Virginia Beach: Norwegian Lady

Newer bronze
statue.

Thousands of tourists pass this statue called the Norwegian Lady located on the 25^th Street boardwalk in Virginia Beach, Virginia every summer. Few of these tourists know the incredible story connected to this statue.

This story includes a shipwreck, tragic deaths, heroic rescues and a haunting that has occurred for over a century.

On March 3, 1891, the small 3-masted bark called Dictator sailed out of Pensacola, Florida headed with its cargo of yellow pine lumber to England.

Another view of the bronze statue.

On board was its Captain, J.M. Jorgensen, his 15-man crew, his wife Johanne Pauline and his young 4-year old son, Karl.

Three weeks out, the Dictator was just north of the Bahamas Islands when she ran headlong into a violent nor’easter. She was tossed about by brutal hurricane-force winds and huge waves.

Two of the ship’s five lifeboats were swept overboard and lost. The ship then sprang a leak.

Captain Jorgensen wanted to ride the storm out but his crew insisted he alter his course. The Dictator headed toward Hampton Roads, Virginia, to make repairs.

On March 27^th the ship was spotted off the coast of Virginia Beach.

A large crowd gathered at 9:30 a.m. at the Princess Anne Hotel at 16^th Street. These witnesses watched in horror as the ship struggled—headed north.

Within the hour the Dictator foundered on a sandbar three-hundred yards offshore.

Rescuers onshore desperately shot a buoy cannon with a line to the ship but the high winds fought their efforts.

The ship by this time had lost three more of its remaining four lifeboats. Captain Jorgensen sent four crew members in the last lifeboat. They barely made it to shore through the crashing surf.

After several more attempts, the line from the beach cannon reached the Dictator. This line was then secured to the top of the ship’s main mast.

The ship was rolling so violently that the first crew member sent out on this line clung tightly as the line tightened and then went limp. This man was flung into the ocean and then high into the air but he managed to make it ashore.

Several more crew members were able to climb across the line, hand over hand, and made it to the beach.

The Captain then wanted his wife to try it but she paralyzed with fear refused. So the Captain dispatched several more of his crew—and most made it.

The Dictator trapped on the sandbar and mercilessly pounded by the waves was now breaking up. The line was no longer an option.

As a last resort, the Captain strapped his son to his back and lowered himself into the water that was now littered with the pine boards from the ship’s cargo. The violent surging waves ripped his son from his back and Karl drowned.

His wife Johanne, lowered herself into the water with one of the remaining crew members on board—neither made it to shore alive.

The Captain washed ashore and was later found unconscious on the beach--he survived.

The next day, the robust female wooden figurehead from the Dictator was found and placed on the boardwalk as a makeshift memorial to those who had lost their lives.

The bodies of the crew that didn’t make it, as well as Mrs. Jorgensen were buried at the Elmwood Cemetery in Norfolk.

Little Karl’s body was found several days later. A beachcomber saw it near 7^th Street. This man not knowing it was connected to the Dictator wreck took the body to his minister. Karl then was buried at this church south of Rudee Inlet.

Within days, witnesses reported hearing the eerie sound of a child crying for his mother in this cemetery. These cries continued to be heard day after day.

When the minister found out the body of Captain Jorgensen's son had never been recovered he put two and two together.

Karl’s body was then exhumed and reburied at Elmwood Cemetery next to his mother’s grave. After this, the ghostly cries were never heard again.

Postcard of the original figurehead from Dictator.

The original wooden figurehead of the Norwegian Lady decayed over the years. In 1962, a bronze memorial, crafted by Norway’s famed sculptor, Oernulf Bast, replaced it.

This Norwegian Lady statue stands on the boardwalk gazing out over the Atlantic Ocean. It is a memorial to those lost in this tragedy.

Edgar Cayce's Ghosts

Edgar Cayce

Edgar Cayce is recognized as the 20^th centuries most famous American psychic. His life and work are well documented.

Cayce’s intuitive abilities were discovered at an early age. He was struggling in school with his spelling when called upon, he could not spell the word “cabin.”

Once at home, his father angry at his failure demanded he stay up--all night if necessary--to learn his spelling lesson for that week. Cayce found he could not focus. By 11:00 p.m., he started to nod off since it was way past his bedtime.

His head dropped onto his spelling book, and just before he dozed off, he heard a voice within himself state, “Sleep, and we may help you.”

When he awoke a few minutes later he knew how to spell every word in the book, and he could tell the page number where each word was located.

Cayce found for the rest of his life all he had to do was sleep on a book, and when he awoke he knew the information inside it.

As a young man, Cayce discovered he was a medical intuitive. He could go into a trance and use his psychic powers to diagnose a person’s illness--he then could tell that person what treatment should be used to cure their disease.

His grandparents: Thomas and Sarah Cayce.
His parents  Leslie and Carrie seated, Edgar, standing behind father holding son Hugh.
Edgar’s wedding day with bride Gertrude.
Edward Cayce in 1943 two years before death.

Because of Cayce’s abilities, he was dubbed the Sleeping Prophet. He is also considered the father of holistic medicine.

Edgar Cayce never profited from helping others with his psychic powers. He felt his gift was from God and that it was his duty to help others.

One of my favorite stories about his medical intuition follows.

A young girl appeared suddenly to go mad. She did not respond to any of the traditional medical treatments that were given. Her parents, in desperation, asked Edgar Cayce for help.

In a sleep state, Cayce described the trouble the young girl was having as an impacted wisdom tooth that was disrupting her nerve and brain function. He stated when the tooth was removed, the problem would disappear.

Cayce had never seen this young girl and he was 400 miles away from the hospital where the girl was staying.

When a dentist was brought in to examine her, he found the impaction Cayce had referred to. He removed the tooth. Four hours later, the girl became her usual self. She never again showed signs of mental illness.

Cayce had several encounters with ghosts in his childhood--to the delight of his mother and to the chagrin of his father.

Valda F. Carlson wrote a brief composition about Cayce’s early encounters entitled, The Vision of Promise.

As a child, Cayce had a group of playmates--both male and female--that were ghosts.

Not many of the adults around him could see these apparitions, but a young neighbor girl, Anna Seay, who played with Cayce, saw them too. She and Edgar played happily for hours with these unusual playmates in the woods and in the shade of the cool barns.

Edgar’s mother believed him because she saw them too--it was she who understood her son’s talents best.

One day, as she glanced out the window, she saw these playmates waiting in the yard. She told Edgar, “Go play with your friends. They’re waiting.” Edgar was happy; she could see them as well.

Cayce often told others he was amazed his friends could run in the rain without getting wet. He also wondered why they always disappeared when adults came near.

One afternoon, as Edgar talked and laughed with his friends in a field his father approached and asked him who he was talking to?

Edgar replied, “My friends.” His father then asked him, “Where are they?” Edgar pointed and said, “Right here.” But his father couldn’t see them.

Sugrue book
There Is a River.

Thomas Sugrue, a life-long friend of Cayce wrote the official biography about Cayce’s life. In his book, he talks about other encounters Cayce had with ghosts. Here is just one.

After Cayce’s grandfather died in a horseback riding accident Cayce saw his ghost several times. Sometimes he would see him in the barns where the tobacco was being fired.

He stated he could see right through his grandpa if he tried real hard. He mentioned his sightings to his grandmother and mother, but he never talked about it in the presence of his father--knowing it would anger him.

Edgar Cayce lived from 1877 to 1945. He founded the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1931. After his death, his son ran it, then his grandson, who retired in 2008.