Category Archives: Comtesse Travelogue

Ghost Talk Ghost Walk

Posted on by
Reply

Ghost Talk Ghost Walk (Savannah, Georgia)
A Comtesse Travelogue to “Ghost Talk, Ghost Walk” – a walking ghost tour of the “most haunted city in America”.

Positively Ghostly! 

Ghost Talk Ghost Walk
(Savannah Ghost Walking Tour)
Savannah, GA – July 21, 2001

Ghost Talk Ghost Walk
Departs from John Weley’s monument in Reynolds Square, Abercorn Street
Savannah, GA 31404

Website: http://www.ghosttalkghostwalk.com/
Long before I ever journeyed to Savannah, I’d seen an episode of “Scariest Places On Earth” that described Savannah as “America’s Most Haunted City”. Of course, that was enough to spark my interest… and when I had the chance to visit my friend Nina there, I just couldn’t pass it up. One of the “musts” on my to-do list was to take in one of the many different walking ghost tours offered throughout the city. I’d heard warnings from website patrons about how silly some of the tours were – for instance, featuring people in “period” costume wandering around in the background so that the tour guide could pretend he didn’t see them (ie. because they were ghosts) when they were pointed out, etc. As you know, I am a factual Comtesse and have no patience for such “dramatic license”. I want legitimate stories (well, as legit as ghost stories can really be) and I want no feeble-minded trickery!Given this fact, it seemed only natural that I would select “Ghost Talk Ghost Walk” as my purveyor of late night Southern creepiness. This particular tour group emphasized their lack of theatrics and the fact that most of their stories were taken from the book “Savannah Spectres and Other Strange Tales” – and were based on “validated” tales and historical research. (For example, they don’t include the stories that were featured in “Scariest Places On Earth” – such as the legend of the man-beast René – because they had done historical research and found absolutely no mention of this person in any documents contemporary to the stories.) Now, that’s what I want – all historically sound, yet completely unsubstantiated ghost story – and no fluff!!My friends Nina, Christine and I elected to take one of the 9:00 p.m. tours – because, let’s face it, the darker, the better with this sort of thing! The tour lasts 90 minutes, so that put the ending at a nice late hour… perfect for taking in the warm Southern Gothic atmosphere! Unfortunately, all that late night Gothic atmosphere didn’t lend itself to photography, so I ended up returning to the ghostly places the next day to get the images accompanying this travelogue. So, you’ll have to imagine them at night… or, better still, you’ll have to visit them yourself to get that creepy nocturnal feeling!

Haunted Place #1 – Wright Square
The tour started from Reynolds Square, which is one of the 21 squares that are scattered in an orderly fashion around Savannah. (And that give it much of its quaint charm.) From there, we immediately wandered to the first Creepy Place of the night: Wright Square. Wright Square is morbid and strange for oh so many reasons. Let me count them:

Reason One: There was a grave desecration here in the 1880s!
Yes, it’s sad but, allegedly, true. You see, back in 1739, a Native American named Tomochichi was buried here. Tomochichi, naive soul that he was, was the Yamacraw chief who allowed James Oglethorpe and the first Georgia colonists to settle on Yamacraw Bluff, where they built the town of Savannah. He was a close friend of Oglethorpe and after his death, his buddy buried him in a place of honor in the square. And then, quite naturally, over the years, they forgot that he was buried there, and in the 1880’s the square was dug up (and Tomochichi’s grave torn apart) in the construction of a monument to William Washington Gordon – one of the men behind the establishment of the Georgia Railroad. (Oh yes, now there’s something to celebrate!) They realized later that, oops, that’s where Tomochichi had been buried, and so, to make amends, they put up a rock monument to the dead chief in 1899, on the 160th anniversary of his death. (It states: “In memory of /Tomo-Chi-Chi/The Mico of the Yamacraws/The companion of Oglethorpe [oooh, I say! – Comtesse]/And the friend and ally [ie, sucker] of the/Colony of Georgia”.) So, you know, desecration of a grave = haunted place! Oooooooooohhhhh, Scary!!

Reason Two: Girl Scouts engage in Very Strange Rituals here!
Okay, so maybe the fact that Tomochichi’s bones were disturbed isn’t really all that creepy – but this occurrence has spawned some of the strangest behavior I’ve seen from pre-pubescent girls since Spice World. We observed a gaggle of girl scouts circling the rock several times, chanting something unintelligible, then stopping and putting their ears against the rock, giggling, and running off in fright. Our guide kindly explained this bizarre ritual to us. You see, Girl Scouts flock to Savannah because their founder [ie. guru], Juliet Gordon Low, was born here (and her haunted childhood home will be coming up on our tour). And generation after generation they are told the legend of Tomochichi – which goes like this: If you run around the monument and ask, “Tomochichi, Tomochichi, Where Are You?” and then put your ear to the rock, you’re supposed to hear him reply, “Nowhere”. Because his bones were scattered, so nobody knows where he is! Isn’t that, like, just too creepy cool? Of course, our guide also informed us that the rock is notoriously infested with cockroches – as is the entire square – so there’s no way she’d be putting her ear up to that thing. Actually, maybe that’s why they squeal and run off? Hmmm…

Reason Three: They Used To Hang People Here!
(Did you catch my oh-so-hip popular film reference there? Bravo if you did, Sigh if you did not…) Yes, over by Tomochichi’s grave is the site of the old public gallows. Isn’t that neato? Unfortunately, there’s nothing left to show for it, but you can kind of imagine it if you try. Anyway, it’s suspected that the reason the square is so heavily infested witih cockroches is all those criminal spirits, along with Tomochichi’s spirit, of course, still trying to harrass people after all these years! Cool, eh?

