Buried Alive in Wilmington, NC

The temperature made a drastic drop this week here in West Virginia...and while I absolutely have no problem with it...it does make me a little nostalgic for summer vacation.  This year, my family visited Carolina Beach, North Carolina and spent quite a bit of time in nearby Wilmington.  On one of our excursions into town, we made a stop at the small, historic cemetery located behind St. James Episcopal Church.

You won't find a tombstone with his name on it, but records to indicate that a young man by the name of Samuel Joselyn was buried in this cemetery back in 1810.  Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that Samuel was actually DEAD at the time of his burial!

Samuel came from a wealthy family, which afforded him the opportunity for a good education and the leisure time to get together with young men of similar means and discuss philosophical and academic ideas.  One rainy evening, the discussion turned to the topic of the afterlife and the survival of the soul after death.  Samuel and his best friend, Alexander (Sandy) Hostler made a pact:  whoever died first would come back and contact the survivor.

The two young men probably weren't thinking much about that pact on July 4, 1809.  On that date, Samuel married Mary Ann Sampson of another wealthy Wilmington family, and settled down with the intent to open his own law practice in town.  Unfortunately, his marriage would be a short one.

On March 16, 1810, The Jocelyn's and several other wealthy families were vacationing at one of their nearby hunting lodges. Mary Ann and Samuel apparently got into a fight that evening, and Samuel, in a rage, fled the hunting lodge wearing only a thin coat.  Due to the poor weather and Samuel's apparent poor state of mind, a search party went looking for them.  It wasn't until two days later that he was found in the swamp, lying in 4 inches of icy cold water.  He had apparently fallen or was thrown from his horse.   

Family and friends were distraught as Samuel was laid to rest at St. James' graveyard soon afterward.  Sandy Hostler took the loss of his friend especially hard.  The grieving Sandy was horrified when on the night of Samuel's funeral, an apparition of the deceased young man appeared before him.  The apparition spoke, imploring Sandy to "dig up my body."  Sandy, shaken by the vision, assumed that the ghost was nothing more than a product of his grief and his sleeplessness.  And then, the apparition appeared twice more.  At a loss of what to do, Sandy sought the advice of Louis Toomer.  Louis reminded Sandy of the pact that Sandy and Samuel had made, which Sandy had completely forgotten about. 

Louis further theorized that Samuel had somehow hidden in the coffin some sort of proof of life after death, and that's why he was so insistent that Sandy open his coffin. So, after much deliberation, the two young men decided that it had to be done.  They would exhume their friend's body themselves.

The night came and the two met just outside the graveyard's gates.  As they completed their grisly task, it finally became apparent that Samuel had not hidden any proof of the afterlife in his coffin.  It was much, much worse.

Samuel's ghost DID contact Sandy that first night, and on two subsequent nights, but it wasn't to share proof an afterlife.  It was an attempt to SAVE his life.  Samuel's face wore a twisted look of sheer terror.  His fingers had scratched the coffin lid until they were nothing but bloody stumps, bones exposed.  Samuel hadn't died in the swamp; he had died a horrifying death buried alive.  Perhaps by the time his apparition had come to Samuel, it had already been too late.  Or, perhaps what was his 'ghost' was actually his soul temporarily leaving his body in order to seek help.

Sandy is also long gone now, but Samuel's ghost is still scaring the residents of Wilmington.  Before the fence and the security cameras, locals would scare themselves by daring each other to lie atop of Samuel's grave, ear to the ground, for one hour.  Legend states that no one was ever able to last the entire time without fleeing.  Others refuse to even walk past the graveyard at night fearing they might hear the muffled cries of Samuel Jocelyn, reliving the horror of being buried alive.

*You can read more about Samuel Joselyn's story in the book, Ghosts of Old Wilmington, by John Hirchak!  The church is also one of the potential stops on the Ghost Walk of Old Wilmington Ghost Tour!*

Blog Bonus!

