Boo! – Cemeteries

Cemetery Hill

When I think of places that a lot people died during a lot of fighting, one of the places that come to mind is Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  Cemetery Hill had so many people that died during the Battle of Gettsyburg that it’s hard for me to wrap my mind around it.  There were so many bodies that it was hard to bury everyone in a timely manner.  You can imagine the smell that overcame the land.  There are still reports today of people smelling death.  And you know what they say about unrested bodies, they become ghosts forever looking for redemption.

Hollywood Forever Cemetery

A famous cemetery that mom would  like to visit is in Los Angeles, California.  (I know – she’s weird like that.  She finds walking through the cemeteries as calming as walking on a beach.  Go figure – she’s my mom.)  Hollywood Forever Cemetery is the final resting place of many celebrities over the years.   I’ll need to break down a listing of more important graves here later on in the month.  For now though, let’s concentrate on some hauntings of the cemetery.  A famous person known to haunt here is Clifton Webb.  People at the cemetery claim to hear voices and lights near the Abbey of the Psalms Mausoleum.  A story that intrigues me that I’ve seen on television numerous times is the crypt of Rudolph Valentino.  For years on the anniversary of his death, a lady dressed in black would be seen wearing a veil to cover her face at his crypt leaving a single red rose.  No one really knew for sure who this person was and still today the tradition of leaving a single red rose continues on his anniversary.

Bonaventure Cemetery

And I must end this stroll through the cemeteries at one of mom/dad’s most famous places in Savannah, Georgia at Bonaventure Cemetery.  Did you know that this cemetery had the “Bird Girl” statue that is the photograph of the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil?  I say had now because it has since been moved to a museum nearby but there are still some amazing tombs and headstones left.  Mom/dad have spent multiple days and hours strolling through and visiting with the folks still there.  One of the famous haunts is of little Gracie Watson who died of pneumonia when she was only six years old.  Currently they have her grave fenced off… is that to keep people from touching her little statue or from keeping little Gracie from touching you?   There’s also the hell hounds that local legend have talked about.  People claim to hear them snarling but no one ever sees them.  Perhaps they feel the hot breath of a dog on their ankles letting them know they need to step back.  You think?

 

Boo! Oakland Cemetery

Today, I’m going to focus on one close to home – the historic Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia.  Oakland Cemetery was bought in 1850 and was originally named Atlanta Graveyard or City Burial Place.  It was renamed to Oakland Cemetery in 1972.

Oakland Cemetery offers twilight tours of the cemetery – how scary huh?  And around this time of the year, the cemetery even offers what they call “Capturing the Spirit of Oakland Halloween Tours”.  What a way to catch some things that go bump in the night.  There are over 70,000 residents in over 40 acres that are just dying to meet you whether you have a guided tour or walk the cemetery by yourself… if you’re brave enough.

A lot of the history of this wonderful cemetery centers around the Civil War.  There have been stories in the Confederate portion of the cemetery of hearing names being called as if in a roll call.  But to look around, there is no one living there, just the statue of a lion guarding the unknown Confederate dead and he’s not talking.

Often the guides at the cemetery will tell you that people actually die three times.  Once on their last breath, once when they are laid to rest and once when they are no longer remembered.  Sounds just like a situation for a few people to come out and be remembered, doesn’t it?  So the next time you’re in the area, drop by for a visit.  I’ve heard they’re alway looking for a good soul to fright.

 

Boo! Winchester House

Today, I’m focusing on the Winchester Mystery House.  Have you heard about this mansion that is located in San Jose, California?  Have you been there?  It’s claimed that some people are there and they have never left.  The Winchester Mystery House is just that – a mystery.  It was the residence of Sarah Winchester.

In 1862, she  married William Winchester – who came from the family that created the famous Winchester guns.  Everything seemed like it was grand and wonderful …for a while.

In 1866, the Winchester’s infant daughter, Annie, passed away from a childhood disease called marasmus.  (Marasmus is a form of severe malnutrition and causes a child to look emaciated.)  Losing her child caused Mrs. Winchester to fall into a deep depression.

In 1881, Mrs. Winchester’s husband, William, passed away from tuberculosis.  Can you imagine watching two of your very close loved ones pass away so early in life?  Mrs. Winchester was beside herself and sought help from a spiritualist.  Through consulting with the spiritualist, Mrs. Winchester believed her family and her fortune were haunted by the ghosts of the people who had fallen victim to the family Winchester rifles.  She was advised that the only way she could appease the ghosts was to move west and build them a house.  Not just a house but to continuous build them a house.