Haunted Place #2 – The Lindsay & Morgan Company Building
So, where in the heck did they bury people after they hung them? Right across the street, of course, at the burial ground. The one right there. Yep, right under that building… and all the other ones on the block. It’s time for the second Creepy Ghost Story! You see that building – the old Lindsay & Morgan Company building? There’s a shop on the first floor and I think there’s an art studio on the second floor – but the 3rd and 4th floors are empty. This is because the owner stopped trying to rent it out because everybody who lived there broke the lease in a few weeks time. Apparently, one of the tenants heard a bunch of noise downstairs one night – like the shopkeeper was moving furniture around – and the next day he mentioned it to the shopkeeper, who claimed that he hadn’t been in the shop that night at all. And a couple of other tenants who were renting the 3rd and 4th floors heard someone walking around downstairs and come up the stairs, stopping just outside the door. This occurred several times until, finally, the footsteps stopped just outside the door and the door handle was turned … slowly … and nothing was there! The couple, who had called the cops at the first sign of an intruder, met the police officers as they fled through the front door and told the police that someone/thing had entered their room. The police did a thorough search of the place and, of course, found nothing. Suffice it to say, they moved out that night…

Haunted Place #3 – The York Lane Theatre
In the center of the block, there’s the York Lane Theatre – also a supposedly haunted building built above the old cemetery. Apparently, one time there was a play going on there, and suddenly the actors noticed some people dressed in Civil War uniforms wandering around the stage. And then they disappeared. Yeah, I know, that one seemed pretty silly to me too…

Haunted Place #4 – The Juliet Gordon Low House
We then wandered a few blocks to the Juliet Gordon Low house: the aforementioned childhood home of the Girl Scouts of America founder. Our tour guide told us about the history of the house, and how the ghost of a woman who lived there before Julia’s parents still haunts the house. In fact, the tour guide worked as a docent there during the day, and she told us that one time a group of Girl Scouts suddenly started screaming hysterically. When she went in to find out what the matter was, they said that they had seen a woman dressed in 19th century apparel walk into the room… and then she disappeared except for her head which remained floating in mid-air for several seconds. Oh, what joy it must be to be a ghost in a house full of Girl Scouts! The opportunities for amusement must be, literally, endless!

Anyway, I digress… The guide told us that she had seen the ghost herself on a couple of occasions, and her story seemed very genuine… Either that, or I’m a sucker – your choice. She also told us that the night before there had been a ghost sighting at the front doorway of the house. Apparently, a guy was shooting with his camcorder and a mist formed in the doorway then disappeared, and he caught it on film. So, why isn’t that video on Fox tonight? Must not have been exciting enough to kick off the car crashes and killer guinea pigs, I guess…

There was also a sighting in the upstairs window of the house, where they had seen someone pull the blinds apart and peer out when nobody was in the house. But, of course, when we were there nothing happened. Damn my rotten luck!!!

Haunted Place #5 – The Pink House
Well, we’ve met the practical joker of the ghost world; now, it’s time to meet the pervert! You see, over at the Pink House restaurant women in bathroom stalls often experience the goosefleshy sensation of having some unseen presence whisper in their ear or touch them. Obviously, this place is inhabited by the ghost of a dirty old man who died before he’d had his fill of sexual harrassment!

Haunted Place #6 – The Marshall House
This is probably my favorite of them all – The Marshall House, now and originally a hotel, but during the Civil War it was used as a hospital. During its restoration a few years ago, some workmen were performing some structural checks in the crawl space under the building, when they kept bumping into hard objects they assumed were rocks. They tossed them aside as they crawled… and then, when they eventually shined their flashlights to see what they’d been bumping into, they turned out to be bones: specifically, human arm and leg bones. You see, during the Civil War, when a limb was struck by the heavily damaging bullets of the day, the usual recourse was amputation (see the National Museum Of Health And Medicine travelogue for more info)… and they had to do something with all those arms and legs. Isn’t that just too cool? I thought so too…

Anyway, supposedly the third floor of the Marshall House is haunted by the ghosts of Civil War soldiers. If anyone has had an experience with one of these ghostly presences, please let me know… because I’ll definitely have to book a stay there!

There were numerous other ghost stories told as well… like the tale of little Gracie (who you might remember from her graveside statue at the Bonaventure Cemetery) who allegedly haunts several spots in the city. But, you know, I didn’t bother getting pictures of any of the other spots. If you have more pics of haunted places to share, by all means feel free!
Chris has some information to add about the Marshall House:
“My father is a hotel developer based out of Atlanta. My father is soley responsible for the renovation to reopen the Marshall House a number of years ago. He found the Marshall House in shambles and decided to begin work to reopen it. My father took on this project
because of his love of Savannah as well as historic preservation. My dad always refers to the Marshall House as his baby. He never made a large profit off the hotel and eventually the other large corporate partners forced him out of his ownership. During the renovation of the hotel my father would tell me of many strange occurrences that happened before the hotel. One of his employees was walking through the hotel late at night by himself when he felt a strong pull on his belt and then heard a man’s voice scream “point your cannons to the east, point your cannons to the east”. Another story happened shortly before the opening. People from the company went to stay in the hotel for a meeting. One woman took her little girl. The little girl comes out of the shower and tells her mom that a little boy tried to bite her in the shower. There are also two rooms in the hotel that the female custodians refuse to clean unless they play loud Christian music because they say that they have bad spirits. Those are the stories that he told me – I just thought you would be interested.”

Anyone have any additional stories, tidbits or photos to add?
If so, by all means, write me!

 

Colonial Park Cemetery

Posted on by
1

Colonial Park Cemetery (Savannah, Georgia)
A Comtesse Travelogue to Savannah’s oldest cemetery – a site of duels, lush shrubbery, tragic tombstones, and Civil War marshmallow roasting.

A Campsite For The Ages

Colonial Park Cemetery
Savannah, GA – July 20, 2001

Colonial Park Cemetery
Corner of E. Oglethorpe and Abercorn
Savannah, GA
Ah, Colonial Park Cemetery! Definitely one of the highlights of my trip to Savannah. What a marvelously morbid place. I first heard about it on an episode of “The Scariest Places On Earth” — an episode which discusses a mythical man-beast named René who had supposedly been imprisoned at the Cemetery and had been accused of killing a couple of children whose corpses wound up at the site. Unfortunately, after discussing this story with local historians, it appears that it was a figment of a feverish network imagination, with no real basis in fact. Pity…However, what I did find out about Colonial Park Cemetery definitely places it high on the morbidity scale:

  • Colonial Park Cemetery is either Savannah’s oldest or second oldest cemetery (depending on the source), founded in 1750 and used as a burial ground until the 1850’s
  • Colonial Park Cemetery is the final resting spot for over 700 victims of the 1820 Yellow Fever epidemic
  • Colonial Park Cemetery was the site of numerous fatal duels [Elizabeth writes to correct me on this one: “First of all you should know, that contrary to what tour guides tell you, there were NO duels, fatal or otherwise, fought in or even near Colonial Cemetery. The duelists buried in the cemetery (there are only a few) did their duelling elsewhere. One popular spot was on Hutchinson Island. There were also a few at Tybee Island. The duel between Button Gwinnett and Lachlan McIntosh was fought a few miles from town on what is now Wheaton Street at a place known as Governor Wright’s meadow.” Oops… my bad.]
  • Colonial Park Cemetery is the resting place of many notable Georgia citizens, including 5 governors and several Revolutionary War soldiers
  • Colonial Park Cemetery was used as a campground by General Sherman’s Soldiers during the Civil War

