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LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Lynchburg Museum recently received one of the most infamous artifacts from local history.
The “self rocking cradle” from the early 1800s haunted a local home and generated nearly two centuries worth of ghost stories.
The cradle was donated to the museum by a local man and his sister who are direct descendants of the original 19th-century owners.
According to several local histories, in 1839, the cradle began to rock vigorously without anyone touching it in the home of Rev. William and Laura Smith on Jackson St.
After the young Methodist minister moved the cradle to the middle of the room, he commanded it to rock by itself in the name of the devil. Upon demand, it began rocking again.
Hundreds of visitors came to see the haunted cradle, and the story passed into local lore.
The Smiths borrowed the rocking cradle from Rev. (later Bishop) John Early. They later returned it to the Early family, who hid it away in their attic and removed the rockers.
Their descendants held onto it, and the cradle reappeared again in 1937 in an inventory recorded by the Works Progress Administration.
It remained in the Early family until recently, when brother and sister Tom Jackson and Joan Coleman of Lynchburg decided to donate it to the Museum.
The story of Lynchburg’s infamous rocking cradle was first published in 1858 in Margaret Anthony Cabell’s “Sketches and Recollections of Lynchburg.”
Variations of the story appeared in newspapers, books, and magazines throughout the 19th century. In more recent years it was featured in the popular book “Ghosts of Charlottesville and Lynchburg” by L. B. Taylor, Jr.
“This is example is really interesting because it illustrates this famous ghost story,” Curator Emily Kubota says. “We will be re-attaching the rockers to it. When it came to us, the rockers were not attached. The originals are gone, they were burned.”
Just in time for Halloween, the public can view a special livestream paranormal investigation of the cradle on October 29, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Museum staff will set up an infrared camera in the dark aimed at the cradle to capture any unexplained phenomenon.
The cradle will also be on long-term display at the Lynchburg Museum beginning on Thursday, Nov. 4.
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October 07, 2021 at 06:02AM
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Lynchburg Museum receives infamous ‘rocking cradle’ from city’s best-known ghost story - WSLS 10
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