Blood Stained Crypt

St. Luke's and
Craigmile's crypt.

Behind St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland, Tennessee, sits the Craigmiles family mausoleum.

This crypt is known because mysterious red streaks appear on its white Italian marble surface.

These stains have often been cleaned, but they continue to appear. This has attracted quite a bit of attention over the years.

John Henderson Craigmiles made his fortune in the shipping business—he sold food and other materials to both sides during the Civil War.

In 1860, he married Adelia Thompson, the daughter of a local doctor. In August of 1864, the couple’s first daughter, Nina, was born.

Nina was a beloved child, spoiled by all. She was Dr. Thompson’s favorite grandchild. The two were often seen rapidly traveling around in the doctor’s buggy as he did his medical rounds.

The doctor even let the seven-year-old Nina sometimes take the reins—they both liked to whip the horse to go faster.

Tragically, on St. Luke’s Day-August 18, 1871-the doctor steered his buggy in front of an oncoming train. He was thrown clear, but little Nina was killed.

The family still grief-stricken by their loss-- 3 years later had St. Luke’s church built downtown to honor Nina’s memory—this building was completed on the anniversary of her death.

The family then had a beautiful white Italian marble mausoleum built behind this church.

This crypt has four feet thick walls and a spire that is topped by a cross that is thirty-seven feet off the ground. Nina’s remains were moved to a marble sarcophagus in the center. Six shelves were built along the walls to await other deceased family members.

Soon after Nina was placed in this crypt the bloodstains first appeared.

John and Adelia experienced another loss—their newborn infant son died. He was placed in the family crypt. The stain darkened in color.

Nina's sarcophagus.

Soon after, in 1899, John died of blood poisoning—a euphemism for a bad infection that enters the blood—after he fell on an icy street. The stain on the arch darkened once more.

In 1928, while crossing Cleveland Street Adelia was struck by a car and killed. Locals by now had washed off these stains on the mausoleum wall repeatedly, but they appeared again—even darker.

It has been determined that vandalism is not the cause for these stains. A more recent chemical analysis—defied the experts--it did not show what these stains are or why they appear—so they remain an intriguing mystery.

Bloodstains on the crypt.
Click to enlarge,

A legend states they appear because Nina is “crying tears of blood over the deaths of those she loves.”

The Craigmiles family also commissioned a sculpted bust of Nina out of white Italian marble. They intended to place this bust in an alcove in St. Luke’s called Nina’s Niche.

But the sculptor shipped this bust on the HMS Titanic so this alcove is traditionally filled with flowers instead.

This church also has a connection to Tennessee Williams. His grandfather was a rector at St. Luke’s, and the playwright spend his childhood summers there.

The town of Cleveland is located in southeastern Tennessee. It is just north of Chattanooga.

Sydney: St. Bart’s Ghosts

In recent paranormal news the following story was highlighted.

St. Bart's Cemetery

This past fall on October 31^st 4 members of the Sydney South West Paranormal Investigations team caught what they call an interesting “anomaly” in one photo while on a guided tour.

This group was investigating St. Bartholomew’s Cemetery—the locals call this cemetery St. Bart’s-- located in Prospect, Australia on Halloween. This cemetery opened in 1841 and was used for burials by early settlers in the area.

A fire damaged the old church connected to this graveyard in 1989. Witnesses state this church—which is being restored--and the cemetery are haunted. There have been many sightings of ghosts in the past.

The lead investigator for the Sydney team, Kelly Ryan told a local newspaper that the environment was “controlled” for they were the only ones on the tour that night.

The group points out the figure photographed appeared to be a male with arms and legs and was moving toward were they stood. The members did hear a whining sound in real time.

Gravesite in sunlight.

Of the 300 photos the group’s high spectrum camera took that night the 209^th has what appears to be a ghost in it. Despite this the group has declined from stating what they captured is “the spirit of a human.”

The historian and guide, Hazel Magann, who accompanied the team states the ghost captured in the photo may be Thomas James Willis, aka the Penrith Jockey.

She mentions she has always had an aversion to this section of the cemetery—she has experienced “horrendous feelings” near where the photo was taken.

Photos taken just before this frame and seconds after do not have the figure in them.

Here is this photo with the one taken just before it.

Image high spectrum camera caught.
Click to enlarge.

This Sydney team and others have also spotted a little girl ghost in St. Bart’s near the M4 motorway. The team saw this little girl last summer as she ran around, they then watched as she just vanished.

