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Pegue’s Ghost in the Abandoned Antebellum Cahawba Town

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The ghost town of Cahawba is a remnant of southern antebellum life that died with the Civil War. It is said that the former state capital still has some ghosts living in Cahawba Town the rest of the world abandoned.

Along the confluence of the Cahaba and Alabama rivers lies Cahawba, Alabama’s first state capital and one of its most haunted places if we are to believe the legends. Established in 1819 not far from Selma, Cahawba Town thrived as a bustling antebellum river town for years. Today it is a ghost town in what is called Old Cahawba Archaeological Park.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from the USA

Cahawba Town is listed on many most haunted lists, and they also provide haunted ghost tours around the place. But what are the haunted legends from the ghost town said to be one of the more haunted places in the country?

The History of Cahawba Town

Let’s first have a look at the history of the town and those who lived there. Cahawba Town or Cahaba as it is sometimes spelled, used to be fertile tallgrass prairies before the 1830s. Then, as mentioned, it was the first permanent capital of Alabama from 1820 to 1825 as well as being the country seat of Dallas Country until 1866. 

This was during the wealthy antebellum years, based on cotton money, made on the back of slaves. Even though it was wealthy it still had a reputation of not being the best place to live because of the location. The floods were said to be big and happened too often. The very air was thought to be bad, as they believed that miasma in the air caused diseases like malaria, yellow fever and cholera. In reality it was the mosquitoes who carried the diseases. 

Cahawba Town: Kirkpatrick mansion on Oak Street, burned in 1935. The two-story brick slave quarters remains intact. // Source: Leigh T Harrell/Wikimedia

By the time the Civil War started, the town had around 2000 residents, where around 64 percent of the population were the black slaves. The Civil War changed everything here though, and during it, the prison known as Castle Morgan held more than 3000 Union soldiers. 

Read More: Check out more ghost stories from Haunted Towns

Its prosperity was short-lived, however, as the Civil War and subsequent flooding led to Cahawba Towns abandonment because it lost the businesses and jobs that were associated with it being the county seat. Some say that the story about the flooding was exaggerated, or even a lie seeing that 1925 was a drought year by the media because of the competition of becoming the capital. 

The Selma newspapers called ‘The Mecca of the Radical Republican Party,’ after the white residents left and more black communities started to grow in town. Although it became a popular place for the freed slaves after the war for a while, they too soon left for a better place in the Reconstruction Period. 

Today, the Cahawba Town is a ghost town, its empty buildings, slave burial grounds, and eerie cemeteries providing a chilling backdrop for tales of the supernatural.

The Legend of Pegues’s Ghost

Christopher Claudius Pegues

Among the many haunted tales of Cahawba Town, the most famous is that of the luminous floating orb known as “Pegues’s Ghost.” Shortly after Colonel C.C. Pegues, who was the head of Alabama’s Fifth Rifle Regiment. He was killed in the Battle of the Seven Pines in Virginia on July 15th in 1862, witnesses reported seeing a mysterious glowing light appearing in the garden maze of his former home and favorite Magnolia trees. 

When the news of his death reached the village, a slave boy rang a bell, walking from his house with the funeral notice as well as a black streamers known as ‘weepers’ from his shoulders, a custom now gone. 

One evening in 1862 a young couple was walking close to the cedar maze. It was then they saw a white orb floating past them. When they tried to touch it, the ghostly orb vanished into the green, although it appeared again. Because of its timing, the strange orb was named after the colonel.

The maze is now gone, and so is the house that used to be located on a lot that occupied a block between Pine and Chestnut streets. The unexplained phenomenon of the Will’O’the’Wisp like light has captivated locals and visitors alike, with many seeking out the ghostly light that continues to manifest to this day.

The Haunted Cemeteries

But “Pegues’s Ghost” is not the only source of eerie activity in Cahawba Town. The cemeteries of Cahawba are another focal point for ghostly encounters, especially the one known as The New Cemetery. 