In 1884, Mrs. Winchester moved west to San Jose, California and bought an unfinished farmhouse .  Work began immediately.  Mrs. Winchester  would hold nightly seances to speak with the spirits to help guide her in how the house would be worked on the following date.  In the morning, she would meet with her construction workers and give them the plans.  Did the plans make sense?  You decide.

• There are roughly 160 rooms, including 40 bedrooms;
• 2 ballrooms (one completed and one unfinished);
• 47 fireplaces;
• Over 10,000 panes of glass;
• 17 chimneys (with evidence of two others);
• 2 basements with three elevators.
• It has gold and silver chandeliers and hand-inlaid parquet floors and trim;
• There are doors and stairways that lead nowhere and a vast array of colors and materials.
• The home’s conveniences were rare at the time of its construction. These included steam and forced-air heating, modern indoor toilets and plumbing, push-button gas lights and Mrs. Winchester’s personal (and only) hot shower from indoor plumbing.
• The number 13 is repeated frequently in the home – whether in stairs, candles, wall hooks, stained glass windows or even 13 holes in the drain covers.  Also every Friday the 13th, the large bell on the property is rung 13 times at 1300 hours in tribute to Winchester.   Mrs. Winchester even signed her will 13 times leaving everything to a niece and personal secretary.

Construction continued every day around the clock until Mrs. Winchester died on September 5, 1922.  Upon her death, all hammering ceased.  When they looked in Mrs. Winchester’s safe they found the things that meant the most to her.  Not money.  Not diamonds.  Not riches.  It was two pieces of hair – one from her husband and one from her daughter.

And until this day, it is said that you can still hear the construction work taking place, that you can see the workers inside and outside of the home.  And, people still say that Mrs. Winchester herself is still in the home.

 

Boo! St. Augustine Lighthouse

Today, I want to concentrate on something close to our hearts here at the Hotel Thompson – the St. Augustine Lighthouse.  We’ve watched television shows highlighting the paranormal activity here – have you seen any?

During the 1870’s construction began on the lighthouse tower.  The superintendent, Hezekiah Pittee, had two daughters drown in an accident.  The girls liked to get in a work trolley and roll down to the waterfront.  One day, the trolley didn’t stop and capsized into the water drowning the two girls.  Since then, reports have been made of seeing two little girls standing on the catwalk.

There have also been reports of moving shadows, voices and unexplained sounds.  Other people have reported seeing a dark figure on the stairway inside of the lighthouse.  On one show of Ghost Hunters, Grant Wilson and Jason Hawes caught a dark figure on the steps moving and a woman’s voice asking for help.  It was haunting to say the least.

Reports have also been made of the smell of cigar smoke and a man in the basement area of the keepers house.  This man is believed to be a Civil War hero and a former lighthouse keeper, William Ham.

The lighthouse is now open to the public.  The St. Augustine lighthouse even offers what they call a Dark of the Moon Tour that allows access into the lighthouse and keepers house at night. During this time, you are given a glow stick to light your way so that you may investigate on your own.  Any takers?  I’m game.

 

Boo! Cemeteries

Today we are going to highlight some famous and eerie cemeteries.  Are you brave enough to enter my cemetery of the famous dead? I’ve wandered throughout the internet and done a lot of research to bring you some intriguing places of final rest… or is it?  I hope that you find them interesting.   Let’s take a little stroll amidst the stones shall we.

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St. Louis Cemetery #1

When I think of scary and mysterious cemeteries, my first thoughts have to go towards New Orleans.  St. Louis Cemetery #1 opened in 1789 and there are over 100,000 residents.  With that much of a crowd, you know some have to be a little unhappy with their final resting place.  I know I would be.  The most famous tenant here is Marie Laveau.  Marie Laveau was a famous voodoo priestess.  People visit her grave site often and mark three “X’s” on her grave.  People that do so believe that by marking the three “X’s”, Marie Laveau will grant them their wish.

Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery and Resurrection Cemetery

The next that came to mind were two different cemeteries in the Chicago area.  The first one is Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery.  I’ve heard about this place a lot over the years.  I’ve seen specials on television and mommy has read me different chilling facts in books.  Not only does this cemetery have a history of unexplained lights and ghosts, it has an entire house that mysteriously appears and disappears.  Many people that have seen the house describe it as a white farmhouse with pillars and a swing.  The other cemetery was Resurrection Cemetery in Chicago.  This story sends chills up and down my spine every time I see it on television.  It starts off with a beautiful girl who was walking home from a dance one late night.  She was hit by a car and killed and has been looking for a ride home every since.  I saw a story one night where a man picked up this lady at a dance.  They danced into the late hours and he admitted that she felt cold to the touch.  Upon taking her home after the dance, she asked him to stop in front of the cemetery.  She got out and disappeared into the air.

Howard Street Cemetery

And how can we forget the most eerie of places in Salem, Massachusetts at Howard Street Cemetery.  With all of the witch hunts that took place here, this has got to be one of the most haunted places in the United States.  Just think of all of the innocent people that were slowly tortured and burned at the stake for the public believing they were witches.  How many of those spirits still walk around wanting people to know that they were innocent but forever labeled a witch.  Talk about your unfinished business in setting things straight.  This reminds me of a story that mom told me about a guy named Giles Corey.  He was officially the only person to die by torture during these Witch Trials.  He wouldn’t say that he was a witch so the sheriff of the time made him lay down in the middle of his field.  The sheriff then had a board placed across his chest and slowly added stones on top of the board.  Eventually two days later, Corey was crushed to death in a slow and agonizing way.

 

31 Days of Spook – Headless Ghost, Spirit and Swamp Sightings

Welcome back my fellow spooky friends.  Today, hold someone tight – these are true stories from not too far from the Hotel Thompson.

  A HEADLESS GHOST

An Okefenokee area ghost tradition, this one dating to the 1930s, owes its existence to the railroad. A man fishing along the tracks at Henson Creek, near Manor, fell asleep one night with the rails as his pillow. A train appeared, sounding its whistle frantically, but there was no response. Steel wheels kept on rolling, and the fisher person was high landered.

Now for a twist. The legend is that the body can be seen walking the rails at night swinging a phantom lantern in search of its head. Kevin Dial claims that his grandfather went in search of the “shade” one night. Sure enough, it approached, solid white and six feet tall, walking directly toward Gramps, who fired a futile shot before fleeing.

GHOST SPIRIT SIGHTINGS

A log cabin on Okefenokee’s East Side by an area called Camp Cornelia on Trail Ridge is where this haunting took place in the early 1990′s. A former Refuge volunteer, who resided in the cabin, reported strange visitations of Spirits. The Spirits were Native American Indians in full regalia. These spirits were not aware of the walls and boundaries of the cabin, but seemed attached to the land the cabin was on. They seemingly went about their daily tribal existence without concern.

SPECTRES OF THE SWAMP SIGHTING

This one was reported in January 1998 on Trail Ridge, the ancient geological feature which makes up the eastern boundary of the swamp. A traveler on vacation and hiking near the boardwalk area was surprised by the sound of drums in the distant piney woods. Native American spectres carrying objects and walking swiftly in a single file line were sighted off in the distance heading south on the ridge. The vacationer did not linger long to watch the procession. He reported no sense of hostility, but felt uneasy as if he was seeing something he should not be observing.

 

 

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Shout out to our friends from Okefenokee – special hello’s to Steve, Jo and their black cat Tequila.  They gave me special permission to use their stories and pictures from the Okefenokee Pastimes Inc.

 

31 Days of Spook – Okefenokee Swamp Thing, Big Foot and Pig Man

Today, I want to bring you tales of a creature that goes by many names such as Sasquatch, Bigfoot, Skunk Ape, Yeti and such.  Tales of this huge creature have been seen all over the world in remote places.  In the southeast corner of Georgia, Okefenokee has it’s own creature.  Here are some true reports from the Okefenokee X-Files.  Are you brave enough to read them?

A SWAMP THING

The Okefenokee Swamp was truly a land of mystery in June 1829, when the Milledgeville Statesman published a bizarre story about it. The tale was related by a John Ostean, “residing on the borders of this swamp in Ware County,” and others who lived on the opposite side in Florida. Locals had long heard from Creek Indians of an enchanted island inhabited by “mortals of super-human dimensions and incomparable beauty.” The story goes that two men and a boy had taken advantage of a long dry spell and pushed deep into the swamp for two weeks to seek this island. However, “their progress suddenly arrested at the appearance of the print of a foot-step so unearthly in its dimensions, so ominous of power, and terrible in form,” that they paused. The print was eighteen inches long and nine inches across, the stride of this giant over six feet. The party hastily returned and spread the tale of the “Man Mountain.”

