Little James c.1877

May 19, 2019 Uncategorized Comments (9)

On the northern end of Cordova street, in our nation’s oldest city, lies a catholic burial ground with the name “Tolomato Cemetery”. It served as the Catholic burial ground for the city; beings inside the city walls was considered “consecrated ground”, only Catholics could be buried there. The first recorded burial in this cemetery is from 1786 (a woman named Gertrude Pons), making it one of the oldest cemeteries in the nation.

A small, lonely tombstone stands in the front of this cemetery, the tombstone of little James P. Morgan, who died at the age of five years and ten days old on November 28, 1877, cause unknown. James has been, quite literally, at the forefront of many ghost tours for as many years as I can remember. Children say they see him up in the trees playing around, swinging his feet. It is rather ironic that James is buried by himself if you know about his story- one that many continue to tell nightly. James was buried in this cemetery, tragically, long before his parents died. It seems as though his parents suffered an insurmountable amount of grief in their lifetime; James also had two siblings pass on long before their time. Agnes, aged two years, and Arthur, aged seven years. Both of his siblings are buried in the cemetery at the Shrine of our Lady of la Leche on what John F. Kennedy called “the most sacred acre”- The Mission of Nombre de Dios, NOT the Tolomato cemetery where James is buried. (They both died after burials were no longer permitted in the Tolomato- 1884.) Thus, little James seems to be alone in every sense of the word.

I was giving a ghost tour tonight, telling about the spirit of James, when a guest asked me to look at a photo he caught. Was it the James playing in the tree? We looked back a where the picture was taken, thinking it must have been Spanish moss. No Spanish moss hanging in that area. We thought perhaps it could be a light from someone’s car passing by- no cars. We even thought maybe a camera flash was the trick- but how in this exact pattern? It sure looked like someone playing in the tree from my angle, but surely we couldn’t have been this lucky to catch James AS I was talking about him. But perhaps we did. We could find no other explanation for this figure in the tree, even after taking other photos and trying to recreate anything even remotely close. What do you think?

I’ll end this post with a quote from Sherlock Holmes I think applies in this situation:
“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

9 thoughts on “Little James c.1877”

  1. Hello – I lived in St. Augustine before for a couple of years. I have been back a few years ago as a paranormal enthusiast to investigate some of the locations in the city. I was alone one night about 9pm at the Tolomato cemetery doing an EVP digital recorder session. I asked if anyone was with me.
    The EVP captured on my recorder said HELLO in a little boy’s voice, and actually said that twice. Then, I asked what is your name. The EVP then replied and said JAMES in the same voice. Mind you, I was 100% alone at the cemetery fence and there were no children anywhere close to me.
    No doubt, there is a spirit of a child there. Kinda sad to me. Also, the other extremely active place is the old Light House on the island. I was also
    there alone at night and captured a boat load of EVP, video, etc. Pretty amazing place.

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  2. James has hugged me often as I approach the cemetery gates after a walking tour that told his story and used dowsing rods. Genuinely feels like a small child wrapping their arms around your legs.

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  3. We just went on a ghost tour tonight. My granddaughter (5) said that she saw a little boy. He told her that he missed playing with his sister.

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  4. I cant seem to find his actual story though. I was there this past weekend and felt his presents but didn’t see anything. My parents took a tour and they said he fell from the tree in the cemetery and that’s how he died, they also said that his grave was next to the gates But when we found his stone it was far from it. I’m just very interested in his story i cant truly explain why but its interesting.

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    2. I went on a tour on a ghost tour in St. Augustine. The host told me the real story of James, the tragic day that he died. James lived across the street in a house, he used the cemetery as a park to play in. He loved climbing the trees. he had no siblings at this time and his mother was watching him from the window. it was late in the day, and his mother told him to come at dinner time. While the mother got busy and was not watching, James had climbed the tree. On the tree, he went a little too high, and he slipped. He had fallen right on his head, instantly crushing his neck. He played there unconscious and unknown until his mother got concerned when he didn’t arrive for dinner. There were no people around in the cemetery, and day after day his mother would slowly become insane, thinking that it was her fault, because she wasn’t watching. But everyday, she would see him in the tree, no one believed her. The folks thought that because she was grieving her son, that she was insane. the folks teased her and didn’t help with her loss of her 5 year-old son. They are some rumors that the parents eventually moved to Texas.

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  6. Felt James on a “ghost tour” took a picture towards a random area based on a vibe, James is in my picture and has a black boy with him playing a game

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  7. I captured a photo on the tour as well, it looks like James is peering at us from behind a gravestone. Most of the group had left the platform when I took a few more pictures, saying how badly I just wanted to see something (I have no senses for the paranormal). My photo is on the Ghosts and Gravestones St Augustine Fb page! A friend who is a worker for the tour reached out to her connections who confirmed it is James, and I’m waiting for the tour to decide if they want the picture for future tours!

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