A friend of mine told me that after she lost her husband to cancer, a few months later she was lying on the couch resting when all of a sudden she felt a presence and there was her husband lying there beside her. He wrapped his arms around her, and that caused her to feel more love at that time than she had ever felt. His presence just surrounded her with warmth and love.
Since that first happened, her late husband has appeared at the times when she was in a crisis of some kind, and this gave her courage to go on.
One of her other family members has also seen him.
64. “The Imprint of a Dead Girl’s Face”
Lewis County
My daddy was a C & O Railroad worker in Lewis County. He worked with a crew that kept the train tracks in a state of repair. One day while on their lunch break, he saw an old man sitting in a small cemetery crying beside a tiny grave. Daddy walked over to the old fellow to offer any comfort he might be able to give. Probably, this was a man who had lost his only child, or so he thought. He found out that the man did not know the little girl buried there, only the details of her death. Daddy came away with this story:
The little girl’s mother had died leaving behind the child and her husband. The father later remarried a woman who had not a bit of human feeling for the little girl. She began mistreating her from the very first day. Patty tried to please her stepmother, but there was no way. She was constantly slapped and shoved around. Eventually, the father also got in on the act. Together, they made poor five-year-old Patty’s life a living nightmare.
On the cold winter day that Patty died, she had been refused water for quite a while, maybe days. She had somehow slipped away from the parents and gone to the frozen creek to get water. They found her there trying to break the ice. The beating they gave her resulted in the little girl’s death. The story that was given to authorities is not clear, but they were not arrested or punished.
One day the stepmother noticed a strange looking spot on the porch pillar. With each passing day, the marking became more clear. In a few days, the picture of Patty’s face could be seen clearly on the pillar. The stepmother tried to scrub it away but it only became more apparent. The woman then brought a towel and tied it over the image. The next day she noticed another image or picture beginning to emerge from another post. In a few weeks, the house was covered with pictures of Patty. They saw her face everywhere. The harrowed parents could stand it no longer, so they went to the local law officers and confessed. They were given life in prison for the child’s murder. The man crying beside the grave was promising Patty that if the couple was ever released from jail, they would regret it. He would, he said, make their life so miserable that they would gladly kill themselves just to escape him.
Daddy said that he had no doubt that the man meant every word he said.
65. “A Dead Brother’s Peace”
Wolfe County
We’d been out somewhere and come home that afternoon, opened the door and didn’t shut it back because we could hear somebody in the shower. So I come back down to my dad’s to get his gun and went back home, and the shower was still running. So I went in there. The door was closed but the shower was running wide open. Nobody was in it. I shut it off and that was all of it.
My former wife always said that she heard doors and things opening and shutting in that house. And I’ve heard doors slam; yeah, I have.
The house is about twelve years old and is built right next to two graves and right beside the oldest cemetery in Wolfe County. Nobody knows who the two babies were, and a guy come to tell me that nobody knows who they are. The stones are not marked. I won’t bother them graves. I take care of them and keep them clean. But it just might be that the noises and sounds that we’ve heard are coming from those two little babies, or from someone else buried there. But I did dig down about ten feet to be sure that no graves would be disturbed by building the house there. So we didn’t disturb them as far as I know, but the noises may be something caused by people buried there. On the other hand, these noises just might have been the result of my brother’s death, and maybe him coming back.
I had a brother that was killed down here on the street in 1965. He was a school teacher. When they had a funeral service for him, the undertaker gave Mom his shoes and stuff to take home. She put them away. And them shoes had never been found or anything until one day I went over there. You could hear cracking and squeaking doors and everything in the world in that old house. You could be setting around and you’d hear something pop or crack.
One day I was over there at the old house. Some renters had just moved out of it, so I happened to find this box that had his shoes in it. His shoes and socks were in there just like the undertaker had put them in there. Well, I got them shoes, along with some more of his clothes that I found down there, and took them home.
My brother always talked about wanting to build a house where I built my house at, about twelve years ago. And I think he slept about where I took them shoes and stuff and stored them. I’ve got his things there in the house now, and I don’t ever hear that noise anymore.
66. “The Ghost of an Uncle at the Scene of His Death”
Letcher County
My uncle worked on a phalt [asphalt] truck in Isom over in Letcher County. And back in them times you had to stand on the back of the truck and shovel the fault. It was a real bad winter, and he went out to work on the road. They hit a real bad spot and he fell off the truck, and the truck slipped back against him and he was killed.
