On November 1, 1999, I returned to Blood Cemetery in Hollis. I planned to take a few more photos, although I hadn’t captured any anomalies since my earliest visits to the cemetery.
While I was at the cemetery, I checked the name on the short headstone that the ghost had vanished into, on my visit the evening before Halloween.
The stone belonged to Eldridge Jewett, b. April 28, 1856, d. April 2, 1924.
At the top of his headstone, there were the three links of a chain, which usually signify someone who was a member of the Masonic Lodge, or a similar men’s organization.
However, the stone next to this one caught my attention:
On an earlier to Blood Cemetery, I’d noticed that a small headstone had been knocked over. I’d picked it up, hoping to find a way to prop it up. However, when I saw the swarming maggots in the soil beneath it, my stomach lurched and I’d dropped the headstone.
I can recall commenting to my daughter, “Poor little thing,” as I felt sorry for the grave… but not sorry enough to look at those insects again.
When I was at Blood Cemetery on November 1st (1999), I saw that someone else had picked up the headstone, too. This time, the stone was flat on the ground, but with the inscription facing upwards so I could read it: It was the son of Eldridge Jewett, who lived a mere six months from May 1870 to November 1870. He’s described only as the “Son of Eldridge and Clara L. Jewett.”
However, someone had stuck an American flag in his grave.
Many of the graves in this cemetery have American flags, and they indicate a veteran’s grave. However, the baby who’d been buried here certainly wasn’t a veteran, and the dates on his father’s headstone (which had no flag) suggested that Eldridge Jewett may have served in World War I.
I moved the flag from the child’s grave to his father’s plot, a few feet away.
When I returned home, I checked the photographs from the day I thought I saw a cat (or a ghost) vanish into the senior Jewett’s headstone.
Sure enough, the American flag had been at the child’s grave then, too.
If I did see a ghost, it seems likely that–since I’d previously expressed concern about the child’s grave–someone from “the other side” wanted to catch my attention. I hope they merely wanted me to move the flag back to its correct location.
Sometimes ghosts visit our world because they have a very small task to complete. Observant people can help them by paying attention to “odd” things that happen; one of them may be a ghost trying to get your attention.
As I review this several years later, I believe that Eldridge Jewett wanted to be recognized as a veteran. Or perhaps he was just a tidy person and wanted the flag moved to its correct location.
However, Blood Cemetery (correctly called “Pine Hill Cemetery”) has been the site of vandalism. Stones have been stolen, and others damaged.
If a ghost can return to have a small flag moved just a couple of feet, from one grave to another, can you imagine what the ghosts can do to vandals?
Some cemeteries report that stolen headstones are returned quickly. I’m not surprised.
Sure, it’s possible that the furry thing was really a cat, or something else–something perfectly natural, not ghostly–in front of my camera. The rest of my story may be coincidental.
Perhaps it “just happened” that a flag was misplaced at the grave, and I’m reading too much into this. I try to remain a healthy skeptic about coincidences and odd events at haunted places.
IThat said, the disappearing cat continues to baffle me. I’ve never seen anything like it, before or since.
In my opinion, Pine Hill Cemetery–aka “Blood Cemetery”–is a little different from other cemeteries. If you visit it, be sure to keep my story in mind, and let us know if you see that cat-like shape.
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