The Tragic Death of Julia Legare

“Many of those who are most familiar with the phenomena of life and death, [... have] left precise instructions in their wills for various preventives which experience has shown to be necessary, and in some instances a combination of these, so as to make doubly sure that they shall not be subjected, like thousands of human beings, to the unspeakable horrors of being buried alive.””

— William Tebb & Col. Edward Perry Vollum, "Premature Burial and How It May Be Prevented"

Interred in the Mausoleum far too soon…

The legend of Julia Legare has been passed down for generations, likely due to the fact that it brings into focus a far-reaching human anxiety, the fear of being buried alive.

In 1852, while visiting her relatives at their home in Ediso Island, 22-year-old Julia Legare fell ill. Her diagnosis was not good, Julia had been struck with diphtheria and there was little that they could do for her.  Eventually, Julia just slipped further away deep into a coma, and after many days and nights passed their worst fear was realized, Julia succumbed to her fate.

After the doctor declared her deceased the family moved quickly to say their goodbyes and ready their beloved’s remains for burial.  It is said that in the week following Julia’s burial, the faint sound of weeping and screaming could be heard emanating from the church cemetery, yet no one walked the grounds to see if they could find the source. 

The mausoleum was not re-opened for over a decade following Julia’s death, but when it was, a horrific. Julia’s remains were not where they had been left. It seems that Julia Legare had been buried alive.

Additional Links From This Episode:

• Purchase the Feminine Macabre, Vol. 3.

Sources:

Brown, Alan. Haunted South Carolina: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Palmetto State. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2010.

“Buried Alive: The creepy true legend of Julia Legare.” Random Times, September 28, 2020. https://random-times.com/. 

Coffey, Brandon. “Tomb of Julia Legare.” SC Scripture Project (blog.), November 2014. https://www.scpictureproject.org/charleston-county/tomb-of-julia-legare.html .

Harra, Todd. Last Rites: The Evolution of the American Funeral. Louisville, CO: Sounds True, 2022.

“Inside the Julia Legare Tomb.” Stories in the Cemetery (blog.) January 10, 2020. https://storiesinthecemetery.com/. 

Jones, J. Nicole. Low Country: A Memoir. New York: Catapult Books, 2021.

“Julia Georgiana Seabrook Legare.” Find A Grave. Accessed July 1, 2022. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65651815/julia-georgiana-legare. 

“Julia Legare.” Creepypasta (blog.) Accessed. July 1, 2022. https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/Julia_Legare. 

“The Legend of Julia Legare.” Edisto Beach (blog.) Accessed July 1, 2022. https://www.edistobeach.com/the-legend-of-julia-legare/. 

Meier, Allison C. “The Fear of Being Buried Alive and How to Prevent It.” JSTOR Daily, October 31, 2019. https://daily.jstor.org/the-fear-of-being-buried-alive-and-how-to-prevent-it/. 

Rubio, J’aime. “The True Legend of Julia Legare - Fact vs. Fiction.” Dreaming Casually (blog.), August 7, 2014. https://dreamingcasuallypoetry.blogspot.com/. 

Rubio, J’aime. Stories of the Forgotten: Infamous, Famous, and Unremembered. Self-published: CreateSpace, 2016. 

“The Story of the Haunted Mausoleum of J.B. Legare on Edisto Island.” Tales of Southern Haints, September 18, 2020. https://haints.org/. 

Tebb, William and Col. Edward Perry Vollum. Premature Burial and How It May Be Prevented. 1896. Project Gutenberg, November 15, 2015. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/50460/50460-h/50460-h.htm.

The Hammock House

“The house today is as solid as it was then, though there are no inhabitants living in it - at least no human inhabitants. The children of the area are strictly cautioned to give a wide berth to the house because, to this day, some very strange things happen there.””

— Charles Harry Whedbee, "The Flaming Ship of Ocracoke & Other Tales of the Outer Banks"

From Ghostly screams to unseen swordfights…

For many of the early mariners traveling to Beaufort, North Carolina they were reliant upon physical landmarks to help guide them safely through the shoals and into the harbor entrance. Some of the early maps and charts of Port Beaufort indicate that one such landmark was the “White House.” 

Little remains that offers insight into the origin of Beaufort’s White House, but tradition maintains that what was once the White House is now the historic Hammock House. Identified as one of, if not, the oldest home in North Carolina, the Hammock House is full of history and tragedy from visitors both law-abiding and nefarious in the reputations.

As a result, the Hammock House has acquired more than its fair share of legends over the years, and according to local lore, the spirits of some of these guests still remain to this very day, everything from the echoes of ghostly screams to the clashing sounds of unseen sword fights.

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Additional Links From This Episode:

• Hear Brandon on The Unseen Paranormal Podcast.

• Purchase the Feminine Macabre, Vol. 3.

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Sources:

Ambrose, Kala. Ghosthunting North Carolina. Cincinnati, OH: Clerisy Press, 2011.

“The Bloody Story Behind the Haunted Blackbeard Hammock House.” Anomalien. August 8, 2020. https://anomalien.com. 

Crosswell, Jack. “Beaufort House is Older Than Nation.”  The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), March 6, 1949. Newspapers.com

Diehl, Daniel and Mark Donnelly. Haunted Houses: Guide to Spooky, Creepy, and Strange Places Across the USA. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2010.