Eerie whispers, phantom footsteps, and shadowy figures are frequently reported by those who dare to venture into these hallowed grounds after dark. Many believe that the souls of the town’s former residents remain tethered to this place, unable to find peace.

Read More: check out more ghost stories from Haunted Cemeteries

It is especially around the burial grounds for the slaves many of the haunted reports come from. It was created in 1819 and many of the graves are unmarked and without headstones. It is said that the last burial was in 1957.

The abandoned streets and structures have given rise to numerous reports of ghostly apparitions and unexplained sounds. Visitors often speak of feeling a chilling presence while walking through the ruins of the once-grand statehouse and the numerous homes that have long since been vacated. The town’s slave burial ground is particularly noted for its paranormal occurrences, where the anguished spirits of those who suffered in life are said to roam.

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Thirteen Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey: Commemorative Edition by Kathryn Tucker Windham, Margaret Gillis Figh: https://books.google.no/books?id=OR7zAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq=Pegues+Ghost&source=bl&ots=7B5gnWrwGW&sig=ACfU3U0VKhwNeEod4g3KG-mOf4IwzhU3lA&hl=no&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwil8caz0pKHAxUGGxAIHXe0A9gQ6AF6BAgdEAM#v=onepage&q=Pegues%20Ghost&f=false 

Cahaba, Alabama – Wikipedia 

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Bloody Lane’s Ghostly Echoes at Antietam National Battlefield

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The Battle of Antietam was one of the bloodiest battles during the American Civil War and has been made into a memorial place called Antietam National Battlefield. Ever since that bloody day it has been said to have been haunted by the ghosts of the fallen soldiers. There are many spots said to be haunted, but none more than the Bloody Lane. 

In the quiet expanse of Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland lies a chilling tale etched in the blood-soaked soil of history—the haunting specter of Bloody Lane. 

The Antietam National Battlefield is on fields on the Appalachian foothills and is a protected area under the National Park Service along the Antietam Creek in Sharpsburg, and commemorates the Battle of Antietam during the American Civil War. 

Read More: Check out all of our ghost stories from USA

Today the Antietam National Battlefield is a great place for a hike in the nature as well as learning a bit about the Civil War. It is also said to be one of the most haunted places in western Maryland with countless of spirits said to linger. 

Aftermath of the War: Confederate horses lay dead and artillery caissons destroyed on the Antietam battlefield. Taken September 1862 but published in 1911.

The Battle of Antietam

The Battle of Antietam, fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, marked a pivotal moment in the American Civil War. It stands as the single bloodiest day in American history, with casualties numbering over 22,000. The clash between Union and Confederate forces along Antietam Creek resulted in intense fighting across fields, woods, and hills, leaving a landscape scarred by the horrors of war. 

Despite the staggering loss of life, the battle fought on Antietam National Battlefield ended in a tactical stalemate, with neither side achieving a decisive victory. However, it provided President Abraham Lincoln with the opportunity to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, altering the course of the war by shifting its focus toward the abolition of slavery.

Read Also: For more ghost stories from the American Civil War, check out Ghost Stories from the Gettysburg Battlefield

After the battle though there was a 3-mile line of bodies waiting to be buried and the sunken road known as Bloody Lane stands as a somber reminder of the lives lost.

The Bodys on Bloody Lane: Confederate dead at Bloody Lane, looking east from the north bank. It was aboslute carnage after the battle ended, many still buried in unmarked graves. // Source Civil War Images. Plate of Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of the War, Vol. 1, Philp & Solomons, Publishers, Washington, DC (1866). This image is cropped from the copy published by the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

Today you can still walk along the trail now only known as Bloody Lane where 5.500 men were killed during under 4 hours, and this as well as the surrounding area of Antietam National Battlefield is said it is haunted by the soldiers that died that day. 

