Ghosts of The Old Settlers Cemetery
Many eerie superstitions exist about cemeteries. You must never whistle while walking in a cemetery, or you’ll summon the devil. A pregnant woman should never enter a graveyard, or her child will be haunted and cursed. Stepping on graves by mistake will provoke the dead.
It’s clear that cemeteries, our resting place for the dead, are hallowed places that we fear and respect equally. But one cemetery, located near the border of North Carolina, stands out as especially uncanny—the Old Settlers Cemetery.
Why is the Old Settlers Cemetery haunted?
Since it was established before the actual founding of the city of Charlotte, Old Settlers Cemetery’s exact origins are a bit murky. However, as its name might imply, it was established during the colonial period and was created to be a burial place for Charlotte’s earliest settlers.
However, in its century of use, the inhabitants of the Old Settlers Cemetery did not always have a restful slumber. Horrific post-mortem crimes committed against the bodies were a big problem for this historic graveyard, and perhaps it was this that led to the many ghostly sightings reported at the Old Settlers Cemetery.
The Ancient Art of Graverobbing
Graverobbing was a major problem for almost every colonial cemetery at the time, but Old Settlers Cemetery was hit especially hard. The science of medicine was still developing then, and doctors were keen to learn more about the body and try new experiments. Unfortunately, that usually meant that they were in the market for corpses.
And good-hearted people donating their bodies to science was not a practice in the religious and superstitious colonial society. Most colonial territories forbade the dissection of human bodies, with occasional exceptions being made for the corpses of condemned convicts. However, there were only so many executed criminal bodies to go around, leading to an underground industry of graverobbers.
The practice of digging up bodies and selling them was, perhaps blasphemously, known as “resurrection,” and resurrection artists could earn quite the salary with their illicit practice. Usually, their preferred bodies were poor or black residents, both groups without much protection from the colonial-era government. However, they still had their defenders. The families of the victims often led campaigns against the practice.
This resurrection outrage was commonly found in colonial towns, including Charlotte. However, that didn’t stop the wheels of the industry from turning, and Old Settlers Cemetery was plagued with pilferers for much of its century-long operation. The corpses of Old Settlers Cemetery were often taken from the cemetery and sold to the hospital and medical school right next door for the use of educating its students.
Despite public outcry and talks of disturbing the dead, the grisly practice continued, and some say that may be the reason that this historic graveyard is known to be haunted.
A Graveyard Robber and Resident
Funnily enough, there was one figure buried inside Old Settlers Cemetery that, no doubt, took part in the practice of graverobbing. Greene Washington Caldwell, who, in between being a Revolutionary War hero and a Congressman, was also an army surgeon and a peacetime doctor, may have been bribing graverobbers for fresh bodies himself.
Since it was borderline impossible for a doctor at the time to get practice without resorting to paying off resurrection artists, it’s probable he was forced to engage in it in some capacity. Perhaps one of the spectral hauntings listed below is him trying to atone for the past mistake of doctors like him and watch over the graveyard. Or maybe he’s there as a form of penance for participating in the practice in the first place.
What haunts the cemetery?
Otherworldly Orbs
Will-O’-The-Wisps are a commonly seen phenomenon across the globe and in different cultures. They typically take the form of floating balls of light that seem to have a mind of their own. They’re atmospheric ghost lights with various proposed origins, including being the omens of death.
Similar to the “will-o’-the-wisp” phenomenon, the most commonly spotted ghosts in the Old Settlers Cemetery are a group of mysterious orbs. The orbs of Old Settlers are known for coming out after sundown. Dancing around in the dark they make for a creepy sight if you’re alone in the graveyard. Unlike a lot of flighty ghosts that we’ve covered in the past, some of the orbs are even known to appear in photographs if you’re quick enough with your camera.
Abnormal Altars
Less spectral-looking but no less scary are the strange altars that are also known to pop up in the Old Settlers Cemetery. Unlike the orbs, there have been no documented photographs of them; even a description of them is hard to find. All that’s known is they’re known to pop up near certain gravesites. Could these altars be some kind of tribute for the dearly departed? Maybe it’s a way to appease the orb specters that float around the cemetery? Or perhaps they’re there for worship of something far more sinister?
Haunted Charlotte
Learn more about Charlotte’s most cursed cemeteries and other haunted locations in person on a spine-chilling ghost tour with Queen City Ghosts! Keep reading our blog for more hauntings of North Carolina, and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Sources:
https://www.charlottenc.gov/City-Government/Departments/General-Services/Cemeteries/Old-Settlers
https://www.facs.org/media/1x0f0byz/03_grave_robbing.pdf
https://www.thecommontraveler.net/haunted-places-in-charlotte-map-included/
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/641030/famous-memorials?page=1#sr-8064711
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article267787247.html
