Why does She Haunt her former house? Pt.2

The Mysterious Tale of Nell Cropsey

(Continued from yesterday)

     With the discovery of Nell’s body, the town went insane. A lynch mob had descended upon the jail demanding that Wilcox be released to them. Nell’s parents refused to join the mob and pleaded with them to let justice prevail in the courts. It became so bad that the Governor sent in a small group of naval reservists to disperse the growing crowd.

     Two trials were held for Jim Wilcox. At the first trial, he received a guilty sentence but it was overturned when the North Carolina Supreme Court declared a mistrial. A second trial was held charging Wilcox with second degree murder and he was sentenced to thirty years imprisonment. At neither of these trials did Wilcox take the stand in his own defense. In 1920, Wilcox was given a pardon by then Governor Thomas Bickett and he was released from prison. 

     Shortly before his death in 1932, Wilcox spoke to the editor of the Elizabeth City Newspaper and revealed everything he knew about the murder. That editor, W.O. Saunders, walked away afterwards, convinced of the innocence of Jim Wilcox and planned to publish the full details. However, two weeks after the interview, Jim Wilcox committed suicide and shortly after that, Saunders died in an automobile accident, with what had been told to him by Wilcox, dying with him. The article was never published. Up until his dying day, Wilcox continued to proclaim his innocence in the death of Nell Cropsey. 

     For over a century now, those who hae lived in the Cropsey house in Elizabeth City, North Carolina have reported strange happenings. Lights have switched onand off by themselves, doors will open and close of their own accord and many people passing the house on the street have reported sighting a ghostly figure of a young woman looking out of an upstairs. Residents of the house have seen the apparition of Nell Cropsey as she roams the halls, appearing and then disappearing in bedrooms. The current resident’s son has even caught a glimpse of her. At first, the present owners of the house were afraid but over the course of time, they’ve all come to gladly share the home with her. It was her house to begin with after all and it’s just southern hospitality to accept Nell as a part of the household. She’s a quiet kind of ghost - never heard but always seen.  If it was possible to ask Nell about that tragic night so many decades ago when she lost her life, I wonder what she would tell us? I wonder if telling us would release her earth-bound spirit and allow it the peace she deserves? Or does she haunt the family home for another reason?

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