Dayhoff Westminster Soundtrack: Halloween: Gist worried about being forgotten, but not quite gone

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Halloween: Gist worried about being forgotten, but not quite gone

October 28^th, 2007 by Kevin Dayhoff

“Gist worried about being forgotten, but not quite gone” is one of my favorite Halloween stories among many. I wrote it for the Sunday Eagle, under the working title of “Ghost Stories in Carroll County.” It was published in the newspaper on October 28^th, 2007.

Of the horror stories of Carroll’s yesteryear, none was greater than the very real fear of being buried alive. In today’s world, society’s collective faith in the modern advances of the medical arts has gone a long way in alleviating the fear of being buried alive; a fear which was rampant in the 1800s.

A few years ago, local historian Jay Graybeal retold an account by Ruth Gist Pickens about the fear of being buried alive held by one of Carroll County’s most prominent citizens in the 1700s, Colonel Joshua Gist.

It seems that Colonel Gist maintained a coffin in a portion of his bedroom for the last years of his life; “into which he would have his personal servant lay him out and then call the family to comment on his appearance. Each time he would ask them to promise not to bury him until the third day after his death.” ………… http://www.scribd.com/doc/39632160/Halloween-Gist-worried-about-being-forgotten-but-not-quite-gone

Halloween: Gist worried about being forgotten, but not quite gone