For Freaky Friday I wanted to write about ghosts….or a ghost hunter. It just turns out that he’s also an author and historian.
Mark Nesbitt owns Ghosts of Gettysburg on Baltimore Street in Gettysburg. As a park ranger, Mark heard a lot of stories about happenings on the Battlefield and in the town that couldn’t be explained. He stored them away. He started his own publishing company, focusing on historical events, especially the Battle of Gettysburg. Then he took those weird stories and wrote the first Ghosts of Gettysburg book. He now has seven along with other ghost hunting titles. Not only does he have books on ghost stories, he runs ghost tours of the area and teaches ghost hunting classes. He’s also written books with Katherine Ramsland; the latest one is Haunted Crime Scenes.
I happen to have Elizabeth Peacock in the middle of Gettysburg, staying at a B&B that is supposed to have the ghost of a general. I want Elizabeth to go to an authority on Gettysburg and ghosts. I wanted her to go to Mark.
Now I’ve met Mark a few times but I’m sure he wouldn’t remember me. However, he was kind enough to friend me on Facebook. So I sent him a private message. Could I use him in my book? I would not say anything bad about him or his work. It would be positive. And I got a positive answer!!
So Elizabeth soon will be walking up Baltimore Street from the Farnsworth House where she’s had dinner to the Ghosts of Gettysburg for a meeting with Mark.
Do I believe in ghosts? I’m not sure. I think I saw one once…not in Gettysburg. But those who have seen something unusual are sure of what they’ve seen…are sure it was “real.”
I believe in Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain’s quote (the hero of Little Round Top): In great deeds, something abides. On great fields, something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear; but spirits linger, to consecrate ground for the vision-place of souls…
If General Chamberlain believed it, well, that’s good enough for me.
Mitzi Flyte 