Missing Door

In the late 1800’s, the Phillips family erected a tomb in the Bellevue Cemetery in Danville. It was to house the bodies of Benjamin and Elizabeth, beloved members of the family. The family had constructed the tomb with stones from the walls on the family’s property as a sort of homage to their history. They had once owned a plantation during the Civil War era.

One Sunday evening, the family decided to visit the tomb. Upon arrival, the family discovered that the door to the tomb had been destroyed. The family hired a local mason to design a door made of stone, hoping that this would be a good solution.

Months after the new door had been in place, several members of the family visited the tomb again. This time, the door was taken off the hinges and lying in the gravel road beside the tomb. They decided to do something that would be more permanent. They had the mason to completely seal the opening and make it resemble a tombstone.

On Halloween, a week after the tomb had been sealed, the local undertaker stayed in the cemetery all night to make sure that vandals did not destroy any part of the graveyard. He walked all around the graveyard, checking graves and tombs. When he walked to the Phillips monument, he saw a young child trying to get into the tomb.

“Little girl! What do you think you are doing?” He asked.

“Trying to see,” she replied.

“Why?” He asked. “You should be home. Where are your parents?”

“I need to see, I need to see,” is all she would say. He turned to check if anyone was with her, thinking it was a joke. However, no one was around.

“Little girl, you need to go. It’s too late for you to be out like this,” the undertaker told her.

“I want to see,” she finally said. And then, she disappeared.

The next day, the undertaker went to the Phillips family and told them the story. They had an answer to the mysterious door destruction. The little girl had lived near the Phillips family plantation. She had played with the Phillips children. One day, she fell off the wall as she was playing with them. She had wanted to see over the wall and took a wrong step while climbing the wall. The rocks used for the tomb were the ones from the area in which she had fallen. After the rocks were moved to the tomb, her ghost had come to climb the wall again, each time destroying the door to do so.

Special K (B. Scott Kelley)

GSP Professor

Wayne Co. High School