Ghosthunting North Carolina

by Kala Ambrose

  The center of most of the activity seems to be Cupid’s Park Theater, a Shakespearean-style theater decorated with cherubs prancing around on the walls. The room was originally designed as a dance room and billiards parlor. In later renovations it became an art studio for Korner, and then in 1896, his wife turned it into a children’s theater, which was used by all the children in the community. Here in this room and in the children’s playroom is where most of the haunted activity occurs.

  More than 75% of the furniture in the home is original to the house. Science has explained to us that all matter is energy, and with hauntings, we often see land and homes that hold the emotional energy of the occupants who lived in a home for a long period of time. We can “feel” a sad house or a happy home and sense the energy in a building or on the land. When something very unsettling and negative occurs, such as a battle, the emotional energy of this event stays on the land for a long time. Likewise, when a family has lived in a home for a long time where children played and great joy and love were radiated for years, it can be felt, as well. When energy, negative or positive, is expressed in one area for a long period of time, it leaves an energy imprint, just like the haunted imprints that I’ve discussed here in this book. Furniture, like other objects, can hold the emotional energy of the home. With so much of the furniture in Korner’s Folly being original to the home, the energy of the family is felt throughout the rooms and around the property. As well, and further leading to the strong presence of the family, Korner personally designed and created every room with great intention, passion, and focus, placing even more energy into every inch of the space. Whether it remains a museum or should it become a private home, the occupants and visitors will always be in the shadow of his ghost, simply because of the large amount of creative energy placed into building and designing this unique home.

  The ghosts reported in Korner’s Folly are childlike, playful, and friendly. They appear to be a mixture of both energy-imprint hauntings along with one or two interactive playful ghosts. Perhaps Korner himself stayed behind to enjoy the home that he was forever changing and redesigning.

  The house was always a work in process, with both Korner and the staff at Korner’s Folly, who continue to find decorative surprises during renovations and restorations. One of the most recent discoveries was that while removing wallpaper from the wall near the stairs, they found small drawings underneath that Korner had once hand-painted all the way along the staircase.

  Folly Director Frankel reports having changed his opinion of ghosts and the afterlife after working at Korner’s Folly. He’s personally felt areas in the home that have cold spots, where one side of your body will feel completely chilled while the other side remains at room temperature. He’s an advocate of encouraging research into the supernatural and enjoys having paranormal researchers at the home to investigate. Future plans include hosting paranormal investigative training sessions at Korner’s Folly, where people can be introduced to the equipment used in paranormal investigations and taught how to ghosthunt.

  The Korners loved children. They had two, Gilmer and Dore, and Mrs. Korner brought in a music teacher and bought instruments for any children who wished to learn how to play an instrument. She organized musical programs in the home with the local children, and parents and the local community were invited to attend the performances.

  Research conducted by several paranormal groups has reported EVP recordings in the children’s room, the sewing room, the theater, and even in the outhouse. Many times it’s the sound of laugher coming from children at play, perhaps time-loop recordings of the years when so many children filled the home to learn about music and play with the Korner children.

  Jule Korner died in 1924, and Polly passed on in 1934. It is said that Korner remarked before his passing that he felt he had not finished the work that he had wanted to do on the house. Many feel his spirit in the home and believe that he remains there as its caretaker and guardian.

  The home has been wonderfully preserved. Several locals in the area told me that the house once served as an antiques store and also a funeral home in the past. Ring, ring says my warning bell! What a perfect combination to create a haunted building! Antiques carry the emotional energies of their owners, and grief is thick in a funeral home, where the dead come to attend their own funeral; together, it’s a psychic’s perfect storm.

  Korner’s Folly appeared to me to contain the energy of playfulness and whimsy. One of the most delightful things that I discovered during my time there was that the former Director of Korner’s Folly, Connie Martin, has always loved the home. As a native of Kernersville, she had a strong desire to help make the Korner’s Folly home well known nationally and to continue the work to preserve and care for the home.

  A prime example of discovering what you love and then following that passion, Connie worked as the Director of Korner’s Folly for six years. Along the way, true love sneaked in and found her in a unique way. Her story is the story that we read about in fairy tales, which only further confirms my hunch that Korner’s Folly in an enchanted place.

  As the director of the home, Connie met Jule Korner IV, the great-grandson of Jule Korner, and they fell in love. She has now resigned as the director in order to marry and begin her new life with Mr. Korner IV. When hearing the story, it’s easy to feel that Korner may be hanging around the home playing Cupid, which synchronistically is the name of the children’s theater in the home. Perhaps he saw the love Connie Martin had for his home and then worked his magic to bring her into the family.

