Along Mill Street in Easton, Massachusetts, a town in the infamous Bridgewater Triangle, sits a very interesting site that had, up until recently, a very interesting sign. It is the site of an 18th century sawmill built by John Selee and later run by his son, Nathan. The sign marking the site read,

“Site of the sawmill built by John Selee in the 18th century and continued by his son, Nathan, a wizard who purportedly used satanic imps to run the mill at night. Easton Conservation Commission 66 acres acquired in 1999”

The mill itself fell into decay in the early 1830s, but the mill pond is still there and so is the legend. John Selee built the mill around 1755 to supply the budding village with lumber. His son, Nathan, born in 1733 served as a private in the American Revolution. He was also thought to serve a higher power, that of the prince of darkness. William Chaffin’s History of Easton, Massachusetts written in 1886 tells a bit about Nathan.

“Mr. Selee was a clairvoyant, and many stories are current of what he saw and foretold. He was in Stimson Williams’s house on one occasion, and knowing his gifts in that direction, one of Mr. Williams’s daughters asked him to tell her fortune, but he declined; and after leaving the house, he said to a man who came out with him that if she could see what the next week would bring her, she would not have asked to have her fortune told. She died the next week.

Chaffin also wrote this of Nathan.

“Having sought long for a certain book on magic which he thought would perfect him in the art, the door of his shop opened one day and a stranger handed him the book and vanished. Directly upon the departure of this strange visitant a wild storm began to rage; the winds howled, the lightnings flashed, the thunders roared, and destruction seemed to impend. Mr. Selee took the book and all other books of the kind that he possessed, and threw them into the fire; and then going to the door and looking out he saw the sun shining, and everything beautiful and peaceful. This determined him to have no more to do with the dangerous subject.” 

Nathan was sure he had been visited by the devil. Shortly after his visit with the dark one, Satanic imps allegedly began appearing to work at the mill in the dead of night.  A local Easton man named Tam O’Shanter was walking one night when he saw the sawmill operating in the dark with strange, unearthly sounds coming from it. He became terrified, convinced that Selee had made a pact with the devil and imps were sent to run the mill. Other local residents passing by the mill at night became frightened by the fact that the saw blade was spinning full tilt while strange noises emanated from the building. Some even claimed to see shadows of small figures darting about the facility. Soon the townsfolk were certain Nathan was a wizard and employed imps sent by his master to run the mill in the dark bowers of the night.

Chaffin attributes the panic of the townsfolk to too much cider or rum, but the story has lived on beyond the days when such drink was a daily habit. The sawmill closed in 1792 and was soon reclaimed by nature. All that can be seen today is some walls and other small remnants of the former mill. Nathan died in 1815 at the age of 82 and is buried in the John Selee Cemetery not far from the site of the sawmill.

In 1999, the Easton Conservation Commission acquired the 66-acre site and erected the sign that pays homage to the legend surrounding the mill. Unfortunately as of this writing, the sign has been removed and replaced with another sign that says, “Mill Pond.” This may not however stop the legend or the imps from making their midnight rounds.