Local History
A
Ghosts in Antioch Church and Cemetery
My father-in-law, a retired coal miner, was also the caretaker of the grounds at Antioch Cemetery in Muhlenberg County. The old church building and the cemetery were all that was left in an area that was bought out by a coal company to be used for strip mining.
On a warm summer day, my father-in-law was getting the lawn mower from the trunk of his car when he began to hear singing within the church house. He said that it was beautiful music, just as wonderful as if it were being sung by angels.
When the singing stopped, he heard the familiar voice of the deceased church minister speaking. He approached the building to see what was taking place. Instead of going in, he just peered throught the window, but there was silence. Mystified, he resumed his work at cleaning the old cemetery.
On another occasion, both my mother-in-law and father-in-law were at the cemetery. He was mowing and she was tending to some of their relatives' graves. Suddenly, my father-in-law saw a man walking down the road. The man then turned toward him, and my father-in-law recognized him as his wife's father, who had died several years earlier. The man continued walking until he reached a tree, then he suddenly disappeared.
All of this happened very quickly, and there were no witnesses. Even my mother-in-law didn't see her father. They could never understand what that was all about.
Note: Told by Vernon Noffsinger, ca. 1988, and Ruby Noffsinger, July 2, 1999, to their daughter-in-law Judy Noffsinger.
Source: Montell, W.L. “Ghosts in Antioch Church and Cemetery.” Ghosts Across Kentucky. Lexington, KY: UP of Kentucky, 2000, pp. 14-15.
Updated July 13, 2022