The Oldest Cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia Hides Secrets

Blandford Church was erected on Well's Hill in 1736, making it the oldest building in Petersburg, Virginia. It sat abandoned for 76 years between 1806 and 1882, when restoration efforts began in earnest. Revolutionary War-Era British Maj. Gen. William Phillips is buried somewhere on the grounds. The church itself is believed to be haunted by the ghost of Francis Antomatti, who shot himself inside in 1844 due to unrequited love. His headstone reads “Honour was his only vice.” Veterans of six wars are interred in the cemetery. But its most famous legend is that of Major William H. Jarvis, a fire department engineer who died in 1877. Storytellers say that he was buried in a glass coffin and his grave was left open so his wife could visit him. In time, she remarried, and had a heavy granite slab cover up the grave. No matter how many times cemetery workers would slide the stone into place, however, the next morning it would be ajar. #virginia #haunted #paranormal #ghoststories #hauntedplaces #supernatural #spooky #creepy