1 – The Ghosts of Perry, FL

The Ghosts of Perry, Florida

By Madonna Dries Christensen and Christopher James

The gray concrete block three-story house with a rounded tower capped by a conical roof stands like a fortress on a corner in this small town in the Florida Panhandle. The castle owners, Christopher and Leah James, operate a gift and floral shop within Greystone Manor. But Christopher will not go there alone. He’s heard voices when no one else was present, voices that call his name in a taunting manner. Passersby have reported seeing a man’s figure at the window in the tower, or a woman’s face. Ghost hunters who spent time there detected spirits; they recorded voices, and saw unexplained orbs of light. One medium senses that the house is a portal for spirits.

At an online site called HalloweenForum.com, someone revealed that when he was a child in the 1970s, his sister lived in the house, which had been converted to apartments. He heard strange noises, doors opening and closing, floors creaking. He saw nothing unusual, but that was because he buried his head under the covers all night. He never went to the house again.
A person with the screen name Haunted Hacienda wrote that he/she is a Psychic Medium. Although HH has not been to Greystone Manor, from what others wrote HH feels there’s a strong male energy there. HH believes the spirit belongs to someone from the late 1700s to the mid-1800s who was probably wealthy, prominent, had servants, and once owned the property. (The house was built in 1904, but the man could have owned another house there or owned only the land.) HH says he was not well-liked, and when he died he did not have a good transition. The spirit is angry because he is not being shown the attention he once enjoyed. HH describes the man as tall, medium build, dark hair and eyes, small moustache, who walks quickly. He dislikes visitors.
A local woman told Christopher this story. Let’s call her Jane. In the 1960s/70s, the elderly woman who owned Greystone Manor rented rooms, the lowest rate in town. Jane stopped by, and the landlady said she had one room, in the tower. Showing the room, the landlady said, “There’s just one thing.” She indicated two windows, across from one another. “You have to keep those windows open because that’s how the ghosts get in and out.” Jane did not rent the room.
Christopher:
The house, built in 1904, once served as a morgue. When I bought this house (in 2006) I had no idea it was haunted. It didn’t take long to figure it out, though. It started as strange noises and sensations.
There’s a window in the tower that I closed every day and returned to find it open again. I finally gave up on that one. The clock in the kitchen died every day or so. I stopped putting batteries in it because it would cost a fortune to keep it running.

I had a runner rug at the front door that I found rolled up or moved. My Christmas things were pulled from the attic, as if children were playing with them. My fireplaces growl; the water in the bathroom turns on by itself; doors slam for no apparent reason, and people say they see someone standing in the tower window (when none of us are there).
I had a woman wallpapering the “children’s bedroom.” She kept telling me she heard little girls’ voices. I told her it was probably just her imagination. Then she started seeing kids peering at her through a crack in the closet door. This unnerved me. I really got creeped out when she ran from the house screaming. She left all her things in the unfinished bedroom and told me she was leaving, never to return. She swears the children’s voices screamed at her, “Get out of our house.” I still have her belongings; she refuses to come get them for fear they are possessed!
I would love to believe that the house isn’t haunted and that it is just coincidence, but too many things have happened. After all, there were about 20 recorded deaths here in the past. Twelve known ghosts haunt this house. Ten are children who died in a fire in an orphanage in 1870, before this house was built. One of the young ghosts’ names is Sarah. Voices have called her name.
Another identified ghost is a prostitute who was stabbed to death (17 times) in the bathtub. The tub is still in the house. Another possible ghost is a man who hung himself in the tower after discovering his wife’s affair. No contact has been made with this man.
Strange things occur here and I’d be glad to talk to anyone who has questions or information concerning the history of Greystone Manor. Thanks to Shadow Chasers of The Big Bend for confirming paranormal activity here.
Madonna:
Christopher and his family live a block from Greystone Manor in another Victorian mansion, circa 1900. On a sweltering day, Christopher and a friend, Jason, were in the garden erecting a gazebo. Christopher saw a woman walking in the yard. Her hair was piled on top of her head; she wore a long white dress, and carried a basket on her arm. New in town, Christopher said to Jason, “Who’s that woman in my yard?”
Jason looked up and said, “What woman?”
Christopher pointed. “Right over there.” Jason saw no one. Later, standing a few feet apart, they both felt a cold breeze pass between them. A neighbor, who was sitting outside and had earlier complained about the heat, said he did not feel a breeze.

Christopher later learned that a woman who lived in the house long ago had a bountiful garden. She often took a basket and gathered flowers and vegetables to give her neighbors. Christopher is a creative and skilled gardener. His garden in Perry and his previous garden in North Palm Beach have been featured in Florida Gardening magazine; the NPB garden was also featured in Easy Care Landscaping. He believes that his Perry garden flourishes beyond what it should. Might he, or his plants, receive spiritual energy from the woman in white?
Christopher told no one about the woman in the garden, nor about the footsteps heard on the upper floor, nor about what sounded like a cane thumping on the floor. But when his son, Michael, later reported that he saw a woman sitting on the back porch reading, the description fit the woman in the garden.
A guest, who knew nothing about these sightings, wanted to tour the house. As she and Christopher reached the top of the stairs to the second floor, she stopped, and screamed. She said she saw a woman at the other end of the hall. She wore a long white dress and was carrying a basket. The guest left and never returned.
Christopher says the woman in white has not been seen for some time, that perhaps she’s satisfied with the family who lives in her house and has resurrected her garden.
One other incident unhinged Christopher.

Having a lot of energy and not requiring much sleep, he was painting a room at three in the morning. He was alone; Leah was on her way home from their other residence. Suddenly, a green light shot out of the wall, flew around the room like a neon laser, and sunk back into the wall. He thought it was a reflection from outside, or maybe a firefly had come inside. He awakened a friend with a phone call, asking “Are there fireflies around here?” Barely awake, she asked what on earth he was talking about. He explained briefly, hung up and dialed Leah’s cell phone. Badly shaken and in tears, he told Leah what he’d seen and said he wanted to move, he couldn’t take this any longer.

He wondered if this had anything to do with his losing three people close to him in the previous few months. Leah calmed him and said she’d be home in an hour. He waited outside for her. When she arrived, they sat together and she talked him into going back into the room. They sat quietly but nothing happened. Then it did; Leah saw the bouncing light. She convinced Christopher that whatever it was, it would not harm them. They still live there.
Are the Jameses two houses haunted? You decide.
(Christopher offers tours of his garden/home, and Greystone Manor. For details, call 561-379-6194.)

Vol. 37 No. 3 – Yesterday’s Magazette – Fall – 2010