“The Duel at Hammock House.” North Carolina Ghosts. Accessed June 1, 2022. https://northcarolinaghosts.com/coast/hammock-house-duel/. 

Gray, Deran. Haunted Plantations of the South. Self-published, 2019.

“The Hauntings of the Hammock House.” True Hauntings of America (blog.) December 2007. http://hauntsofamerica.blogspot.com/2007/12/haunting-of-hammock-house.html. 

Hudson, Jane. “Blackbeard among historic home’s former guests.” Rocky Mount Telegram (Rocky Mount, NC), June 27, 2004. Newspapers.com. 

Johnson, Scott A. “Hammock House.” Dread Central (blog). October 13, 2017. https://www.dreadcentral.com/cold-spots/5018/hammock-house/. 

Rogers, Dennis. “Dark legends of Beaufort house yield to restoration.” The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), May 7, 1981. Newspapers.com. 

Warshaw, Mary. “The Hammock House.” Beaufort North Carolina History (blog). July 2015. http://beaufortartist.blogspot.com/2015/07/hammock-house-was-built-in-1800.html. 

______.  North Carolina: A Unique Coastal Village Preserved. Atlantic Beach, NC: Eastern Offset Printing, 2015. 

______.  “White House and Hammock House.” Beaufort North Carolina History (blog). November 2006. http://beaufortartist.blogspot.com/2006/11/house-that-guided-early-mariners.html. 

“Weenie Roast.” The Beaufort News (Beaufort, NC), August 3, 1922. Newspapers.com. 

Welch, Jane A. “Townsfolk overcome by fear (and fun.)” The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), June 29, 1979. Newspapers.com. 

Whedbee, Charles Harry. The Flaming Ship of Ocracoke & Other Tales of the Outer Banks. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 1971.

Young, Norwood. “Visit Beaufort On Your Vacation This Summer.” The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), June 1, 1952. Newspapers.com. 

Zepke, Terrance. Ghosts and Legends of the Carolina Coasts. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 2005.

The Old Carrollton Jail hauntings

“Perhaps the most startling of all the inexplicable tales told about the ghosts of this old city is that series of recitals by members of the police force concerning the manifestations which occurred in 1898 or so in the Ninth Precinct Jail.””

— Jeanne DeLavigne, "Ghost Stories of Old New Orleans"

“Real Ghost Story. The Old Carrollton Jail Said to be Haunted….”

On Saturday, October 21, 1899 the New Orleans Times-Democrat ran an article under the headline: “Real Ghost Story. The Old Carrollton Jail Said to be Haunted.” Through the use of the exact words of the police officers, the article chronicles the eerie occurrences at the local jail.

Built when the town of Carrollton took over as the new seat of Jefferson Parish in 1852. It was a bland brick and stucco building, two-stories tall with large doorways and heavily barred windows. Quite simply, it was bleak and hideous. Within a year of its completion it was already begining to resemble an “old ruin” with “evident signs of decay.”

While many of the police officers who served at the Carrollton Jail stated that they didn’t believe in ghosts, most agreed that the strange things happening there seemed to defy rational explanation. And over time everyone stationed there experienced something unusual in some way shape or form; from footsteps and noises, furniture moving on its own, lights turning on and off, and objects moving without cause.

It is unsurprising that the haunting of the Carrollton Jail has become a part of the deep folklore of New Orleans — a ghost story that can pinpoint its origin to a exceedingly specific event, an October 21, 1899 article in the New Orleans newspaper, The Times-Democrat.

Additional Links From This Episode:

• The Homespun Haints Podcast - The Alleged Voodoo Curse of Julia Brown

• Purchase the Feminine Macabre, Vol. 3.

Sources:

deLavigne, Jeanne. Ghost Stories of Old New Orleans. New York: Rinehart & Company, 1946.

Democker, Michael. “Haunted NOLA: The Old Carrollton Jail & The Ghostly Prisoners That Can’t Escape.” Very Local. April 21, 2020. https://www.verylocal.com/haunted-nola-the-old-carrollton-jail-the-ghostly-prisoners-that-cant-escape/9056/. 

“The Haunted Old Carrollton Jail.” Ghost City Tours. Accessed June 6, 2022. https://ghostcitytours.com/new-orleans/haunted-places/old-carrollton-jail/. 

Horning, Katrina. “Favorite Building Friday - Carrollton Courthouse.” New Orleans Architecture Tours (blog). November 17, 2017. https://nolatours.com/carrollton-courthouse/. 

The New Orleans Crescent. “The Killing in Carrollton.” October 24, 1868. Newspapers.com. 

New Orleans Republican. “Paragraphs.” October 30, 1868. Newspapers.com

Powell, Lewis, IV. “‘A theatre of mental travail’ - New Orleans.” Southern Spirit Guide (blog). Accessed June 6, 2022. https://www.southernspiritguide.org/a-theatre-of-mental-travail-new-orleans/. 

Saxon, Lyle, et al. Gumbo Ya-Ya: Folk Tales of Louisiana. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana Library Commission, 1945.