The Haunted Bloody Lane

Witnesses have recounted eerie tales of phantom gunfire that pierce the stillness of the air, and the smell of gunpowder hangs in the air as if the echoes of battle persist in the afterlife on Antietam National Battlefield. 

Shouts and distant singing reverberate through time, an otherworldly chorus that commemorates the sacrifice made by those who fought on that fateful day. Most people claim to have heard something sounding like a chant, sounding like a Christmas Carol. 

Coincidentally, the area by the observation tower overlooking the Bloody Lane was the 69th of New York, nicknamed the Irish Brigade that had a battle cry in Gaelic, sounding very much like the Christmas Song, Deck The Halls, although what they were really chanting was Faugh-a-Balaugh, meaning clear the way. 

Read More: For more ghost stories from bloody battlefields, check out The Bloody Hauntings at Aughrim Battlefield

Some have even reported apparitions clad in Confederate uniforms, thinking first it was just another reenactment of it, only to witness their sudden disappearance, leaving behind a haunting emptiness.

A Night on the Bloody Lane

There is also a ghost story said to have happened to a group of re-enactors that decided to camp out in Bloody Lane. Their plan was to spend the night in the exact spot they had found a photo showing a pile of bodies from the battle.

During the night, one by one of the re-enactors chose to leave the spot, claiming that something wasn’t right. They got a strange feeling of uneasiness. 

Of them just laughed, set on spending the entire night by himself then as all of his friends had already given up. They had all gathered around the cars discussing what had happened when they heard a horrible scream coming from the field. 

It was the last friend, terrified and in shock after spending time by himself and experiencing something unexplained. According to him, he had laid down in the field when he started to hear strange sounds. It was like whispers or moans by his ears and rustling of the grass. First he thought nothing of it, but then he saw a human arm coming up from blood-soaked earth, pressing down on his chest, holding him there until he started to scream and fight his way back to his friends. 

Burnside Bridge of Unmarked Graves

The hauntings extend beyond Bloody Lane to other sites within Antietam National Battlefield as well. Burnside Bridge, otherwise known as Rohrback Bridge before the war, is another poignant location on these hallowed grounds.

Read More: For more haunted bridges around the world, check out The Drowned Ghosts Under Howrah Bridge in Kolkata, The Ghost Children at Mang Gui Kiu Bridge and The River Road Bridge Ghost.

This was the place where General Ambrose Burnside pushed the Confederates back and where many of the fallen soldiers received a quick burial in unmarked graves around the bridge. Although today many are re-buried in the Antietam National Cemetery among other places.

Burnside Bridge: Before the war it was called Rohrback Bridge. Now it is simply remembered because of the war and its haunted rumors. Still picture from the bridge between circa 1860 and circa 1865

The area around Antietam National Battlefield is said to harbor mysterious blue balls of light that dance through the air, evoking the spirits of those who found their final rest beneath its arches. Phantom drumbeats echo through the ages, a ghostly cadence that hints at the unseen soldiers who once marched to the rhythm of war.

The Pry House Field Hospital

On the battlefield you will also find the Pry House and Piper House that are also said to be haunted from the war. 

The Pry House is an old farmhouse in bricks and has now been turned into a museum of field museums. It was mostly used for storage until it almost burned down in 1976. When the fire was burning the firefighters claimed to have seen a woman in one of the windows on the second floor, after the entire floor had collapsed.

It was during the restoration of the old building though that most of the ghost stories from The Pry House came from, but also here, the same woman made an appearance. 

Also here you will hear the sound of footsteps from no one in the stairs as well as seeing the ghost of a woman wearing a long old fashioned dress coming down the staircase. 

The woman is thought to be Fannie Richardson, the wife of one of the generals that died in the same room on the second floor which she has been spotted on. She had come the long way down from Michigan to care for him, but his life was not to be saved. 

Piper House Farm

The Piper House is found in the midst of Antietam National Battlefield and was the headquarters of Confederate General Longstreet and the barn out back was used as a hospital. There were actual fights inside of the house as well, and after it ended, they had to get out three dead soldiers under the piano. 

