Rebecca Cornell, a 73-year-old widow, was found dead in her room on Feb. 8, 1673. Her son, Thomas Cornell, said he had last seen her alive that afternoon. When the family discovered her body that evening, much of her clothing had burned, along with curtains and part of a bed skirt. The next day, a 12-member inquest jury concluded that she had died in an accidental fire.

That finding changed after Rebecca’s brother, John Briggs, gave a sworn account to colonial officials. He said that three days after her death, while half asleep, he felt someone get into his bed. He then saw a woman-shaped apparition, which identified itself as his sister and said, “See how I was burnt with fire.”

The account was not proof by modern standards, but in 17th-century New England, some people regarded a ghost’s appearance as a sign of foul play. Officials ordered another examination. Surgeons found what they described as a suspicious wound high on Rebecca’s stomach, and a second jury attributed her death to both the wound and the fire.

The Newport General Court of Trials heard testimony from 21 witnesses between February and May. Several described conflict in the household. Witnesses said Rebecca had complained that Thomas treated her harshly and would not pay for help around the farm. One neighbor testified that Rebecca had feared “mischief” might be done to her. Another said she had planned to leave Thomas’s home but feared she would be killed before she could go.

Other testimony offered a different picture of Rebecca’s state of mind. At least two witnesses said she had spoken of suicide, and her daughter said Rebecca had at times been persuaded to harm herself. Thomas maintained that his mother might have accidentally set her clothes alight while smoking a pipe.

A jury found Thomas guilty of murdering his mother. He was sentenced to be hanged on May 23, 1673, and was kept in jail under guard while awaiting execution. Authorities allowed him to be buried on the family farm, but required that his grave be near the road rather than in the family burial ground beside Rebecca.

Thomas’s wife, Sarah, faced a separate charge in 1675, accused of murdering Rebecca or helping bring about her death. The jury acquitted her. The surviving court record does not detail the testimony in her trial.

The case unfolded decades before the Salem witch trials of 1692, when spectral evidence was used to convict people accused of witchcraft. In Rebecca Cornell’s case, the ghost story was part of a broader investigation that also considered physical evidence and accounts of relationships and events inside the household. The records preserve the allegations and verdicts, but do not establish what caused Rebecca’s death.

The Cornell farmhouse stood on what is now West Main Road in Portsmouth. The original house burned in 1889 and was later rebuilt on the same site. The property became the Valley Inn restaurant, now owned by Joe Occhi, whose family has run it for generations.

Occhi has recounted unusual experiences in the building, including a guest’s claim around 2015 that she spoke with an apparition near the fireplaces. He said the guest described a woman tending to a bleeding child and believed the spirit needed help. The guest reportedly said the apparition was a servant, not a member of the Cornell family. Occhi said the figure was not seen again.

Those modern accounts remain part of the site’s local lore. The documented record of the 1673 case is more concrete: a death initially ruled accidental, a second inquest, conflicting testimony, and the conviction of a son who was hanged.