Stuart, Bonnye E. Haunted New Orleans: Southern Spirits, Garden District Ghosts, and Vampire Venues. Guilford, CT: Morris Book Publishing, 2012.

Taylor, Troy. Haunted New Orleans: History & Hauntings of the Crescent City. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2010.

The Times-Democrat (New Orleans, La.) “By The By!.” October 23, 1899. Newspapers.com. 

The Times-Democrat (New Orleans, La.) “Lynch Law in Carrollton.” October 24, 1868. Newspapers.com

The Times-Democrat (New Orleans, La.) “Real Ghost Story.” October 21, 1899. Newspapers.com.

The Witch of Pungo

“The seventeenth century was an age when witches and demons, alchemists and sorcerers, sea monsters and fanciful creatures were accepted by Englishmen, regardless of social or intellectual station in life. [...] Virginia, with its dark forests and strange native inhabitants, must have seemed quite frightening indeed. King James I himself had written that the devil’s handiwork was ‘thought to be common in such wilde parts of the world.’ It was there that ‘the Devill findes greatest ignorance and barbaritie.’ For at least the next hundred years, Virginians would be on the lookout for Satan and his followers.””

— Carson O. Hudson, Jr., "Witchcraft in Colonial Virginia"

The Last person convicted of Witchcraft in Virginia…

The practice of witchcraft has a complicated history in North America. When the first colonists arrived, they did so with an already existing concept and superstition about the practice. While the most well-remembered trials in American history were in Salem, MA, when nineteen people were executed between 1692 and 1663, it is far from the only instance of witch trials during the colonial era.

On Wednesday, July 10, 1706, scores of people arrived at what is now known as Witch Duck Point on the Lynnhaven River in Virginia. They were there to witness a unique but brutal legal proceeding that would never again be carried out in the colony of Virginia– the trial of forty-six-year-old Grace Sherwood by ducking.

It is unknown exactly what happened when she hit the water, but what was clear to the folks who came that day was that Grace Sherwood survived and therefore she was must be a witch.

Additional Links From This Episode:

• Purchase the Feminine Macabre, Vol. 3.

Sources:

Burr, George Lincoln, ed. Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1914.

Chewning, Alpheus J. Haunted Virginia Beach. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2006.

Davis, Richard Beale. “The Devil in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 65, no. 2 (April 1957): 131-149. JSTOR. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4246295. 

Gahan, Mary Beth. “Witch of Pungo’s church dedicates marker to her.” July 11, 2014. The Virginian-Pilot. https://www.pilotonline.com/news/article_8168fea0-b37f-5680-954a-74f67a286300.html. 

“Grace Sherwood (ca. 1660-1740.)” Copyright 2020. Encyclopedia Virginia. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/sherwood-grace-ca-1660-1740/. 

“Grace Sherwood: The One Virginia Witch.” Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 69. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1884. Google Books. https://books.google.com. 

“Grace Sherwood, The Witch of Pungo.” February 1, 2021. Colonial Ghosts. https://colonialghosts.com/grace-sherwood-the-witch-of-pungo/. 

“Grace Sherwood - the Witch of Pungo (1660-1740.) Copyright 2010. Old Donation Episcopal Church. Accessed May 1, 2022. Internet Archive. https://web.archive.org/web/20120412035254/http://www.olddonation.org/index.php?page=grace-sherwood---a-unique-story. 

“The Haunting of Witchduck Road.” Updated June 7, 2021. VirginiaBeach.com. https://www.virginiabeach.com/article/haunting-witchduck-road.  

Hines, Emilee. Virginia Myths and Legends: The True Stories Behind History’s Mysteries. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.

Hudson, Carson O., Jr. Witchcraft in Colonial Virginia. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2019.

Hume, Ivor Noël. Something from the Cellar: More of This & That. Williamsburg, VA: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2005.

Misra, Sulagna. “A Brief History of Witches in America.” October 28, 2017. Mental Floss. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/87525/brief-history-witches-america.

Ruegsegger, Bob. “Virginia’s ‘Witch of Pungo:’ Accused remembered as Colony’s Joan of Arc.” (Fredericksburg, Va.). The Free Lance-Star. October 30, 1999. https://news.google.com/newspapers.

“Va. Woman Seeks to Clear Witch of Pungo.” Posted July 7, 2006. USAToday. https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-07-09-witch-pungo_x.htm. 

Virginia Historical Society. “Grace Sherwood: The ‘Witch of Pungo.’ Copyright 2022. Virginia Museum of History & Culture. https://virginiahistory.org/learn/grace-sherwood-witch-pungo. 

“Witchcraft in Colonial Virginia.” Copyright 2020. Encyclopedia Virginia.  https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/witchcraft-in-colonial-virginia/

Mystery of the Gurdon Light

“Certain natural phenomena [...] are described by nonscientists as mystery lights. Folklore however has assigned special meanings to these eerie lights. When the light is seen in graveyards, they are called corpse lights. They also are said to appear wherever a tragedy is to occur.””

— Josepha Sherman, Storytelling: An Encyclopedia of Mythology and Folklore

An Unexplainable Light seen for nearly a century…

Travel about 85 miles south of Little Rock, Arkansas along Interstate 30 and you come to the town of Gurdon. In a remote area, several miles outside Gurdon sit railroad tracks for the Missouri Pacific Railroad.  It is along a four mile stretch of track that sightings of a floating, glowing orb have been reported for the last ninety years, now known as the Gurdon Light.

