In the 18th century there was a beautiful Southern Virginia girl named Martha. Martha’s family was wealthy and she got to go to England to go study. Martha decided to leave a portrait of herself behind so her family had something to remember her by. Martha eventually married a handsome English men and she decided to live out her days in England.
Some where along the line the portrait of Martha was known as Aunt Pratt. But no one knows where the name Pratt actually came from. When Martha married her name changed to Martha Griffith. The legend of the haunted Aunt Pratt painting begins in 1858 long after Martha’s death. Legend has it all a sudden the painting started to just go crazy one day. The painting would just constantly rock against the wall.
The current owners of the estate decided to move the painting into the attic. But that only made things worse. It didn’t take long for the painting to get a name for itself among the community. After the civil war they decided to hang the painting on the first floor in honor Of Martha Griffith, that didn’t seem to make the possessed painting any happier.
Every night like clock work the painting would cause a ruckus throughout the house. It would constantly bang on whatever wall it was placed. They decided to hang the painting in Martha’s old room on the 2nd floor.
That seemed to work as the painting remains silent while hanging in Martha’s old room. The legend of the haunted Aunt Pratt painting is very famous in Southern Virginia. It was time for the world to see what this portrait was capable off. In 1974 the Virginia travel counsel took the painting to Rockefeller plaza in New York.
Rockefeller plaza was hosting a paranormal phenomena exhibit. The Aunt Pratt painting was not shy at all. Once placed in a display window the painting started to rock violently. It was the talk of the exhibit as all the visitors witnessed this phenomena first hand. This haunted object caused such a disturbance that they had to remove it from the exhibit.
Later that night the workers heard very odd sounds coming from the painting. At times it even sounded as if the painting was crying. The workers were terrified. That morning the painting was found on the floor outside the locker room with a very damaged frame. Some thought it was as if the painting was making a run for it.
When taking for repair back in Virginia the workers started hearing bells. It was driving them crazy as there were no bells anywhere near by. Finally the portrait of Martha was placed back in her old bedroom on the 2nd floor in the old Virginia Plantation. As long as the portrait of Martha remains hanging in Martha’s old bedroom it will stay happy and it will behave.
If it wasn’t for the Rockefeller Plaza exhibit I would assume most people would just figure these amazing story’s passed down about this 18th century portrait was just your average good old fashion ghost story. But the world got front row seats in 1974 and saw first hand that haunted objects and paranormal phenomena in general does exist in our world.
Untill next time this is paranormal junkie, don’t forget to subscribe and stay tuned as we uncover the worlds most haunted objects!