Ghosthunting North Carolina

by Kala Ambrose

  Apparitions of wounded soldiers and slaves in chains are reported around the home and grounds. While walking around the area, I could feel a presence watching me. It felt like a guardian, who kept a watchful eye for the slaves and was still attached to the land. It’s hard for me to shake the sadness I felt on this land; it still haunts me to this day.

  CHAPTER 8

  The Attmore-Oliver House and the Weeping Arch of Cedar Grove

  NEW BERN

  Originally built in 1790 and expanded in 1834, the Attmore-Oliver House has a long history of hauntings.

  “The tender word forgotten, the letter you did not write, the flower you might have sent dear, Are you haunting ghosts tonight.”

  —Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

  AS I CONTINUE MY JOURNEY along America’s Haunted Road Trip through North Carolina, the question hits me: How many times during my investigations and travels through North Carolina have I seen a connection between the Civil War, also called the War Between the States, and ghost stories? This war created intense trauma and painful memories in this part of the United States. The emotional energy is recorded on the land and in the homes and buildings, keeping the ghosts alive.

  New Bern, North Carolina, saw its share of the Civil War. Founded in 1710 near the Trent and Neuse rivers, New Bern was settled by Swiss and German explorers. Their leader was Baron Christoph von Graffenried, and he named the town New Bern after his hometown of Bern, Switzerland. New Bern was an active port in the 1800s and the Union army captured the town during the war in 1862.

  The town is loaded with haunted history, with buildings still standing from the eighteenth century and more than 150 sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places. New Bern is also the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola, originally named Brad’s Drink and created by local pharmacist Caleb Davis Bradham in his drugstore in 1898. Perhaps New Bern’s diverse history goes hand in hand with ghosts. It was time to get on the road and find out for myself.

  My first destination in New Bern was the Harvey Mansion Historic Inn. The inn was originally a house owned by John Harvey and his family until Union soldiers during the Civil War commandeered the Harvey house and used it as a military headquarters. After the war, the house was used as a dormitory, apartments, and, at one time, a boarding house. The house was almost torn down in 1974 before it was saved and added to the National Register.

  In 2003, the Harvey Mansion was restored and renovated. The mansion now operates as an inn, with a restaurant and bar with live entertainment. The inn is inviting and comfortable and takes you back to a time when you might have been traveling to a seaport and required shelter from a friendly innkeeper for the evening. It also has the distinction of being haunted.

  The inn continues to generate reports from eyewitnesses who see a woman in their room or in the hallway, only to have her disappear by walking through a wall. Others report seeing a young girl walking around the property. The third floor of the inn was the original living quarters, so if you have the opportunity, spend time in this area, as it might be your best chance to see a ghost.

  New Bern is known for its haunted history and has its own Ghosts of New Bern walking ghost tour. The tour covers the historic district of New Bern and is based on the research of Joseph and Joyce O’Callahan, a husband-and-wife team, who together wrote about the haunted history of New Bern in their book, Ghosts of New Bern.

  I spoke with Joe O’Callahan about his work as the Ghost Tour Guide to New Bern. His background is in eighteenth-century literature and history, and he previously worked with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, creating a ghost tour there. He and Joyce share a love of history and hauntings. Joyce grew up in the area and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She later worked for the Jamestown Foundation. They offer the walking ghost tour and, if you’re there in October, a Haunted Hayride. Their favorite haunted site to visit is the Harvey Mansion, along with the historic downtown and the Isaac Taylor house.

