 Schoolmistress Perkins noted that, in the reports across numerous New England newspapers on the haunted schoolhouse, by and large the writers captured the broad brushstrokes of the haunting, but accused many of them of embellishing their stories unnecessarily. In the 1880s, Newburyport's haunted schoolhouse was sold by the city, repaired, remodeled, and turned into a private residence. One wonders what brave soul it took to make that real estate deal.