When my maternal grandmother and (late) grandfather were first married, they purchased a several acre lot on the street where my grandmother spent her childhood. They built their own home using inexpensive bricks recovered from the rubble of the Chicago fire, and if you care to look, you can easily see harsh scorch marks along the exterior of the home.
Also, in the back bedroom, there is a trunk containing a collection of uniform buttons from the Civil War (both armies) and a LOT of Native American artifacts, all collected over time by my grandmother on her walks through the property and along the road towards Mobile Bay. We invited an archaeologist to pay a visit, and he dated most of the artifacts as being between 3,000 and 5,000 years old along with a hand full being from the Creek tribe that used to inhabit the area.
It's a lovely home that I've spent as much time in as my own. I even lived there for several months after my grandmother had hip surgery, and there isn't a doubt in my mind or anyone else's that the house is haunted.
The first time anyone saw our "woman in white" in her entirety, my mother was a teenager. She was sleeping in her bedroom when she was woken up by their new puppy barking and growling at the foot of her bed. After several minutes, she sat up to see what was happening. When she turned on the bedside lamp, a young woman dressed in a dated, white nightgown was standing at the foot of her bed, making eye contact without blinking. My mother screamed for her parents and hid her face from the "intruder." When my grandfather opened up her bedroom door, he saw nothing. My mother peaked through her hands and saw that the woman was gone. My grandfather dismissed it as a dream, but my mother was terrified. She laid in bed awake all night with her lamp on and the puppy growling at something invisible at the foot of her bed. She never announced herself to my mother again.
Since, my grandmother and I and some of our friends have had plenty of run-ins with the ghost. Once, when only my grandmother and I were home, I was cleaning the bathroom when I heard someone run down the hallway. I peaked my head through the doorway to see what could be going on, and when I did, a tower of smoke stretching from the floor to the ceiling and as big around as myself flew so quickly all up the hallway and so close to my face that wind moved my hair. As soon as it passed me, the smoke totally disappeared. I told my grandmother about it, and she very calmly and nonchalantly explained to me that for years there had been a tower of smoke that would drift up and down her hallway in the early afternoon.
Another time, I saw her as plainly as I can see anyone else. We had company in town for the holidays, and while we were watching a movie, I peered to my right and saw her standing where the hallway meets the living room. White nightgown, blonde hair, young and thin. She was leaning against the wall and smiling sweetly at the fun my younger cousins were having. She didn't even seem to notice that I'd seen her, and no one else had noticed her (I asked them several days later). She eventually turned into the kitchen and was gone.
Sometimes she reacts to family photos. As in, we will hang a photo and the next day find it sitting in a chair. Once, when we hung a photo of my great-great grandmother, the door to the wardrobe below it would open on its own for several days following. It hadn't done it before, and it hasn't done it since.
Sometimes I feel her standing beside me or behind me while I'm cleaning, like she's making sure everything stays where it belongs. During such moments, I've told her I'll make sure nothing bad happens to anything I'm cleaning. A few times, I've felt someone move my hair or heard something fall in response. Most of us have seen her enter our bedrooms at night or woken up to see her sitting on the edge of our beds, watching us while we sleep. As frightened as my mother was of her, I don't feel anything hostile or negative when she's around. She seems sweet, almost protective. I'm not sure where she came from, but if anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.
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