Like so many bloggers here, I have grown to absolutely adore Folklore Friday’s on Erin’s Beautiful Disaster. I actually consider it one of the best things about Fridays now. (This is either testimony to how sad my life has become or how awesome Erin’s blog is - you be the judge!)
I was absolutely pickled pink when she asked me to write a guest post for her Folklore Friday. I've never been asked to do this before and I wasn't sure of the "rules" but I think you should go check out her page because she's sick with Photo Shop and you'll see some pretty creative and unique stuff over there!
My Folklore Friday story goes a little something like this:
I’ve heard so many intriguing tales and I wanted to share one my many spooky experiences. I’m not sure why I have so many, but if I had to guess it would come down to two factors. A) I live in New England - the oldest part of this country. B) I’m a Scorpio. This might sound whacky but I truly believe Scorpio’s have a natural connection to the supernatural. Me, I’m a supernatural magnet!
I spent a good part of my twenties working in a historical building that had been converted into a bed and breakfast. The property was a gorgeous Queen Ann Victorian manor build in 1881 by a Sea Caption John Sise. The building itself came with a somewhat (ok…downright) spooky history.
Captain Sise was a wealthy ship merchant, who took a wife who was much younger than him in age. Sise was also reported to be quite the “ladies man.” Legend tells that he took one of the house maids as his lover, and accidentally impregnated her.
Apparently he also had a wee bit of an anger management issue.
When he learned of her “mistake” he shot her, killing her and her unborn child. Realizing the horror of what he had done, Sise then went up to the attic and hung himself.
Yes, I worked inside a building that was the site of a double murder suicide - and there were MANY strange tales I can tell. However, it wasn’t until my fifth year of employment at this bed and breakfast that I became privy to information that would darken the already dark history of the building even further.
The city had just started a major project to replace the water lines in the area. Within days of digging up the street out front of the building the workers made a gruesome discovery: An unmarked slave burial ground.
(You can read more about this in these links below)
Apparently, they were able to determine that the uncovered bodies were slaves because they were very well preserved in layers of clay and shackle marks could still be seen on their wrists and ankles.
They were only able to remove 13 graves, but according to an old city map there are up 200 bodies located in that area. The remains that were excavated were eventually laid to rest in a local cemetery with a marker with a bitter sweet engraving.
"I who was born a Pagan and a Slave,
Now Sweetly Sleep a Christian in my grave..."
However many of the graves could not be reached as they were located beneath the very building I worked in and many other buildings along the street.
The only fact that made the discovery any worse was I was currently working in the basement as a sales coordinator. Oh yes! Directly on top of all those unmarked graves!
Now here are my personal accounts of SOME of the things I witnessed there.
First, I should tell you that I was sworn not to confirm any of the written accounts of this property that are circulating around in various books and websites. (But seeing new management came in and fired me a week before Christmas I hold no loyalty to their secrets any longer.)
The reason for this sworn secrecy developed shortly after a group of business people decided it would be fun to use somebody’s Ouija board one night. I can’t tell you what those people witnessed during their session, but I can tell you this: Many slept with their guest rooms doors open that night and some were so frightened they checked out in the wee hours of the morning. That group never came back to the Inn because whatever they witnessed that night was too frightening to endure again. Therefore, it was decided any rumors of hauntings should be promptly squelched.
One night, not too late, I checked a business woman into the room that adjoined the attic suite. (Looking back on it, I don’t think the ghost liked business people.) She immediately returned to the front desk and asked me, “What was up with that room?”
“What do you mean?” I asked innocently.
“When I opened the door, the remote flew off the top of the TV and hit the wall clear across the room. Then the door knob to the adjoining room started spinning.”
Now remember folks, I was sworn to secrecy - and if you have any Scorpio friends you know they are very good with secrets. Of course, I felt bad for her. She was obviously quite shaken, but I looked her square in the face and said: “Jet lag, huh?”
Her mouth dropped and she walked away muttering something under her breath. She returned to the room and was not heard from again that night.
There are other stories too - so many I could probably write a book. The elevator constantly worked itself. Every time I walked by the bells would chime and the door would open no matter what floor I was on. It’s not supposed to do that. We had it inspected numerous times, but each time the technician could find nothing wrong.
Mostly it was typical haunting stuff, chairs moving, music playing, and flying objects. You know - that sort of stuff.
However, there was another report of a lady that checked in one night and came down to the front desk to tell the clerk how much she enjoyed the housekeeping staff dressed in period clothing that had just visited her room.
The front desk clerk told her that A) the housekeeping staff had left hours ago and B) They didn’t wear period clothing.
The lady was quite adamant that a woman wearing a colonial dress had just knocked on her door and asked her if there was anything else she needed for the night. The lady had told the woman, no thank you, and the woman smiled and walked away.
Perhaps it was the lover of John Sise still reporting to her duties?
Now some of you might ask how I could work there for so long. The answer is this: I know the difference between good spirits and bad. There were no bad spirits there - only lost ones.
