A woman gardening in her backyard made an eerie discovery when she dug up fragments of gravestones dating back to World War I.
Anne Sellars (r/Fat_sandwiches), a 33-year-old mother of five from Florence, South Carolina, was digging in her yard to plant chrysanthemums when she noticed stones sticking out of the ground.
Using her rake, she revealed even more and soon realized they were old gravestones. Sellars shared her astonishing find on Reddit in the r/mildlyinteresting forum, where the post quickly gained traction with 26,000 upvotes.
More From Newsweek Vault: Learn About the Best High-Yield Checking Accounts
"I know there's more because I was hitting around with my hoe and could hear clanging," Sellars told Newsweek. "But we didn't want to dig anymore and mess it up. We were freaked out. My son didn't want us to disturb them because he thought we would be haunted."
Sellars also took to TikTok, showing footage of the mysterious stones and expressing her uncertainty about the situation. she said: "I'm really not sure what to do. I don't know if there's, um, people. They're in my easement. Some of them are old, but look at this. 1895. Um, anyone know what to do?"
Viewers were shocked by how old the stones dated back. "1895?!!!! No way, remarked one viewer. Others were equally spooked. "Time to move," said another user.
More From Newsweek Vault: Online Banks vs. Traditional Banks: Learn the Differences
Sellars deciphered some of the names on the gravestones. One belonged to a World War II veteran named William Mattaway, and another to a World War I veteran named James Harrelson.
"We just thought it was cool because the stones probably meant something to the people who lived here before us. The house is almost 80 years old," Sellars added.
More From Newsweek Vault: Checking Account vs. Savings Account: Which is Best for Your Finances?
Expert Weighs In on Mystery
Gwendolyn McPhail, a writer and expert in burial and cemetery practices, who uses the pen name J. Stanion, weighed in on the discovery.
She explained that the gravestones could be discarded markers from a nearby veterans' or national cemetery. "In older practices, when a stone in a national cemetery required an update, such as adding a spouse's name or a death date, the entire stone would often be replaced rather than altered on-site.
"The old stones were sometimes discarded, stolen, or used for fill, as suggested by some Reddit commenters," McPhail shared with Newsweek.
McPhail noted that while current regulations require old headstones to be buried in the veteran's plot, Sellars' discovery suggests the stones in her yard may date back to when these practices were less controlled.
She suggested further investigation to trace their origins, potentially leading to national cemeteries in South Carolina like those in Beaufort, Florence, or Fort Jackson.
Reddit Reacts
Reddit users didn't hold back on sharing their opinions and advice.
One commenter said that these stones likely came from a national cemetery, given that markers were historically replaced rather than updated.
"What you almost 100 percent have here is a discarded marker from a national cemetery that was grabbed up and used to fill in a hole," said one user.
Others provided more personal anecdotes. "My cousins have a monument business," one user said. "People replace headstones to fix spelling errors, because the stones get old, or because they want to update the stone. Sometimes they go in the trash or are used for other purposes, like steppingstones."
Another commenter, who identified as a former contractor for Veterans Affairs, noted: "We messed up thousands of them over the years. I've answered dozens of panicked people over the years calling because they found 'stolen headstones' on their property."
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