  While chatting with locals in the area, several mentioned to me that the Isaac Taylor house is indeed haunted and that Isaac is the great-great-great-great-grandfather of singer James Taylor. Isaac was born in Scotland, and upon moving to the United States he built a plantation along the Neuse River. Like many plantation owners, he would also build a town house where he would live part of the time. This is the house that stands today. The house was passed down through the family, and during the Civil War, Isaac’s granddaughters, Phoebe and Catherine, who were both in their eighties by this time, were living in the house as spinsters. Union soldiers entered the home to take it over, and the two sisters refused to leave. Holding their ground, an agreement was made that the sisters would live on the third floor and the Union troops would live on the first and second floors. A pulley system was created outside the house to lift and lower their food and other supplies to the third floor, and this pulley can still be seen today. The sisters reportedly have never left the house, and their ghosts are still seen and heard in the home, with voices and footsteps heard coming from the third floor. Locals and visitors report seeing apparitions of the sisters standing near the windows of the third floor as they look out onto the street below. Perhaps they still keep watch, hoping that the Union troops never return and they can enjoy their home in peace. The Isaac Taylor house is now private property, and when I visited New Bern, the house was up for sale.

  Continuing on my journey, the next place to visit on my list was the Cedar Grove cemetery, reportedly one of the most haunted cemeteries in the state. Local lore says to be wary of entering the cemetery at night due to the wide variety of restless spirits. It is said if you are pure of heart and come with good intentions you will be safe, but if you come with ulterior motives the ghosts will come after you.

  More than 300 Confederate soldiers were buried here in this cemetery. Reports state that around the year 1900, grave robbers entered the cemetery and broke into most of the graves to steal Civil War memorabilia to sell to collectors. Since that time, residents say that the cemetery has been very active, not from other grave robbers returning for more loot, but rather from the ghosts of Confederate soldiers who were awakened when their graves were disturbed. They are now active in the cemetery and are in search of their personal memorabilia and jewelry. They now keep watch over the cemetery in order to protect all who rest here.

  One of the most fascinating haunting aspects of the cemetery is the Weeping Arch. The arch is used as the opening spot for the parade of ghosts each year during New Bern’s October Ghost Walk, but the legend of the arch is much more sinister. I spoke with Joe to confirm the stories that I had heard about the Weeping Arch. According to Joe, the arch is made from a stone called marl, which is a rugged but porous material. When it rains, the Weeping Arch soaks in the rainwater, and then it releases the rain held in the stone for days afterward in slow drips, which leads to the description of the arch weeping.

  The legend states that should you walk under the arch and have the arch “weep” on you, you will be the next to die. It’s not certain how many times this has actually been the case, but I prefer not to find out firsthand.

  The cemetery is haunted and haunting in its look and feel. Take your camera and a recorder with you, as there’s a good chance you’ll get orb photos, EVPs, or maybe even a full body apparition photo.

  Joe also shared with me a story about the Christ Church graveyard, which is also believed to be haunted. From 1798 to 1799, a horrific yellow fever epidemic claimed the lives of many of the people of New Bern, devastating the community. People were buried at a fast pace to keep the fever from spreading further. Rapidly running out of room, some people were buried in trenches around the graveyard. It is reported that so many people died and were buried in the Christ Church graveyard that it ran out of space in those two years, which led to the establishment of Cedar Grove Cemetery in 1800.

  Strange lights and orbs have been seen coming from the windows of the Attmore-Oliver House.

  L
ocal lore states that during this time, some people fell into a coma-like state during the last stages of their illness, leaving them unable to respond or speak. It is believed that in the haste to bury the bodies and make room to treat more people, some of these people were mistakenly thought to be dead and were buried alive. Their ghosts still haunt the graveyard. This story reminded me of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century custom in Europe, and in the United States as well, of creating coffins that had a cord inside which extended outside up through the ground and was tied to a bell suspended over the grave. Men were hired to work on the “graveyard shift” to listen for ringing bells from those who were mistakenly buried. The “resurrection” of these people gave rise to the popular expression “saved by the bell.”

  My final stop in the city was the original reason for my visit to New Bern. It was the Attmore-Oliver House, located in a historic district of New Bern. Built in 1790, the house was expanded in 1834. The house is a wonderful example of the unique style of architecture used in North Carolina during this time. The home is painted white with black shutters and has four brick chimneys and generously sized porches on the front and back of the house. The Attmore-Oliver House is best known for two main reasons, one being that it’s owned by the New Bern Historical Society and is used for a variety of society functions, and second, that it’s the most haunted house in New Bern.

