ROYALSTON – The Royalston Center Cemetery will be the site of a candlelit living history tour this Saturday, Oct. 25.

Organized by the Royalston Historical Society, the event will share the stories behind the headstones engraved with the names of Royalston residents, as portrayed by reenactors. In addition, those attending the event will be able to tour the RHS Museum.

This family-friendly tour, which begins at 7 p.m., is free to the public and guaranteed to be fun and informative. Those interested should meet at the Historical Society Museum, 1 School St., at the head of Royalston Common.

Historical Society secretary Beth Gospodarek said she and her husband were on vacation in Maine several years ago, “and we just randomly stopped at a historical society when we saw its ‘open’ flag. We were chatting with the guy there and he said the big thing they do every year is a living history tour. I thought, ‘That’s a really good idea.’”

Gospodarek added that the Royalston Historical Society has hosted the tour since around 2019.

Historical figures people may meet is Hannah Heywood, who lost five children to diphtheria during the Great Throat Distemper that plagued New England for five years in the 1700s.

“Other people on the tour that you might meet is Nahum Greene, who fought in the battle of Bunker Hill,” Gospodarek said. “He tried to leave because he was worried about his family. He got flogged, stayed longer, got smallpox, was allowed to go home, and then he died.”

There’s also the “Wild Man of Royalston,” a story that erupted in the mid 1890s. The tale was the invention of Charlie Richardson, a local farmer, who was reportedly was trying to scare his mother off the family farm. Apparently, he managed to create a commotion among other farmers in town by claiming he had been shot through his coat by an anonymous “wild man” who had also left threatening notes. The story made its way into many of the newspapers of the day.

Another grave is that of a man who had fought with the British and against the French during the French and Indian War of the mid-18th century.

“The whole event is pretty well researched. It’s not made-up stuff – and it’s not bloody. I mean, it is a bit spooky because we’re in a cemetery and in costume. We do have candle lanterns, but there are no monsters, no ghosts. And we adjust it to the group. If there are kids we can tell a story to be less sad or scary.”

Gospodarek said reenactors are positioned at the headstone of the character whom they portray.

“So, you walk around the cemetery, and you meet people,” she said, adding that about half the reenactors are students, “which I really like because then they learn the history. But it’s more localized, more personal.”

Gospodarek said temperatures are likely to be in the mid-40s and that people should dress warmly. She added that the event has attracted up to 70 or 80 people at times. Tour groups of 20 or so leave the museum about every 15 minutes.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.