Editor, OBSERVER:
The Syfy channel recently did a show called "Haunted Collector" that involved a house in Forestville. As Hanover historian, I was asked to appear on the show and talk about previous owners.
Because the show premise was based on the Rev. James Bennett owning the house at one time, they wanted me to say this on air. I told them I could not make that statement because the Rev. Bennett owned a house in another part of Forestville, not that house. I did say while filming that the Reverend's son "James Bennett bought the house in 1865," which is true.
So they took that sentence I said about the Reverend's son and added the words "The Reverend" to make it match what they wanted. I did not say that the reverend bought that house in 1865, but they manipulated my words and made it sound as if I did. Note that they did not show my face as the viewers heard me "say" their sentence.
It would be impossible for the reverend to have bought that house in 1865 since he died in 1855! But they needed the reverend to own that house so that they could have the reverend's son Jerome die of TB in that house to fit their "ghost" story about the leech pot.
Whether or not Jerome died in his brother James's house is unknown. The higher probability is that he died in his own house or in his father's actual house, which was on lot 59 in another part of the village.
So now you know the truth.
VINCE MARTONIS,
Hanover historian