  The legend of the haunting begins like this: during the Civil War, Hannah Oliver watched three of her brothers march off to war. Two of her brothers died in battle, while the youngest, George, was injured and returned home. George was 13 years old at the time and had run away from home to join the troops, as he couldn’t bear his brothers fighting without him. Through these desperate times of economic hardships, hunger, and loss of her family, Hannah, her husband, William, and their three daughters held on as best they could. Later, after Hannah and her husband passed away, one of their daughters, Mary Oliver, continued to live in the home. Mary took over the family business, which at the time was selling insurance. Mary was born in the home before the Civil War, and she lived in the home for almost a century, passing away in her nineties in 1951.

  If seems likely that if anyone were to stay in the home in the afterlife, it would be Mary. It would be the most comfortable place for her to reside. After all, spending almost 100 years in one home has to be some sort of record. Mary’s ghost is seen and felt frequently in the home.

  Legends state that there are other ghosts in the house, and some believe that there are many of them. Some of the most intense reports of paranormal activity come from the attic. People can be heard walking, moaning, and at times speaking to each other from the attic. Local legend says that a father and daughter were confined in the attic after they had both contracted smallpox. They were reported to have died in the attic, and they continue to haunt the house today. Some reports claim that you can hear the little girl playing with toys in the attic and that when people go into the attic, there is a presence there of a protective father who does not wish his daughter to be disturbed. Tours are no longer permitted in the attic at this time, so I wasn’t able to travel up there for myself to check things out.

  The Attmore-Oliver House is open to the public to tour. One of the displays inside the house is of a doll collection. I have to say I didn’t spend much time looking at the collection, as I’ve had more encounters with dolls having spirits attached to them than I care to reflect upon.

  Inside the house is a fascinating look at Victorian, Federal, and Empire furniture, and many of the pieces are original to the family and may hold energy imprints from their lives. It’s interesting to take the tour to see if one of the ghosts will appear while you’re inside the home, but many locals find it even more eerie when they are walking by at night to see lights and orbs coming from the windows of the attic and the other floors as well, long after the house has been locked up for the evening.

  Perhaps Mary roams through her house at night, enjoying her home as she did for almost 100 years, and in the attic, a father still watches over his daughter, wishing he could nurse her back to health.

  I didn’t experience any paranormal activity while visiting the house, but that’s how it goes with ghosthunting; it’s all about timing. Spirits, like the living, do what they want to do, when they want to do it. I loved the town of New Bern and plan to visit again soon. Perhaps next time, Miss Mary and I will be able to have a chat.

  CHAPTER 9

  Blackbeard the Pirate and the Old Burying Grounds

  BEAUFORT

  The beautiful and historic town of Beaufort reports ghostly sightings of Blackbeard and his pirates all around the town.

  “But those rare souls whose spirit gets magically into the hearts of men, leave behind them something more real and warmly personal than bodily presence, an ineffable and eternal thing. It is everlasting life touching us as something more than a vague, recondite concept. The sound of a great name dies like an echo; the splendor of fame fades into nothing; but the grace of a fine spirit pervades the places through which it has passed, like the haunting loveliness of mignonette.”

  —James Thurber

  IN MY JOURNEYS through North Carolina, I have loved each and every city I have visited. North Carolina has the good fortune to have mountains to the west, rich, fertile lands in the Piedmont, and beautiful beaches on the coast. Because it is so beautiful, more and more people are moving to the state each day, and perhaps for this reason as well, even more people never want to leave the area and so their ghosts continue to stay.

  I’ve seen a lot of haunted hotels, forts, plantations, and cemeteries along my haunted road trip, but rarely have I come across a town with so much “spirit and spirits” as Beaufort, North Carolina.