Hearing the story, nine Florida hunters ventured into the swamp. After several days’ journey, they found a similar print and others. The men followed the tracks for several days and had camped on a ridge when two of their members “simultaneously discharged at an advancing and ferocious wild beast” whose screams made the swamp “reverberate with a deafening roar.” The creature came “full in their view advancing upon them with a terrible look… Our little band instinctively gathered close in a body, and presented their rifles. The huge being, nothing daunted, bounded upon his victims, and in the same instant received the contents of seven rifles. But he did not die alone; nor until he had glutted his wrath with the death of five of them, which he effected by wringing off the head from the body.” The four surviving men examined the prostrate giant as it died, “wallowing and roaring. His length was thirteen feet, and his breadth and volume of just proportions.” Fearing the struggle might have alerted similar beings; the men gathered their comrades’ guns and fled for home.

A BOY AND HIS BIG FOOT

This report was forwarded to the Georgia Swamp Ape Research Center, GSARC and detailed an encounter in the Okefenokee Swamp. While a fourteen-year-old boy and his family were camping on the West side at Stephen Foster State Park in 1972, the boy was walking along a waterway when he heard footsteps behind him, drawing closer. He assumed it was his siblings. “I figured they were going to scare me, and I decided to let them sneak up and I would jump out and scare them.” Moments later “a thing that looked like a cross between a chimpanzee and a little man” approached along the path. “It saw me and let out a sound like from hell,” then crouched down and nimbly sprung on the boy. “It knocked me down and tried to get its teeth in (to) my neck. I screamed. I thought I was dead.”

Fortunately, the youngster’s parents heard the scream and shouted back. “It raised up real slow and sniffed the air for a few seconds,” he continued. “Then it just got up and walked into the canal and swam across to the other side,” disappearing into the woods.

THE PIG MAN A.K.A. SASQUATCH SIGHTINGS

It has been many years since a sighting, but old swampers would call him the South Georgia Pig Man. Over the years reported sightings have persisted in and around the South Georgia swamp areas, especially deep in the remote recesses of the Okefenokee swamp.

Reports describe the creature as a large ape like being, that walks upright, has abundant hair and a nose similar to a pig. Observers have commented on a skunk like odor that has accompanied the sightings. There have been no reports of hostility or aggression, in fact the creature was referred to as timid and shy with sad expressive eyes.

These Okefenokee area sightings have many details in common with creature sightings documented in the Everglades. A very similar missing link referred to as the Florida Skunk Ape. Could it be possible these beings are related genetically?

Before development transformed Florida, these man like creatures might have migrated. One of their routes could have been by way of the Kissimmee River Valley up along the Lake Wales Ridge to the extensive game rich swamps associated with the St. John’s River Basin.

The migration would have passed right by what is today the city of Jacksonville onward to the Okefenokee and beyond.

Who knows?  Maybe I’m related somehow in some fashion or form to this Pig Man?  It could happen… we could have matching snouts.

I want to send huge hogs and snout kisses to my friends Steve, Jo and their black cat Tequila at Okefenokee.   They gave me special permission to use their stories and pictures from the Okefenokee Pastimes Inc

 

31 Days of Spook – Oakland Cemetery

 I thought it was time to walk through a cemetery with you once again.  Today, I’m going to focus on one close to home – the historic Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia.  Oakland Cemetery was bought in 1850 and was originally named Atlanta Graveyard or City Burial Place.  It was renamed to Oakland Cemetery in 1972.

Oakland Cemetery offers twilight tours of the cemetery – how scary huh?  And around this time of the year, the cemetery even offers what they call “Capturing the Spirit of Oakland Halloween Tours”.  What a way to catch some things that go bump in the night.  There are over 70,000 residents in over 40 acres that are just dying to meet you whether you have a guided tour or walk the cemetery by yourself… if you’re brave enough.