Today, if it’s raining, you can still see him with his shovel. I’ve seen him myself. His son goes to that same spot every year to see his dad.
67. “The Ghost of Girl Buried Alive”
Adair County
There was a family that lived in the Purdy community here in Adair County, consisting of a father, mother, and grown daughter. I believe my family was related to these people. The daughter became ill and was bedfast for many days. A doctor was sent for but was unable to come. After a few days, the daughter passed away in her sleep. The family sent to Campbellsville for a store-bought coffin and laid her to rest the same day.
Beginning the night of the funeral, the mother began having nightmares when her daughter would appear in ghostlike form and beg for someone to untie her. This went on for days and the mother was unable to get any rest. After some very troubling discussion, the mother finally persuaded her husband to dig up the girl’s body. He did, and upon opening the girl’s coffin it was discovered that their daughter had ripped the lining from her coffin and was tangled in the pieces. It was obvious she had been buried alive. Her fingers had been bleeding and most of her fingernails were broken or missing. She was untangled from the mess, and the lining repaired the best they could.
She was again laid to rest, as there was no question that she was now dead. The mother never had another visitation, or nightmare, about her daughter. The girl was at rest.
Notes
Haunted Houses
1. Told by George Boone and Joy Bale Boone, writers, Elkton, October 28, 1992.
2. Account provided by Janet Meadows, Vanceburg, November 1, 2000.
3. Information extracted from article by Connie Carroll, published in Student Life. EKU Archives.
4. Written by Ruth Y. Colvin, Louisa, 1994.
5. Written by Kimberly Colvin Thomas, Paintsville, January 15, 1999.
6. Gleaned from an article written by Lisa Rose and published in The Eastern Progress, October 31, 1985, p. B-l. EKU Archives. Copy provided by Attorney David Jones.
7. Told by Elbert G. Cundiff, Irvington, November 1, 1997.
8. Written by Margaret Jean Owens, edited by Charles Reed Mitchell, and published in the Knox Countian (fall 1996), issued by the Knox County Historical Museum. The paragraphs about the two sisters locking themselves in the bedroom and the Shadle Funeral Home, written by Owens and Mitchell, were abstracted from the fall 1966 issue of the Knox Countian.
9. Told by Elbert G. Cundiff, Irvington
, November 7,1997.
10. This version was written on the basis of information provided across the years by Mary Watts Brown, Molly Tuttle, Jim Crestman, Robert Norman, and journalists Barbara Isaacs’s and Bruce Schreiners individual 1992 and 1993 articles in the Lexington Herald Leader.
11. This account was based on information provided in feature stories published in the Richmond Register by Maryleigh Bucher, October 27,1984; Jim Warren, October 30, 1984; Carolyn Siegel, October 25, 1989; and Rebecca Mullins, October 4,1993. Certain items of information were provided by Kevin McQueen, professor at EKU
12. Told by Angela R.S. Fulkerson, Upton, June 22, 2000.
13. Told by Lindsay Graham, Woodbury, 1997.
14. Written by Angela R.S. Fulkerson, Upton, June 22, 2000.
15. Told by Mrs. Lewis Good, Hopkins County, 1950. Folklife Archive, Kentucky Library, WKU
16. Told by Mrs. Trentice Head, Lewisburg, to Mary DeShazer, Russellville, 1970. Folklife Archive, Kentucky Library, WKU, 1970-60.
17. Excerpted from “Lexington Lore,” Louisville Courier-Journal, August 31,1884. Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives; copy provided by Bill Dozier, Richmond.
18. Verbatim account as written by Missy Rogers and published in the Anderson News, Lawrenceburg, October 27,1999, p. 1.
19. Written by Jeanine Scott, Paris; provided by Beula Fraley, Paris, August 2,2000.
20. Written by Stacey S. Manning and published in the Kentucky Standard, Bardstown, October 25,1999, pp. Al, A14.
21. Told by Margaret Schwartz, Henderson, 1957. Folklife Archive, Kentucky Library, WKU.
22. Told by Lynn Feese, Glasgow, to Kim Harrison, Glasgow, 1989.
23. Written and provided by Wade White, Lyon County, October 2000.
24. Told by Milton and Sherry Dale, West Point, November 30, 2000.
25. Told by Judy Boarman, Owensboro, to Lisa Boarman, February 18, 1989.
26. Provided in written format by Davis Lee Huston IV, Bloomfield, November 23, 2000.
27. Told by Mike Humphrey of Green County, to Aaron Clark, April 4, 1989.
28. Told by Karen Bartlett, address unknown, to Alice Jackson, Browder, 1972. Folklife Archive, Ky. Library, WKU, 1972.
29. Told by Ralph Dorris of Daviess County, to Jim Clark, 1969. This story was later published in Stan Lemaster, Authentic Kentucky Ghost Stories (Owensboro: privately published, 1970), p. 15. Folklife Archive, Kentucky Library, WKU, 1971.