  Beaufort is one of the most inviting coastal areas of the East Coast. Not only do residents agree, but so did Blackbeard the pirate, as he chose to live and die in the area. In 1996, a sunken ship was found in Beaufort Inlet, and as thousands of artifacts continue to be recovered from the wreck, it’s looking more positive that this ship is indeed Blackbeard’s ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge. These artifacts can be viewed at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort.

  Blackbeard’s ghost is already seen often enough along the coast, at times looking for his head, at other times in full form. Perhaps he is seeking to pillage, plunder, and find what many of us are always on the lookout for—a hearty ale.

  One thing that we all learn quickly as ghosthunters is that when you want to stir up a ghost, start playing with their belongings, and you’ll soon find yourself no longer alone. As protective and attached to the Queen Anne’s Revenge as was Blackbeard, chances are good that sightings of the pirate will increase as his ship is recovered and eventually displayed in the museum.

  When not on his ship, Blackbeard lived part of his life at the Hammock House in New Bern, which in the past has reported a high amount of ghostly activity. According to legend, Blackbeard would anchor his ship and then use a rowboat to row up to the Hammock House. He appeared to enjoy his time in Beaufort and only left town when the British military came looking for him. Their presence forced him to move to a new residence in Bath, North Carolina. Legend states that Blackbeard married many times and that in a fight with his wife at the Hammock House, he flew into a rage and hung her from an oak tree behind the house.

  Witnesses report strange lights floating around the house at night. They say that on some nights, you can still hear the woman screaming in her struggles with Blackbeard as he drags her into the backyard.

  Over the years, I’ve done a lot of research on Blackbeard, and many stories state that as pirates go, he was a fairly peaceful man, preferring to use scare tactics when possible rather than direct conflict. As a lover of history, I know that historic figures can be demonized when falsehoods are written about them. As the old saying goes, “History is written by the victors.”

  It’s no surprise that British captains and officers spread propaganda that greatly exa
ggerated the pirate’s actual deeds. I’ve seen reports that stated that Blackbeard was quite kind to civilians, especially women. I just don’t believe that he hung a woman from a tree in such a brutal manner, nor did I sense anything of this nature while near the Hammock House. If anything, I would say that if Blackbeard’s ghost does appear around the home, it is because he found it to be a peaceful and relaxing place to stay when not on board his ship, and that he continues to enjoy it to this day.

  There is no way to confirm that Blackbeard did visit this area, other than from local reports. During my investigations, I heard just as many stories that negated Blackbeard’s reputed visits to the Hammock House.

  The Hammock House originally served as an inn during Blackbeard’s time. The legends state that some of the other guests at the inn may have been crueler than Blackbeard, men such as Richard Russell Jr., whose ghost is also reported to haunt the Hammock House. According to lore, Russell returned from a voyage at sea in 1747 and was in the process of dragging one of his slaves up the stairs to the attic of the Hammock House in order to punish him. The slave fought against Russell along the way and pushed Russell down the stairs. Russell landed at the bottom of the stairs dead from a broken neck. The story doesn’t state what happened to the unfortunate slave, but witnesses report that the ghost of Richard Russell is often heard on the stairs struggling with the slave as he attempts to force him back upstairs.

  There’s also the story of Capt. Madison Brothers, who was engaged to Samantha Ashby of Baltimore. Brothers was known as the jealous type and was always worried about whether Samantha’s eye would wander to another man while he was at sea. Brothers was also known for his rash temper, and he soon earned the nickname “Mad.” He and Samantha were to be married in Beaufort at the Hammock House. The legend says that she traveled by land with her bridal party to Beaufort, and he traveled by sea on his ship. Along his journey, he experienced several setbacks at sea, including running into a severe storm that broke the ship’s mast. Angry at his misfortune, he reportedly began drinking heavily before the ship hit port. The order of what happened next is unclear, though the end of the story is the same.