Tales of the spooky, supernatural, and unexplained
Back in its heyday Prince Edward was one of the busiest counties in Virginia. Being Virginia’s first two-college town, having a direct railway line, and accounting for a large portion of Virginia’s tobacco crop, the town was full of life.
Over the years Prince Edward saw less and less visitors. Nowadays, the county is just another place on a map to those who don’t call it home. Prince Edward may not be as full of life as it once was, but many believe that it is still quite full of spirit…or spirits.
From Hampden Sydney College to Longwood University to local homes and businesses, in a place as old as Prince Edward one is bound to be living on top of someone else’s history. Understanding and respecting this history is the first step in truly appreciating this area. Many students come to Longwood and Hampden Sydney and see it for what it can offer them, but not many delve into what they can do to better connect with the community they are calling home.
Jimmy Hurt, president of the Farmville-Prince Edward Historical Society has lived in Farmville his whole life. He grew up working in his father’s grocery store in Farmville. Hurt said, “Growing up I would hear the old stories and history of old Farmville during their visits with my dad.”
His father’s friends would come in and swap spooky stories, and Hurt felt called to learn more about the area’s history and share what he found with his community. Examples of what Hurt has learned about the community and shared through the Farmville-Prince Edward Historical Society can be found on their Youtube Channel which has recordings of their meetings.
John Burton, vice president of the Farmville-Prince Edward Historical Society, said that he became interested in the county’s history in 2015 when he received a digital copy of old photographs of downtown Farmville. He said, “Looking at those photos reminded me that we are all snapshots in time.”
In terms of what role he thinks the supernatural plays in this history and the community’s modern connection to it Burton said, “People also love the idea of immortality, leaving something of yourself behind after you’re gone. People love mysteries and the unexplainable, bizarre and macabre.”
No one can prove whether or not any of these stories hold any truth, but people are enthralled with stories of the supernatural. A poll conducted in 2013 found that 42% of Americans believe in ghosts. Almost half of the country believes in a phenomenon that has not been proven through any scientific methods, why?
Luke Taylor of Discover Magazine spoke with Christopher French, a psychologist heading up the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at London’s Goldsmiths University, who contributes paranormal experiences to patternicity and pareidolia. Patternicity is "the tendency to see false connections in unrelated or meaningless data" and pareidolia is "the tendency to see recognizable patterns or objects in things, such as a face in a cloud." French says that it is likely due to survival instinct that the mind seeks out stimuli and explanation, even when none is present.
Barry Markovsky, a sociologist at the University of South Carolina, further supports this ideology. He says that "Ghosts are almost always seen under ambiguous circumstances — such as in poor lighting, or when we're just waking up or falling asleep, when our senses are not at their peak function," or in situations in which they are primed to seek paranormal explanations, like dark or abandoned places.
Whether or not the stories of Prince Edward's undead are just the product of tricks played on the mind is subjective, but the excitement they incite provides a connection back in time into the lives of those who once walked these streets. People come to college to find themselves, a purpose, a life of their own, but oftentimes overlook the role their environment has on this process. Prince Edward has been a home to college students for centuries, but have the college and county communities always felt so disjointed? Stories like these have the potential to pull students from both schools further into the community they inhabit during their college years. Prince Edward takes care of its students, it is owed to the community to, at least, understand its history and what it means to those who call this county home.