On Monday, I shared a blog post about songs based on real paranormal events and popular ghost stories.  One of my readers, the awesome Mr. Lewis O. Powell, IV who runs The Southern Spirit Guide, an awesome blog about ghostly goings-on in the Southern US, shared this song with me!  Sam Jocelyn's Ghost is a musical re-telling of the story by the ETSU Bluegrass Pride Band.  Definitely give it a listen!  (Here's the direct YouTube link in case the video below won't play.)

Ghost Walk of Old Wilmington

Last month, my family went to Carolina Beach, North Carolina for our summer vacation!  There was so much to see and do during our week-long stay, including spending some time in nearby historic Wilmington. With limited time to cram in everything, we decided that a ghost tour would be the coolest way to see and learn about the downtown area...and we were not disappointed!

Since we had my 8 year old son with us, we couldn't do the haunted pub crawl, but luckily, the same company offers a more kid-friendly Ghost Walk of Old Wilmington tour that we could take.  We purchased our tickets online, but they can also be purchased at the Black Cat Shoppe on Market Street.  The price runs $13 for adults and $11 for kids over 6.  (Check website for further pricing options.) Through most of the tourist season, tours run nightly at 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm. 

We took the 6:30 tour Friday evening with Jake and had a wonderful time!  Even my 8 year old son really enjoyed the stories, which were sufficiently spooky without relying on gore or really disturbing details. The history was fascinating, and Jake did an awesome job storytelling---he made the history and the hauntings interesting and was really quite entertaining, adding in a dose of humor where appropriate.

Paradise Alley

 As someone with back issues, I was hesitant at first at the thought of a 90 minute walking tour, but the pace and terrain were easy enough, and several of the stops offered a place to sit down. The emphasis on storytelling, rather than just a quick overview of each haunted location, led to there being less actual locations than I would have thought on the tour, but I found that surprisingly refreshing. On other tours I've been on, so much info is thrown at you in such a short period of time that it all runs together. With this tour, we still got in a good number of stops with a couple of additional tales without feeling  overwhelmed.  Plus, there was ample opportunity to take as many pictures as you'd like without feeling rush.  They do, however, ask you to refrain from recording the actual storytelling, due to copyright issues.

Throughout our jaunt around town, we learned the tale of Gallus Meg, a no-nonsense tavern keeper who is still making sure men who come to have a drink at the Blue Post behave themselves.  We heard the touching tale of a dog who refused to leave her owner's side, even in death.  The pair are still sometimes seen walking the streets of Wilmington, side by side.  We made a stop at the Burgwin-Wright House and even experienced the ungodly phantom stench that seems to be associated with the location's paranormal reputation.  Our next stop on the tour was at the local modern library which housed a painting with a mind of its own.  That was a really interesting tale that tied directly to the racial tensions in Wilmington during the Race Riots of 1898.  And finally, we ended the night in the world's creepiest alley/tunnel behind a former hospital where overnight visitors often report seeing children playing, hearing their laughter, and even feeling their tiny hands pressing down on them while in bed.  As I find the time, I hope to give each one of these locations (and a few more in the area!) their own blog posts.

Overall, I was very pleased with the experience, and I would definitely recommend this tour to anyone visiting Wilmington.  Our tour guide was obviously passionate about teaching the history of this fascinating former pirate town through a fun and spooky way.  He was knowledgeable, and really knew how to work a mixed-age crowd so that it was enjoyable for everyone.  However, one cool aspect of the this particular tour is that each one is a little different.  Each  tour guide has his/her own way of telling the stories, and not all tours stop at the exact same locations. So, you can definitely take the tour multiple times for a totally different experience. And, I personally thought that the price was very fair for a little under 2 hours of entertaining storytelling.

If you cannot make it to Wilmington, or if you simply want a taste of what you might experience while on the Ghost Walk of Old Wilmington, consider picking up a copy of the book, Ghosts of Old Wilmington, by John Hirchak!  Hirchak is the creator of the tour, and his book gives a really nice glimpse into some of the local legends you might hear on your tour. It makes a great companion piece to the tour, and can be purchased, along with other tour merchandise, in person at the Black Cat Shoppe or online.