On Saturday, June 12, 2021 myself and several other members of Spectral Research and Investigation headed north to Tyler County, West Virginia. We had been called in to assist a family in Sistersville who was experiencing some potential paranormal activity. As this was largely a daytime investigation and it was a 2.5 hour drive up there for me, there wasn't a ton of free time to explore the historic and spooky little town of Sistersville. However, I wasn't about to let the opportunity to at least LOOK at some of the area's haunted hot spots pass me by!
My first stop of the afternoon was the historic and haunted Wells Inn. The Wells Inn opened in January of 1895 to cater to those connected with the recent oil boom in the area. It was built by Ephraim Wells, and he is believed to be the main ghost of the hotel. He is blamed for moving objects around, locking maids out of certain rooms, playing with the elevator, and the sounds of writing coming from his former office. Phantom footsteps have been heard in the halls and doors have been known to slam on their own.
I had briefly entertained the idea of actually staying the night at the Wells Inn following our investigation, but since money's tight and time was short, I decided to skip the formal stay and wait until I had the time and money to really make the most out of my stay there. So, I had to be content to stop and take a few photos! Unfortunately, there was a big sign on the front door saying that the lobby was open to guests of the hotel ONLY. I'm not sure if this was simply a COVID-19 restriction, or this is a permanent policy put in place for the safety and comfort of paying guests. Either way, I was a little bummed (but I completely understood) that I couldn't go inside.
I left the Wells Inn with the intent of heading up to Oakwood Cemetery and getting some good daytime photos of a very eerie monument known as the Stocking Lady. I'm not sure HOW I missed it, but my directions to Oakwood Cemetery did not work out, lol. I did, however, find myself in another local cemetery---Greenwood. I think Greenwood and Oakwood sometimes get confused, but I have heard some stories of Greenwood being haunted as well. In one report submitted to WVGhosts, a witness claims that a group of friends visited Greenwood and after touching one tombstone that felt hot, several girls in the group felt like they were being stabbed. White, moaning things were seen, and even approached their car! I can't vouch for these tales, obviously, but I think there was a reason why I ended up at this particular cemetery. As I was driving around, looking at the tombstones, I actually stumbled upon the graves of more than one previous owner of the property we were about to investigate!
By the time I checked out Greenwood pretty thoroughly, it was time to meet up with the rest of the team. I was super bummed that I hadn't found Oakwood, as I REALLY wanted to see the Stocking Lady for myself, but I knew that we had a job to do, so I focused all my attention on getting ready for the night's investigation.
The Spectral Research and Investigation team, accompanied by Zach Schwartz of Countere Magazine, met up at The Fort Pizza and Restaurant for lunch and to plan out how we were going to approach this particular investigation. I had a HUGE chicken wrap and fries. The food was good and the staff was friendly---it was a really nice little local place to gather our thoughts and decide what we needed to do to give our clients the best investigation we could.
As this was a private residence case, I won't be going over details of our actual investigation, but I will say that it was a hard one for me, emotionally. It was a case unlike any other residential I've done over the years and although we plan on staying in contact with the family and continuing to work with them, I just personally feel like we were all stuck between a rock and a hard place when it came to really solving their problems for them. So, that was disappointing, but the evening definitely ended on a happy note! The family actually lived pretty close to Oakwood Cemetery...and offered to take us up there!
I first learned about Oakwood Cemetery and the Stocking Lady back in October of 2019 when I saw storyteller Granny Sue at the WV Book Festival. The Stocking Lady is a beautiful, yet damaged tombstone statue that overlooks the graves of the family of Philo and Nancy Stocking. Local legend states that those who have been bold enough to vandalize the statue of a woman in a flowing garment have suffered terrible fates. The person who broke off the statue's arms lost his own arm in an accident. The person who gouged out the eye area went blind himself. There are lots of stories of people simply touching the Stocking Lady, resulting in a run of bad luck, illness, and injury.
Oakwood Cemetery didn't disappoint and I was thrilled to finally see the Stocking Lady for myself. I didn't get too close, though...just in case.
Overall, the trip to Sistersville was a positive experience for me. I had driven through the area before on my way to Moundsville, but never stopped to really look around. The drive along the Ohio River between Huntington and Sistersville is a beautiful drive that takes you through so many little historic towns, each with their own legends and ghost stories. This trip to Sistersville may have been my first, but it certainly won't be my last.
So let me know...have YOU been to Sistersville? Have you stayed at the haunted Wells Inn or visited the Stocking Lady? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments below, or join me over on Facebook at Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State to share your story! Stay spooky, ya'll.
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