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The Grave Sites In My Yard

 

I moved into a house with my family in Opelousas. They lived on the side of the city called ''The trash pile'', not far from Holy Ghost Catholic Church. At night, sometimes we would hear footsteps in the hallway and voices around the house. I told my mom about what I was experiencing and she laughed it off and told me there were no ghosts in that house. So I ignored all that I heard because I wasn't seeing anything. I figured I must be just paranoid from being in a house I wasn't used to.

One day, I was standing outside with a friend on what I thought was the walk way that led to the front steps. I looked down and my jaw dropped. I asked my friend, ''Are those graves?!'' Whoever lived there before us, placed door mats there to cover them. They were partly destroyed graves (2 vertical long marble slabs one above the other) with French writing on them. One said Francois Neda and the other says Feliciane. I can't remember Feliciane's last name or the dates on them. But I do remember the dates being around the 1700's.

My dad said they had just found out they were graves by asking the landlord. I do not speak french and neither does my family. But with the use of the internet, I interpreted the words "Here lies..." which was enough for me to want to get the hell out of there. Despite the noises in the house, my family wasn't bothered by it and left the door mats on top of the words.

I just could not believe I had been walking on people's graves all that time thinking they were a concrete walk way. They are right in front of the porch as if they were purposely put there as a walk way. I should have known. Because every time it would rain, if you weren't careful you would slide all over them. So I kind of figured it wasn't concrete we were walking on.

We later found out, the landlord's father built the house with his own two hands and made the graves blend in as if they are a concrete walkway leading up to the porch. Clever but kind of crazy! I decided to do some research on these people. Because if they were ghosts, I wanted to know who or what I was dealing with. I found out that Francois was from France and was a plantation owner (buried on his land), one of the very first respected business men in Opelousas, and also served as Mayor. I couldn't find any information on Feliciane.

I am a little bit interested in the paranormal so my brother, cousin, and I decided to do an investigation. I was too scared to take pictures but we caught an EVP of two or more women having a conversation. My brother got scared and said we should delete the recordings and leave well enough alone. So we did.

And it didn't take long for that house to explode with activity. We were getting touched and hearing more noises and voices than ever. One night, I had some friends over. There were 3 glasses on the table and they all literally split in half perfectly by themselves. There was no dramatic temperature change and nobody was around to touch the glass. They didn't even move off the table.

Later that night, I was going to the bathroom and saw a tall slim man dressed in period clothing. He didn't seem threatening but it scared the hell out of me. I'd never seen a ghost in person before and I could not take anymore and decided to move in with my brother. But I wasn't the only person in the house to get a glimpse of the tall man. He never interacted with anyone. He seemed to be in his own world when we would see him. Only my mom saw the ghost of a young pregnant woman. She interacts with people... So I've heard. I've never seen her but I believe she is Feliciane.

My mom called me one morning crying saying she couldn't take it anymore and my dad refused to believe her. That is until he and my mom were alone and both heard a woman singing in the kitchen and that's when they finally started talking about moving. Needless to say, they moved out right after. It didn't take long for someone else to move in and move right out soon after. I feel bad for opening that can of worms. Maybe we should have left well enough alone.

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, Josee337Bee, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

gemini_syndrome (1 stories) (6 posts)
 
10 years ago (2014-04-27)
I like your story and You kind of have to feel bad for Francois and Feliciane though. They were probably just forgotten, lonely spirits trying to get attention. It is considered to be very disrespectful to build over a resting place. So the spirits are probably very distressed. I hope things are going well for you now.
lostghostgal (69 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-07-08)
I am from Louisiana only baton rouge and very interest story and alots of paranormal there.
lostghostgal (69 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-07-08)
Build place over the Graves/Cemterey is disrespect I hear alots about it and I don't know why they do that and I think the spirits not happy what the landlord's father did to their graves.
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
 