While there are of course scientific theories which attempt to explain the origin of the Gurdon Light, many instead believe the phenomena is linked to a single event in history, the murder of a railroad foreman in 1931.

Perhaps not everything seen along the railroad tracks is scientifically explainable, and if not, how long has the area been that way? Is the light something that only dates to the 1930s, or is it something that has been there much longer? Perhaps the Gurdon Light has always been there, it just took people to give it a name…

Additional Links From This Episode:

• Purchase the Feminine Macabre, Vol. 3.

Sources:

Brown, Alan. Haunted Places in the American South. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2002.

Carroll, Cynthia McRoy. Arkansas Ozarks Legends and Lore. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2020. 

The Daily Journal (Franklin, IN). “Eerie ‘Gurdon Light’ is 50-year mystery.” October 30, 1981. Newspapers.com

Granato, Sherri. Haunted Rail Trails & Train Tracks: Forgotten Pathways. Self-published, 2018.

Hope Star (Hope, AR). “Slayer of Section Foreman Convicted.” February 3, 1932. Newspapers.com.

Hope Star (Hope, AR). “Eight Jurors Seated for Trial of McBride.” February 18, 1932. Newspapers.com

Hope Star (Hope, AR). “Negro Appeals in Gurdon Slaying.” March 31, 1932. Newspapers.com.

Hope Star (Hope, AR). “Death Sentence of Negro Upheld.” May 23, 1932. Newspapers.com.

“The Gurdon Light.” The Dead History (blog). Accessed April 19, 2022. https://www.thedeadhistory.com/blog/the-gurdon-light. 

Morrow, Staci Nicole. “Gurdon Light.” Updated December 23, 2014. CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas. https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/gurdon-light-1198/. 

Rayborn, Tim. The Big Book of Paranormal: 300 Mystical & Freighting Tales from Around the World. Kennebunkport, ME: Appleseed Press, 2021.

Sherman, Josepha, ed. Storytelling: An Encyclopedia of Mythology and Folklore. New York: Routledge, 2015.

Swayne, Matthew L. Haunted Rails: Tales of Ghost Trains, Phantom Conductors, and Other Railroad Spirits. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2019.

Unsolved Mysteries. Season 7, episode 9. “Episode 207.” Directed by John Cosgrove,  featuring Robert Stack, Diane Barton, and Wanda Barton. Aired December 9, 1994, in broadcast syndication. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drzj1Ij46X4.

The Great Leech of Tlanusi’yĭ

“The Leech Place…”

According to Cherokee folklore, a deadly creature lives at the confluence of Valley and Hiwasee Rivers in Murphy, North Carolina. It is known simply as the Great Leech of Tlanusi’yĭ.

This minisode is a companion to The Legend of the Moon-Eyed People.

Additional Links From This Episode:

• Be sure to get your tickets today over at Franklin Walking Tours by booking their August 30th Grim & Ghostly Tour!

• Purchase the Feminine Macabre, Vol. 3.

Sources:

Bluewaters. “Cherokee Legend of the Moon-Eyed People.” October 5, 2018. Blue Waters Mountain Lodge. https://bluewatersmtnl.com/cherokee-legend-of-the-moon-eyed-people/. 

Cherokee Videos. “Cherokee History & Stories - What Happened Here: The Leech Place.” YouTube video, 5:03. June 14, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WODyfMglc8. 

Mooney, Jame. Myths of the Cherokee. Washington, D.C.:Government Printing Office, 1900. Reprint, New York: Dover Publications, 2012.

The Legend of the Moon-Eyed People

“There is a dim but persistent tradition of a strange white race preceding the Cherokee, some of the stories even going so far as to locate their former settlements and to identify them as the authors of the ancient works found in the county.””

— James Mooney, "Myths of the Cherokee"

“These Wretches they expelled…”

Atop Fort Mountain, in the northwestern corner of Georgia, is an 885-foot-long rock wall that zigzags its way through the curves of the mountain. Though the ruins were constructed with stone from the surrounding region, the story behind it, when it was built, and by whom, remains a mystery. Theories arose to explain the structure’s origin, today most agree it was likely completed by Native people who lived in the area. But who were they?

Legend says that a unique, ancient race of people once inhabited the highlands of lower Appalachia– a group known simply as the Moon-Eyed People. Often, described as light-skinned, with blonde hair and blue eyes; they were uniquely handicapped by their inability to see during the day

The legend exists most prominently from the oral tradition of the Cherokee people, who purportedly encountered the ancient race upon their arrival to the region; however, the mystery as to who they were and where they went is far more complex.

Additional Links From This Episode:

• Purchase the Feminine Macabre, Vol. 3.

Sources:

Barton, Benjamin Smith. New Views on the origins of the Tribes and Nations of America. Philadelphia: John Bioren, 1797. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/newviewsoforigin00bartarch.  

Greenwood, Isaac J. The Reverend Morgan Jones and the Welsh Indians. Boston: David Clapp & Son, 1898. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/revmorganjoneswe00gree. 