30. Told by Bruce Hayes, Campbellsville, to John Mark Carter, 1960. Folklife Archive, Kentucky Library, WKU, 1970.
31. Told by Sandra Lockhart to Kim Edwards, Lyon County, November 11, 2000.
32. Told by M.K. Hendrick, Hardinsburg, to Mary Gail Abell, 1977. Folklife Archive, Kentucky Library, WKU, 1977-40.
33. Told by Elaine Faulkner, Versailles, to Becky Toomey, April 3, 1989.
34. Told by Mrs. Lewis Good, Hopkins County, 1950. Folklife Archive, Kentucky Library, WKU.
35. Initially published in Stan Lemaster, Authentic Kentucky Ghost Stories, p. 6.
36. Told by John Lam, Madisonville, to Amber Rash, 1993, as a personal experience account.
37. Told by James H. Young, Metcalfe County, July 6, 1999.
38. Told by Lauren Matthews, November 9, 1988.
39. Story provided by Judy Hensley Bryson, teacher at Wallins Creek El- ementary School, Harlan County, September 1997.
40. Story provided by Dale Kessler, Munfordville, October 21, 1995.
41. Told by Elvin Byrd, Albany, to M.B. Byrd, 1974. Folklife Archive, Kentucky Library, WKU, 1974-89.
42. Told by Florence Campbell, Jamestown, to Denishia Miller, September 23, 1972. Folklife Archive, Kentucky Library, WKU, 1972-388.
43. Told by Marida A. Winters, Morehead, November 12, 2000.
44. Told by Beverly Haworth, Frankfort, to Molly Tuttle.
45. Told by James H. Young, Metcalfe County, July 6, 1999.
46. Told by Howard Poindexter, Bowling Green, to Karen Poindexter, December 16, 1985. Folklife Archive, Kentucky Library, WKU.
47. Recorded in the 1930s by Laurel County resident Perry Larkey, who was a member of the Federal Writer s Project at that time. Archives, Kentucky Historical Library, Frankfort.
48. Told by Samuel W. Moore, Greensburg, to Mrs. Terry Mills, 1972. Folklife Archive, Kentucky Library, WKU, 1972-471.
49. Written by Allison Wheeley, Woodburn, 1995.
50. Told by Daisy Lytle, Rochester, Butler County, to Deanna Drake, December 4, 1978. Folklife Archive, Kentucky Library, WKU, 1979-18. Although not quoted in the present account, a feature story about the Lytle House, by Judy Jenkins, was published in the Henderson Gleaner, October 26, 1978.
51. Told by Nadine West, Morgantown, February 18, 1999.
52. Told by Elizabeth Hall, Monroe County native, February 25, 1999.
53. Told by Diane Smith, Somerset, March 31, 1999.
54. Told by Darlene Carter, Tompkinsville, 1962.
55. Told by Scott McDonald, April 23, 1987.
56. Written by Roberta Simpson Brown and published in the Louisville magazine, October 1998, p. 54.
57. Written by Roberta Simpson Brown and published in the Louisville magazine, October 1998, pp. 56-57.
58. Told by Stacy Criss to Sherrie Mallicoat, both of Union, Boone County, April 1989.
59. Told by Josh Riley, Princeton, to Elizabeth Harrington, April 7, 1989.
60. Source unknown; recorded by Elizabeth Ballard, Bedford, Kentucky; date unknown.
61. Told by Ashlee Hobgood to Linda Nance, teacher at North Hopkins High School, Madisonville, 1993.
62. Told by Sharon Vincent, Hopkinsville, April 25, 1999.
63. Told by Mrs. Sam Dizney, Wilmore, to Paul K. Lane. Initially published in the Kentucky Folklore Record 10, no. 2 (April-June 1964): 29-31.
64. Told by Christina Gregory, Franklin, April 1992.
65. Told by Joan Roberts, Philpot, as learned from her mother. The story was written by Mason Smith and published in the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, October 30,1980, p. Dl. A slightly different version of the same story was written by Bill Osinski and published in the Louisville Courier-Journal, October 31, 1979.