11 years ago (2013-06-19)
Josee337Bee, you know, I was remiss in thanking you for clearing up the shroud of doubt on your story. You explained it beautifully. I can see how that could happen. I know sometimes, I'll use real life experience in my fictional stories, and I can see that happening to me one day.
I don't see why you couldn't move back there. You didn't mention anything harmful... Just very odd.
Josee337Bee (1 stories) (3 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-06-18)
Thanks for the information. I found it easily... And I forgot to add. Where I live, there ARE in ground burials. I live in southwest Louisiana. All of my deceased family is buried in the ground but in a cemetery that is high up called Bellevue Memorial Park Cemetery. Again, you are correct about bodies being able to come up cause of the flooding. It actually happened a couple years back in Myrtle Grove cemetery and Little Zion Baptist Church Cemetery where record breaking floods did cause the bodies to come up out of the ground. You can research that too if you'd like.
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
 
11 years ago (2013-06-18)
The main site is http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/stlandry/history/settlers.txt You'll find a paragraph under CHASED BY REVOLUTION.

You'll find my email listed on my profile. Please put YGS in the subject line. I'd love to see those markers. Thanks!
Josee337Bee (1 stories) (3 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-06-18)
To anyone who might not believe these graves exists in that yard, I am willing to go take pictures and email them. Valkricry, your information is totally right. Could you give me the site? I would love to show it to my family. But the church is not called "St. Landry Catholic Church" anymore. It is Holy Ghost Catholic Church now. The land we lived on used to be a part of the church. Pretty much the entire neighborhood used to be a part of St Landry Catholic Church. All you non believers should go and visit the area around Holy Ghost Catholic Church. The street I lived on is called Perry Ln. There is a graveyard around the corner that I was told used to be a part of the church and was once much much bigger than it is now. I assume the rest of it was demolished to build houses.
Josee337Bee (1 stories) (3 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-06-18)
It's been a while since I wrote this story or even came to this site and to ease everyone's minds... My cousin and I did write the other story on Ghost's of America. We did not take it seriously on that site and I am sorry for any confusion it might have caused. It might be hard to take this serious because of it but I assure everyone I did not plagiarize or make anything up on this particular site. I admit, we changed a lot of the details to make the story more entertaining and to remain anonymous. I did this story on my own to see if I could get some truthful information on what me and my family were experiencing. The landlord of the house is friends of my family and he can't get anyone to move in there these days. I am thinking about moving back there with a roommate since the rent is so low there and I can't afford where I live now. So, I am interested in getting someone out there to investigate. If anyone has information on who I could contact to come here in Opelousas, I would really appreciate it. Again, I am sorry for any confusion caused by our story on the Ghost's of America site. I will have the story removed if I can.
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
 
11 years ago (2013-05-20)
Thanks,Granny. Generally, because Louisiana (at least most of it) is below sea-level in ground burial is almost impossible. Flooding causes the coffins to surface and float away! Can you imagine seeing coffins bobbing along? Or worse see them surfacing? 😨 That would be creepy. So they 'borrowed' a Spanish custom of using vaults to inter the dead. Many cemeteries are referred to as 'Cities of the dead' because all those mausleums appear like tiny houses giving the rows an image of 'streets'.
zzsgranny (18 stories) (3329 posts) mod
 
11 years ago (2013-05-20)
Val, something else you may be interesting in viewing:
Http://www.flickr.com/photos/thecajun/sets/72157629449205404/
It's a tour the church conducts of the cemetery. The most interesting thing is the way people are interred. Like many places in Louisiana, the deceased aren't buried in the earth. One more reason to believe your first conclusion of the stones being mistakes.
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
+2
11 years ago (2013-05-20)
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, Granny, can we have a picinic -Puh-leeeese? πŸ˜† πŸ˜† Ooooh- thanks, tonight I'll probably dream of Howdy chasing me with a blanket! *giggles*.
Oh, for those concerned over the suppose 'graves' of Francois Neda, some of what the OP said was true, he was one of the early settlers of Opelousas, and did stand in as mayor several times. He not only owned a large plantation, but many slaves as well and... Was from Spain. Although I do not find a record of his exact burial spot, he died April 4,1850 and was buried at St Landry Catholic Church.
zzsgranny (18 stories) (3329 posts) mod
+1
11 years ago (2013-05-20)
Val: *sung to the tune from Howdy Doody* It's BS Blankie time, it's BS Blankie time! πŸ˜† πŸ˜† πŸ˜†
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
+1
11 years ago (2013-05-20)
Well, the changes in the story lead me to believe that it is just that a STORY. Unless the op's mother is also her boyfriend? πŸ˜•
zzsgranny (18 stories) (3329 posts) mod
 