And Colonial Park Cemetery is just a damned cool place to take a short stroll and ponder the long night of the soul… or, you know, how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop… or whatever else you feel like pondering. Without further ado…

 

This is the lavish front entrance to the Cemetery, which was erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1913 in memory of the Patriots of the Revolutionary War. (Hence the ‘D.A.R.’ in the center – kinda self-serving, don’t you think? Shouldn’t it say ‘C.P.C.’ for Colonial Park Cemetery, or something? Some people…)
This is a nice view of the Cemetery as you enter through the front gate. It was an overcast, rainy day when we were there but you can still grasp the pastoral beauty of the site.
You may have noticed the oddly shaped crypt to the left of the path in the previous picture. Well, so did I. I found these crypts to be positively strange, and even stranger still when their unique shape was explained by our Ghost Tour docent a couple of nights later. You see, these crypts were built in the shape of a bed (with the headboard to the right), to imply everlasting rest. The funny thing is that typically each of these crypts held an entire family – buried one on top of the other. It must be hard to get much rest under those circumstances!


 
(Death’s Head Detail)

I fell instantly in love with this ‘Death’s Head’ tombstone. I wish we had them like this in California!

HERE lies interrd the
Body of Doct. Samuel
Vickers who departed
this Life Octo. the 15th
Anno Domini 1785. In
the XXX Year of his Age ~~~~~~~

HE
Was born in New Brunswick
and
Received the honours of the
College at Princeton in N. Jersey.

This Monument is erected to his Me
mory by his affectionte Brother. TLV

So, I have to wonder — do you suppose that the ‘XXX’ is Roman Numerals for 30… or do you think that they forgot to put the year in? Or maybe TLV got a bargain on a “slightly used” headstone and had to make do? Oh, the great mysteries of life… er, death!
I fell absolutely in love with this flowering tree – as you’ll see in several other shots. Yes, variety is not my strong suit… But, isn’t it lovely? [Elizabeth writes to enlighten me: “The lovely trees that bloom in the cemetery are Crepe Myrtles, some of which are well over a 100 years old. “]
Look – there it is again, enshrouding a gravestone…
There were a number of old gravestones attached to a brick wall at the back of the cemetery. Though it seems a bit sad to see them there, instead of atop the bones where they belong, at least they are being well-preserved… Why, you might ask, are they back there? Well, when General Sherman’s troops were occupying the cemetery, they broke off or removed many of the tombstones to make room for their tents. So, now, the graves are no longer marked and the stones are back here against the wall. Now, Savannah has like 20 or something open squares – why did they have to choose the cemetery to make their camp? I guess that’s where Black Sabbath got the inspiration for the title “War Pigs”…

Here’s one of the more poignant stones against the wall — tribute to a lost child and wife:

This Stone
The humble monument of Parental love
covers the Grave of
ANN JOHNSTON DRYSDALE
the Daughter of
John and Ann Drysdale
who departed this life
on the 10th day of March
A. D. 1819
in the 10th year of her age
‘Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven’

And now this stone
which covers the ashes of the Child
of John Drysdale
holds also the body of her Mother his wife
who departed this mortal life to enter upon
one of immortality in the bosom of her
Father and her God
on the 1st day of November in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and twenty.

Here’s another unique and poignant stone on the wall. It’s kind of eroded in spots, but I think this is sort of what it says:

In
Memory of
JACOB R. TAYLOR
Son of
John P. Taylor of Philadelphia
a youth of exemplary department
conciliating manners and flauering promise
who in the 19th year of his age
when unarmed and peaceably walking the streets of
Savannah
was on the evening of the 11th of November 1811
attacked and inhumanly decimated [?]
by an armed band [?]
belonging to the crews of the French Privateers
La Vengeance and La Franchise

Rest infinite youth far from thy friends inurnd
By strangers honourd and by strangers mournd
Though thy lone turf no kindred drops can lave
Yet virtue hallows with her tears thy grave

I did a search on this one on the internet to see if I could find an accurate transcription of the gravestone and I found this historic chronicle which explains the circumstances of Jacob’s demise rather well…
Isn’t this one nice? The skull and crossbones theme is another that I miss in modern cemeteries…
Another nice view of the wall…

I found the unique stone and the nice tree etching on this one quite captivating:

In Memory of
LEVI WRIST,
who died
Feb. 23, 1819,
in the 35 Year
of his Age.

Another interesting epitaph:

In memory of
DAVID FRINK Jun.
aged 25 years Son of
DAVID & DEZIRE FRINK
of New London Connec.
who was drowned in Sa
vannah River on the [???]
Nov. 1816 [?] his body was fo-
und and here intered by
the Citizens of Savannah
whose quention [?] will ever
be remembered with gra
titude by his Parents and…
Another lovely tree…
Another view…

Look, it’s the grave of Captain Driscoll! Ummm…. I don’t actually remember why I took this shot. The stone is so unremarkable, I think it must be because Capt. Driscoll was somebody historic or something… but damned if I can remember. Any ideas, anyone? Anyway, here’s what the plain epitaph says:

J. H. S.

Here are deposited
the remains of
Capt. LAWRENCE
DRISCOLL
who departed this
Life on the 21 of April
1810. Aged 47 Years.
He was a native of Ireland.

This monument is erected by his
disconsolate Widow Margaret
Driscoll in testimony of …
One last view of Colonial Park Cemetery – a lovely little slice of morbid history!

Anyone have any additional tidbits or photos to add?
If so, by all means, write me!

For more information on Colonial Park Cemetery, also see:
Find-A-Grave

Elizabeth also has a recommendation:
“I suggest that you read The Old Burying Ground, Colonial Park Cemetery by Elizabeth Piechocinski, which was published by Oglethorpe Press in 1999, and which may be purchased at E. Shaver’s Booksellers, 124 Bull St., Savannah. It might give you a new insight to your interest in this cemetery.”

