Stuart Hall's Ghost Stories
All places have things that go “bump!” in the night, and Stuart Hall is no different. From the White Lady to the Blue Boy, Stuart Hall is home to many creepies, crawlies, haunted radiators, and possibly even some ghosts. We at The Spectator wanted to investigate some of the stories.
One creepy story comes from a teacher here..Late at night, when everyone else was asleep, this teacher was locking all the doors and turning off all the lights when they heard a strange noise. The Teacher had just walked through the pitch black Bishop’s Way, and, now standing in front of the Auditorium, they heard a laugh coming from the dark hall. No one should have been there. The hall was pitch black so the teacher couldn’t see. Maybe it was just a border up past lights out or a dorm parent. Or, maybe, it was a comedic ghost looking for an opportunity to cause some mischief.
Now, that isn’t the only ghost story at STU. Near the front desk lies an inconspicuous black and white photograph of Stuart Hall students (back when it was the Virginia Female Institute). However, if you take a moment to get a good look at the photo, you may notice an even more inconspicuous short figure in the back window. This figure is rumored to be the Blue Boy.
According to one student, The Blue Boy was either the brother of one of the girls attending VFI, or her lover. The story goes like this: One night during a blizzard a student's brother came for a visit. Since it was a school for girls, boys were not readily permitted to visit, especially not at night, so when the boy arrived, he was turned away. The boy ended up freezing to death on the front porch because of the blizzard. This is why he is called The Blue Boy: he was so cold that he turned blue. Depending on who you ask, you can hear many different versions of The Blue Boy story.
Now, on cold days and nights, several boarders have heard knocking on their windows. This knocking is allegedly the Blue Boy calling for help. One student recalls their desk shaking and a strange tapping sound from the window during class on an eerily cold day in Spring. When the student looked over at the window, the tapping stopped, and no one was there. Maybe there was someone there, though, maybe it was even The Blue Boy.
Here is where the story gets really weird. Remember the photo with The Blue Boy in it? Well, it is not the only one. We at The Spectator have tracked down a second photo in the Stuart Hall archives and seen it with our own eyes. Sure enough, there in the same window, in photos taken years apart, is that small, faint face. This photo used to hang near the other photo, but it was taken down years ago because it was causing distress among the students. It’s impossible for a human to not grow or change at all in the span of twenty years, so who could that face be? Possibly it is the ghost of a little boy who died years ago on the steps of the school, The Blue Boy.
This is not the only ghost who might haunt these halls though. Perhaps even more infamous than The Blue Boy, is The White Lady. While apparently the ghost story is just a story, several boarders still claim to have seen her. While the legend of the White Lady has many variations, the supposed true version of the story comes from a former headmaster, Mr. Patrick Basset.
The legend goes that Miss Bonnie White, an instructor of piano and voice at the school back in 1864, had a lover named Robert Moses. Robert Moses was a West Point graduate who later joined the Confederacy as a Lieutenant. He was madly in love with Miss White and wrote to her constantly, sometimes twice a day. He promised that as soon as the war was over they would get married. However, that day would never come. One October day in 1864 Miss White received a telegram... She had hoped that it was news from Robert, that he would be able to leave the army and ask for Miss White’s hand in marriage, like he promised in the letters. The telegram was not from Lientant Moses, though, but rather his commanding officer, General Early. General Early’s message regretfully informed Miss White about the “valiant and courageous sacrifice of [Lt. Moses’] life to save his brothers of the confederacy.”
Bonnie was so heartbroken by her lover's death that she locked herself in her room and starved herself to death. Legend has it that she could be heard scratching her fingernails against the door as she lay there in hunger and heartbreak. From then on she has haunted the halls of the school. Listen closely at night–and you might just hear her. Or perhaps you will even see her.
Over the years, several borders have seen a ghostly figure in a white wedding dress stalking the halls. One account claims that they saw the White Lady in a mirror after brushing their teeth in the morning. One alleged spotting of the White Lady is from a former student, Robin Kresge Incheck '09. According to Robin,"There was a play in the King theater, and I came upstairs to get stuff from my locker after. At the top of the stairs going up to the middle school, I saw a flash of white out of the corner of my eye and felt cold."
Stuart Hall is home to many things spooky, scary, and creepy. Whether it be the White Lady crying at night or the Blue Boy knocking on your math class window, just know that maybe you aren’t alone... Next time you hear a tapping noise, don’t assume it's just the radiators. Next time you see a white flash in the corner of your eye, don’t assume it's just a trick of the mind. Because, who knows, it may be a ghost!
Liam Evans
Special thanks to Val Wehring