philip’s War began. It was here that Metacom’s men supposedly murdered John Sassamon and stowed his body under the pond’s ice.
    For that reason alone, we can deduce that the spectral Wampanoag seen walking along its shores and even atop its waves is Sassamon himself, but the pond has even deeper roots to his people that extend for thousands of years before the English ever stepped foot near it.
    Assawompset
is Wampanoag for “place of the white stones,” which could be a reference to the quartz that is found in abundance throughout the area, the same mineral that records energy and is a factor in paranormal activity. The Indians would summer at Betty’s Neck, find these stones and use them in their medicine rituals.
    The pond is also a major component in one of the Wampanoag’s greatest mythological tales. Maushop, a giant from ancient times who is sort of the tribe’s creator god, was beloved by the Wampanoags. This brought great anger to the Pukwudgies (puck-wudge-ee), small troll-like creatures who were known as tricksters to the Wampanoag people.

    Lakeville’s Assawompset Pond is the site where King Philip’s War essentially began and its haunted history lives on.
    According to Christopher Balzano on his Massachusetts Paranormal Crossroads website:
Standing between two and three feet tall, the Pukwudgie looks much like our modern idea of a troll. His features mirror those of the Native American in the area, but the nose, fingers and ears are enlarged and the skin is described as being grey and or washed-out, smooth and at times has been known to glow.
    What makes these monsters dangerous is the multitude of magical abilities they use to torment and manipulate people. They can appear and disappear at will and are said to be able to transform into other animals. They have possession of magical, poison arrows that can kill and can create fire at will. They seem to often be related to a tall dark figure, often referred to in modern times to shadow people. In turn the Pukwudgies control Tei-Pai-Wankas, which are believed to be the souls of Native Americans they have killed. They use these lights to entice new victims in the woods so they may kidnap or kill them. In European folklore these balls of energy are known as Will-o-the-Wisps and are said to accompany many paranormal occurrences. Modern paranormal investigators call them orbs, and catching one on film is the gold standard of field research.
    At the behest of his wife, Quant, Maushop rid his people of the Pukwudgies by shaking them and throwing them to the farthest reaches of civilization. However, they regrouped and returned, this