 

Bonaventure Cemetery

Posted on by
Reply

Bonaventure Cemetery (Savannah, Georgia)
A Comtesse Travelogue to Savannah’s most beautiful cemetery – made famous in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Midday in the Garden of Good and Evil

Bonaventure Cemetery
Savannah, GA – July 23, 2001

Bonaventure Cemetery
330 Bonaventure Road
Savannah, GA 31404
Colonial Park Cemetery may be older and more historic, but Bonaventure Cemetery is definitely the most beautiful of Savannah’s cemeteries. There’s something just hauntingly romantic about the splendid Victorian statuary among Spanish Moss draped trees and the lush greenery. A stroll among these peaceful tombs, surrounded by marshland and rivers, is like walking through the best parts of a Southern Gothic novel.Although it is strikingly beautiful, Bonaventure is not a particularly old cemetery. It was founded on the site of a plantation in 1868 and was originally called Evergreen Cemetery. The name was changed to Bonaventure in 1907. However, Bonaventure is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Savannah. The reason for this can be summed up in eight words: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. John Berendt’s book was partially set in this cemetery, and the haunting cover photograph was taken in its confines. (Dean Smiley writes to inform me:  “The cover photo was taken in Bonaventure but the cemetery setting is actually in Beaufort.  This can be found in the book chapter by the same name as the book.”  Guess I should read that book someday!)  However, so many people were flocking to visit the “Bird Girl” statue that graced the front cover, that the family to whom the tomb belonged decided to move the statue to a museum. (Apparently, the last straw was the day they arrived at the gravesite to find a family of tourists picnicking.) If you want to see the original Bird Girl statue nowadays, you need to go to the Telfair Museum Of Art in Savannah, where it is on permanent display. (I didn’t make it there, myself, while I was in town.)Anyway, enough of my blabbing… On with the show!

I found this carved wood burl to be quite interesting, in a creepy sort of way…

The elegantly sad grave of Charles Hohenstein (Aug. 16, 1854 – Aug. 30, 1915) and his beloved wife Mary Doyle (Mary 27, 1858 – Oct. 1, 1921).

“HER CHILDREN ROSE UP AND CALLED HER BLESSED”

John C. Von Hohenstein wrote on 12/6/07: “I am very pleased that you posted the picture of my ancester’s tomb; Charles and Mary Hohenstein. They are my Great Great Grandparents. Charles and his Brother came from Germany at the end of the Civil War. They were shipping merchants who came to capitalize on the rebuilding of Savannah, Atlanta, and New Orleans. The Hohenstein Shipping Yard is still in operation at the Port of Savannah.”
Lovely flowers grace the grave of Charles Seiler (Aug. 15, 1839 – Jan. 9, 1912) and his beloved wife Ernstine (Nov. 8, 1838 – Jan. 28, 1894)

I really loved this one – the grave of Nannie Herndon Mercer, the beloved wife of George A. Mercer (Dec. 17, 1841 – June 16, 1885).

“THE FLOWER FADETH, BUT THE WORD
OF OUR GOD SHALL STAND FOREVER”

Here’s the other most famous reason that people visit Bonaventure: Gracie. As the tomb marker states, “Little Gracie Watson was born in 1883, the only child of her parents. Her father was manager of the Pulaski Hotels, where the beautiful and charming little girl was a favorite with the guests. Two days before Easter, in April 1889, Gracie died of pnemonia at the age of six. In 1890, when the rising sculptor, John Walz, moved to Savannah, he carved from a photograph this life-sized, delicately detailed marble statue, which for almost a century has captured the interest of all passersby.”

Gracie’s ghost is rumored to haunt numerous Savannah buildings as well (more on that in the upcoming Ghost Tour), so she continues to be an intrinsic part of Savannah folklore.

Unfortunately, little Gracie has taken some abuse over the years. You’ll notice her nose is chipped – that’s thanks to a well-aimed rock thrown by some boys in the 1940s. With all the extra publicity around the cemetery sinceMidnight in the Garden, some steps have been taken to try and protect Gracie from harm (intentional or unintentional). There’s now a tall iron fence around her grave (I had to get my shots by sticking the camera through the gaps in the fence). However, there has been some evidence that idiots have been climbing the fence to get at Gracie. It’s quite sad to think that someone would want to damage such a beautiful piece of history and artistry…
Another beauty…

And still another eerie beauty – this one for Corinne Elliott Lawton who died on January 24th, 1877.

“Allured to brighter worlds
and led the way.”

SavannahNow provides some background info:

“Corinne Lawton died at the age of 33 in 1877. Her father was A.R. Lawton, who had risen in ranks to become the Quartermaster General for the Confederacy. After he died, a building was erected on Bull Street and dedicated to the memory of the father and daughter. The Lawton Memorial was an auditorium where the public could hear a musical recital, attend a lecture, or hear speeches from the politicians. Sold in the 1940s, the Lawton Memorial is what we know today as St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church.”

Here’s Jesus standing beside the Gateway to the Beyond. I mainly took this one to show the river beyond the cemetery. What a wonderful place to spend eternity… unless, of course, you’re afraid of water!

This simple grave is actually my personal favorite, because you know I love those olde “death head” sculptures. “Be Of Good Courage,” is a refreshingly simple epitaph as well. The grave itself – though it looks very old – actually dates from 1920, strangely enough. The top of the grave is too difficult to read for me to display for you, but it wins the Gravestone Cliché award by a country mile:

“He fought the Good Fight
He ran the Straight Race
His children shall rise up
Forever more and call
him Blessed”

(Yeah, I thought it would rhyme too – go figure…)

Here’s a very poignant gravestone for two doomed children of G. & C. R. Hartman: Mary R. M. (Oct. 9, 1858 – April 18, 1860) and Emma C. (Oct. 15, 1860 – March 4, 1861).

Here’s another of my favorite statues in the cemetery. The staining on the face adds a certain creepy quality to it, don’t you think? This is the grave of Gertrude A. Bliss, wife of Thomas H. McMillan (October 15, 1864 – April 14, 1903)

“EVER THOUGHTFUL OF HOME
AND LOVED ONES AS WIFE
AND MOTHER SHE WAS ALL
THAT ONE COULD BE.”

I guess now we know where the Army got their slogan, huh?

Deborah Coffey wrote me with this little tidbit of information: “One comment, we stayed at the McMillan Inn…absolutely awesome Bed and Breakfast.  The pretty McMillan lady statue is that of the 2nd wife of the man that owned the house.  He is in the same section, buried next to his first wife.”

Here’s another nice angel statue… With a fearfully sad look on its face…

Another beautiful and tragic children’s tomb, this one for Pearce (Sept. 21, 1892 – May 24, 1895) and Catherine (June 28, 1904 – Oct. 23, 1906) Wheless. They certainly don’t make intricate sculptures like this anymore…
Here’s a nice landscape view of the cemetery. Don’t you wish you were strolling through those grounds right now? (I do…)

Isn’t it about time for a Famous Person’s grave? Well, here we are then – Johnny Mercer!! Oh, come on – you must surely know Johnny Mercer! He’s the lyrical genius behind such songs as “Come Rain Or Come Shine,” “Fools Rush In,” “That Old Black Magic,” and – the masterpiece – “Moon River” (best when sung/altered by Morrissey):

“Moon River, wider than a mile
I’ll be crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you’re going, I’m going your way
Two drifters off to the see the world
I’m not so sure the world deserves us
We’re after the same rainbow’s end
It’s just around the bend…
It’s just around the bend…
It’s always just around the bend”

I thought these gateways gave a suitably atmospheric tone to the lush cemetery landscape.
Another sad tombstress in repose…
A charming cherubic detail from one of the larger statues…
And with one last sad dropping of flower petals we bid adieu to Bonaventure Cemetery – one of the most beautiful and peaceful places on earth.

