Tales of Ghostly Lovers and Spooky Soul Mates

Check out these stories of tragically lovesick ghosts.

By: Allee Sangiolo

Show: Ghost Adventures

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Ever felt a little too hung up on an ex? Cheer up, because chances are you don’t have it quite as bad as these unlucky lovers. That is, unless you were planning on spending the rest of your life (and death) sitting in a rocking chair waiting for your love to return from sea, or stuck in your bedroom sobbing for all eternity. Here are some of America’s most tragically lovesick ghosts.

Longfellow's Wayside Inn

Jershua Howe is said to still haunt the Massachusetts inn that she lived and worked in. She fell in love with a British man who promised to return to America to marry her, but she died a single woman. She had patiently waited for 44 years. She enjoys teasing the guests of the inn while she continues to wait for her long-lost love.

Governor's Mansion

In 1864 a 19-year-old boy shot himself in the head in a bedroom of the Governor’s Mansion. The woman he loved had refused his hand in marriage. For years, no one would sleep in the room because of the unexplainable banging sounds, and the room was sealed off some time after the Civil War. In 1925 the boy’s bedroom was opened up again, and people still report hearing muffled sobs coming from the room.

Henderson State University

A young boy from what was once a Methodist college fell in love with a girl from the nearby Baptist university. Friends convinced the boy to stop seeing the girl he loved because of their different religions, and he asked someone else to the homecoming dance. When his love found out he was taking someone else, she was so distraught that she committed suicide. Students call her the “black lady,” and every year during homecoming she wanders the halls of the women’s dorms at Henderson State University, looking for the girl who stole her love from her.

Santa Clara House

A young married woman had an affair with a traveling salesman from San Francisco. When she found out she was pregnant with his child, she hung herself in her attic. The former Victorian home is now a restaurant, and customers have seen her wandering the upstairs ladies’ bathroom and staring out the window, waiting for her lover to come back to her.

Chatham Manor

The “lady in white” is said to wander along a path leading to the Rappahannock River, searching for her soul mate. Her father, an Englishman, brought her to the Chatham House in a desperate attempt to destroy her romance with a commoner. Her lover followed her to America, and the 2 planned to run away together. Their plans were discovered, the boy arrested, and the girl quickly taken back to England. The girl vowed to return to Chatham Manor to find the boy she loved. She was first seen wandering the path on June 21,1790, the day she died, and is rumored to return every 7 years on the anniversary of her death.

Emily's Bridge

Legend has it that a girl named Emily was in love with a boy her parents didn’t approve of. They arranged to meet at the Gold Brook Bridge to run away together. When he didn’t show up, she took the rope that she had used to tie together her sack of belongings and hung herself from the bridge. People have reported hearing banging, footsteps, a girl screaming and ropes tightening.

Casablanca Inn

A widowed innkeeper fell in love with a rumrunner during prohibition who made his living smuggling alcohol to the US on his boat. The innkeeper would keep watch on her roof, signaling with a lantern if it was not safe to come in from sea. On a stormy night she saw federal agents patrolling and waved her lantern to warn her lover. She never saw him again. People still report seeing a woman standing on the roof, waving a light back and forth.

Don CeSar Hotel

Thomas Rowe was studying in Europe when he fell in love with a woman named Lucinda. Lucinda’s parents didn’t approve of their relationship, and forbid them to see each other. Rowe eventually returned to America, and one day received a letter from Lucinda. On her deathbed she had written, “Time is infinite. I wait for you by our fountain ... to share our timeless love, our destiny is time.” When Rowe built the Don CeSar hotel, he included a replica of their fountain. The lovers have been spotted holding hands and strolling by on many occasions.

17Hundred90 Inn and Restaurant

A servant girl named Anna fell in love with a sailor while working at the inn. When he left, she couldn’t stand the sight of his ship disappearing down the Savannah River and threw herself into the brick courtyard. Guests have spotted the brokenhearted Anna rocking in chairs, opening windows, and walking up and down the stairs -- waiting for her sailor to return.