  The spirits are very active at the house, and paranormal investigators continue to find evidence of ghostly activity. While I visited Korner’s Folly, it was decorated for the Christmas holidays. I felt ghostly activity and energy around the Christmas decorations and detected them moving slightly back and forth on several occasions. Perhaps the ghost children were at play, looking to see if Christmas presents would soon be on display for them. During your visit to Korner’s Folly, expect to be charmed and enchanted by the beauty, the whimsy, and the playful spirits.

  Whispers from Beyond the Grave at Cabe’s Land Cemetery

  About six miles north of downtown Durham, the Eno River and the West Point Mill can be found; they are part of the Eno River State Park. This area was once the home of the Occaneechi, Shakori, and Eno Native American tribes, and the park now consists of 3,900 acres and expands into Durham and Orange counties. In the 1700s, farmers and millers arrived in the area and built the West Point Mill. Each year the Festival for the Eno is held here, and it typically brings 30,000 visitors to the river for three days.

  Located in the park is Cabe’s Land Trail, a two-mile walking trail that is rated moderately difficult for hikers. There are three things that always catch the attention of hikers along this trail—a large variety of mushrooms growing along the trail, the old Eno Quarry filled with ground water (where people often swim even though posted signs warn people of submerged trees and equipment in the quarry), and the long abandoned Cabe’s Land Cemetery.

  Hikers have long reported paranormal activity as they near the cemetery, located about 200 yards off the main trail. Most interesting about their reports is that the majority of witnesses hear the ghosts talking rather than see apparitions of the ghosts. Paranormal researchers and investigators visit the area in order to capture EVPs (electronic voice phenomena) of the ghostly conversations, and many have reported success with their endeavors, as well as hearing the ghostly voices themselves. (EVPs are recordings that capture voices that are not heard at the time by the human ear but are caught on the recorder.)

  Digital photos have been taken at the same time that the voices were heard in the area, but there are currently no reports from anyone having captured any of the ghostly figures on film.

  The cemetery is believed to have been the family cemetery of John Cabe and was established in 1808. Records state that there are 12 marked graves and 39 unmarked graves. It doesn’t appear to make a difference
what time of day or night or season hikers approach the cemetery; the ghosts reportedly speak to each other at all hours.

  CHAPTER 13

  Angry Ghosts Fuel the Fire at Stagville Plantation

  DURHAM

  The land surrounding Stagville appears to be haunted by several ghosts and entities. In 1860, the family owned 30,000 acres and almost 900 slaves.

  “The deep pain that is felt at the death of every friendly soul arises from the feeling that there is in every individual something which is inexpressible, peculiar to him alone, and is, therefore, absolutely and irretrievably lost.”

  —Arthur Schopenhauer

  OUTSIDE OF DURHAM lies the plantation of Stagville, which once comprised several thousand acres in the center of land owned by the Bennehan-Cameron families. These two families once owned 30,000 acres in the area, and more than 900 slaves worked on the property, making their enormous estate one of the largest in North Carolina.

  After the Civil War, the extensive acreage was broken up and divided into many parts. The area of Stagville now consists of 71 acres, which are separated into three land tracts. What is most distinctive about the Stagville Plantation is that both the Bennehan and the Cameron families documented all the workings of their life on the plantation throughout the years. These collections of papers were donated to the North Carolina State Archives and the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. These written accounts have allowed the caretakers of Stagville to provide some of the most detailed accounts of plantation life in North Carolina and the history surrounding the land. Along with the documented history, which is rare to find from that time, I also discovered that Stagville has more standing structures than other plantation homes I have visited throughout the state. There are several plantations that have reconstructed slave quarters and other structures, but the buildings at Stagville are the originals.

  Structures still standing include the following: the Bennehan plantation home, built in the late eighteenth century; four two-story slave family dwellings; a pre–Revolutionary War yeoman farmer’s home; a massive timber-framed barn, which is referred to as the Great Barn; and the Bennehan cemetery, located a short walk just southeast of the Bennehan home.

  Over time, nature has had its way with the manmade structures at Stagville. The landscape changes and things decay, but some remnants remain of how the plantation grounds originally looked, including the foundations of several slave dwellings and other buildings that were used for various types of work.

  While researching the plantation, I found that it still maintains the Osage orange trees and other plantings, which were popular during the operation of the plantation. Osage orange trees have a wonderful scent in the summer when the oranges are ripe. For most people, scent is a powerful memory trigger that can bring a person back in time to a particular memory. I can smell honeysuckle and I’m immediately transported to my childhood in Louisiana, smelling honeysuckle on the vine. Knowing how powerful scent is for human beings, I have to wonder if the presence of trees and other plantings that harken back to certain times and spaces would also have a similar effect on the ghosts on the property.

