52. “A Little Girl’s Vision of Her Grandmother’s Ghost”
Boyd County
When this happened I was five years old, the age when children don’t want to think about ghosts. One day, I was going from the house where my family lived over to my aunt’s house, which was just a little ways across the hill. My grandfather’s house was between our house and my aunt’s house. I was going through this field. I was just walking along and looked over and saw a woman on the porch of this log cabin. Of course, I thought it was strange. I looked at her and she was motioning for me to come over to her.
Well, for some reason I was afraid, but I kinda started to go over while she was still motioning. Then I kinda turned. When I looked back, she wasn’t there. She was gone. I went on to my aunt’s house, then come back home. I said to my mom, “Mom, there was a woman on the porch over there at Granddads cabin.”
She said, “Aw, surely not.”
I said, “Yes, she was standing there.” Then I went on to describe the woman I had seen.
Then she said to me, “Oh, 111 bet that was Aunt Martha.” That’s whose house I was going to.
I said, “No, Aunt Martha was home when I got there.”
Well, Mama just kinda shut up about it.
My grandmother Toothman died the day before I was born. A couple of years after I had seen what I thought was her standing on the porch, I was looking through some family photographs and saw my grandmother’s picture. The woman in that picture was the one I had seen standing on the porch. That was at the cabin she died in.
53. “Current Ghosts”
Casey County
My family currently has a couple of ghosts living in the house with us. My aunt heard one, and she absolutely will not stay upstairs in that room anymore. When I was twelve years old, I personally saw a little girl beside my bed several times when I would wake up. This was in Casey County. I finally got my own room, being the eldest of nine children. Occasionally, one of my brothers or sisters would get in the bed with me. One night I heard the door to the room open, and I heard footsteps walking over toward my bed. Then suddenly I felt the covers being lifted off me and felt the bed sink down beside me. Something or somebody had sat down on the bed. Thinking that it was one of the younger kids, I turned over real fast and pulled the covers back. Imagine my surprise when I looked and saw no one there. But the bed was still sunk in like someone was lying there. Well, that scared me into letting the spirit have my bed for the night. I mean I got away from there!
Later I found out that my great-aunt Effie died in her bed in that very room.
54. “The Death Shadow”
Hardin County
A dear friend of mine, who was just like a beloved family member, had been diagnosed with cancer. I had gotten to know her in later years through our church. I spent every possible moment at her bedside. Outside of sleeping and working, I was there all the time. I sing in a gospel group called the Masters Trio. She loved to hear us sing, and when we were alone I would sing for her. I kept telling her that when she got well, I was going to take her dancing.
A few months later, when the doctor called the family to her bedside for the end of her life, her husband, children, family, friends, and other loved ones gathered at her bedside. We were there for forty-eight hours nonstop.
The second night, I had a very important council meeting for which I left the hospital to attend. On the way I stopped at a local church to pray. I asked God to either heal her, as she had suffered enough, or to go ahead and take her so as to end her suffering. I cried for a long time, then straightened myself up and went on to the council meeting.
When I returned to the hospital, everyone was in need of a break, so they left for some food and fresh air. I was alone with her. Although she was unresponsive, I sat beside her and held her hand. I told her I loved her and was letting her go. I then laid over and cried for what seemed like hours….
As the P.M. turned into A.M., I was still holding her frail hand and lying over close to her. At this time, a special friend, Chester, along with a friend of his, came into the room. I had already cried until I was weak. Chester and his friend helped me into a chair at the foot of her bed. At that exact moment, the nursing staff told us that the monitors were fading out and that her life would soon be over. I was numb at that point.
Then I looked out into the hallway where I saw a dark shadow that soon took the form of a small-framed human being. It walked over to me and held out its hands as if to say, “I’m sorry.” Then it floated over to her bed and sat down beside her, laid gently down into her form and disappeared. My dear friend sat up, opened her eyes and looked at me. I said to her in the lowest whisper I’ve ever heard myself use, “It’s okay; go on home. I love you.” She laid back, closed her eyes, took two very labored breaths, then died.