This small ghost is considered a prankster.

Ryan mentioned her team always experiences equipment battery drain when they investigate St. Bart’s.

Tours of this cemetery are given twice a month. There are several other ghosts that haunt St. Bartholomew’s including a former sea captain by the name of Hallen.

Telling the Bees

An odd death superstition involves bees. It originated in Europe and then was brought to America.

In the 19^th century, this custom spread from New England to the edge of the Appalachia. It involved people “telling the bees” when their beekeeper died. This superstition even included telling the bees when one of the keeper’s family members died.

It was believed if the bees were not told they would die or leave their hives in search of a new home.

This was an economic loss that family’s who kept bees were not willing to risk for honey was a valuable commodity.

So these families went out of their way to protect their hives--which included the following customs.

When someone died a person was sent to inform the bees of this death. They would then drape the hive in black crepe. In some instances, funeral cake or wine was left out for the bees to enjoy.

Many families even pinned an “invitation” to the funeral on the hive.

This last custom came about because bees were known to invade funeral services if

Danville Bee
June 4, 1956

they were not told. These incidents are well documented. Here are just a few.

In 1894, during a funeral being held in a church, the mourners noticed swarming bees. A pallbearer was stung on the neck and the Undertaker was attacked viciously.

When the procession headed for the graveyard the bees followed. Many of the mourners left afraid they would also be stung.

Minneapolis Journal
July 6,1901

In 1901, a graveside service for a deceased Indiana child turned into a scene of panic when the mourners were attacked by thousands of bees as the coffin was lowered into the ground.

The grave could not be covered until that night when it was safer.

Margaret Culp’s funeral in 1916 was delayed when farmers scheduled to dig her grave where “stung severely” by bees.

The Washington Herald
August 9,1916

Honey-bee swarm.

At the turn of the century, during a funeral for Josh Simms in Kentucky flowers were placed on his grave as it was being covered. Mourners then watched as a huge swarm of bees landed on the gravesite.

They then stung many mourners who had remained behind.

All these funerals have something in common—the deceased was either a beekeeper or was a relative of one. The bees had not been told there was a death in the family—and when the hives were checked afterward they were abandoned.

In 1858, the American poet, John Greenleaf Whittier wrote a poem about this belief

John Greenleaf Whittier

entitled, Telling the Bees. Here is just the last part of this poem.

Before them, under the garden wall,

Forward and back,

Went drearily singing the chore-girl small,

Draping each hive with a shred of black.

Trembling, I listened: the summer sun

Had the chill of snow;

For I knew she was telling the bees of one

Gone on the journey we all must go!

Then I said to myself, “My Mary weeps

For the dead to-day:

Haply her blind old grandsire sleeps

The fret and the pain of his age away.”

But her dog whined low; on the doorway sill,

With his cane to his chin,

The old man sat, and the chore-girl still

Sung to the bees stealing out and in.

And the song she was singing ever since

In my ear sounds on:--

“Stay at home, pretty bees, fly not hence!

Mistress Mary is dead and gone!”

Here is a link to the entire poem.

Christmas Ghost Lights

In Great Britain there are many stories of ghost lights that appear around Christmastime—most remain beloved mysteries.

Here is a favorite witness account of ghost lights seen in Ireland.

On a dark night in 1910, a young 23-year old Oxford University student who was traveling home to Ireland for the holidays witnessed something he never forgot.

He and a university buddy were on horseback headed to his home in Limerick when near the village of Listowel they noticed a light about a half-mile ahead.

As they drew closer to this light, they saw it was not connected to a house, but instead, it was directly in front of them. As they watched it moved up and down and to and fro. It diminished to a spark and then expanded into a bright yellow flame.

Before they entered the village, they saw this light turn into two lights, which resembled each other. Suddenly these lights then joined into one luminous flame that was six feet high and four feet wide.

In the middle of each of the two flames that had joined, there appeared “radiant beings” which took on human forms. These two figures walked side by side.

Each figure had a brilliant white light or aura that surrounded them. Around their heads, they each had an even brighter halo.

The two young men watched in awe unafraid for they felt the love and peace the two figures exuded.

They continued to watch this phenomenon until a house blocked their view.

It is still a mystery what these two saw on this Yuletide night. Explanations put forward have included: the figures might be extraterrestrials, or were they the spirits of the dead?

A popular belief is these two men saw angels, which had come to earth to celebrate the joy the Christ Child brought to the world.