O'Neill's Ghostories This Week: The Caretaker

The Caretaker
from Jim D.
Hailing From: Florida
Where it Happened: North Carolina

I was a real estate agent in North Carolina in 1974, out in the rural area of Wake County. My job that day was to list some property which happened to have a very old black church on it. It was so old you could see through the cracks of the exterior walls clear through to the outside.

The sun was shining brightly through the cracks and through the windows. The windows had white satin type curtains that were literally torn to ragged shreds because the windows had been open for years.

I was early that day for my appointment with the executor of the property. All the people who used to attend this church had died and were buried outside in a small cemetery, and the sons and daughters of these generations of church goers had all moved away.

You're probably wondering how I knew so much about this old church, and that's really what this very personal encounter is all about.

Well before the executor showed up I went inside the old church. I was sitting in a pew when I looked to my right and all of a sudden there was an old Black Gentleman sitting there. I said, "Excuse me I did not see you when I came in. I thought I was alone." I then introduced myself and told him why I was there.

He said he was Alex Jones and he used to be caretaker of the church for 40 years. He seemed to know already that the church was being sold. He went on to tell me that he was there to represent all the families of the deceased buried in the cemetery outside. He went on at some length to tell me the story of all of these families who were descendants of slaves and how they loved this old church. He was concerned about what would happen to it. I told him that whoever bought the property would not by law be able to disturb the cemetery nor deny access to anyone who would care to visit it. The church however, looked beyond repair.

I then noticed a car was winding its way down the dirt road to the church. It was the executor of the property and he was right on time for our appointment. I turned back to address Mr. Jones and he was gone, just as mysteriously as he had appeared.

The executor of the property was a lawyer named Mr. Scott. He was quite impressed when we engaged in conversation and he found out that I was well versed on the history of the church. He asked me how I knew so much. I said there was a gentleman named Alex here just a little bit ago but he disappeared when you drove up. He kind of went a little pale and when he regained his composure he told me that Alex was indeed the caretaker of the church for many years. He went on to say that Alex had been dead for 10 years and that he still watches out over the property. I was shocked to learn I had been talking with a ghost.

Mr. Scott took me outside to see Alex's headstone. He was buried there next to his wife and all his neighbors whom he had told me about. Mr. Scott looked down at the headstone and while talking looked around at the others and said, "Not to worry ... that the cemetery will be here for as long as there is time and that they should rest in peace."

Of course I listed the property for sale. It was bought by North Carolina Power n' Light as it was within a mile of a Nuclear Power Plant Perimeter they were going to build.

I turned to look as I was leaving and Alex was standing on the steps of the church waving good-bye to me.