When the farmer, Henry Piper returned to the farm, he found it standing, yes, but bloody and filled with dead people. He filed a claim for damages, but as he had no certificate of loyalty, he never received compensation.

This house is also said to have strange things happening inside of it, and people have complained about seeing strange figures and hearing mysterious noises. 

St. Paul Episcopal Church

Moving from the Antietam National Battlefield itself and into the small town of Sharpsburg, you will find the St. Paul Episcopal Church that was used as a Confederate hospital after the battle ended as well as the nearby homes. 

Not a peaceful place though as reports of screaming from the dying and injured are heard. The church tower is also said to have flickering lights that no one can explain. 

There is also a house west of Mt. Airy, a town where a lot of the injured were taken. According to the local legend, the floorboards in the house are still stained with blood that are impossible to remove, even when sanded down. 

The Haunted Antietam National Battlefield

The Antietam National Battlefield was the location for one of the bloodiest battles in the American Civil War, sure, but also one of the most haunted? Over the years the ghost stories from the different spots that played their part in the battle seem to accumulate. 

And as long as the history is preserved and retold, perhaps so will the ghost stories. 

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References:

GHOSTS OF ANTIETAM 

https://eu.beaconjournal.com/story/lifestyle/travel/2016/12/18/antietam-battlefield-is-full-ghosts/10717811007

Haunted House at Antietam National Battlefield? 

Ghosts of Gettysburg Haunted Daytrips: Antietam | Mark Nesbitt 

Burnside Bridge (U.S. National Park Service) 

Pry House Field Hospital Museum – Antietam National Battlefield (U.S. National Park Service) 

The Piper Farm – Antietam National Battlefield (U.S. National Park Service) 

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Ghost Stories from the Gettysburg Battlefield

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Haunted by eerie stories and mysterious legends, the Gettysburg Battlefield is home to supernatural phenomena like the legendary Ghost of Gettysburg. 

Gettysburg Battlefield has been shrouded in mystery and awed by stories of supernatural sightings. One of the most famous legends is the “Ghost of Gettysburg,” a purported spirit that haunts the historic Civil War battleground. Find out what makes this story so compelling, and explore other unusual tales related to this mysterious place.

The History of Gettysburg

Gettysburg is rich with history and tragedy. During the Battle of Gettysburg, there were approximately 50,000 casualties on both sides in the three days between July 1st and July 3rd 1863. For many it stands as the greatest battle that was during the American Civil War and was a turning point that led to the fall of the Confederacy and victory to the Union.

The Battle of Gettysburg: This is a picture after the first day of fighting on Stevens’ Knoll, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle would last for three days and be the bloodiest battle during the American Civil War.

It was fought around the town of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania when General Robert E. Lee felt victory was with the Confederates and marched north. However, the Union was awaiting their arrival and a 3 day battle began across the hills and forest as well as the entire town.  

It remains the bloodiest battle fought during the American Civil War, details of which have been immortalized by many authors throughout history.

Pennsylvania Hall

Of what is now Gettysburg College and during the battle, the college was a place were the battle raged on. The place is today said to be haunted, especially the building on campus named Pennsylvania Hall. Students and teachers alike have shared stories about seeing soldiers walking on campus.

The Ghost of Jennie Wade

The most famous ghost story in Gettysburg is the Ghost of Jennie Wade. In July 1863, a woman named Mary V. “Jennie” Wade was baking bread for the Union troops when she became the only civilian killed during the 3-day battle. Legend has it that her ghost still haunts the town; reports from visitors, who claim to have encountered her, are often heard along with sightings of a female figure near Ziegler’s Grove, where Jennifer was killed.

