Some people are unreliable and will break promises. Others will do what they can to keep them, but still falter. Others, however, will go to great lengths to keep their promises. Even if it means coming back from the grave. This is the story of a ghost who keeps coming back to her lover long after he left this world. She can still be found on bright nights in Pittsboro, North Carolina.
The Hardin House is a lovely house in the middle of Pittsboro, the county seat of Chatham County. It was built sometime in 1838 and was the home of William Hardin, a prominent politician in the area. As beautiful as the house is, the real treasure is the backyard, which gently slopes down to a spring you would swear came out of a painting. It is here where our story takes place.
William Hardin’s daughter, Helen, was to be wed in June to Philip Jones. Since that was only a few weeks away, the two love birds would meet at the spring and wish their wedding day was here. One night, as the moon shown bright in the sky and Philip waited beside the cool water, Helen came out of the house dressed in white and as the moonbeams flashed through her hair, hurried down to be with her love.
When she reached him, Philip smiled and said “You’re just like an angel, promise me you’ll stay just the way you are tonight”. Helen blushed and replied that she would. The two spent the evening talking of the parties that were to be thrown, Helen’s dress for the wedding that belonged to her grandmother and Philip’s work on the house he was building where they would live out their lives. The night felt like it would go on forever. Eventually, her father called Helen home for bed and the two parted ways as Philip watched his love run back up the hill. It was the last time he would ever see her.
That night, Helen died in her sleep. The doctor called it a heart attack. Philip was devastated. He returned to the spring every evening and waited for Helen to come running down the hill. The people in the town worried about him until they began seeing a young girl dressed in a white dress and golden hair beside the spring on moonlit nights.
Even though Hardin House has changed hands several times, you can still find the ghost of Helen Hardin dressed in white with the moonlight shining through her golden hair running down to the spring before vanishing or sitting beside the spring, waiting for her love. After all, she made a promise.
