Georgia's Coastal Ghosts

The British settled the Georgia coast as a debtors' prison in 1733, so ghosts have had plenty of time to appear. Coincidence made Georgia the "unlucky" thirteenth colony. The ghost stories I have heard most often come from St Simons Island and the town of St Marys. The names of some of these places have been changed or omitted to avoid any unwanted publicity for the owners.

One story whose set up is actually based in history is that of a few men who were stolen from what is now Nigeria and brought to St Simons's Ebo Landing in 1803. Rather than become slaves, this brave and subversive group of chained together men chose to walk into the Dunbar Creek and drown. As they walked they chanted a prayer to their god Chukwa. On quiet nights you can still hear the ghostly chants in the marsh.

A ghostly light shines on St Simons Island. It illuminates a young woman's grave. The woman, afraid of the dark, begged her husband while she was dying to always leave a light on for her. For the rest of his life he put a candle on her grave every night. Now that they both have passed, locals say you can still see the light moving through the cemetery and rest on her grave at night.

The St Simons lighthouse still houses the ghost of former lightkeeper Frederick Osborne. During an 1880 argument between Osborne and his assistant John Stevens, Stevens shot Osborne to death. But Osborne tends the lighthouse to this day, as his footsteps can be heard every night.

In the 1800s a woman nicknamed Cook Pot lived on the island who was obviously famous for her culinary skills. Sometimes you can still smell dinner cooking where she lived.

Even the trees are haunted on St Simons. They say if you look up into a live oak tree at night you may see a spirit beckon from inside the waving Spanish moss that hangs from the trees. If you see it, you will soon die.

In St Marys, a small port town forty miles south of St Simons, the English family rests in Oak Grove Cemetery. Their grave boasts a huge stone angel which bears the inscription "awaiting the resurrection." The angel apparently is impatient for said resurrection and is said to move around, especially on Halloween. Although its left arm usually points toward the sky, sometimes visitors to the graveyard see its right arm held high instead.

In the historic mansion called Orange Hall in downtown St Marys, a little girl haunts the top story halls and bedrooms. The daughter of original owner Jane Pratt, the child actually died and was buried in Alabama, but her spirit followed her parents to St Marys. The local Guale Historical Society called in a psychic to the home, now a museum, after haunting incidents increased. The little girl told the psychic that she feared "the thing with no face." Evidently a mannequin which showcased some vintage clothes terrified the ghost; the mannequin was removed and the ghost quieted somewhat. A former employee swears that another angry ghost, probably a nineteenth century servant, haunts the first floor kitchen.

The Butler House, also downtown, shelters two ghosts. In a much less enlightened time the family that lived there kept their developmentally disabled child named Johnny confined in the house. Johnny always wore a white gown. His brothers taught the family's pet bird, also white, to call poor Johnny "stupid." Unfortunately, Johnny reached out one day and wrung the parrot's neck. Both Johnny and the bird are still seen floating as white forms around the grounds and, for some reason, under the house.

Finally, in front of an official city building the town's old hanging tree still grows. At the last hanging in St Marys, the two condemned men swore that they would be back because they felt their execution unjust. You can still see the hanging again and again some nights and the spot is supposed to be cursed.

Why are these two towns so full of ghosts? Probably because of a combination of two factors: the locals' interest in history and the existence of so many old buildings. As long as people still express interest in the long departed spirits' stories the ghosts will probably continue to float through the spotlight.