Specters in Seminary Ridge Hospital

Seminary Ridge Hospital, once the largest hospital in Pennsylvania during the war, is rumored to be haunted by many spirits ranging from former Confederate doctors to injured patients. Reports of ghostly nurses walking through hallways with stretchers of phantom soldiers have been made, and several reports tell of figures assumed to be wounded soldiers searching buildings for aid that never comes.

Haunted Spirits in Meade’s Headquarters

George Meade’s Headquarters, which sit on the roundtop of Cemetery Hill, have been reported to be haunted by the ghost of Major General Meade himself. Witnesses describe phantom figures in the windows, soft voices coming from the direction of his old tent, and shadows that move inside Meade’s old office. 

Other reports tell stories of a spectral female figure said to be wandering around in search of a lost soldier. These stories seem unbelievable but there’s no denying that something odd lurks in this historic area.

Supernatural Occurrences at Little Round Top

Little Round Top has been the setting for a number of supernatural occurrences. Many believe it’s haunted by the ghosts of fallen soldiers, both Union and Confederate. There have been reports of eerie whispers, phantom sounds, and strange glows in the air. Some visitors claim to feel an invisible presence at the top of Little Round Top or strange chills that travel down their spine when they stand on this hallowed ground.

The Devils Den

One of the most notorious places though is The Devils Den, and it is said that the place was haunted long before the Battle of Gettysburg. 

It used to be a Native American hunting ground for centuries. Another battle named The Battle of the Crows was supposedly fought here and in the night you could hear war cries from the Native American according to the early settlers who told ghost stories about the place. Even by the end of the 1800s, the place was called haunted. 

During the Battle of Gettysburg there was a lot of fighting around the den on the second day. After the war, there were countless people that claimed to have seen something supernatural around the bould of rocks. 

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Hauntings at the Weston State Hospital or the Trans-Allegheny Asylum

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Many of the patients spent most of their lives inside of the walls of the old and overcrowded asylum then known as Weston State Hospital as well as the Trans-Allegheny Asylum. Some even say that some of the souls will spend the rest of eternity in this old asylum. 

The asylum was first built in the period between 1858 to 1881. During the Civil War it was used as a base for soldiers and the completion of the hospital happened first after the war. 

It was back then known as the Weston State Hospital, although it best known by its original name today: The Trans-Allegheny Asylum.

It opened the doors in 1864 with nine patients and was supposed to be a fresh start to cure the insane? But after it closed the doors, it became known as one of America’s most haunted places. How was it possible? For that we have to go back to when the now haunted asylum opened its fresh coated doors. 

Read about more haunted asylums around the world: Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital

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The New Era for the Insane

The man behind the building that is now filled with rumors of ghosts and ghouls was Thomas Story Kirkbride who is considered to be one of the fathers of the modern American practice of psychiatry. The building was built after what was known as the Kirkbride plans which was the golden standard for mental hospitals in the 19th century. 

The architecture was supposed to be spacious and receive a lot of direct sunlight to comfort the patients. The hospitals were usually built out in green and lush places. The very word asylum used to mean a place of comfort. The idea that they would remove the inflicted person from the environment, would supposedly help cure them. 

But although the base philosophy was moral care and kindness, the reality turned out to be something completely different as the spacious rooms became overcrowded with patients that never recieved their cure. 

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The Patients Haunting the Asylum

Although it was seen as an innovative and modern way of dealing with the mentally ill back then, today we look at it as quite barbaric. For instance the patients were admitted with diagnoses like hereditary, menstrual  and even masturbation, as they thought this habit caused mental illness.

Some of the more unusual listings but still accepted as diagnoses were: “novel reading,”  “doubt about his mother’s ancestors,” “marriage of son,” “Salvation Army,” “seduction and disappointment,” among some of the reasons we today would consider just silly. 

And the supposed cure they promised was reported as being at only 26 percent. Many succumbed to the horrible conditions at the hospital, suicide or even murder. Even the methods that were put in to cure your affliction could end up killing you. It is estimated that around 50 000 people died in the hospital while it was operating from 1864 to 1994. 