Even now, a few years later, I feel a spiritual connection to her. And if you ever want to know what death looks like, I can tell you, for I have seen it.
55. “The Ghost of a Beauchamp”
Hancock County
Here’s a ghost story that s been handed down to me, and it relates to the Robert Costin Beauchamp house on U.S. 60, between Hawesville and Lewisport, here in Hancock County…. Now, I never heard this but Cudin [Cousin] Kate said she had. Cudin Kate Beauchamp Humphries was living there then. And she said occasionally a woman would come down the steps with a silk petticoat and high heels. And Cudin Kate loved to scare people and she scared Margit and all them [Margaret Beauchamp Crutcher and her sisters]; they wouldn’t go back after they’d hear this story.
So, I was sittin’ there one night. She said, “Well, I hear that woman comin’ down the steps.”
I said, “Well, open the door and let her in.” I said, “I’ve never seen a Beauchamp yet that wadn’t good company.” (Laughs.) Yeah, that’s what I said. And Cudin Kate laughed. But Aunt Pug, Kate Humphries’ mother, has told me that she’s heard her. At least two or three people have told me that they heard her. And she [the ghost] was supposed to be a Beauchamp—the ghost of a Beauchamp, and she had on a silk petticoat and high heels.
She never went up the steps. Always came down. How she got back, I don’t know. This house was built about 1842 and is still standing. It’s of double brick construction. You can blow a horn out front and you can’t hear it in the house. Thick walls.
Julia Mason and her brother Robb [who lived in the house after Kate Beauchamp Humphries’ death in the 1960s] were livin’ there. John Henderson, my husband, would pick up Robb anytime we were goin’ by there. And John was up there blowin’ the horn for Robb. I said, “John, you’ll blow for the rest of your life. You’re goin’ to have to knock on the door ‘cause he cain’t hear yah.”
Well, now the schoolchil’ren over there [across the highway from the Beauchamp house] had been makin’ up stories about it. And they said, “There’s a casket up there in the attic of the Beauchamp house.” And somebody said, “Well, Waitman Taylor, who owns the old house and rents it out, ought to go ahead and tell that story about the ghost since it’s so little [minor] compared to what the children are tellin’ [about the casket].” (Laughter.) But Waitman said that some people wouldn’t move there [if they knew the tales associated with the house. He doesn’t want the stories told for fear of not being able to rent the house to tenants.] …
Nobody has heard the woman come down the steps since Cudin Kate lived there, and she died in the 1960s. I don’t know how she got up the stairs. She just came down. If you’re a ghost, you don’t have to be logical (laughs), but I never heard her. …
56. “A Dead Mother’s Return to Her Child”
Floyd County
Mrs. M.E. Sturgill of Dewey, Kentucky, says that when she was a little girl about nine or ten, her oldest brother and his wife died, leaving a little daughter, Cynthia, about six. The grandmother took little Cynthia to raise. One night, Mrs. Sturgill, her sister Rosa, and little Cynthia were sleeping in the same bed when Mrs. Sturgill was awakened by a brig
ht light.
Looking up, she beheld the little girl’s [dead] mother standing by the bedside. Her face shone with an unnatural brightness. The whole room was lighted bright as day. Even the garment of the dead mother shone brightly. The apparition was almost against Mrs. Sturgill (as she slept on that side of the bed). She covered her head with the covers, her heart beating like a hammer. When she ventured to peep out, the light had disappeared. The room was in darkness. Good spirits sometimes return.
57. “Confederate Soldier’s Ghost”
Trigg County
Mary Ross tells of an experience which happened in Trigg County back during the 1920s in the Land between the Rivers (now the Land between the Lakes Recreational Area). Mary and a little cousin were at their grandmother’s home playing with their dolls. They were sitting in the grass in the backyard near an old cistern. Suddenly, Mary glanced up to see a strange looking young man walking toward them from the direction of the old cistern. He stopped and watched the frightened little girls as they ran to the house calling for their grandmother.