Haywood, John. The Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee: Up To The First Settlements Therein By The White People In The Year 1768. Nashville, TN: George Wilson, 1823. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/naturalaborigina00hayw. 

Johnsen, Bruce E. and Barry M. Pritzker, eds. “Ohio Valley Mound Culture.” Encyclopedia of American Indian History. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO Ltd., 2008. 

Koster, John. “Caitlin Was Not the First but Perhaps the Last to Believe the Mandans Wew Welsh Indians.” Wild West, February 2012. https://www.historynet.com/catlin-not-first-perhaps-last-believe-mandans-welsh-indians.htm. 

Mooney, Jame. Myths of the Cherokee. Washington, D.C.:Government Printing Office, 1900. Reprint, New York: Dover Publications, 2012.

“Mystery Shrouds Fort Mountain.” Last modified October 21, 2020. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=46359.

Rome News-Tribune (Rome, Ga.). “Whites built myth of Fort Mountain - but not stone wall.” August 28, 1994. https://news.google.com/newspapers.

Wafer, Lionel. Edited by George Parker Winship. A New Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of America. London: The Crown in St. Paul’s Churchyard, 1699. Reprint, Cleveland, OH: Burrows Brothers Company, 1903. Google Books. https://books.google.com. 

The Restless Spirits of Rotherwood

“Ghosts bridge the past to the present; they speak across the seemingly insurmountable barriers of death and time, connecting us to what we thought was lost. They give us hope for a life beyond death and because of this help us to cope with loss and grief. Their presence is the promise that we don’t have to say goodbye to our loved ones right away.””

— Colin Dickey, "Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places"

One Home, Two Very different Spirits…

On the west side of Kingsport, Tennessee is Rotherwood, an old antebellum mansion overlooking the spot where the two forks of the Holston river come together. Today this red brick structure is privately owned, but according to local lore, it is home to more than just the living.

For the last half a century, stories have placed at least two spirits on the ground of Rotherwood Mansion. First is the beautiful “Lady in White,” Rowena Ross who is forever searching for her lost love who died before they had a chance to marry. Second is the notorious Joshua Phipps who is said to have delighted in the torture of his enslaved workforce and ultimately died a horrifying death. But what is the truth behind the legends of Rotherwood, we may never know.

Additional Links From This Episode:

• Purchase the Feminine Macabre, Vol. 3.

• Listen to Brandon’s Interview on the Me & My Friends Podcast

• Watch current owner Dr. Lenita Thibault discuss the history of Rotherwood (2016)

Sources:

Barton, Steve. “Cold Spots: Rotherwood Mansion.”Dread Central. July 15, 2019. https://www.dreadcentral.com/cold-spots/12474/cold-spots-rotherwood-mansion/.

Brown, Alan. Haunted Tennessee: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Volunteer State. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2009. 

Dickey, Colin. Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places. New York: Viking, 2016.

Dugan, Nick. “Haunted Tri-Cities: Tales from Kingsport’s Rotherwood Mansion.” WJHL News. October 29, 2021. https://www.wjhl.com/haunted-tri-cities/haunted-tri-cities-tales-from-kingsports-rotherwood-mansion/ 

Dykes, Pete. Haunted Kingsport: Ghosts of Tri-City Tennessee. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing Inc., 2008. 

Hendricks, Nancy. Haunted Histories in America: True Stories Behind the Nations Most Feared Places. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2020.

Leonard, Austin. “The Legends of Rotherwood Mansion.” The Kayseean. March 11, 2021. https://thekayseean.com/life-and-culture/the-legends-of-rotherwood-mansion/. 

Ross, Rev. Frederick Augustus. The Story of Rotherwood from the Autobiography of Rev. Frederick A. Ross., D.D. Edited by Charles C. Ross. Knoxville, TN: Bean, Warters & Co., 1923. Google Books. https://books.google.com  

Rotary Club of Kingsport, Tennessee. Kingsport: The Planned Industrial City. Kingsport, TN: Kingsport Press, Inc. 1946. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/kingsportplanned00rotarich/.

Scoggins, Katherine. “History on display at Rotherwood’s bicentennial celebration.” Kingsport Times News. September 16, 2018. Updated July 6, 2020. https://www.timesnews.net/.

Simmons, Shane. A. Legends and Lore of East Tennessee. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing Inc., 2016. 

“Will of Joshua Phipps.” Hawkins County Genealogy & History. Updated March 10, 2014.  https://tngenweb.org/hawkins/phipps-joshua-will/

Bayou St. John Submarine

A Submarine of Unknown Origins

In 1878, a dredge crew working near the mouth of Bayou St. John in New Orleans uncovered a twenty-foot-long iron submarine.  For years people thought the sub was the CSS Pioneer, the first of three submarines built by Horace Hunley, but in reality, the ship’s origin is still unknown to this day. Join us as we explore some of the theories and facts behind this Civil War mystery.

This minisode is a companion to The Mystery of the Confederate Submarine H.L. Hunley.

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ADDITIONAL LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:

• View images of the Bayou St. John Submarine on the Louisiana State Museum’s Online Exhibit: Civil War Era Submarine.

• Check out the history behind the Old Spanish Fort in New Orleans in the video Lost Amusement Parks.

