Little Black Crosses

Omens of disaster come in many forms. From girls dressed in white on horseback to the apparition that rises from the creek. For centuries signs of impending doom have been seen time and time again. One of the most peculiar omens happened in Anson County. Crosses are to most, a sign of their religion. But to one family, a black cross on a piece of white linen had a more ominous significance.

No one knows why it happens. But for several hundred years, a black cross on white linen has been a sign of warning to a family outside Wadesboro. Towels, napkins, even baby diapers and pillowcases have been used by the spirit to let the family know when death was near. Not a whole lot is known about this spirit, or even the family that it has chosen to warn. What is known, or at least passed down by word of mouth, is that it began with the death of an old woman before the civil war. Just before she left this earth, her daughter who had cared for her noticed a small perfect, black cross on the hem of her mothers pillow. Thinking this must have been done by a human with pen and ink, she asked around. No person ever came forward admitting to the deed.

What is more strange is that after her mothers death, the cross vanished from the pillow completely. The next sighting of the cross was during the civil war when the lady's brother was off in Virgina fighting the Union. She was doing laundry when she saw, on the breast pocket of his "Sunday" shirt an all too familiar sight. A perfect, pitch black cross on the shirt. Again, the lady kept inquiring about the cross but found no answer. But the next day she looked again and the cross was gone. The ironed shirt unmarked. It was a few days later she received word that her brother died in a battle near Danville.

Unfortunately death does not respect age. Soon after, typhoid raged across North Carolina taking children as well as adults. In the family death was proceeded by the mark of the cross on white linen belonging to the doomed persons. In one case, the cross appeared on the clothes of a baby just a few weeks old. After the typhoid epidemic had subsided, a gap seems to appear in the cross appearances. If any occur during this time, they've been lost.

The next set of crosses appears one night in 1901. As the black cook set a meal before the family the mother saw 3 tiny crosses on the tablecloth. Knowing the history of the black crosses on white linen, the mother tried in vain to wash the crosses out. That night the cook, who was the tenant farmer and lived in a house with his family not far from the big house, lost 3 sons in a fire. When she heard of what happened, the mother ran to the linen drying on the back porch. No trace of the crosses could be found.

The story then jumps to 1918 and a son fighting in WWI. His mother received a letter that began "Dear mom, we are going over the top in a few minutes. But I must write you this note in the hope that I can get it mailed somehow. The wheel may stop on my number today. I just opened the pocket bible you gave me when I left the States. I wanted the comfort of a few verses before going into battle. But on the white ribbon placecard you gave me I see what looks like a little black cross. It may be candle wax, in this light I can't tell." A few weeks later the mother received a telegram from the War Department. It didn't tell her anything she did not know.