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Horrible Conditions

When the asylum was first built it was supposed to hold up to 250 people. It was built with a lot of space as the idea was that the patients should be able to roam about the premise free as part of their cure. 

But soon the asylum got crowded, at most it had ten times more patients than it should have. By the peak in the 1950s, the asylum housed over 2400 patients. They were sleeping maybe up to five people in dirty rooms on the floor in freezing rooms. The windows were almost blacked out by the dirt and mold with the wallpapers peeling in the decay. 

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The care for the patients also declined. And although the hospital philosophy was to use as little restraint as possible, it became increasingly more difficult as the overcrowding kept happening and only getting worse into the new century. And the use of straightjackets, cuffs, bed straps and cribs were frequent. 

It wasn’t only for the patients that the condition was bad. The staff also had its problems. There are several records of female employees being raped on duty. There is also a story about a nurse who went missing. They didn’t find the rotting body at the bottom of an unused staircase before two months passed. 

Lobotomies, Electroshock and Ice Baths

It wasn’t only the rooms and amounts of patients that were a problem at the asylum. It was also the treatments. When it was at its worst, the asylum was also a place where they began experimenting with some experimental lobotomies in the 1930s. 

These lobotomies left the patients, some even perfectly healthy before the procedure, with brain damage and hemorrhages. It is estimated that over 4000 of these experiments were performed at this asylum. 

There was also a spread of electroconvulsive therapy and hydrotherapy. Hydrotherapy was widely used in the first half of the 20th century and was a cold bath where the patient had to sit for hours, sometimes even days. 

Electroshock Therapy was given up to several times a day and some also suffered permanent brain damage from it in the long run.

The End of the Asylum

Although some were considered cured and helped during their stay at the hospital, many patients held great resentment towards the place and the staff. One even tried to burn it to the ground in 1935. 

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The asylum closed its doors for patients first in 1994. In 2007 it opened its doors for tourists and was renamed to Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum which was the original name when it first opened its doors. Here they host tours and overnight stays to tell the story, both the medical and the supposed paranormal ones. 

Ghosts Reported of in the Asylum

Lily

One of the most talked about ghosts in the old asylum is the little girl, Lily. The story differs slightly from who tells it, from her being a patient from the Civil War era that died from pneumonia when she was 9. Some even say that she was born in the asylum. 

She usually plays in a room on the 4th floor in Ward R. This was once a place for violent women. She is often seen in her playroom, where you can hear her both crying and laughing.

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There have been several claims to exactly who she is. In one paranormal investigation series, she featured in one of their episodes. There the psychist Tammy Wilson met a girl around nine years old wearing a white dress. Her mother started with the letter E came to the hospital already pregnant. Her parents died though and both her and her daughter had to live their remaining days at the asylum. 

According to the producers, they actually found records of a woman beginning with an E and gave birth in the 1920s. Could it be Lily?

Big Jim

One of the more scarier ghost is Big Jim, said to have murdered another patient with a bedpost. He is said to haunt the third floor together with a murdered man who was bludgeoned to death after the murdered failed to hang him. 

James

A ghost who is said to have died of a heart attack in the bathtub. 

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Ruth

On the first floor of the building you can find the ghost of former patient Ruth. She haunts this place which is called the Civil War Wing. Apparently she hated men and used to throw things at them, someone says she still does it to this day. 

Nurse Elizabeth

Another ghost that is haunting the third floor is that of Nurse Elizabeth. Not much are known of her. 

Civil War Soldiers

From its story stretching all the way back to the civil war, there wouldn’t be a story complete without a soldier ghost. Although not specified as being from the civil war in all the sources, there is a ghost named Jacob who are haunting the hallways of the fourth floor. 

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Slewfoot

One person nicknamed Slewfoot is said to haunt the upper floors. He is said to have committed many of the murders in the upstairs bathroom and supposedly haunts the area. 

