This ‘ supernatural ’ 1917 photograph of Charles Lapham contains an early form of Photoshopping to add portraits and photographs of dead people . Photo submitted from Thomas County Historical Society
“ The spirit picture was an early form of photoshopping , in which the same negative would be used to take multiple exposures to create the image but was sold as a ‘ supernatural ’ item ,” said Ephraim Rotter , Thomas
County Historical Society curator . “ People would bring in portraits and photographs of deceased ancestors , etc .”
On a night when Walters was reading Edgar Allan Poe , the house was dark , with the exception of candles and her reading light . Readings were done from a balcony over the living room . Performers sat on stairs leading down to the balcony .
A performer on the staircase said she felt a tap on her shoulder and saw a little girl .
“ She firmly believed it was ( Mr .) Lapham ’ s daughter , who died in the house of pneumonia ,” Walters said .
Walters occasionally heard sounds , creaking and wind blowing under the house , which has 45 doors . The house is not insulated , resulting in more noises .
“ You ’ re going to have to do something better than that . You ’ re going to have to do something to impress me ,” Walters , who spent nights alone in the house , told the ghosts .
Sometimes she heard wind blowing down the staircase . Other times she had an uncanny feeling someone was watching her .
“ But nothing ever came of it ,” Walters said .
Not until about 10 p . m . on a stormy night when she was alone in the house decorating the ceiling for Thomasville ’ s annual Victorian Christmas celebration .
Walters did not like to climb ladders when no one else was around but on that night she did . While on the ladder , she heard something and saw a large lithograph moving back and forth on the wall where it hung .
“ I got down off the ladder ,” Walters said . “ I sat down and watched it shake .”
The framed artwork continued to shake for five minutes . Walters could not take her eyes off the moving lithograph .
Eventually , she climbed the ladder again and continued decorating . The shaking began again . Walters got off the ladder and waited until the shaking stopped . Each time she got on the ladder , the artwork began to shake .
The mystery was soon solved but it was no ghostly intrusion : The movement was the result of an open window and the furnace coming on .
“ When it would stop shaking would be when the furnace would turn off ,” said Walters , who is now mayor of Meigs .
Does she believe in ghosts ? As Walters told Lapham-Patterson House visitors , “ If you believe ghosts are here , they are . If not , they aren ’ t .”
Patti Dozier , Eve Guevara , Alan Mauldin and Charles Oliver contributed to this story .
20 Valdosta Scene | October 2024