Even the grave yawns for him!
Sir Herbert D. B. Tree
North Carolina is rightfully proud of the many homegrown ghosts that have haunted the state throughout its long and storied history. But the state also counts among its haunts the ghost of a man who came to this country from Russia in the first decade of the twentieth century.
His story is set in Bolton, a small town located in northeastern Columbus County along NC 214 and US 74 on the fringes of the vast Green Swamp. Sprawling over 140 square miles, the swamp is a mysterious, forbidding land of peat-and-muck timberland. Portions of the eerie morass were once owned by Patrick Henry. For more than a century, lumber and paper companies in the Bolton area have availed themselves of the plentiful timber resources.
Deep inside one of the seemingly boundless forests near Bolton stands a solitary marble headstone. It marks the grave of Steve Rossin, who was born in Russia in 1876. He was buried here soon after he died in his adopted Columbus County on November 6, 1936. But there are those who say that the ghost of this Russian immigrant haunts the surrounding forest.
To understand why Steve cannot rest, it is important to know something of his life. No one is absolutely sure why he left Russia to settle here. Local tradition has it that he came to North Carolina as a young man to avoid military service in the Russo-Japanese War, fought in 1904 and 1905. At any rate, soon after his arrival in Bolton, he was labeled “Steve Russian” by local folks in an obvious play on his name.
Initially, the short, stocky man with black hair and beard took up residence in the swampy wilderness that even today surrounds Bolton. There, he lived like a wild man. His shelter was nothing more than a mud-and-straw hut, and his diet consisted of wild animals, including skunks, which he hunted in the dense swamp wilderness.
Although most people found Steve to be gentle and polite, his rough appearance and lack of personal hygiene prevented him from developing many friendships. He rarely bathed, and he chose to wear a single pair of overalls until they literally fell apart.
When he first arrived, Steve worked for the railroad that passed through Bolton. Later, as his English improved, he performed odd jobs for area residents. As he grew older, he began to sleep near the boilers in the town’s old mill in order to keep warm on cold winter nights.
When they arrived for work one morning, mill employees found Steve’s lifeless body. He had died in his sleep. Money was collected in the community so that Steve could be provided a proper burial and a marked grave.
In the years since his death, many strange things have happened in the forest that surrounds Steve’s grave. Residents of a house near the burial site have heard phantom knocks at their door. Other area residents have reported hearing eerie sounds emanating from the vicinity of Steve’s grave. Many folks believe that the ghost of Steve Rossin wanders the forest in a fruitless search for the money he hid under an oak tree many, many years ago. Over time, the paper company that owns the forest has cut countless trees. It is believed that the trees Steve used for landmarks have been harvested. Sadly, the Russian ghost must scour the entire forest in his endless quest for his money.
If you pass through Bolton on a dark night, you just might hear North Carolina’s immigrant ghost as he seeks the modest riches that were his in his adopted home.