Other Ghosts

In Ward 2 on the second floor there is a room where a man was stabbed 17 times by another patient and still haunts it. In another room there were two patients that hanged themselves from the curtain rods and have been seen as shadowy figures.

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References

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum one of WV’s most haunted spots (FlipSide)

 THE CIVIL WAR-HISTORY AND HERITAGE TRANS-ALLEGHENY LUNATIC ASYLUM

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ghost-tour-mental-hospital

Weston State Hospital

I Spent the Night in a Haunted Asylum and I Still Can’t Explain What I Saw – Washingtonian

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum and the Haunting Enigma of Lily

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, Weston, West Virginia – Legends of America

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Myrtles Plantation and the Ghosts that Remains

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Now a quaint Bed and Breakfast, the old Myrtles plantation manor houses more ghosts than living guests. 

The old splendor of a plantation in Louisiana, not so far from Baton Rouge, is still quite clear when looking at the Myrtles Plantation. The antebellum mansion was first built in 1796 and is decorated with hand-painted stained glass featuring a French cross to allegedly ward off evil, the walls filled with Aubusson tapestry and from the ceiling, Baccarat crystal chandeliers hang. 

But among the Carrara marble mantels and French furnishing there is something more sinister, more primitive than any riches, gold and luxury can cover over — The blood stained history and the legend of ghosts still haunting the place. 

The old plantation was handed down from many people and in 1950, the house was sold to Marjorie Munson. It was she who started noticing strange things happening around the Myrtles Plantation and started talking about ghosts, that we still talk about today. 

And the tales that are told are many — supposedly, the old plantation is one of the more haunted places in America with reports of at least 12 ghosts inside this Creole cottage style manos sitting on a hill. Although it is only historical records about the murder of William Winter, the number of murders in the house is allegedly 10. 

The Legend of Chloe

The most famous ghost on Myrtles Plantation is without a doubt Chloe, or in some records, Cloe. She was supposedly a slave owned by Clark and Sara Woodruff, who took over the plantationin 1817 after Saras father, General David Bradford, who first built the plantation. 

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In 1992 a picture surfaced after the plantation took some photos of the property to send to the insurance company. When looking closer at the picture, something that looks like a girl can be seen. This is believed to be the ghost of Chloe, who still haunts the Myrtles Plantation with her green turban. 

According to the stories, Chloe was one of the slaves that worked in the house rather than out in the field, which was a much more straining work than inside doing the cleaning and cooking. But perhaps it came with other dangers than grueling labor. According to the stories, she was forced by Clark Woodruff to become his mistress.  

In some accounts though, Woodruff started having an affair with another girl and Chloe feared she would have to start working in the fields instead of in the house. And she started listening in on conversations to find out her faith or pick up on something that she could use against them. 

In any case she was caught listening by the doors and punished by her slave owners. One of her ears was cut off and she wore a green turban to conceal it. 

The Revenge

The Haunted Mirror: Where the spirit of Woodruff and her children lingers.
Photo: Chris Light/1999

But it wasn’t the end at all, as Chloe planned her revenge on her slave masters. She baked a cake that she had poisoned with oleander leaves, which is extremely poisonous. Even the question of why she poisoned the cake is up for discussion. 

Most accounts claim she did it for revenge after cutting off her ear. Another variant saying she was trying to gain favor with the family again as she was planning to cure the family for the poison and come out as a hero instead. 

But according to the story, the plan backfired and only Sara Woodruff and the two daughters ate the cake and died from the poison. Chloe was then hanged by the other slaves and thrown in the Mississippi river, as a sort of final punishment for her or to not be punished themselves by Clark Woodruff for harbouring her. 

A mirror in the house is supposedly holding the spirit of Sara Woodruff and her children. According to custom at that time, the mirrors were covered by a cloth so the spirit would not disappear into them. But after the poisoning, this particular mirror was forgotten and the ghosts of the victims can be seen in the mirrors and there are reports of handprints being left in the mirror, as their spirits are now trapped in the mirror. 