For more excellent photos of the cemetery, check out Dana’s collection.

Anyone have any additional tidbits or photos to add?
If so, by all means, write me!

For more information on Bonaventure Cemetery, also see:
Northstar Gallery 
Savannah Now

Georgia Lunatic Asylum

Posted on by
20

 

Georgia Lunatic Asylum (Milledgeville, Georgia)
A Comtesse Travelogue to the old asylum, built in 1842 and still partially in use.

Where Have All the Loonies Gone?

Georgia Lunatic Asylum 
Milledgeville, GA – April 20, 2003 

Georgia Lunatic Asylum (aka Central State Hospital)
US 441 South to Swint Avenue
Milledgeville, GA
Central State Hospital Museum
Broad Street
Located on the Grounds of Central State Hospital
Phone: 478-445-6713
Website: http://www.centralstatehospital.org/
While in Milledgeville to visit the slave graves at Memory Hill Cemetery I heard of the existence of an old partially abandoned asylum just outside of town. I decided to divert to the asylum on my way home. I was not disappointed. Although part of the complex is still in use, and the part that isn’t is heavily patrolled, I was still able to get some nice pictures of the abandoned buildings.I was able to find a short history of the asylum at the Georgia AGHP website: “In 1837 a law was enacted to establish a state lunatic asylum. 57 1/2 acres of land was purchased to erect the first buildings. Completed in October 1842 and open for patients December 15, 1842. The first patient was identified as Tilman B., brought from Macon, tied to a wagon. He died 6 months later. The first building for black patients was erected in 1866. Georgia Lunatic Asylum name was changed to the Georgia State Sanitarium Sep. 1, 1898; to Milledgeville State Hospital in 1929 and to Central State Hospital in 1967.”I parked and began walking around the complex, and this is what I saw…

This is the remains of the Walker Building (Male Convalescent Building), built in the 1884. This building served as the admission ward for white males.

This is the Green Building down the street. It is still in use.
The crumbling steps up to the Walker Building.

This sign struck me as particularly representative of segregation.

The cornerstone.
A nice shot of the front of this beautiful old building.

I saw an open door to the basement and was ever-so-tempted to make a move… and I would have if not for 2 factors: 1) Cop cars were passing by with frightful regularity; and 2) I didn’t have a flashlight and it looked awfully dark in there. I contented myself with taking some shots through windows instead… Yes, I am a coward.

I began circling around the building, documenting the decay as I went…

Broken windows to peer through.

Various shots of the rear of the Walker Building.

Here are a couple of my patented “stick your camera through a hole and see what turns up” shots.

Another shot from the rear of the building.

Ah, the musky organic smell of decay!

I quite like this “stick your camera through a hole shot” – which captures an old decrepit rather dungeon-like bathroom.

Oh, I wish I’d gotten the courage up to go in there!

Another nice interior shot.

A lovely niche.

One final shot of the Walker Building.

I am always worried about being run off of these abandoned sites (I lasted about five minutes at Kings Park Asylum in New York), so I was actually relieved to see that they don’t shy away from the tourist-aspect of old asylums here. There is a museum in one of the occupied buildings (which was sadly closed when I was there – it’s open by appointment only), and there was a historic marker as you enter up the driveway: “MILLEDGEVILLE STATE HOSPITAL: In 1837, largely through the influence of Tomlinson Fort and William A. White, the legislature appropriated $20,000 for a dormitory near Milledgeville where the state’s mentally ill could receive custodial care. A four-story building was opened on this site in 1842 and together with various later additions became known as the Center Building. Originally serving only pauper patients, services were expanded for all bona fide citizens. Dr. David M. Cooper (serving 1843-1846) was the first Superintendent and was followed by Dr. Thomas F. Green (1847-1879) and Dr. Theophilus O. Powell (1879-1907).”

After I finished photographing the Walker Building, I drove further up into the complex, past the portion of the asylum which is still being used today to treat mental illness and developmental disabilities. There are some abandoned buildings up in this area as well, which are even nicer-looking than the Walker building. Alas, being so deep into the complex, there would be very little chance of breaking into one of these buildings without getting caught by the ever-lurking security.

This is the current administrative building – the Powell Building – which was built in 1856 and is obviously one of the most historic structures in the Milledgeville area. Beautiful, but occupied.

I took some pictures of one of the unused structures but most of them did not turn out, so I’m not sure what building it was. However, this image did turn out and I quite like it.
Here’s another building that is in current use. Of course, I had to take a picture of it simply for the sign.

This is the building that houses the museum, which is open by appointment only. Alas, I didn’t make an appointment…

This is the cornerstone of the building showing that it was building 1883.
This is my favorite abandoned building – the Jones Building. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? It’s really a shame they’re letting such a nice building rot away.

I adore the colorful cornice over the front entrance.

The title “L M Jones Building” can be seen over this doorway.

A sadly faded Visiting Hours sign.

A sign from the side of the Jones Building shows that it was built in 1928-1929.


 

I walked around the perimeter of the Jones Building taking pictures, wishing I could get inside where the good stuff is! Aren’t those urns atop the building nice?

Such a majestic building – you’d think they would have found SOME use for it?

A nice old rusting stairway at the rear of the Jones building.

A sad, lonely bench behind the Jones Building. I couldn’t help but wonder how many people had sat upon it, and what became of them…

One last shot of the majestic old building, taken from the road.

At this point, I bid the old Georgia Lunatic Asylum farewell, regretful that I wasn’t able to see more of it. Maybe one of these days I’ll go back and actually get inside the buildings.

For additional information see:

Central State Hospital 

Anyone have any additional stories, tidbits or photos to add?
If so, by all means, write me!

Memory Hill Cemetery

Posted on by
5

Memory Hill Cemetery (Milledgeville, Georgia)
A Comtesse Travelogue to the slave graves of Milledgeville.

