LYDIA — A small private cemetery in Lydia has had a resurgence in popularity lately with the rumor that the land may be haunted.

Local resident Tony Hentschel said he had learned about the Lewis cemetery a few years ago from friends. From what he was told, the gravesite was the home of a pirate named John Lewis, who had buried his treasure within his own grave. After he had died, his crewmates ransacked his tomb and stole the treasure, according to legend.

“I can’t say for sure that it’s haunted, but there’s definitely something there,” Hentschel said.

Jason Horton learned of Hentschel’s story and wanted to find out for himself whether tales of ghostly apparitions were true. After posting a query to the origins of the cemetery on the website Reddit, the story quickly gained popularity.

“I’ve asked other people about it and it was the same story. I wanted to find out the real story because a pirate ghost is just ridiculous,” Horton said.

Although the validity of ghost pirates in Lydia cannot be confirmed, the real history of the location may be stranger than fiction.

The John B. Lewis Family Cemetery was once part of a vast plantation spearheaded by the Lewis family patriarch John Lewis, according to a story in The Daily Iberian dated December 6, 1970.

Mystery surrounds the origin of John Lewis, but the story seems to indicate that he originally hailed from somewhere in the northern United States.

The current property owner, John Roane, said his family bought the land from the last remnants of the Lewis family. Roane said to his knowledge Lewis had served in the Civil War with Col. John Mosby, who was nicknamed “The Gray Ghost.” According to The Daily Iberian story, some tales said Lewis was actually a general.

Regardless of rank in the Confederate Army, Lewis started a plantation with more than “2,000 acres of prime sugar cane farm land right before the turn of the century,” according to the story.

Lewis’ dislike toward local Cajuns seemed to be a catalyst for tragedy. Not wanting his children to mix with the “raw, rough ways of the Cajuns,” Lewis home-schooled his children.

As the story goes, Mary Lewis, one of John’s daughters, fell in love with a local Cajun. The news left Lewis in a “furious rage” and forbid the marriage to take place. Mary, stricken with grief, hanged herself from a nearby windmill the family owned.

Another daughter, Bessie, was supposed to marry another suitor but backed away at the last minute.

As time went on, the profits from sugar cane farming dwindled. Lewis apparently borrowed around $20,000 from the Federal Land Bank for various debts and payment for workers. The next year, Lewis was unable to pay back the money, causing the bank to foreclose the property.

Lewis, along with his wife and two sons, died shortly after. The remaining daughters were evicted from their home and the plantation was sold to various buyers.

The Lewis cemetery might be the last viewable relic from that era. However, Roane said the cemetery has been basically abandoned and almost impossible to enter because of years of neglect. Roane emphasized the property is private and discourages visitors.

“With the Gulf rising, it will probably be underwater in a few years,” Roane said.

Ultimately, the chances of ghost pirates lingering the cane fields of Lydia seem to be pretty thin. However, the conclusion of The Daily Iberian article might provide an answer to possible ghostly legends.

“But the memory of the Lewis family lives on … a Yankee family who came to Acadiana and who amassed a vast plantation, but one that never made it into the hearts and ways of Cajun life because of pride and stubbornness. Who knows, perhaps today the ghosts of those unmarried sisters still hover over the cane fields, waiting for the Cajun suitors who were never allowed to capture their hearts.”