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Sources:

Haines, Matt. “Today a picturesque waterway, Bayou St. John once harbored a Civil War Submarine.” The Advocate (New Orleans, La), May 14, 2019. https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/article_3f3c6e2b-e7d1-588c-bf35-237196179342.html. 

Lambousy, Greg. Monster of the Deep: The Louisiana State Museum’s Civil War Era Submarine. Lafayette, LA: Center for Louisiana Studies, 2006.

“Civil War Era Submarine.” Copyright 2018. Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism. https://www.crt.state.la.us/louisiana-state-museum/online-exhibits/civil-war-era-submarine/.

Mystery of the Confederate Submarine

“Accounts of the Hunley’s sinking had assumed horrific scenes of the men trying to claw their way through the thick iron hatches, or huddled in the fetal position beneath the crew bench in their agony. Sinkings of modern submarines always resulted in the discovery of the dead clustered near the exits in their desperate efforts to escape their cold metal coffins, because to sit silently and await one’s own demise simply defies human nature. The crew of the Hunley, however, looked quite different. Each man was still seated peacefully at his station.””

— Rachel Vance, In the Waves

The First Combat Submarine to Sink a Warship

On the night of February 17, 1864, an immense explosion took down the USS Housatonic, a massive warship that was part of the Federal forces’ twenty vessel blockade of the Charleston harbor. Yet the destruction came seemingly out of nowhere, as eyewitnesses in the crew claimed their only warning was the sight of a dark cigar shaped vessel headed straight towards them. What they soon found out was that this sloop-of-war was the victim of the first successful submarine attack in modern warfare.

Unfortunately for the crew of the H.L. Hunley, who carried out this historic mission, the Confederate submarine did not make it back to shore, giving way to a century old mystery– what happened to the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley and why did it go down in the fight?

Additional Links From This Episode:

• Visit the H.L. Hunley on weekends in Charleston, South Carolina.

• Check out the 1999 Made for TV movie, The Hunley on IMDB.

• Watch Drain the Oceans: Season 2, Episode 5 - Secrets of the Civil War on the Disney Plus.

Sources:

Brimelow, Benjamin. “The first submarine to sink a warship was more deadly for its own crew than for the enemy.” Business Insider, February 17, 2021. https://www.businessinsider.com/confederate-civil-war-submarine-hunley-first-sub-to-sink-warship-2021-2.  

Curry, Andrew. “A Civil War Time Capsule from the Sea.” June 24, 2007. U.S. News & World Report. https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2007/06/24/a-civil-war-time-capsule-from-the-sea 

Duncan, Ruth H. The Captain and the Submarine CSS H.L. Hunley. Memphis, TN: S.C. Toof & Company, 1965.

The Friends of the Hunley. “The Friends of the Hunley.” 2021. https://www.hunley.org/

“H. L. Hunley (submarine).” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Washington DC: US Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1978. Accessed at https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/ 

Hicks, Brian. “One-Way Mission of the H. L. Hunley.” January 2014. U. S. Naval Institute. https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2014/january/one-way-mission-h-l-hunley 

Hicks, Brian. “Rewriting history: Discovery alters legend of doomed sub Hunley.” Updated December 8, 2016. The Post and Courier. https://www.postandcourier.com/archives.  https://www.postandcourier.com/archives/rewriting-history-discovery-alters-legend-of-doomed-subhunley-submarine-lifted/article_ebecd2a4-9288-51c7-b6e2-5f26ade4090b.html

Hicks, Brian and Schuyler Kropf. Raising the Hunley: The Remarkable History and Recovery of the Lost Confederate Submarine. New York: Ballantine Publishing, 2002.

Lance, Rachel. In the Waves: My Quest to Solve the Mystery of a Civil War Submarine. New York: Penguin Randomhouse LLC, 2020.

Lance, Rachel M., Lucas Stalcup, Brad Wojtylak, and Cameron R. Bass. “Air blast injuries killed the crew of the H.L. Hunley.” PLoS One, 12 no. 8 (2017). Accessed December 1, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0182244 

Roberts, Nancy. Ghosts from the Coasts. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2001.

Spence, Edward Lee. Treasures of the Confederate Coast: The "Real Rhett Butler" & Other Revelations. Miami, FL: Narwhal Press, 1991.

Stewart, Charles W. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion: Series 1 - Vol. 15. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902. Google Books. https://books.google.com https://www.google.com/books/edition/Official_Records_of_the_Union_and_Confed/Bl1AAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1#spf=1584657754154

Still, William N., Jr. “A Naval Sieve: The Union Blockade in the Civil War.” Naval War College Review 36, no. 3 (May-June 1983): 38-45. JSTOR.

Walker, Sally. Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley.  Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books,  2015.

Whipple, John. “The Birth of Undersea Warfare - HL Hunley.” Undersea Warfare, 2006. Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20121016165452/http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_32/hunley.html

Frank the Library Ghost

Now Entering Frank’s Study

Although the Red Lady may be Huntingdon College’s most well known ghost, she is certainly not the only one!

It’s believed the Huntingdon College's Houghton Memorial Library is home to a mysterious, and mischievous spirit named Frank. Perhaps most unsurprising for a library ghost, is Frank’s has a particular fondness for playing with books.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts!