  What’s fascinating about the Osage orange trees is that, at first glance, you’d think they were just another type of orange tree. Big deal, right? They’re actually quite amazing and, yes, while they do produce oranges, you probably wouldn’t want to eat them. The oranges are a little shriveled in shape, and inside there are hundreds of seeds and the fruit is tough and has a stringy texture. Why then would plantation owners plant so many fruit trees that would produce fruit that only squirrels would enjoy eating? The answer is quite fascinating. The Osage orange trees are planted side by side to create fences. They have thorns, and their wood is extremely strong. When planted close together, they create a structure that is very secure, and the thorns add an additional reinforcement that rivals barbed wire. It’s said these trees could be used for fencing to keep horses and hogs inside their pens, as well as keeping wild animals from venturing around the livestock and home while protecting them from high wind and storms. These amazing trees are termite resistant and were used by Native American tribes to make bows and other useful tools. In addition, the wood from Osage orange trees are used to make magic wands, as their energy is reported to be very powerful in order to connect with earth energy for magical purposes.

  While touring the grounds, you’re surrounded by trees, so you have to use your imagination to picture how the landscape used to appear. The land was once cleared, with large open fields, and according to documentation there were many more buildings on the land than currently stand.

  Historians and archaeologists continue to research the area to uncover the buried past. An unmarked gravesite has been found that may have been the burial ground of earlier settlers. The skulls found in this area show signs that tomahawks may have crushed them. This evidence, along with other documentation found on site, has led scholars to believe that Native Americans also lived on the land now called Stagville before the plantation was built there. So, both a cemetery and sacred Native American burial ground may have been disturbed during the building of Stagville.

  Evidence of a mass murder of settlers has also recently been discovered. Furthermore, the area holds the emotional energy of slaves who worked the land and many who died there, as well as energy from Civil War activity, all of which make the plantation a good place for paranormal investigations. It’s important to conduct due diligence and research when ghosthunting so that you have an idea of what era the ghosts came from, as this can make it easier to communicate with them.

  Many haunted sites have more than one ghost, and these ghosts could be from various generations and not connected to each other. For example, at Stagville, you could have Native American ghosts, early colonist ghosts, Civil War ghosts, and slave ghosts all haunting this same area. These ghosts may or may not interact with each other. If the ghost is Native American with a native name, he’s probably not going to respond to someone walking around asking if Mr. Joe is here in the house. If the ghost is a small child, it may not speak up when someone is walking around asking if Mr. Smith is willing to speak to him or her.

  Many times during an investigation, it’s better to go in without expectations and just get a feel for the lay of the house and the land. If the ghost wants to be seen or heard, it will make its presence known soon enough.

  There is a presence in Stagville that is creepy and forbidding. You are immediately aware that you are not alone. The energy presence is angry and it feels scary even in daylight.

  In the large family graveyard at Stagville, it is surprising to find that there are only three gravesites, those of Richard, Mary, and Thomas Bennehan. The welcome center at Stagville provides copies of the inscriptions written on the tombstones if you are interested in reading them. They are too worn to read directly from the stones. I found this quite interesting, and during my chat with some people there who were also interested in the inscriptions, I learned that many people bring paper to cemeteries and collect rubbings of stone markers and display them as artwork.

  Surrounding the gravesites, there is a wall made of stone with its original iron gate still standing.

  The Bennehan’s daughter Rebecca married Duncan Cameron and moved to Fairntosh; she and her family are buried in Hillsborough. The Bennehan’s son Thomas, who is buried at the family gravesite, never married or had children.

  What remains a mystery is where the plantation slaves that died were buried, as there are always some deaths over time and with 900 people, there were certainly more than a few. The burial grounds have not been found, and some speculate that they may have been further out on the property, which is now privately owned. Due to the tremendous amount of documents provided by the family about the workings of the plantation, I found it surprising that these deaths and burials sites were not listed or recorded within the documents.

  Several artifacts along with documentation
provide some of the best views that I’ve found into the lives of enslaved people in North Carolina. The reports state that many of the slaves were skilled craftsmen and artisans and that they were second generation, being American born, rather than having traveled directly from Africa.

  Beyond the documentation, the land itself is well preserved and has remained intact, so the energy is strong and radiates around the area. As I walked around the plantation, I would occasionally touch the side of a building or other physical objects, using psychometry (a form of ESP where as you touch or hold an object, the energy held in the object tells you about its history). Everywhere I went, I worked to pick up on the energy of the land and the spirits that inhabit it.

  In 1980, during restoration of the property, two divining sticks were found inside the wall of one of the slave quarters. Divining sticks were used to find water and other elemental sources under the land. They were also hung in homes to bring protection and attract good and helpful spirits. Some call them dowsing rods, they are used as a form of divination called dowsing. They’ve been used by many cultures for thousands of years. They only fell out of favor during the Dark Ages in Europe, when they were labeled as evil and the name was changed to “water witching.” I was unable to confirm if these divining sticks were made from the Osage orange trees on the property, but I’d be willing to bet that they were.