A lot of the history of this wonderful cemetery centers around the Civil War.  There have been stories in the Confederate portion of the cemetery of hearing names being called as if in a roll call.  But to look around, there is no one living there, just the statue of a lion guarding the unknown Confederate dead and he’s not talking.

Often the guides at the cemetery will tell you that people actually die three times.  Once on their last breath, once when they are laid to rest and once when they are no longer remembered.  Sounds just like a situation for a few people to come out and be remembered, doesn’t it?  So the next time you’re in the area, drop by for a visit.  I’ve heard they’re always looking for a good soul to fright.

There are lots of famous people buried here in Oakland.  Mom took this photograph not too long ago.  Do you recognize the name?

 

 

31 Days of Spook – Sheraton Read House Hotel

Happy hauntings my sweet friends.  Today I have a story for you that was sent to me by Lexi’s mom, Amy.  Amy told me to look into a haunted place in Chattanooga, Tennessee called the Sheraton Read House Hotel.  This sounded just like the place I needed for my 31 Days of Spook so I started my research.  I was *not* disappointed at all my friends.  So if you need to, grab someones hand, paw or hoof and get ready for a bumpy ride.

The Sheraton Read House Hotel is located at 827 Broad Street, Chattanooga, Tennessee.  The most haunted room in the hotel is room 311.  Room 311 is rumored to be haunted.  You see back in the day there was a lady named Annalisa Netherly who lived at the hotel with her husband.  One day, her husband came to the hotel and let’s just say caught Annalisa Netherly in a compromising position with another man.  Well, the husband lost his mind – was it momentarily or was it already lost – and killed Annalisa.

Now if you talk to some of the workers of the Sheraton Read House Hotel that have been there for years and know about the history, they will tell you that room 311 isn’t really the room that this death took place.  They remodeled the hotel and sealed off the room the murder actually took place.  They then moved the room number down one door.  Now the murder room is still there and you can see the barred window but yet the room remains empty… or is it.

And also a side note that I found out during my research.  When Al Capone was awaiting trial, he stayed in the murder room.  Can you imagine that?  And let us not forget of the story of a soldier ghosts that walks around the 4th floor of the hotel.

And if that murder room and soldier ghost isn’t intriguing enough, there are also secret corridors throughout the hotel.  Some that even the longest employees haven’t even found yet.

So my friends, are you ready for a field trip to spend the night next door to the murder room?

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AND A SIDE NOTE:  This is a personal story that happened to Lexi’s mom, Amy.  Shivers to mergatroid!

Long before Lexi was born, this actually happened. At that time, I lived in a house just north of Cleveland, Tennessee. I had three pictures hanging adjacent to each other on two walls. For a while, when I would get up in the morning, I was sure they had been rearranged. (They were very similar.) So one night when no one else was home and no one else was going to be home before morning, just before retiring for the night, I said out loud, “If you can hear me, I want this picture (pointing) over here and this one over there.” The next morning they had been rearranged, and instead of hanging on the walls, they were propped on the floor in the order I had specified. The spirit wanted to be sure I noticed.

 

31 Days of Spook – Oakland Cemetery

 I thought it was time to walk through a cemetery with you once again.  Today, I’m going to focus on one close to home – the historic Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia.  Oakland Cemetery was bought in 1850 and was originally named Atlanta Graveyard or City Burial Place.  It was renamed to Oakland Cemetery in 1972.

Oakland Cemetery offers twilight tours of the cemetery – how scary huh?  And around this time of the year, the cemetery even offers what they call “Capturing the Spirit of Oakland Halloween Tours”.  What a way to catch some things that go bump in the night.  There are over 70,000 residents in over 40 acres that are just dying to meet you whether you have a guided tour or walk the cemetery by yourself… if you’re brave enough.

A lot of the history of this wonderful cemetery centers around the Civil War.  There have been stories in the Confederate portion of the cemetery of hearing names being called as if in a roll call.  But to look around, there is no one living there, just the statue of a lion guarding the unknown Confederate dead and he’s not talking.

Often the guides at the cemetery will tell you that people actually die three times.  Once on their last breath, once when they are laid to rest and once when they are no longer remembered.  Sounds just like a situation for a few people to come out and be remembered, doesn’t it?  So the next time you’re in the area, drop by for a visit.  I’ve heard they’re always looking for a good soul to fright.

There are lots of famous people buried here in Oakland.  Mom took this photograph not too long ago.  Do you recognize the name?