“Phantom Lady”

April 21, 2020

this story comes from Spirits of Frederick by Alyce T. Weinberg

hope you enjoy!

“In Urbana, a ghostly figure often came in from the balcony to tuck in a little boy who lived in the Landon house years ago, or so the lad said. If his mother was late coming to kiss him goodnight, she would find everything secure. Even the candle snuffed out.”

“The lady tucked me in,” the boy would tell his mother the next morning.

The house – a brick, colonial farmhouse – was once part of an estate of rolling hills and many fences. There once was a boulder in the field near the main gate, which had a contour of a reclining woman and was once referred to as ‘The Lady Place’, also known as the Landon House. The house, with 1754 on the door, is wide enough for ten pillars to stretch from floor to roof, past two verandas.

One could often see a rocking chair gently rocking on the upstairs porch, just outside the boy’s room. A moving spot of light could often be seen, in the cellar and unoccupied rooms.

The people who owned the Lawson house, a neighboring estate, became accustomed to a ghost in a long white nightdress, wringing her hands, pacing back and forth. She could be head mumbling “how am I going to keep all those slaves busy tomorrow?”

A visiting grandson, sleeping alone in a spare bedroom saw a presence…something like a reflection of a motion picture on the wall of the room where he was sleeping. When he asked his grandmother about it, his grandmother told him he was making it up, no one came into the room but her, he was dreaming.

Gone are the fences, gates, and old tenants. The naturally sculpted boulder is gone as well.

But the phantom lady still lingers.

click here to read more about the Civil War and hauntings of the Landon House. No mention of the phantom lady is made, but there are stories of Civil War soldiers and even slaves…

Hope you have a great day!
Thanks for stopping by!!