Fact Friday 439 - The Ghost of the Duke Mansion

Happy Friday!

This week's Fact Friday comes to you from the UNC Charlotte Special Collections and University Archives. If you enjoy their content, please support by considering following on social media (@cltspecoll). 

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Built in 1915 for Zebulon Taylor, the mansion was purchased by James B. Duke in 1919. Renovated in 1996 after a fire destroyed most of the third story, the mansion eventually became a historic inn and celebrated its centennial in 2015.

But what about the ghost? In the 1920s, Jon Avery and his wife Anastasia resided there. Jon had a great fascination with literature and poetry, and had a library constructed in the mansion. Anastasia was very ill at the time, and was soon moved into a local hospital. This affected Jon greatly, to the point where his childhood Polio would flare up. He decided to rent out one of the bedrooms in the mansion to a young writer named Maggie. They instantly became fast friends, and eventually more than that. Because of her feelings for Jon, Maggie decided to leave the mansion. They made a deal the night before she left, that they would meet again a year from then, dead or alive!

Maggie would return one year later to see the love of her life looking down at her from the top window of the mansion. She rushed in to see a skinny and pale Jon with his eyes gray and hollow. She ran away in fear as the figure outstretched its arms and said “Dead or Alive, right.” The following day she learned that Jon Avery had succumbed to his Polio and died the day before with his last words being “Dead or Alive, will I make it?”

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Sources:  

UNC Charlotte Special Collections on Instagram, October 31, 2023.