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Paragenealogy - a case history
Let me start off by saying that I know some of you aren't going to like the combination of paranormal and genealogy. Whether it be because of your ethnic background or religious background. Let me also say that I mean this lady or her family no disrespect. And believe me I mean you no disrespect either.
The paranormal part of this story is how myself and five other people were attracted to this lady's grave. The genealogy part is my research to determine who she was and possibly why I was attracted to her.
I moved to York Co. PA in May 2008. In the middle of June I did a paranormal investigation with some friends from a local paranormal group. They showed me how to use divining rods (dowsing rods) to contact spirits. One night in August I was at Barlow's Knoll on the Gettysburg Battlefield testing my rods with a local sensitive. The rods would not work because they kept pulling to the left. The Almshouse Cemetery is located there.
The next week in the daytime I went to the cemetery with my rods and asked if the spirit that pulled my rods towards the cemetery the previous week was still there and to cross my rods if so. The rods crossed. I then asked the spirit to make the rods point to where they were. The rods swung around to point to a tombstone. I moved around the cemetery and asked the rods to point where the spirit was and each time they pointed back to the same stone. During the rest of the summer I was there numerous times and the rods pointed to the same stone. Five times while I was there others came to photograph the same stone. I asked if they were relatives. Each one said they were attracted to her stone, but were not relatives.
The lady's name is Rebecca Little who died 1882. Her maiden name was Wyble or Weible. She was married to Sam Little and they lived in Straban Twp., Adams Co. PA They had two daughters Ann and Ruth. Ann died in the Almshouse too in 1880. Ruth married. I do not know where she or her family nor do I know where Sam Little are buried. I posted a message on the Wyble page on rootsweb and a relative replied saying it was an interesting story but he knew of no psychic or paranormal powers in the family.
I have Wolford relatives in Adams Co. Just last week I discovered a David Little married a Wolford. I wonder if Rebecca and I are related.
Last week when I was there, I noticed the flowers I put on her grave earlier in the summer were still there and now there is an American flag. ( I wonder the significance.)
In all over the last 3 summers I have been to the cemetery 25 times to say hello. 24 of the times the rods pointed to her stone. The one time they did not, the rods pointed to her daughter Ann's stone.
Let me reiterate. I mean no disrespect to Rebecca or Ann or their family. I mean no disrespect to anyone who may be offended by reading this.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jim Avery on
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I went to Rebecca's grave yesterday. I wasn't wearing my 1863 clothes or my Confederate uniform. I took my Mag Lite and asked a series of yes or no questions. I have begun asking my questions as both positive and negative questions so that if I don't get a positive answer I can ask it as a negative and expect an answer. I don't believe the spirit that was there yesterday was Rebecca. I got a strong yes answer (Mag Lite coming on right away with a strong light) when I asked if it was someone other than Rebecca. This has happened before I don't know who this is. II asked if they were from Straban or Cumberland Townships of the Borough of Gettysburg and go no answer. I asked if they liked me to wear my Confederate uniform and found that they didn't like that. I asked if they were afraid of the Confederates and found that they were not afraid. I asked if the spirit was a soldier and got no answer but they answered yes to having relatives who were soldiers in the Union army. After a series of no answers I asked if they wanted me to leave and got a strong yes. I asked if it was OK to come back and got a weak yes. So I left. Next time will bring my voice recorder and do EVPs. It would be interesting to know who this other spirit is that keeps popping up. Although I couldn't get an answer I believe it is a male spirit. Any comments are appreciated.
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Permalink Reply by Beth McBride on
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Very interesting, Jim. I can just picture the grave site....literally, as I have a picture of it. Did you find out who Mrs Aspers is? Did you talk to Rebecca's daughter?
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Permalink Reply by Sarah Anthony on
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Jim, my first thought is that it is a male who is jealous of her attention/attraction to you. Perhaps, next time you should state your intentions are of a Genealogy nature, not personal. Have you experienced this other presence when you were in Uniform? Sarah
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Fascinating story. I have had the experience, on several occasions, that when I visit family in the cemetery I always have a discovery or contact from another researcher on that particular family.
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I was out to Rebecca's grave again today. It was a cold and blustery day. One thing about her confuses me. There is also a Rebecca Little witha daughter Ann who is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Gettysburg. I can't tell if this is the same person or different ladies. Both are on www.findagrave.com .
I think I have figured out who doesn't want me to visit her grave. Based on questions asked today using my mag lite, it appears that it is her husband Sam who does not want me there. I will go again when it is not so cold and ask the same questions again. Incidentally I was wearing my Confederate uniform today but without the sword. Knowing that the uniform seems to scare them next time I will wear my civilian clothes.