11 years ago (2013-05-20)
I assure you, it is the same author 😊. There are ways for admins to gain that type of information. The whole reason I contacted them to begin with was my suspicions of plagiarism, and Granny don't play that! πŸ˜†
misstee4 (21 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-20)
this can't be the same person who wrote the original story. Why change certain things in the story if that was the case?
zzsgranny (18 stories) (3329 posts) mod
 
11 years ago (2013-05-20)
legomaniac: Yes, it is posted there. I've already contacted that site's admin, but since both stories were submitted to both sites at practically the same time, we decided to let it go. It is the same person, LOL.
legomaniac923 (1 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-05-20)
this story has to be stolen from ghosts of America, I just read that one. Same exact story with character twists
mamachong (11 stories) (228 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-04-20)
Thanks for the input Val.
That is why I have a hard time with the owner doing that with the graves. If the owner did that with the graves then I find that distasteful and disrespectful.
Bornparanormal (19 posts)
-1
11 years ago (2013-04-20)
Wait you played a prank on a hunted house carma is coming your way and if you don't believe me then wait and see
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
+1
11 years ago (2013-04-19)
mamachong,
I do know that often markers that have been misengraved will be reused as flagstones in some areas. However these are usually used 'face down' that is with the engraved side downwards. Also, most people that I know consider walking on graves at a minimum impolite, if not unlucky, and disrespectful of the dead, so I have a hard time with believing someone would use them as a walkway (being an actual grave). Besides there is this descrepency, "they were covered with doormats" and then "I looked down and my jaw dropped. I asked my friend, ''Are those graves?!'' Evidently, whomever wrote this has xray vision and can see through the mats? Another bit of 'grave trivia' is in the 1700s most headstones were placed upright, not flat like today's plaques. A few graves were covered by a flat 'sheet' but these were literally grave-size - way too large to be mistaken for a walkway or covered by door mats.
mamachong (11 stories) (228 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2013-04-19)
There's one thing I don't understand... Why would the owner build the house so close to the graves and use the graves as a walkway?
zzsgranny (18 stories) (3329 posts) mod
+2
11 years ago (2013-04-19)
Before we jump on the "plagiarism" train, we have to make sure this person is the same one who posted on the site "Ghosts of America". If we don't hear from this poster soon, I'll contact Martin to remove it because I really, really dislike those who steal stories. 😐
TalonWalt (3 stories) (69 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2013-04-19)
This story was plagarised from The Ghosts Of America site, with subtle changes here and there. 😒
demonicsheikh (55 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-04-19)
This goes to show you that neither build nor live on the burial ground.
girlie (15 stories) (426 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-04-19)
I didn't matter what you did. But you shouldn't have been scared. They weren't hurting anyone. You should have finish what the graves said. It might help on why they are there and how they died.
GIRLIE ❀
zzsgranny (18 stories) (3329 posts) mod
 
11 years ago (2013-04-18)
Thanks Val! That's it. But I'd like to know if this person is the same one. We don't condone plagiarism. 😊
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
 
11 years ago (2013-04-18)
zzsgranny (18 stories) (3329 posts) mod
 
11 years ago (2013-04-18)
Josee337Bee: I seem to remember reading this story somewhere else... Have you published it elsewhere?
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
 
11 years ago (2013-04-18)
Josee337Bee,
Anytime you see something you don't expect, it is going to give you a start. However the male spirit you described sounds residual. The woman, well if she's interacting with people then she is what they call an intelligent haunting. (I really dislike that term. It makes me think that then there should be a 'stupid haunting' as well.)
Gravestones as stepping stones... If that doesn't beat all.

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