Their grandmother quickly came out onto the back porch. The children turned and pointed toward the stranger, but there was no one there, and nowhere could he have concealed himself so quickly. They described the man and the strange-looking gray suit and cap he wore. Their grandmother told them that they had seen a ghost, and they were not the first to do so.
She went on to tell them the story about a young man, their distant relative, who lived on the property in the early 1860s. He left for the war, leaving his sweetheart’s promise to marry him when he returned. At the war s end, the young Confederate soldier returned home. Waiting for him was a letter from the girl he hoped to marry, saying she had married someone else. The soldier, despondent, committed suicide by drowning himself in the cistern. The grandmother said the little girls’ sighting was not unusual, that they should not be frightened. She went on to say that he had been seen about the family farm since 1865.
58. “Grandpa’s Ghost at the Window”
Bullitt County
One particular night, my sister Sharon was sleeping in the house that our grandfather Young was born and raised in here in Bullitt County. Grandpa Young had died not long before the night I’m talking about. Sharon was in the backroom there in the house. She woke up and saw looking in through the window at the foot of the bed a white, shadowy figure that was in the form of a person’s upper body.
She got up out of bed and went over to the window to get a closer look and saw that the figure was motioning for her to follow it. By the time all of that happened, she got really scared and ran out of the room. After she thought it over, she believes it was the ghost of Grandpa Young.
59. “Mother’s Frequent Returns”
Barren County
My mother was in another home with us, but she moved with us when we moved here. My wife, Dianna, and I can smell her. Dianna says that she smells “like a pretty woman.” She has on this old-timey powder perfume. That’s what she smells like, say back in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Both of us can tell when she’s in the room with us. The perfume-smell will float right by you, and then just disappear. We know she’s there. You don’t have to have any windows or anything open.
We have seen her several times. My wife’s grandson Matthew has seen her, and I saw her one night lying there in bed. Something happened, and I woke up. She was standing by the side of my bed, and she patted me on the shoulder and said, “Everything will be all right.” Then she was gone.
I have woke up in the middle of the night with my back and shoulders hurting, and she’ll come to me and massage my shoulders and back. She’s done this quite often. I’ve seen her many times, but she doesn’t linger.
The clothes she has on is usually a dress like the ones in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Back then, the ladies wore a double-like dress. The top part of it you could see through, but it was two-piece material. It was like a flower—a daisy. I could see her dress, and I’ve seen every bit of her except her feet.
60. “Grandfather’s Protective Spirit”
Butler County
I believe that my granddad passes by here occasionally. I have seen him once. He lived and died in Butler County. He died in 1974. I’m a firm believer in ghosts. I’m a firm believer that my mother looks out for me. I’ve seen her several times and talked to her.
And back to my granddad. He had been dead for eight or nine years when he saved my life. It was just as plain, just as clear, just as simple as you and I sitting here right now. What happened is, he turned my head around with a slap. I was driving a truck on Route 59 down in Georgia in 1983.1 fell asleep at the wheel. I could hear him hollering for me from away off, “Harold, wake up. Harold, wake up.” There wasn’t a third time; instead there was a slap. And when he slapped, I woke up and turned my head around. I was in the median of the road running about seventy miles an hour headed for the concrete abutment. I pulled the truck back onto the road, slowed down, and pulled over in the emergency lane, then turned my overhead light on and looked at my face. I had a handprint on my face. There was nobody in the truck but me.
