The Darn Man of Windham County
New England Legends Podcast
Jeff Belanger
4.9 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 16 June 2022
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Episode 252, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger walk the roads of Hampton, Connecticut, searching for the story of the Darn Man, a colorful vagabond who wandered Windham County in the 1850s and 1860s wearing the coat he was to be married in, but his bride never showed. He gave different names to different families, he’d never talk about his past or origins, yet he became a local celebrity and the focus of many stories. But who was he really?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Ray, June is Wedding Month. |
| 0:07.0 | It is. |
| 0:07.8 | Nice to drive by churches and wedding halls and see bridal parties again. |
| 0:12.0 | Yes, it is. |
| 0:12.8 | And my wife and I just celebrated our 20-year wedding anniversary. |
| 0:15.9 | Well, congratulations. |
| 0:17.0 | Thank you. |
| 0:17.4 | Yeah, obviously, we got married in June 2. |
| 0:19.5 | And it's amazing, the things we do for love. |
| 0:22.0 | Many songs have been written about just that. Is a wedding the reason we're taking a stroll down Main Street in Hampton, Connecticut? |
| 0:28.9 | Well, sort of, but more because of a wedding that didn't happen. Ray, we've come to Wyndham County to search for the legend of the darn man. |
| 0:43.9 | Yeah. to Wyndham County to search for the legend of the darn man. Hello, I'm Jeff Belanger. |
| 0:45.5 | And I'm Ray Osier. |
| 0:46.3 | Welcome to episode 252 of the New England Legends podcast. |
| 0:50.4 | Thanks for joining us on our mission to chronicle Every Legend in New England one story at a time. |
| 0:54.7 | And we're so glad you're with us. We're a community of legend seekers who love exploring and sharing these strange tales of eccentrics and ghosts and monsters, aliens, odd history, roadside oddities, you name it. |
| 1:06.2 | Did you know most of our story leads come from you. It's true. This one did. |
| 1:13.1 | Thank you to Lauren Middleton for the lead on this one. |
| 1:17.1 | Lauren developed our free smartphone app, and she helps us out in so many ways. You can get more involved in our community by contacting us through our website, joining our super secret Facebook group or by calling or texting our legend line anytime at 617-44-4-92683. |
| 1:29.5 | Also, don't miss after the legend, the second half of this episode where Jeff and I take a deeper |
| 1:34.7 | dive into this week's story, and sometimes we veer a bit off course. |
| 1:39.2 | Just a little bit. |
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