Trudging Up Memory Hill

Memory Hill Cemetery 
Milledgeville, GA – April 20, 2003 

Memory Hill Cemetery
Liberty and Franklin Streets
Milledgeville, GA
Website: http://www.friendsofcems.org/MemoryHill/default.asp
I was stationed in Augusta, Georgia for several weeks in 2003 for a grueling work project. During my weekends, I took excursions to various towns to try to immerse myself in some of the dark history in the state. And let’s face it, there is a LOT of it here. The thing I found most interesting about Georgia (as with most of the South), is the way that much of that dark history goes unmentioned. You don’t see museums dedicated to the history of slavery here. That whole chapter of history seems very much to be swept under the rugs. However, the evidence of slavery and segregation scars the countryside, if you know where to look for it.I had read an article about “slave grave markers” and my curiosity was piqued. It seems that there was an old tradition in the 19th century of putting 1-3 chain links on the gravesites of slaves. One link meant that the individual interred was born into slavery, but lived most of their adult life free and died free; two links meant they were born into slavery, lived most of their lives in slavery, but died free; and three links mean they lived their entire life as a slave. I found it very sad to think that the entire measure of their lives could be symbolized by three chain links, and decided that I had to find some of these slave markers myself, to pay homage to the forgotten men and women buried beneath them. (Update 5/29/11 – Adam Selzer suggests an alternate explanation for the three links: “The three links of chains are often said to signify being born, living, and dying in bondage around town, but it’s not quite accurate. There are certainly slave graves in Memory Hill, but the three links of chain are actually symbols denoting that the buried person was a member of the Odd Fellows, the secret club that workers joined while their bosses joined the Freemasons or Shriners.” I hope that’s not true… it’s very unpoetic.)On an overcast April day, I set off to Milledgeville, Georgia to try to find historic Memory Hill Cemetery. I wish I’d done a bit more homework because I later read about numerous very interesting historic graves that I was completely unaware of on my trip, so I consider this visit to be sadly unfinished business, but I did find the slave graves that I was looking for, and for that reason the trip was satisfactory. I also managed to stumble across an old asylum (see part two of the travelogue), which was doubly interesting. So, without further ado, here’s my trip to Milledgeville…

On my drive to Milledgeville, I came across this abandoned old “Country Store,” which I thought was quite photogenic. There were lots of reminders of the past like this littering the backstreets.

Here’s the Milledgeville City Hall. Milledgeville was the capital of Georgia from 1807 to 1867 and is filled with grand old buildings befitting such an honor. This one isn’t one of them, but it is nice.

This is one of my favorite buildings in Milledgeville – the Old Baldwin County Courthouse, built in 1885.

I always get a kick out of fallout shelter signs. They are such a throwback to the ’50’s. You never see these things in California.

After photographing the Old Courthouse, I finally arrived at Memory Hill Cemetery. The first gravestone that caught my attention was this modern one in the shape of a fiddle – the grave of Randy D. Howard (1960-1999), “World Champion Fiddler”. Randy died after a bout with cancer.

Memory Hill Cemetery was originally designated as one of the four public squares of twenty acres each in the Milledgeville town plan of 1803. It later came to be known as Cemetery Square. Many people associated with Milledgeville and Georgia history, such as L.Q.C. Lamar, Congressman Carl Vinson, and Flannery O’Connor, as well as early Georgia governors, legislators, college presidents, slaves, and soldiers, are buried here. Unfortunately, I didn’t know that Flannery O’Connor was buried here during my trip, or I surely would have sought her grave out, being a huge fan of her work. Damn!!

I thought this grave with the lamb lying down (which kind of looks more like a camel lying down to me) was kind of creepy.

MARY LIZZIE
youngest daughter of
E. S. & J. S. Candler,
Born 25th July
1852
Died 28th January
1854
1 year 6 months
& 3 days.

This is one of the most interesting inscriptions I’ve run across in some time. I love it when they tell you how they died.

TO THE
memory of
JAMES D. ALLAMAN
who died on the 16th
July, AD 1845, from the
accidental discharge
of a cannon at the
funeral obsequies
of
GENL. JACKSON.
Honest, mirthful and beloved
he acquired the title of
CROCKETT
It lives with his
MEMORY.

This section of the cemetery contains the remains of the sadly forgotten patients of the nearby Georgia Lunatic Asylum (from 1842-1858). I stopped here for a minute and tried to imagine what sort of horrors a psych patient would have faced in the period of 1842-1858! After shuddering violently for a few seconds, I moved on…

This was an interesting gravestone as well:

IN MEMORY OF
PATRICK KANE.
He was an orderly, industrious and respected
citizen – a native of
IRELAND
Aged about 50 years at the time of his death and
shot down by a Federal Soldier on the 30th day of
Nov. 1864,
on the advance of Gen. Sherman’s Army on
MILLEDGEVILLE.

I loved this memorial fountain – there should be more of these in cemeteries, don’t you think?

In memory of my play-mate
HENRY O. KIDD
JULY 15, 1909
JOHN P. ATKINSON JR.

In the very back of the cemetery I found the slave burial area. Of course, even in death, the bodies of the slaves were segregated from non-slaves. I wandered about taking photographs of the poignant chains that serve as the only memorial to the men and women buried beneath them.

Since I didn’t know any better at the time, I neglected to visit the Devil’s Gate, or the grave of Flannery O’Connor at the Memory Hill Cemetery. Instead, I drove over to investigate the beautiful gothic Old State Capitol Building, built in 1807. The Old Capitol is considered the first example of Gothic architecture in a public building in the United States. It served as the seat of government for the State of Georgia from 1807 to 1868 and in its legislative chambers the Secession Convention was held in 1861. The beautiful gates at the north and south entrances to the square were constructed in the 1860’s, after the War Between the States, of bricks from the arsenal destroyed by Sherman’s soldiers. Three times the building was partially destroyed by fire. Since 1879, Georgia Military College has occupied the historic site. The building was renovated in 2000 and now houses a regional historical museum and the newly restored Legislative Chamber, where some of Georgia’s greatest debates took place, including the Secession Convention.

 

PART TWO: 
The Georgia Lunatic Asylum

For additional information see:
Memory Hill Cemetery

Anyone have any additional stories, tidbits or photos to add?
If so, by all means, write me!

The Haunted Pillar

Posted on by
Reply

The Haunted Pillar (Augusta, Georgia)
A Comtesse Travelogue to a pillar which local lore believes will bring misfortune or death to anyone who touches it!