I was born and raised in an old house in the Lee community over in Butler County. My granddad and I were very close. To me, he wasn’t Granddaddy; I called him Dad. I’ve had dreams about him. What I’m about to tell happened in 1981 or ‘82. Dianna and I lived on White’s Chapel Road here in Barren County. In my dreams, when I’d walk into this house, Dad would be in front of me. The way the old house was set up, we’d go into the living room, then turn and go into the kitchen. I would follow him through the living room, but when I’d step through the kitchen door, I’d wake up. That happened every time I dreamed about him. It happened over and over and over. Finally, one night after I dreamed and woke up, I said to me wife, “Honey, I’m going to the old cemetery at Christian Home Church in Butler County. I’ve got to go. Dad wants to tell me something.”
I got up and put my clothes on. It was as dark as it could be. I leave home and drive over to the cemetery. I was by myself. I get out of the car and walk up to Dads tombstone. I rubbed his tombstone and said to him, “Dad, what is it that you want to tell me? Whatever it is, tell me. For god’s sake, here I am.”
I couldn’t see him, but I could hear him and feel him immediately beside me. He said, “Let’s go to the old house.”
I said, “Come on.” I turn around and get in my van, and he crawled in the seat beside me. I couldn’t see him, but could feel his presence there. And me and him talked on the way to the old house. I drove up to the old house, and it was as dark as a black cat. Nobody lived there and the old house was about to fall down. I pulled up and parked where I always did. I get out of the van, and Dad leads the way, no flashlight, no nothing. I followed him up the old walkway and into the door of the house. This was all identical to my dreams. When he walked into the kitchen, he turns around and faces me. At that time, I could see him just as clear as anything. He said, “If there is ever any doubt in your mind that you are unloved and unwanted, 111 meet you right here, and you’ll know that you’re loved and we’ll be watching.”
At that time, I was having a lot of doubts in my mind because of the way my real dad did me. But I won’t go into that. Anyway, my mama and my granddad are the ones that really look out for me. They’re both dead now, but I still see or hear from both of them from time to time.
61. “Grandpa’s Visit?”
Pendleton County
My grandfather always managed to “call the roll,” as we say, when he was mentioning family members. Even when what he said was questioned, he didn’t try to correct himself. Usually, even after naming several sons, daughters, grandsons, or granddaughters, he still might not have it right. So he would just leave us as named and continue with his naming process.
Grandpa died just two weeks before our second son was born. He was eighty-five years old and died a tragic death by accidentally setting himself on fire while lighting his beloved pipe. He just loved to smoke his pipe.
Several nights after his funeral, I was asleep when I heard his familiar voice calling out my aunt’s name. Either I was at that stage of sleep where things that are dreamed seem very real, or I really experienced this. I still don’t know which way it was, but I do distinctly remember sitting up in bed to say, “I’m Carolyn.”
When I sat up, I saw his form, but when I called out my name, he left.
62. “A Final Goodbye?”
Pendleton County
My grandmother’s death was still very vivid for us, as it had been only a few months since we lost her. My mother had tried to make it to the hospital in time to see her one last time, but Grandmother could not hold out that long. I believe Mom was dealing with some regrets because of this, but I do not mean to say that Grandma and my mother were not close. I feel that Mom just felt she had left some things unsaid, as we all do when we lose someone fairly suddenly. Whether it was a longing for Grandma because of what I just mentioned, or whether it was something else, I just don’t know. I do know that my mother is not one to believe ghost stories, but she cannot explain what happened in any other way.
My parents used a wood stove in their house to supplement the heat that the furnace provided. This stove had an ash pan that my mother emptied at the edge of the garden that was located just a few feet from the side of their house. This is what she was doing on the evening that Fm describing, and it was just a short time after Grandmas death. There was no breeze blowing, and no lights were reflecting from the road that ran past the house. But at the moment my mother dumped the ashes, she saw a formless, shadowy-white something fly over her head. At that same moment, she distinctly felt the presence of her mother.
Mom has often tried to explain this incident about the ashes flying up above her in some way, but without a breeze blowing. Whatever it was, it just doesn’t explain Mom’s feeling of Grandmother being so near to her.
63. “A Husband’s Return”
Rowan County
Haunted Houses and Family Ghosts of Kentucky Page 35