Happy Halloween | living out of focus

I thought in the spirit of Halloween I’d post some photos of a grave yard… This angel marker is found behind the Old Stone Presbyterian Church in Lewisburg, WV. It has several ghost stories and local legends surrounding it. However, I’m not a historian or sure which ones might be true, so I’ll let you determine which one you like best through your own research. If you visit Lewisburg during October I understand you can also take ghost tours of the town. I didn’t get the opportunity to do that this year, but hope to next fall.

The most common story I’ve come across goes something like this… The angel marks the grave of a young girl named Maud, who died in 1888 at the tender age of 11. The poor child caught pneumonia and was unable to overcome the illness. Supposedly, there were two young girls who attended the funeral (I’ve found that they were either friends, or cousins) and they kissed the angel’s cheeks in honor of their loved one. Within a year they both died of lung related issues. So the legend goes that if you kiss the statue, you will also die in a year’s time.

Personally, I think the statue is beautiful and I’d prefer not to believe that it is in some way evil or bad luck. It just seems like such a sinister way to think of an angel. I read that it is a statue of Gabriel and that is certainly a more pleasant outlook, particularly since it was meant as a gift of love from Maud’s grief stricken parents.