A Most Peculiar Pillar!
The “Haunted Pillar”
Fifth and Broad
Augusta, Georgia
January 12, 2003

I was assigned to a tedious work project in Augusta, Georgia from December, 2002 to June, 2003. During my time there I heard about a pillar in the downtown area that locals believed was “cursed”. There are many legends that surround the origin of the pillar and how it came to be cursed. Some say that the pillar was once a whipping post for slaves. Some say that it was a pillar on an old slave market. Most seem to believe that the ghosts of the dead slaves will haunt you if you touch the pillar, and that the pillar can never be removed or destroyed. Here are a couple stories from Roadside America:

“There is what is called The Whipping Post. It was used in the Old South to punish slaves that misbehaved and such. Every attempt to remove this post has ended with the post still standing and the person dead or severely injured. One story I heard was that a slave chained there was into voodoo and cursed it, saying it would remain there forever as a reminder of the wrong done to his people. It’s quite interesting to see, and the people will readily tell you the stories about it if you ask.”

“I am a resident of Augusta, and the whipping post was not a whipping post at all. It is actually a pillar that was part of the old Lower Market which stood in the middle of Broad Street. The local legend is a black preacher, upset that local authorities prohibited him from preaching at the market, placed a curse on the actual pillar, which stood directly behind where he was trying to preach. Shortly thereafter, in 1878, a rare cyclone struck and leveled the entire market excluding the pillar. A year later when construction on a new market began, a local grocer bought the pillar for $50 and moved it to the corner of 5th and Broad. The tow men moving the pillar were struck by lighting.”

It’s a fun legend, but there really isn’t much to substantiate it. The second story above got the origin correct: the pillar once was part of a farmer’s market that stood at Broad and Fifth from 1830 until February 7, 1878 when a rare winter tornado destroyed it. In 1935, an automobile struck the pillar and reduced it to a pile of brick and cement. The driver was unhurt and the pillar was rebuilt by a local market owner. On Friday the 13th, 1958, the column was toppled by an oversized bale of cotton on a passing truck. The driver was not injured, but the column was moved eight feet back from the curb to protect it from further mishaps.

As for the preacher’s curse, nobody knows whether that really happened or not, and, as with all legends, nobody ever will. But the pillar lives on to frighten schoolchildren to this day.

Anyone have any additional tidbits or photos to add?
If so, by all means, write me!

National Museum of Health and Medicine

Posted on by
1

The National Museum Of Health & Medicine (Washington, D.C.)
A Comtesse Travelogue!
Here’s my journey to one of the finest morbid sights in the country – a place where you can see The Bullet That Killed Lincoln, Civil War General Sickles’ fractured tibia and fibula, and sundry other gruesome and fascinating sights! A must-see for the morbidly minded!

American Freaks!

The National Museum Of Health And Medicine
Washington, D.C. – June 18, 2001

The National Museum Of Health And Medicine
6900 Georgia Avenue and Elder St., NW
Washington D.C. 20307-5001 4506

Website: http://www.medicalmuseum.mil/

You know, after visiting Philadelphia’s magnificent Mütter Museum, I had thought that it would be a very long time coming before I would again experience its lofty heights of morbidity and freakiness. However, only four days later, I was privileged to walk through the hallowed halls of the National Musem Of Health And Medicine: America’s shrine to death, disfigurement, disability, disease, and all-around dysfunction. And, although the Mütter Museum does possess that certain je ne sais quois that sets it apart from all others as the foremost Disturbing Museum of America, the NMHM comes awfully close to equaling its macabre canon. And, in many ways, I found the Museum Of Health & Medicine to be even more enticing than its Philadelphian counterpart: such historical must-see’s as the Bullet That Killed Lincoln, General Sickles’ tibia, and numerous other Civil War casualties, all presented with excellent documentation, make this an absolute must-see for the morbidly minded. So, let me share with you a smattering of the more macabre displays in this most disturbing delight.

But first, let me share the tale of earlier in the day. We left Gettysburg, PA early in the morning and drove to Frederick, Maryland, where I was eager to visit the Museum Of Civil War Medicine. However, I was most dismayed to find that they were extremely strict in their “No Photography” philosophy. How annoying is that? First the Mütter Museum, now this one. Well, all I have to say is that you really aren’t missing out on much by my not being able to take pictures there. The museum was a bit of a rip-off, especially in comparison to the glories of the free and photos-allowed National Museum of Health and Medicine. Most of the exhibits consisted of mannequins dressed in Civil War costumes and supposedly tending to other “wounded” mannequins. There wasn’t much in the way of gore or war debris. In fact, the most interesting thing about the place was actually the bookstore, where you could buy “Embalming The Dead” t-shirts and coffee cups. We were pretty happy to be on our way to bigger and much better things.

The National Museum Of Health And Medicine is located in the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in northern Washington D.C. But if you go there, don’t make the mistake that we made: we must have circled through every sidestreet in the entire (quite large) complex looking for the damned museum. It was interesting seeing all of the old brick buildings in the complex, and I was enjoying reflecting on the fact that there are still tissue samples from victims of the 1918 flu and smallpox epidemics lurking in some dark cabinets somewhere in the vicinity, but after a couple of times circling about it got a bit old. Of course, as is always the case, the museum was actually located close to the entrance – we just went the wrong way when we came in. Duh…

Since this is a National Museum, admittance is free: it basically belongs to the American people. But there’s no flash photography allowed, and in the low-lighting conditions some of my pictures didn’t turn out the best. But hopefully they’ll give you an idea of the macabre delights lurking in this building. So what are we waiting for? Let’s get morbid!
This is the first Fascinating Thing that we stumbled across. At this computer terminal, you can use the roller ball to zoom through cross-section views of a real human cadaver. From head to toe. Obviously, we were captivated.

The museum holds a large collection of antique medical instruments as well. I found this chimpanzee microscope, circa 1850, quite lovely.

This is The Most Important Display in the museum: articles from the Assassination of President Lincoln. Clockwise, from left, we have a lock of Lincoln’s hair, removed from the site of the wound; fragments of Lincoln’s skull, removed at autopsy; a bloody bandage used on Lincoln’s head; the bullet that killed Lincoln; the pick used by the doctor to extricate the bullet; and more skull fragments removed at autopsy. I spent a few long moments staring down at these sad reminders…

This is one of the many fascinating Civil War Injuries exhibits that put the Museum Of Civil War Medicine to shame. This one illustrates how they used to repair injuries to arm bones back in the day. You see, the old Civil War bullets were enormously damaging to bones – causing them to fragment mercilessly. If the surrounding vascular tissue remained viable, they would simply remove the bone, and leave the tissue. So, you ended up with men like this fella – who has an arm, but no humerus, so his upper arm just flops about with no support. Bizarre, huh?