66. Told by Elbert Cundiff, Irvington, November 7, 1997.
67. Told by John Frederick Young, Metcalfe County, July 6, 1999.
68. Told by Delpha Langdon, Whitley County, 1957. L. Roberts Collection, Southern Appalachian Archives, Berea College.
69. Told by the mother of Leota F. Sherman, Morgan County, 1960. L. Roberts Collection, Southern Appalachian Archives, Berea College.
70. Told by Mrs. Wilma Miracle, Knox County, 1956. L. Roberts Collection, Southern Appalachian Archives, Berea College.
71. Told by Beatrice Lowe, who learned it from her grandmother (b. 1839), to Loretta Hobbs, Greenup County, 1959. L. Roberts Collection, Southern Appalachian Archives, Berea College.
72. Told by Edith Buckley, Pike County, to Orethia Miller, 1971. L. Roberts Collection, Southern Appalachian Archives, Berea College.
73. Told by Delphia Langdon, Clay County, to Lucy H. Smith, 1957. L. Roberts Collection, Southern Appalachian Archives, Berea College.
74. Told by Henry Smith, Evarts, Harlan County, to Betty Cusick, 1956. L. Roberts Collection, Southern Appalachian Archives, Berea College.
75. Told to Roscoe and Verlie Turner, Perry County, 1956. L. Roberts Collection, Southern Appalachian Archives, Berea College.
76. Told as a true story by Eula Mae Flora, Poplar Plains, to Mimagene Conley, Fleming County, 1959. L. Roberts Collection, Southern Appalachian Archives, Berea College.
77. Told by Joyce Lewis, Lacy Creek, to Nellie Cantro, 1960. L. Roberts Collection, Southern Appalachian Archives, Berea College.
78. Told by Larry Mattingly, Lebanon, to Jerry Harris, April 27,1961. Folklife Archive, Kentucky Library, WKU.
79. Told by Floyd Home, Martin County, 1959. L. Roberts Collection, Southern Appalachian Archives, Berea College.
80. Told by C.H. Stambough to Ulysus C
. Home, Johnson County. L. Roberts Collection, Southern Appalachian Archives, Berea College.
81. Told by Mrs. Ben Gibson, Pineville to Chesney Busseni, 1957. L. Roberts Collection, Southern Appalachian Archives, Berea College.
82. Told by Mrs. H.F. Thomas, Livermore, to Ann Calhoun, 1956. D.K. Wilgus Collection, Southern Appalachian Archives, Berea College.
83. Told by Pear Newbold, Earlington, to June Wells, May 17, 1961. D.K. Wilgus Collection, Southern Appalachian Archives, Berea College.
84. Told by Allen J. Miller, Rumsey, McLean County, to Faye Dever, May 2, 1961. D.K. Wilgus Collection, Southern Appalachian Archives, Berea College.
85. Told by R.B. Hooks, Smiths Grove, to Barbara Clay, May 1957. D.K. Wilgus Collection, Southern Appalachian Archives, Berea College.
86. Told by anonymous person, Parker’s Lake, McCreary County, to Amy Rollins, May 17, 1996. Published in Sara McNulty, If These Hills Could Talk (Cumberland Falls, Ky, 1996), p. 8.
87. Told and written by John A. Stegall, Sandy Hook, July 19, 1999.
88. Told by James D. Madden, Allen County, to Carl Lambert, 1965. Folklife Archive, Kentucky Library, WKU, 1972-179.
89. Told and written by Donna Bowman, West Chester, Ohio, July 12, 1999.
90. Told and written by Donna Bowman, West Chester, Ohio, July 12, 1999.
91. Told by Weldon Edwards, Sulphur Wells, to Debora Reece, Glasgow, September 14, 2000.
92. Presented by journalist Bill Powell in the Paducah Sun, October 2, 1967, who had received this ghost-house account from Zelner Cossey, sheriff and former judge of Trigg County. Cossey had run across “an old yellow, crumbling newspaper clipping” and sent it to Powell. Copy provided by Special Collections, Murray State University (MSU) Library.
93. Told by William Mink to Rebecca M. Mink, student at Alice Lloyd College, November 14, 2000.
94. Written by Judith A. Maupin and published under the column heading, “Echoes from the Past,” in the Murray Ledger and Times, December 18, 1976.
95. Told as real life happenings by Ruby A. Hubble, Hustonville, August 8, 1999.
96. Told by Obie Van Cleave, Logan County, to Angela Van Cleave, August 10, 1999.
Haunted Houses and Family Ghosts of Kentucky Page 36