Sources:

Brown, Alan. Haunted Alabama. Haunted America. New Orleans, LA: Pelican Publishing, 2021.

Huntingdon College. Library: Ghosts. Houghton Memorial Library. Accessed January 14, 2022. https://libguides.huntingdon.edu/website/ghosts 

Mitchell Bennett Houghton (1844-1925). Find a Grave. Accessed January 14, 2022. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65121276/mitchell-bennett-houghton 

Rankin, M. (2020, October 30). Hauntings at Huntingdon: Frank, the Library Ghost. CBS 42 Birmingham. Accessed January 14, 2022. https://www.cbs42.com/news/hauntings-at-huntingdon-frank-the-library-ghost/ 

Serafin, Faith. Haunted Montgomery, Alabama. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2013.

Swancer, Brent. “The Mysterious Lady in Red and Other Hauntings at Huntingdon College.” Journal Online, March 22, 2021. https://journal.com.ph/the-mysterious-lady-in-red-and-other-hauntings-at-huntingdon-college/.

Walking tour. Huntingdon College. Accessed January 14, 2022. https://www.huntingdon.edu/admission-aid/learn-more/walking-tour/

The Red Lady of Huntingdon College

““Nearly all colleges have ghosts, legends that have grown up around some supernatural occurrences generations of students tell to each other [...] but the finest of those ghost stories, those college ghost stories, is told here at Huntingdon College in Montgomery.””

— Kathryn Tucker Windham

One of the most Iconic College Hauntings in America

Huntingdon College of Montgomery, Alabama regularly makes the lists of ‘most haunted’ universities in America as generations of students have claimed the ghost of a young woman haunts the fourth floor of Pratt Hall--an apparition that has become known as the Red Lady.  Legend claims that this young woman named Martha left behind her home in New York to attend the institution, but upon her arrival, she was overcome by homesickness and the loneliness of being misunderstood by the other girls in her dormitory.  As a result, Martha did something drastic that students continue to whisper about to this day.    

But did Martha actually exist or is this just another tall tale to frighten freshmen?  We will explore this question and more on this week’s episode of Southern Gothic….

Additional Links From This Episode:

• Watch Kathryn Tucker Windham tell the story of the Red Lady of Huntingdon College on Dr. Poppy Moon’s YouTube Channel.

• Listen to Wolfgang Poe on Season One of Ghost Tour.

• Check out Astonishing Legends: The True Story Behind the Exorcist - Episodes 219-221.

Sources:

Barefoot, Daniel W. Haunted Halls of Ivy: Ghosts of Southern Colleges and Universities. Winston-Salem, NC: J.F. Blair, 2004.

Brown, Alan. Haunted Alabama. Haunted America. New Orleans, LA: Pelican Publishing, 2021.

Brown, Alan. The Haunting of Alabama. Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing Company, 2017.

Crider, Beverly. “Strange Alabama: The Red Lady of Huntingdon.” AL.com. Advance Local Media LLC, April 17, 2012. https://www.al.com/strange-alabama/2012/04/the_red_lady_of_huntingdon.html.

Ferri, Jessica. “A Crimson Vision: The Red Lady of Huntingdon College.” The Lineup. Open Road Media, August 17, 2016. https://the-line-up.com/the-red-lady.

Hauck, Dennis William. Haunted Places: The National Directory. London: Penguin, 1997.

Huntingdon College. Accessed January 6, 2022. https://www.huntingdon.edu/. 

Huntingdon College's Red Lady. YouTube. Dr. Poppy Moon, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsinhmsF4gA&t=48s.

Kazek, Kelly. “Let's Look at the Real Sites From '13 Alabama Ghosts'.” AL.com. Advance Local Media LLC, October 26, 2018. https://www.al.com/life-and-culture/erry-2018/10/4e9023658d7208/lets-look-at-the-real-sites-fr.html.

“Lady in Red (Ghost).” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, November 25, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_in_Red_(ghost). 

Schexnayder, Brandon, Alicia King-Marshall, hosts. “Wolfgang Poe of the Birmingham Historic Touring Company” Ghost Tour (podcast), September 10, 2021, accessed January 5, 2022, https://www.southerngothicmedia.com/blog/gt001

Serafin, Faith. Haunted Montgomery, Alabama. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2013.

Swancer, Brent. “The Mysterious Lady in Red and Other Hauntings at Huntingdon College.” Journal Online, March 22, 2021. https://journal.com.ph/the-mysterious-lady-in-red-and-other-hauntings-at-huntingdon-college/.

“White Lady.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, January 5, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Lady. 

Windham, Kathryn Tucker and Margaret Gillis Figh. 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2016. 

The Peyton Randolph House Hauntings

The Most Haunted Building in Williamsburg?

In our first minisode we travel back to historic WIlliamsburg, Viriginia…

The home, first constructed in 1721, is today one of the most original surviving structures in Williamsburg; the buildings longevity is believed by many to be the reason why many believe it to be so paranormally active.

In it’s 300 year history the Peyton Randolph house served as a meeting place for American Revolutionaries, and a hospital during the Civil War. With the numerous individuals who lived and died within its walls, its perhaps unsurprising that the accounts of strange occurrences of disembodied noises are said to date back to the late 1700s.