The story about Chloe as a ghost is also told by the previous owner, Frances Kermeen, who also wrote a book on all the strange hauntings that she herself reported about experiencing on her second night in the house: 

 “I looked up and standing over me was a black lady. Her head was wrapped in a green turban,” I could see her [holding an] old-fashioned tin with the loop in it [through] the candlelight and I lost it. I started screaming…I reached my hand out to touch her, I could tell she was a ghost because she was see-through, but as my hand passed through her, she faded away.”

Frances Kermeen told the podcast Mysterious Universe in 2015.

The Uneven Facts

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Do historical records support this though? There is currently not found any records of the Woodruffs owning a slave named either Chloe or Cloe. The legends say that Chloe killed both the wife and the daughters, but one of the daughters, Mary Octavia, survived and grew up to become an adult. And it is said that Sara and the other daughter, Cornelia, were not killed by poison, but by yellow fever in 1823 and 1824. 

Either way, despite the historical records refuting the story, the legend about a woman wearing a green turban haunts Myrtles Plantation. Perhaps trying to tell a story that no historical records can?

The Other Ghosts

There are several pictures you can find on the postcards found in the souvenir shop at the plantation, the Chloe postcard being one of them. Another picture that stirred up quite some stories was the picture of a young girl dressed up in classic antebellum clothing that seems to look out from a window. She is now referred to as “The Ghost Girl” on the plantation. 

Burial Ground

But the legend of Chloe is not the only claim of ghost sightings at the plantation among the Spanish Moss hanging from the giant oak trees. There is the classic tale that the house itself is built on an Native American burial ground, a trope of American ghost story tales that rarely can be substantiated. But even so, the ghost of a young Natice American woman has been reported. 

In this case, the burial ground would be of Tunican tribes in the Mississippi River Valley, and the truth is that the land the manor now stands on used to belong to the Natives before being seized by the Spanish. 

Civil War Soldiers

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Another legend is about the Civil War and about how the houses were ransacked by union soldiers, and three people were killed. But exactly who was killed? The soldiers or the people living in the mansion? At the time, it was then Ruffin Gray Stirling and his wife Catherine Cobb that lived on the plantation with their slaves. It is true that they were robbed of their fine furniture and luxury items. 

According to some of the  variations of the legend though, it was the Union soldiers that were shot dead on the premises by the Confederates. 

But something that is more up for debate is the supposed blood stain in the doorway, around the size of a human body remains that never will be completley clean after the supposed murders that happened then, no matter how well you scrub it. 

The Voodoo Practitioner

The plantation is also the home of the ghost of a young girl that died in 1868, sometimes thought to be the girl in antebellum clothes from the picture. She was treated by a local voodoo practitioner in one of the 22 rooms in the manor, but died. She appears now in the room she died in and has been reported to practice voodoo on people sleeping in the room. 

William Drew Winter

One of the other ghosts haunting this place is someone that either staggers or crawls up the stairs. He always stops on the 17th step. This is rumoured to be the ghost of William Drew Winter, the verified murder victim in the house. He was shot on the front porch of the house by a stranger. To get away, he crawled up the stairs but only reached the 17th step before he collapsed and died. 

Several guests staying at the now B&B have claimed to hear the crawling coming from the stairs, and believing it could be other guests have gone to check. But when reaching the stairs, they find that no one is there, or worse, the apparition of his ghost, begging for help. 

Although here, we have discrepancies in the story as a local newspaper reported that Winter died of a single shot that killed him instantly, and he had no possible way of crawling the stairs after the shot. But did he manage to in his afterlife?

The Plantation

No matter the fact we can now verify, the stories found of plantations from way back cast long shadows. All from the first contact between the natives and Spanish, throughout slavery and a bloody war. The darkest chapters of this plantation, is most likely the stories that we don’t know about. 

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Featured image: Bogdan Oporowski

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