Tag Archives: Little Girl Ghost

Soldier Loses Rifle Magazine

Context:

D is a college student at the University of Southern California, he is 22 and from Singapore. He served in the Singaporean military from 2018 to 2020 (it is mandatory for all men 18 and older), where a fellow soldier experienced a supernatural encounter. He told me he didn’t believe in ghosts, even though ghost stories and beliefs in ghosts were common in Singapore; however, he thinks that this story has no other logical explanation and that this occurrence changed his mind.

Text:

“So, I was in the military, and we were in the jungle, and this guy loses his riffle magazine, which is a very bad thing because they are very important, and you cannot lose your riffle magazine when you’re in the military. They are very strict about not losing your riffle magazine because if you do, you’ll get punished in a really bad way. So, he goes around looking for it, but he can’t find it, he calls all his friends to help look for it and none of them can find it. So, he thinks he’s screwed because when he gets back, he’s going to get punished. It gets late and there’s no point searching for it, so he goes to bed. He dreams about a little girl, around 5 years old, and in his dream, the little girl points at a rifle magazine. It isn’t that far from him (10 meters), and the little girl is just pointing. But then he looks up and sees himself in the third person on the ground sleeping. Then, the little girl picks up the rifle magazine and walks toward him. As she gets closer to him, he feels the need to wake up; but when he wakes up, the riffle magazine is already in his hand.”

Analysis:

There are many legends and superstitions in the army since it is a folk group with a very strong culture and folklore. Oftentimes, people resort to supernatural explanations for events that don’t make sense or cannot be rationalized with logic or science. Singapore has a very spiritual population whose culture appears to believe in and celebrate ghosts and spirits, so for a group of Singaporean soldiers, the thought of a ghost making things happen in the camp does not sound too impossible. A common motif in ghost stories seems to be little girls, perhaps it is because they are a representation of innocence and goodness, in this case, if this experience were to be a tale, she would be seen as a wise donner figure from another realm that helps the hero.

Waverley Mansion

Nationality: American, caucasian
Age: Upper 80s
Occupation: Retired— Radio Broadcaster, Laundry Mat Owner, Koren War Vet, etc.
Residence: 5031 Mead Drive/ Doylestown PA, 18902 (Suburban Home)
Performance Date: 4/8/18
Primary Language: English

Title: Waverley Mansion

Category: Legend, Ghost-Story

Informant: Evan A. Lewis

Nationality: American, caucasian

Age: Upper 80s

Occupation: Retired— Radio Broadcaster, Laundry Mat Owner, Koren War Vet, etc.

Residence: 5031 Mead Drive/ Doylestown PA, 18902 (Suburban Home)

Date of Collection: 4/08/18

Description:

After purchasing the mansion for renovation around the early 1960s, Mrs. Snow began noticing strange and abnormal occurrences around the house. Sometimes when passing by the grand hall and lower ballroom, Mrs. Snow noticed the faint sounds of music and conversation coming from the empty chamber. On a different occasion, Mr. Snow was working in the back fields of the home when he noticed the figure of a confederate solider on horseback riding across his property.

The most striking tale of ghosts on the property stems from a story from Mrs.Snow and other visitors who’ve come to experience the estate. When Mrs. Snow was working on the second floor in the upper dining room, she heard a young girl’s voice calling for her mother. Believing the voice to belong to one of her own children, Mrs.Snow walked over to the column staircase to look down for the child. When she looked over the balcony, she saw no child but continued to hear the voice coming from the same location. On several other occasions, Mrs. Snow could hear the voice of the girl calling for her mother and once saw her looking down from the balcony down to her.

As history recalls, Waverley mansion once served as a make-shift hospital during the course of the Civil War. Mrs. Snow believes that the ghost of the little girl belongs to a child who might have passed away from illness during the war and her soul is trapped haunting the mansion in search of her late mother. Mrs. Snow and women seem to be the only people who ever encounter the voice of the little girl ghost. The central location of the girls activity stems from the second story bedroom just off of the central staircase.

Mrs. Snow believes that this must have been the bedroom that the girl was kept in and has since kept the bedroom vacant and the bed made. Patrons to the estate and The Snows themselves have both seen the impression of the little girl’s body made on the comforter. Mrs. Snow has walked up to the comforter and smoothed it out only to have the impression of the body re-appear hours later.

Context/Significance:

Waverley mansion is a Southern plantation home located in Columbus/West Point Mississippi directly 10 miles outside of West Point. The plantation is settled around acres of cotton and includes such artifacts as an abandoned house, family graveyard, a collection of exotic peacocks, gardens, orchards and livestock. The mansion was constructed in the mid 1850s and later bought in 1962 by the Snow family and has since been renovated to its original glory. The house fell into disrepair upon reaching the end of the Young family line in 1912 before being purchased by the Snows.

The mansion is claimed to be haunted by a collection of ragged spirits. While almost all of them are declared harmless and welcoming by the Snow family, more than one person has claimed a supernatural experience on the property. The house is now open for tours most days of the week save for holidays and religious celebrations.

Personal Thoughts:

As many of these Southern ghost stories seem to go, I grew up immersed in the experience. Since a young age, my family has been making road-trips and visits to the heartland of “Dixie” for the sole purpose of familial exploration and reconnecting. My mother and grandfather (both hailing lineage to the location) have made a point of visiting these historic landmarks of the region.

The main take away I got from visiting Waverley was how sad and lonely the property feels despite the visits it receives from locals and tourists on a daily basis. I haven’t visited since I was around the age of seven, but I remember the peacocks and tapestry filed rooms almost perfectly. While I never saw the ghost myself, perhaps I was too young and distracted to pay attention to such things, I do not doubt the ghosts existence. I live for the ghost stories of the South that developed during the turn of the 20th century, and feel that they hold a special place in my heart due to their historic and ageless appeal.