Guarding the Grave

I also saw this tomb at the Hollywood Cemetery... I had heard this story a few times, and it was nice to visit the tomb of this little girl. Evidently she still has many visitors, as there were several small gifts left all around her tomb.

"A little behind the pyramid is a about a 3 foot high cast iron dog that has been placed by a little grave. The grave belongs to a Rees who’s first name was most likely Bernadine but has been also written about as Florence and Elizabeth. The girl passed aware of Scarlet Fever in 1862 at the age of three. A grounds person told me about seeing the apparition of the little girl playing with the dog at night.

The cast iron dog associated with the grave also has a few stories to it. According to an old Richmond Times Dispatch article, the most likely story according to historians is that Rees’s father moved the dog to the plot to preserve a family treasure well before she died. The Confederate Gov’t was confiscating cast iron during that period for the war. It is claimed however that the dog is guarding the little girl and some claim that it actually moves. Grounds crew and visitors alike claim that they will pass by and it will be pointed one way and when they come back by it will be pointed another. It is also claimed that you can hear it growl when you get close to the girls grave."

Story excerpt from ghosteyes.com