Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Ghost #2

The Big House at Burnside was given in the will to Sally and her sister N. when their mom died. Unfortunately. Sally loved it, and loved living there, but N. lived elsewhere and wanted the $$. No one had replenished the family fortune enough to buy N. out, so after 132 years of continual family ownership, it was sold -- first to a family that had McDonald's franchises (actually they took great care to renovate it and update the archaic electrical and plumbing, which cost a fortune -- don't know how they furnished the inside, Excy and I had left MD by then), and then they sold it to another family..breaks my heart...

As to another question about ghost #1, maybe it wasn't 10 minutes we stared at each other, it just felt that long! And I had no thoughts -- I was stunned and thinking that this couldn't be happening.....

One would think after that experience I would be better prepared for the next incident. It didn't involve actually staring through a ghost, though, so it even though it was weird and eery and unexplainable, it was a bit less traumatic.....

John Bowers Ecceleston was born in 1857. Excy is named after him, though Excy's full name is James Houston Eccleston Johnston, Jr. (see why we call him Excy?!). When John Bowers Eccelston was a boy, he was rather frail. The story goes that when his parents told him they were going abroad, he told them that if they left him, he'd die before they got back. Some in the family maintain it was of a broken heart, but that sounds just a wee bit Victorian to me.

On the landing of the front stairs is a tiny footprint, reputedly his. It has been sanded out and painted over through the years but it remains. I actually was living in the house when the stairs were repaired and watched one attempt. It was a clear outline, and looked shellacked, about the size of a young boy the age of 6 or 7.

On afternoon I was doing the laundry when I heard the heavy, huge front door open. Someone then lightly and quickly ran up the stairs. It sounded like a child. I was alone in the house, but it didn't bother me because S. and C.'s grandson often came in the house and his mother, B., often did to drop off mail or whatever. The front door, though, was seldom used, so that surprised me. The laundry is just off the main hallway on the first floor and I took two steps, opened the laundry door, and shouted hello, that I was downstairs, who ran upstairs? No answer. The front door was open. Hearing no reply, I went back to the washing machine and when I turned my back, I heard someone run down the stairs and slam the front door. This time I RAN to the front door to peek out on the terrace. The door was locked. When I peered out the sidelights, no one was running off......I had the distinct feeling I had just 'met' little John Bowers.....

We have his pastel portrait hanging in our hallway, along with his dad's and Uncle's portraits. We looked up his death in the family book -- 1870, so he was about 13 ....

12 comments:

KristinFilut said...

So very cool! The Girl and I are obsessed with the paranormal!!

Allison said...

So spooky!

Dame Nuisance said...

Very cool!

Alice in Wonderland said...

Hi again, Yes OleBob gets around! He wanted me to tell you about where I live. O.K., well I actually live in a Castle here in England. The main part was built in 1340, and there are documents going back that far. We have a few "ghosts", but in reality the only thing that I have ever seen is a shadow of a woman who stands at the top of the main staircase. She is looking at something in her hands, and looks incredibly sad. But there is a story that goes with that which I have written about on my blog, "The White Lady of Blenkinsopp". I have also printed photos of my Grand-Father, and I have seen this photo everyday, but when I tried to take a photo of it, there was "something" behind his left shoulder! I took this photo eleven times, from different angles, and still that "something" is still there! I intended to write about him, but it turned into a "scary or spooky" post!
Now, the woman on the stairs is something that I have grown up with, and I'm not scared of her, in fact I always speak to her!
Although it is a really old place to live, whenever you walk up or down the stairs, you can hear a tread just about two steps away from you. We were always told that she was only watching to see if we were safe on the stairs, but my brother and myself would often see if we could find anything that could be causing this shadow, but we came up with nothing, neither can I get anything on camera of her!
Take a look at my posts. I was keeping the best one for Halloween, but that involves a Wedding Party, which happens on 17th January, but I will write about that later in the week.
We have many strange things happen here, but as I said, they are normal to us as we have been brought up with them.
We will really have to continue this conversation!
I love your stories, by the way! And, yes, I do believe that there is something other than this world!

Unknown said...

Interesting. I wish I had a similar tale to tell, but things are pretty boring, here.

adrienzgirl said...

I am loving Halloween week! :)

Tricia McWhorter said...

Really enjoying the stories and the comments!

Betty Manousos said...

Soo spooky!!
I'm following. I'd be glad to have you in my blogs' list.
Loved your story!
Have a great time!
I'm lucky I "met" you:)

Molly said...

hhhmmmmmm. I like the footprint part.

Pollyanna said...

Very spooky story - I have goose bumps!

Jenn Erickson said...

Whoah! Another fascinating and benign spirit!
Thanks for sharing!

Deborah said...

Too bad the house was sold. I worry about that with my Mother's house. My mother's house, built in 1730 has a lot of history. In the 1800's a Mary and Bill lived there with 3 kids and that was also my parents, Mary and Bill and 3 kids. We also had Teddy Roosevelt stay at the home, the Coltons' before my parents owned the house for about 100 years and used it as a summer home, they were very well off and had some special guest visit them, besides the ghosts!