Ghosts of Old Salem, North Carolina by G.T. Montgomery

Author:G.T. Montgomery [Montgomery, G.T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Travel, Museums; Tours; & Points of Interest, History, Americas, United States, Religion & Spirituality, New Age
ISBN: 9781625849984
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Published: 2014-08-05T04:00:00+00:00

An aerial view of God’s Acre from 1950. On the horizon, the 1929 tower at the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company headquarters can be seen. Courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection.

Completing the sad pattern of tragedy, Reynolds and Holman’s only child together, Christopher Reynolds, also met an untimely end, though his birth was a miracle in and of itself. Holman, in fact, was pregnant with her son at the time Smith Reynolds mysteriously died. Some accounts argue that Holman and Reynolds were fighting about the coming child just before the gunshot sounded. Also, when questioned over the shooting, Holman told authorities that, in spite of being pregnant, she had been drinking to the point of blackout.

Still, the pregnancy survived the traumatic events, and—though it happened three months prematurely—Holman gave birth to Christopher on January 10, 1933. Nevertheless, Christopher, or “Topper” as he would come to be known, never made it past his teenaged years. At only seventeen, Reynolds and Holman’s one child died in a mountain-climbing accident on California’s Mount Whitney.

The great quantity of tragedy and grief within the lives of Mary Reynolds’s brother, sister-in-law and nephew is an important factor to weigh when considering the tale of Babcock Hall. The residence hall is, in fact, named for Mary Reynolds, who married Charles Babcock in 1929, thus assuming his last name. Mary was herself a graduate from Salem, from whence she traveled to Paris and studied art for a number of months.

In addition to attaching her name to its newest residence hall, Salem College wanted to honor the Reynolds daughter in another way, too. A portrait of Mary was commissioned, painted and hung in the building’s lobby. Portrait in place, the new residence hall opened in 1955, two years after Mary’s passing.

That fall semester in 1955, Babcock Hall saw its first residents, who, for the most part, were pleased with their lodging. The building was a great complement to the rest of the architecture on Salem’s campus, its beds were as comfortable as to be expected and certain special touches had been provided, such as the pianos in common areas that students could play to unwind. It was a fine housing assignment to receive, all except for one thing: the portrait of Mary Reynolds Babcock hanging in the lobby.

Within the first few weeks of the semester, the female students began to notice something strange about the portrait: no matter where one stood within the foyer of the building, it appeared that the eyes of Mary Reynolds Babcock were locked on your person. Having noticed it but unfazed by the observation, the students went about their way, only mentioning it to one another casually to see if anyone else had noticed the strange nature of the painting. Without fail, most every young lady assigned to live within the residence hall had had the same experience: glancing up in the direction of the piece of art only to find Mary’s stare looking back.

As the first few weeks of the semester

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