The Curse of Lorenzo Dow

“ [Today] there are almost no traces of the once-growing populace [...]. Yet some say that on starlit, moon-filled nights you can hear the sounds of the once-raucous residents partying into the early morning hours, shooting off their guns, and yelling at the top of their lungs.””

— Don Rhodes, 'Georgia Myths and Legends'

A Preacher’s Curse…A Ghost Town

In 1952 the Georgia Historical Commission erected a marker to commemorate the ghost town of Jacksonboro, Georgia, that many believe met its fate as the result of a preacher’s curse.

Established at the seat for Screven County in 1797, it would be gone within fifty years. Known as a rowdy, lawless pioneer town the Jacksonboro, Georgia met its match in Lorenzo Dow, one of the country’s first ‘celebrity’ evangelists.

It was a community that bawked at the thought they needed spiritual saving and refused to let Dow preach in town. In response to their evil ways, Dow layed a curse on the town…Jacksonboro would wither and die from its wickedness. He was right.

Additional Links From This Episode:

Sources:

Brown, Alan. Haunted Georgia: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Peach State. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2008.

Dominey, Craig. “Lorenzo Dow’s Georgia Curse.” The Moonlit Road (blog.) Accessed November 22, 2022. https://www.themoonlitroad.com/lorenzo-dows-georgia-curse/.  

Federal Writers Project. The WPA Guide to Georgia: The Peach State. San Antonio, TX: Trinity University Press, 2013. 

Fitzhugh, Pat. Ghostly Cries from Dixie. Ashland City, TN: Armand Press, 2009.

Hollingsworth, C.D., Sr. “The Seaborn Goodall Home.” Briar Creek Chapter, NSDAR. Accessed November 22, 2022. Daughters of the American Revolution. http://briercreek.georgiastatedar.org/theseaborngoodallhome.php. 

Malone, Tom. Essentials of Evangelism. Greenville, SC: Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1958. 

Rhodes, Don. Georgia Myths and Legends: The True Stories Behind History’s Mysteries. Guildford, CT: Globe Pequot, 2015.

Stuart, Bill. “Jacksonboro GA - A Cursed Town???” William L. Stuart (blog.) October 20, 2020. https://www.williamlstuart.com/jacksonboro-ga-a-cursed-town/. 

Wells, Jeffrey. “The Jacksonborough Curse.” Georgia Mysteries (blog.) April 27, 2008. http://georgiamysteries.blogspot.com/2008/04/jacksonborough-curse.html. 

White, George. Statistics of the State of Georgia. Savannah, GA: W. Thorne Williams, 1849. GoogleBooks.

The Ghost Town of Rodney, Mississippi

Lost to time and the shifting currents of the Mississippi River…

It was in 1828 that the town of Rodney, Mississippi was formally incorporated. Located near the Mississippi River, the town would grow to become an essential port for steamboats traveling up and down the river. Rodney became known as a bustling town and thriving entertainment center, even building the state’s first opera house.

The city survived a devastating yellow fever epidemic and was occupied by Federal forces during the Civil War. Yet the death knell first sounded in 1869 when Rodney, Mississippi was almost entirely consumed by fire. Though the town tried to recover, it was unable to.

In 1870, A large sandbar formed in the Mississippi River, causing the river’s flow to shift westwards away from Rodney. Where once Rodney was a port town, an ideal stopping point for steamer ships, just yards from the river, it was now roughly two miles away. The town had lost its port.

And without its port, Rodney lost its residents. Today, all that remains of the once thriving town are the damaged shells of several buildings.

The Ghost Town of Cahaba

The town of Cahaba was once the thriving state capital of Alabama.  Yet today, over a century since it was last seen on census records, only ruins remain at the location of this once great city that many claim to be “Alabama’s Most Infamous Ghost Town.”