Cousin Elizabeth (7/11/07)

Judging by her weekly presence in New Bern’s Attmore-Oliver House, Cousin Elizabeth is in fine spirits.

That she is a spirit makes the whole thing even more interesting, said Newsom Williams, executive director of the New Bern Historical Society.

Today, visitors can greet the manifestation of Elizabeth — and learn more than a bit about Victorian era funeral customs and current paranormal investigations in the historic home — through the historical society’s dramatic “Haunted Evening Tour.”

Set in 1867 New Bern, the tour begins outside the home with a new addition to the year-old drama. In this scenario, guests at the home are initially greeted by a former slave washing clothes for the Oliver family — and earning money for the first time in her life.

Played by a volunteer actor, as are all the parts of the six-member cast, the freed slave talks about how times are difficult, even for the city’s gentry.

“These are tough times,” Williams said. “The Olivers have land, but no cash.”

Yet as the scenario develops, and the tour continues, visitors discover that times get even tougher. A young child in the family has died of yellow fever. A closed coffin — and Cousin Elizabeth — await guests inside the home.

After character actors explain 19th century funeral customs such as swift burials (no embalming) and the routine of someone sitting all night with the body, other apparitions such as a Yankee doctor expound on the need for quarantine and other societal threats.

“People are interested in learning about the customs of the South,” said Pat Traynor, a Taberna resident who coordinates the tours. “This is a soft way of showing that.”

But the historical tour and the ensuing 19th century drama aren’t the production’s only magnets, she said.

A short video presentation constructed from several recent studies of the home by paranormal investigators follows the drama.

“The evidence they found,” Traynor said about the home’s legendary ghosts. “That piques people’s interest.”