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This is starting to turn into a regular mystery. This Rebecca Little died on March 30, 1882 age 40. There is a Rebecca Little buried in Evergreen Cemetery whose tombstone says she died March 29, 1882 age 47. Could these be the same women. They both have a daughter named Ann based only on tombstone inscriptions. According to www.Findagrave.com her husband, Sam Little is buried in the National Cemetery, having served in the 205th PA Infantry. They were recruited in the summer of 1864 and therefore did not fight at Gettysburg.
I was at the historical society yesterday and that's where I found the tombstone inscriptions for Evergreen Cemetery. I found out they have the newspapers for that period and suggested that I come back on Saturday and search them. Plus a battlefield guide will be there who is on the board of Evergreen and maybe he knows about this family.
I showed this web post to the guy who was helping me and I think I sort of freaked all three of the people there out. Sure they have heard about ghosts, but not combined with genealogy and certainly not taken to this extreme.
Anyway I have a house tour on Saturday afternoon where I work and will be over at the historical society in Gettysburg in mid-morning and we shall see what happens.
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Well this certainly has taken a twist. I was at the Historical Society in Gettysburg yesterday. I looked at the cemetery and burial permits as well as newspaper death notices for Rebecca Little. The newspaper notices show a Rebecca J. (Jane) Little died on March 29, March 30 and March 31, 1882. www.findagrave.com shows two records for her - one in the Alms House and one in Evergreen Cemetery. The burial records for the Alms House cemetery log does not show a Rebecca Little or an Ann Little. But they certainly have tombstones. The burial permit shows Rebecca died March 29 of Consumption and she was buried the next day in Evergreen Cemetery.
They were without an explanation as to why she has two tombstones in two separate cemeteries. The Alms House burials were made in the order they died so Ann and Rebecca are not buried together. My question is why does Rebecca's spirit generally reside at the Alms House?
I am going to Gettysburg this afternoon and if it warms up may stop at Evergreen and see if I can get any response from her spirit there.I doubt if this mystery will ever be solved but seems to have makings of a Poe novel.
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Here is the latest on Rebecca Little and her tombstones. I stopped by the Historical Society on Saturday and showed a different staff person the two tombstones on Findagrave for Rebecca and her daughter at the Almshouse. Ann died in 1880 and there is no burial permit for her. This tells them that eventhough there is no record for her in the burial records there, she is probably still buried at the Almshouse. They did not need a burial permit to bury her there. Rebecca on the other hand is buried at Evergreen, the Gettysburg town cemetery according to the burial permit section D grave 128. She died in 1882.
Yesterday I went to work, but no tours so I stopped at the visitor's center and the Evergreen Cemetery on the way home. I found section D and the Wible family tombstones. That was her maiden name. But could not find Rebecca and Samuel Little's family markers. Section D is easy to find - right between Mary Virginia (Jenny) Wade (the only civilian killed at the battle) and John Burns ( the old man who had fought in the War of 1812 and persuaded someone to give him a gun to fight the rebels) Both have US flags flying over their graves all the time. I will return when the weather is a little more cooperative.
I also called the cemetery today and left a message that I was looking for Rebecca's grave and asked for directions or if she is even buried there. So the search goes on. This has gone from a paranormal search to a genealogical search.
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Yesterday, March 1, 2013 I called the cemetery manager at Evergreen and he tells me that Rebecca is indeed buried there. She is interred in the same grave as Sadie Wible (various spellings) That was Rebecca's maiden name. I am not sure how they are related. He didn't say when Sadie died. I photographed all the Wioble markers and there is no marker for Sadie. I am going to Gettysburg again today, tomorrow and Monday so will go to the cemetery again one of those days. Makes you wonder why her body is in Evergreen while her spirit is in the Almshouse cemetery. They had no record for her daughter Ann or her husband Samuel.
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This is all so interesting, however it disturbs me that any spirit would be in a cemetery. I was hoping we moved on to "better places."
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Hi Melissa - Thanks for your comment. I think in this case even though Rebecca is not buried in the cemetery, she is there because she is most comfortable in the Almshouse Cemetery because her daughter is buried there.
I don't believe that the "spirit" is the same as the person's soul which we would hope moves on to either a better place or the bad place. I believe the spirit is the energy that is left behind when we die. This spirit can be intelligent and can answer questions. So don't let it disturb you. Like I have said elsewhere in this Forum postings this is not exact science but is based on personal experiences.
Thanks again for your comments and questions.
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