By Kristen Riley
Cape May Star and Wave/Ocean City Sentinel Ledger
SOMERS POINT - Ghost stories are a dime a dozen around these small shore communities. Perhaps it’s the history, with towns dating back hundreds of years. Or maybe it’s the location, near an ocean that whispers of sunken ships and buried treasures. Then again, it might just be the allure of the unknown. Ghost, after all, is a much more exciting answer to a problem than, say, a loose hinge or poor electricity.
In this area, everyone has stories. It’s just not often someone takes the time to write a book about them.
While some things have put him on edge in the past, it’s safe to say that Young is not frightened of spirits. This is fortunate, considering that, according to young, there are three ghosts living with him in his Somers Point home.
His story began simply as a compilation of strange incidents occurring in his house. Lights and televisions would turn on and off. Objects would appear - and disappear. And then there was that strange, sour smell in the dining room.
“I was documenting all of the occurrences,” said Young. “I just kind of kept quiet and kept moving forward. Then I thought the best way to get this out would just be to write it all. I realized I had a great story here and I decided to publish it.”
When Young moved to Somers Point in 2000, he immediately began renovating his century-old home. He lived on his own, with weekly visits from his young son, Joey. In 2002, Young remarried and he and his new wife both enjoyed the small, comfortable house. Shortly thereafter things started to change.
“There’s something in this house and it doesn’t like me.” Young remembered his wife telling him as she came up from the basement with a load of clean towels. She was spooked, he was certain. From what, he had no idea.
The marriage began to unravel from there. At about this same time odd behavior began in the house. There was also an unaccountable, sickening sour smell that surfaced near a dining room window, disappearing after his wife moved out.
According to Young, the overhead light in the kitchen would turn into a dead switch, only to right itself days later. Lights would flash in the dining room. An old antique fork appeared atop new silverware in a kitchen drawer. One morning, the CD player in the kitchen turned on full blast at 7:30. At another time, a television remote for the master bedroom reappeared on the bed after two weeks on hiatus - even after the sheets on the bed were changed twice over that time span.
There was no question in Young’s mind that something was going on with his house. He decided to visit a psychic in central New Jersey, who told him that he had three spirits living in his house - an old woman and two children.
This was surprising for Young, who had little understanding or experience with such supernatural things in the past. It wasn’t until a second person, psychic channeler Sharon Dvorak of Cape May, visited Young’s home that he really started to believe.
“She told me there is Elizabeth Agnes Jensen who lived from 1820 to 1898. Jonathan is a 10 year old boy who died of measles. Sarah is a 4 year-old girl from the 1920s, who is still dressed as she was dressed then,” said Young.
“A Father, A Son and A House Full of Ghosts” tells the whole story, from the house’s beginning to the ghosts to the reasons why they were there. Young goes through his own theories and how he tried to sort out the situation on his own, and he explains the mysterious smell in the dining room.
“I can’t say everything that happens is them. That would be ridiculous,” said Young. But does he believe that the ghosts are living with him? There’s no question.
“I’m flattered. I feel blessed to have such an extraordinary experience happen to me,” said Young. “It was nothing I was looking for, nothing I had planned. I guess I can say I enjoy it. It’s very friendly, nothing mean going on. It’s very good natured.”
The book came out a few short weeks ago, but Young said everything has moved very fast since it did. The local Borders In Mays Landing is looking into getting copies for the store. It will take three to six months to be available at Amazon.com, barensandnoble.com, and bordersbooks.com.
“Everyone’s loved it,” said Young. “I haven’t had anyone say anything negative about it. They either liked it, loved it or were just blown away by it.”
Above is the kitchen, where the ghost of Agnes primarily stays. Young was sitting in the kitchen the one time he actually saw Agnes. There has been a lot of activity in the kitchen, with lights going on and off, a radio going on, candles snuffing out by themselves with no smoke and an antique fork that appeared in the drawer on top of a new set of silverware.
The window shown is the sight of the sickening, sour smell likening to vomit which lasted close to a year.
