Where the spirit takes you
Savannah’s favorite ‘haunts’ BY DAVID WILKENING Savannah has ghastly, or rather ghostly, goings-on. The historic city, founded in 1733, has no fewer than 23 spirited tourist attractions that appeal to our things-that- go-bump-in-the-night side. Why Savannah? "A local retired history professor says Savannah is such a beautiful city, if you were a ghost, you’d want to stay here, too," says Jean Soderlind, owner of Ghost Talk, Ghost Walk, the city’s first supernatural tour, which opened in the early 1990s. She notes that while such cities as St. Augustine, one of America’s oldest (alongside Georgia’s St. Marys), and New Orleans, perhaps the nation’s oddest, have spirited tourist attractions, perhaps none has as many as Savannah–at least for a city its size. Why is that? One theory is that older cities have had a lot of time to acquire ghosts. It is thought that ghosts are spirits who had unfinished business when they went to the other side. It was not time for them to leave, so they stuck around, making occasional appearances. There was simply a lot of unfinished business here. There’s also a theory that older cities with a lot of violence make good grounds for ghostly appearances. But the trouble with this theory is that most older cities have violent pasts, although, compared to some other places, Savannah is an exception. "This is a very old town, and you have a mix of people. The Celts were here, Irish-Americans and African-Americans, and there was even voodoo. It’s still practiced in some areas," says Pat Tuttle, whose company, Hospitality Tours of Savannah, offers ghost-related and other jaunts. Savannah, founded by Gen. James Edward Oglethorpe, is known as America’s first planned city, with a lot of shady public squares and parks designed to be town meeting places. Those peaceful events, however, were overshadowed over the years by such traumatic events as the Civil War.
 | Above: The Telfair Museum became the oldest public museum in the South when art-lover Mary Telfair (above left) gave the city her home with the stipulation–no music, no alcohol. Today, reception guests there tell stories of amplifiers that don't work and bottles of alcohol that fall from tables. (The painting at left is Mary Telfair, 1896, by German painter Carl Ludwig Brandt.) |
Fortunately for Savannah, Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman mercifully spared it during his army’s March to the Sea. (The story is that Sherman was so taken by the city’s beauty, he left it untouched. And that he told Abraham Lincoln he was sparing the city as a personal Christmas present to the U.S. president.) Whether or not that story is true, ghost tours have become a reality. And one of those attractions, Ghost Talk, Ghost Walk, is typical of these types of supernatural happenings. While some ghost tours feature sailing ships or cemeteries, most seem to involve walking tours. The Ghost Talk, Ghost Walk lasts about 90 minutes and, at only a mile, it’s not particularly taxing. Nor is it expensive: $10 for adults, $5 for children 12 and under. And of course it’s not offered until dusk. One of the ghostly tour stops is the historic Hampton Lilibridge house, former home of the late Jim Williams–who was convicted of murder. It was he who was featured in John Berendt’s best-selling book "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" and played on screen by Kevin Spacey. The house, which had been moved from its original location after Williams purchased it, started to have strange occurrences. Nobody’s sure if the house or the grounds the house now rests on are haunted. "There were so many strange things happening when Jim was re-doing the house in the 1960s," says Soderlind. "Workmen were hearing noises and footsteps and all kinds of things." The workmen also reported that tools and other materials ended up missing. Though its gambrel roof and clean New England lines give it an ordinary look, the "Midnight" house has never been quite normal. It’s rumored a sailor hanged himself here when it was a boarding house in the late 1800s. In fact, there were so many stories about it that an Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta performed an exorcism here in the early 1960s. In recent times, a series of families lived in the "Midnight" house. But things happened that are not common family conversation topics. For example, not only are there strange noises, but there is one sound that is perhaps eeriest of all: The telephone rings. Repeatedly. Even when the phone is off the hook. (This gives visitors a pause to ponder: Are ghosts trying, unsuccessfully, to contact the living?) Visitors to Savannah can stay at inns where they have at least a chance of seeing ghosts. One, The Gastonian, circa 1868, has 17 rooms and is perhaps the most famous of all the city’s bed-and-breakfast inns, though it’s also known for its ghost stories. One has a marmalade cat wandering around acting like it’s the household cat, though there is no cat there. Other stories involve a woman who committed suicide in the 1790 Inn, in room 204, by jumping to her death. Visitors to the inn report feeling that somebody is brushing past them. Is it the woman reliving her death, or simply trying to tuck in for a good night’s sleep? Even the Girl Scouts are not immune to ghostly happenings. The Juliette Gordon Low birthplace on East Oglethorpe Avenue is the city’s first Registered National Historic Landmark. Built in 1820, it was the birthplace of Low, founder of the Girl Scouts.
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The Low house story is one of undying love between Gen. William Washington Gordon and his wife Nelly. Gordon passed away before his wife. But, on the day she died, he was seen walking out of her bedroom. Margaret Gordon, Nelly’s daughter-in-law, and the family butler spotted a somberly dressed man walk out of the bedroom where Nelly lay dying and down the steps with a spring in his step. Margaret’s husband did not believe that she had seen the General until the butler confirmed that he too had seen him. Still another story involves James Habersham, who was an English Loyalist at a time when his son supported the American Revolution. The father did not know about his son’s clandestine meetings, but visitors to the Habersham home repeatedly report seeing a figure walking around the building, as if he is trying to catch his son attending secret meetings. Visitors often describe the man as wearing clothing of the 1770s; often, they think he is a hired actor. But – there is no actor. (The house is now a historic building that’s privately owned, but it is available for tours by appointment.) At the Telfair Museum of Art, the oldest public museum in the South, art-lover Mary Telfair turned her museum over to the city with some stipulations: no music, no alcohol. But today, the museum is sometimes used for wedding receptions where there is music and alcohol. The former owner must object, because there are frequent reports of amplifiers that don’t work, failed electricity, and bottles of alcohol that regularly fall from tables and splinter into shards for no apparent reason. An employee even claims to have felt a hand on her back–Telfair’s, perhaps? Graveyards are always popular with ghosts. And in Savannah, some of the best stories are told at the Bonaventure Cemetery. The cemetery was prominent in the "Midnight" movie, and Bonaventure, which means "good fortune," is the final resting place for many of the city’s most famous residents, including Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Conrad Aikin and song lyricist Johnny Mercer. But a ghost of a small girl buried here garners its share of attention, too. Her name is Gracie Watkins. People have heard her cry at night. Visitors often bring her gifts and leave them in the hands of a life-size statue that marks her grave. If someone removes the presents, it’s reported that her statue cries blood-like tears. If that’s not enough to keep the timid away from Bonaventure, a pack of ghost dogs is said to haunt the grounds. Visitors have reported hearing them barking and breathing as the dogs pursued them. Visitors to Savannah may or may not see ghosts. Don’t expect it; one can’t summon them on command. And sometimes, their plucky, playful spirits are such that they prefer to appear only when they are least expected. David Wilkening is a freelance writer from Orlando, Fla., who has yet to see a ghost, though he says he remains optimistic.
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