MOUNT OLIVE MESSENGER: A ghostly stroll through history
By Melinda Harrell
Published in News on July 23, 2017 6:41 PM
Full Size
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Paige Newcomb stands beside tombstones in Myrtle Grove, the oldest section of Maplewood Cemetery, last Tuesday. Ms. Newcomb is one of the organizers of the upcoming Mount Olive ghost walk in October sponsored by Steele Memorial Library and the Mount Olive Area Historical Society. They are looking for people to provide information and possibly participate in the walk that will tour the old graveyard.
The cemetery on East James Street is lined with weathered and cracked gravestones marking the resting place of some more than 100 years gone.
Some etchings are hardly recognizable with the once slate gray stones now turned into a nondescript, mossy black, but walking through the cemetery, the death dates on the monuments read as far back to 1900 and beyond that even and the birth dates as far back as the mid-1800s.
Buried in Maplewood -- or Oak View more accurately -- are beloved mothers, fathers, Civil War soldiers and children from the old families of Mount Olive.
The oldest section of the cemetery, located on the south side of East James Street is named Myrtle Grove.
These families built the town and now, as modern thoroughfares and homes have been constructed around it, walking through the cemetery is almost like taking a step back in time.
It is that atmosphere and the history that inspired the idea of a ghost walk, said Paige Newcomb, reference librarian assistant at Steele Memorial Library.
She said the library is collaborating with the Mount Olive Area Historical Society to host an event that will not only entertain, but enlighten participants about the town's rich history.
"I'm really excited and looking forward to the walk because there is so much history in Mount Olive," she said.
As the historical society and library are gearing up for the event, which is expected to be scheduled some time at the end of October, organizers are asking people who are descended from those buried in Maplewood to come forward and participate.
Those descendants can provide stories of their family and even dress in period costumes and talk of their family to those on the walk, Ms. Newcomb said.
"Right now, we are reaching out to the community to find descendants of those buried in the cemetery," she said. "We hope to have at least five 'ghosts' on the walk."
Ms. Newcomb promised that the walk will be appropriately eerie, with candles lighting the way, and period costuming adding a ghoulish touch.
She said Ken Dilda, of the historical society and ghost walk coordinator, has a map of everyone buried in the cemetery and has already compiled a history.
Ms. Newcomb also encourages anyone wanting to participate -- whether they are descendants of the dead in Maplewood or not -- to call the library at 919-299-8105 ext. 8001.