It’s even said that Revolutionary War hero and French General Marquis de Lafayette, experienced something he couldn’t explain when staying at the house in 1824. He was one of many to have an encounter in the Peyton Randolph House.

Ghosts of the Williamsburg Public Gaol

Some Prefered the Gallows…

In 1638, English colonists established their first significant inland settlement on the high ground of the Virginia Peninsula, between the James and York Rivers.  In 1699 Middle Plantation was renamed Williamsburg and given the honor of serving as the new capital of the Virginia Colony.  As a result Williamsburg has had a truly unique place in American history. It has been witness to practically every aspect, from the Colonial era through the American Revolution and Civil War, to its present state as a modern city with a population of over 14,000.  

One of Williamsburg’s most infamous historic structures is the Public Gaol-- a place where the accused once awaited trial. Each prison cell was designed to hold six inmates shackled to the wall, and although allowances were made for the accused to spend time in the exercise yard, the overcrowding and lack of sanitation made illness a real and likely possibility.

Conditions that are said to have been so bad the some would prefer the gallows over incarceration there.

Today eerie shadows have been seen moving about the cells on the first floor without explanation, and the balls and chains on display at what is now a museum have been known to move and swing by themselves.  Some have even reported hearing the disembodied sounds of prisoners banging on the wall from inside, despite the building being empty. 

The Curse on Barnsley Gardens

It would be the deepest disrespect to disturb the area…

In 1837 Godfrey Barnsley purchased 3,645 acres of land that had recently been opened for settlement by the state of Georgia. This and however, was taken by the state from the Cherokee people through the coercive Treaty of New Echota.

Legend says that the land Barnsley purchased and planned to build on was sacred ground for generations of Cherokee. Despite being warned of possible consequences, Barnsley built his family a grand mansion, known first as Woodlands, and later as Barnsley Gardens.

This unwillingness to respect the beliefs of the Cherokee people would be a tragic mistake that would lead to a series of unfortunate events for all of the Barnsley family who lived in the home.

Massacre at the Sultan's Palace

Blood Seeped Under the Door, Down the Steps, and into the Street…

On the corner of Orleans Avenue and Dauphine Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans is a stately three and a half-story mansion that is said to be the site of a massacre so significant that blood flowed from the building and into the street.

It is the tale of a mysterious Turkish gentleman, perhaps even the brother of a Sultan, who arrived in New Orleans, threw wild parties, and was then viciously murdered. But is this story true or is it like the city of New Orleans— the product of an ever-changing cultural landscape that merges the past and the present; evolving and intersecting with other well-known legends like that of Pere Antoine’s Date Palm, or The Tree of the Dead.

The Spirits of Sloss Furnaces (Revisited)

“We felt like we were in hell…”

Built in 1881, Sloss Furnaces was the first of many blast furnaces in Birmingham, Alabama to manufacture pig iron.

The furnaces aided in catalyzing an Industrial Revolution in the postwar south. It was in Alabama, that the iron industry took off, providing the rest of the country with the material necessary to build everything from country bridges to the first skyscrapers.

But this lucrative new economy came at a high cost to the men who toiled to keep the furnace fed. A majority of furnaces workers were formerly enslaved men, willing to take any work away from the fields they were once forced to labor in. With extreme and hazardous working conditions at the best of times, it is no surprise that accidents resulting in injury or death occurred

Today, many believe that echoes of the tragedy experienced by past workers still reverberate through the tunnels and catwalks of this icon of American industry.

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 Premature Burial of Octavia Hatcher

She Awoke trapped in her Coffin…

In 1891 Octavia Hatcher was twenty years-old. She was married to the most successful businessmen in the state of Kentucky and was awaiting the birth of her first child. There should have been nothing but excitement and hope for a bright future for the family, but that was not to be.

After the devastating loss of her child, Octavia became despondent, eventually becoming bedridden. She was pronounced dead on May 2, 1891.

Yet just days later, an odd sleeping sickness struck the town, during which the afflicted seemed dead for a time before reviving. Octavia’s husband, James Hatcher, fear she too may have afflicted with the illness. When the coffin was disinterred she discovered the horrifying truth— Octavia Hatcher had been buried alive.

Most legends are a mixture of fact and fiction, but in the the story of Octavia Hatcher the line behind history and legend is much more difficult to spot.  For many in Pikeville, Kentucky, the story of Octavia Hatcher’s tragic death is complete fact, but as skeptics of the story point out, there is no known documentation to support such an event occurring.

The Surrency Family Poltergeist

Ghosts on the Rampage in Georgia…

In October 1872, a small Georgia community was bursting with visitors and curiosity seekers in an attempt to discover the truth behind mysterious happenings at the family home of Allen Powell Surrency.

In what many consider to be one of the most documented ghost story in American history, the Surrency family home seemingly became the epicenter of a destructive entity. From the benign—doors slammed open and closed and objects floated above the ground, to the life threatening—a child thrown from bed and another beaten by unseen hands.

Today, proponents of the paranormal say that the events in 1872 have the marks of poltergeist activity. The cause of such activity at the Surrency House remains a mystery.