This is such an interesting lil' historic article from the Charleston, WV area. Back in 1945, a family noticed a strange image on the stucco of their porch column. The image looked like the silhouette of a girl's face...but not just any face. The family who owned the home claims the face resembled that of their daughter, Peggy Sue, who died two years previously on April 4, 1943. I really wish the picture I found showed a clear image of the silhouette, but I'll keep looking! Here's the text from the article:
'Face' Appears on Porch Column
The appearance of the profiled silhouette on a stucco porch post at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J.J. Weaver of Rand, said by the family and neighbors to resemble the Weavers' deceased daughter, has attracted widespread attention.
Late yesterday, Mrs. Weaver estimated that since Tuesday, several thousand persons have stopped to look at the framed silhouette, which she says started forming in the stucco last January.
According to Mrs. Weaver, she first noticed a light-colored ellipse over a foot in diameter. Near the center was a dark spot about the size of a cup. The dark surface grew larger, which she says she took notice of from time to time. Last Saturday Mrs. Weaver says she asked her husband if he could make anything of it. After examining the spot, he reluctantly agreed that it was the shape of a child's face.
Word spread that the silhouette resembled the Weavers' daughter, Peggy Sue, who died at the age of 12, April 4, 1943. Since Tuesday afternoon the silhouette has been the talk of the nearby communities, and yesterday crowds grew to such proportions that Greyhound buses on U.S. Highway 60 running in front of the house were stopping briefly to permit passengers to look. Shown right is Robert Lee Weaver, student at DuPont High School, son of the Weavers. [Gazette photo].
It wasn't until the 1960's that the strange story was widely told. The Miracle of Peggy Sue appeared in the Charleston Gazette's State Magazine on March 17, 1968. This article provided much more information than did the original newspaper clipping (which unfortunately, I cannot find a source for). On April 1, 1945 (Easter Sunday), the pipefitter J.J. Weaver and his wife were at church, talking to friends and acquaintances after the Easter service and brought up a strange image that had appeared on one of their porch columns, about five feet up. It looked like the silhouette of a young girl. The family believed it was the likeness of their daughter, Peggy Sue, who had died two years previously of pneumonia, just shy of her twelfth birthday.
Peggy Sue had been buried near the Elk River where the family lived at the time of her death, but after her mother had a dream in which Peggy was drowning, her body was exhumed and reburied at Witcher Creek, closer to the new house in Rand. It was shortly after she had been moved that the ghostly image had appeared.
Curious, the church folk decided to follow the Weavers home to see for themselves. Indeed, there was a strange image that resembled the Weavers' deceased daughter. Word spread quickly, and looky-loos came by the literal busload. There were so many visitors that the Weaver's porch collapsed from the weight, and a fence was put up to keep people out. That wasn't much of a deterrent, though, so the column was removed altogether. When the family later moved to Texas, the column went with them.
A local insurance salesman by the name of Earle Stephens dabbled in photography, and took a picture of the strange image. He then sold prints for a quarter a piece, making over $500 when it was all over. Of course, there were plenty of skeptics out there with explanations as to why a stucco-covered column may have a dark patch on it, and even why it may RESEMBLE a silhouette, especially to a mourning family, but many in the Rand area still believe that they witnessed a miracle on that little front porch.
 |
| Beckley Post Herald 30 June 1945 |
My mother told me about this when I was a kid, as told to her by her grandmother: the girl's mother began to worry about her daughter. They went to her grave and found it full of water, and they had to move her body. I live near Rand, and my older neighbors confirm the newspaper story - her image really was on the porch post. One said that she is buried up Witcher Creek, near where we live, but her death certificate says she was buried in Big Chimney. I found a cemetery website that has a photo of her headstone, and it says it is in Witcher Cemetery.
ReplyDeleteI was in scouting when I first heard this story. Our scoutmaster told us tales that we had never heard of before and claimed they were all true. That was 1975. Then a few years later I told my dad and some relatives this very story and how the scoutmaster said it was true. My dad became at once visibly shaken and confirmed the validity of the story. He was thirteen at the time and knew the family well. I even learned her name. Also he told of what actually had happened to her. It was apparently pneumonia. Apparently heavy rains had flooded some ditches near the Malden "S" curve and kids would swim and play in the water. Peggy became ill and died in three days after having done so. Her brother Bob always talked about the sport of skiing. My father told me that the mother had dreams of her daughter drowning in water after her burial. She is in fact buried in a small cemetery in Witcher hollow Belle, WV, a few miles from Rand, WV were the Weavers lived. I have heard other aspects to this story such as the image was washed and even painted over but would reappear. My father said that she was a very beautiful young girl. And this situation left the family devastated.
ReplyDeleteThat’s pretty much the way I always heard it… that the mother dreamed the girl was drowning and when they checked her grave, it was flooded and they moved her body.
DeleteCan you tell me the date this article appeared in the Gazette, please?
ReplyDeleteThis did not happen in 1940's. It was in the mid 60's when i
ReplyDeletewas 9 years old and lived less than a block away. I was always told the little girl died from physical abuse
Thanks for your input! I've updated some articles about this case, showing that it happened in 1945, but that it was featured in local newspapers as a featured story in 1968. As far as abuse, I cannot confirm nor deny. However, her death certificate (linked above) does not state that was a factor. Perhaps there is a similar tale?
Delete