This is a portion of the upper arm bone of Private Keggereis: “Private J. P. Kegerreis… was wounded at Petersburg, Virginia on June 17th, 1864 by a minie ball. The ball entered his neck, punctured his windpipe and passed through his right shoulder joint. Keggereis was tagged for amputation at the field hospital but tore off the tag and crawled among the less seriously wounded. Three days later, while at City Point Hospital, his wound was treated and found filled with maggots. His neck wound healed in a month, but his shoulder wound became infected. In the winter of 1865, the infected bone was removed by excision (top of picture at left). The wound healed slowly and he was discharged in May of 1866. In December of 1867, a surgeon removed a large piece of bone from the joint and the bones of the arm later fused on a semi-flexed position. He was able to lift 135 pounds with his injured arm.”

This was my personal “favorite” of the Civil War injuries – a bullet lodged right between the eyes:
“Corporal G. W. Stone… was wounded at Fredericksburg, Virginia on December 13th, 1862, when a conoidal ball penetrated his right eye and lodged behind his left eye. His only exterior symptoms were a small wound to the lid of his right eye and the slight protuberance of his left eye. His left eye continued to function normally and Corporal Stone complained only of a slight headache. The wound to his right eye healed well and within three weeks, he was allowed to walk about the city with a hospital pass. Suddenly on February 6th, 1863, he developed chills. Fever and delirium followed. He died at midnight on February 15th, 1863.”

Another grim Civil War injury:
“Private J. Luman… was wounded at the battle of Mine Run, Virginia, on November 27th, 1863, when a minie ball passed through his skull. He was treated in the field hospital for several days before being evacuated to the 3rd division hospital in Alexandria. By December 8th, Private Luman was comatose and Surgeon E. Bentley applied a trephine and removed the splinters of bone associated with the wound. His condition failed to improve and he died five days later.”

I was quite delighted to meet up with General Daniel Sickles’ tibia and fibula, which were donated to the museum by Sickles himself after his leg was struck by a cannonball at the Battle Of Gettysburg and had to be amputated. For years afterwards he would journey to the museum on the anniversary of the amputation to visit his leg. What a guy, huh? Also of note: Sickles was the first defendant to successful argue “innocent by temporary insanity” after he murdered his wife’s lover (Philip Barton Key, son of the composer of the national anthem) in 1859. Yep, a true purveyor of morbidity…

This is a femur (upper leg bone) that has been severely disfigured by … erm … some disease or another. Osteoporosis? Syphilis? Elephantiasis? Anyone know??? Well, it’s a creepy looking bone, anyway!

A cornucopia of Civil War injuries – from upper left: “Private C. C. W. … was wounded at Spottsylvania, Virginia, on May 12th, 1864, when a minie ball struck the left side of his head with enough force to split the bullet. Surgery was deferred until May 31st when the minie ball and fragments of the left parietal were removed. By next day, symptoms of infection and pressure on the brain were noted. Private C. C. W. died on June 4th, 1864”; “Private G. Smith… was injured in the skull during an explosion aboard the gunboat George Washington on the Coosaw River in South Carolina on April 9th, 1863. He died on April 12th in Beaufort, South Carolina”; “At the battle of Gettysburg, Private W. F. Faucett, flag bearer… was shot in the left arm and dropped the flag. Faucett picked up the flag with his right hand and continued into battle. After being captured by Union troops, he received hospital care for his injury. The wound became infected and his arm was amputated on September 22nd, 1863.”

Like the Mütter Museum, the National Museum of Health and Medicine has quite a few creepy wax figures that were used as educational tools on display. Here are a couple displaying “before and after” reconstruction of facial injuries incurred during wartime. They’d make great Halloween masks, wouldn’t they?

More nasty ouch-inducing wartime debris.
Regarding the skull: “Gunshot wounds to the skull were fatal in more than 80% of cases reported by Union surgeons. This skull, retrieved in 1866 from the Confederate trenches at Wilderness, Virginia, shows a gunshot wound.”
Regarding the arm: “Infection of the bone following a gunshot wound was a near certainty. Private Sullivan Sager… was shot in the lower leg by a minie ball near Richmond, Virginia, on June 29th, 1862. He entered the hospital on August 13th with puss draining from the wound. His leg was amputated on October 6th, 1862, but he succumbed to a blood infection and died three days later.”
Check out that particularly gruesome color photo of a shell wound of the wrist in the upper right hand corner too!

There are also some interesting historic photographs peppering the walls of the museum. Here’s a well-known pair of photos of a man with secondary syphilis before (far left) and after (center) mercury treatment. Obviously, it worked wonders for him, but mercury treatments were usually just as harmful as the syphilis they were meant to cure.

Here are a couple more of those lovely wax teaching models – in this case, they are showing the effects of tertiary syphilis.

Here are a few more creepy wax models (showing the effects of syphilis on the toe and gonorrhea on a penis), along with a syphilitic femur.

Here’s a nifty collection of fetus/infant skeletons. See that individual in the background with the red shirt on? There were tons of those obnoxious red shirts scurrying about. They were from some school or organization or something. Just our luck: they choose our day for their field trip.

Isn’t this cool looking? It’s a fetus impregnated with some solution that highlights the bones. They really oughtta sell these things as paper weights or ornaments! Unfortunately, this place didn’t have a gift shop. Pity…

Here’s a poor unfortunate preserved fetus that died some horrible intra-uterine death… but lives on in the museum!

A preserved fetus still inside a uterus.

Here’s an entire nervous system, carefully dissected from a body and suspended in formaldehyde. Painstaking work, to be certain!

Shades of the Mütter Museum, Part I: A Dwarf’s Skeleton! This one doesn’t come with as tragic of a story as the Mütter Museum’s poor prostitute though:
“This skeleton, of an elderly woman, exhibits some of the common traits of achondroplasia: flaring of the ends of the long bones and an enlarged head and pronounced forehead.”

Shades of the Mütter Museum, Part II: The Giant Colon! Not quite as giant as the Mütter Museum colon, however. But oh so educational: “Congenital megacolon is due to functional loss of the nerves in a segment of the colon. These nerves which normally help pass undigested matter through the intestine are absent, resulting in obstruction and enlargement. This megacolon was removed from a 19 year old man with a history of constipation.” Horrid fate…

Here’s something that would feel right at home at the Mütter Museum as well: a giant hair ball that was removed from the stomach of a twelve year old girl who ate her hair for six years. The hair ball had charmingly formed into the shape of her stomach. Blech…

This skeleton was one of the most fascinating exhibits we saw: “This is the skeleton of a 47-year-old soldier who had served 11 months in the Spanish-American War of 1898. Some years after the war, bone began to form across most of his joints, so that he was unable to move. For 15 years he lived in the U.S. Soldier’s Home in Washington, DC. His front teeth were removed so that he could be fed because he could not open his mouth.” Isn’t it just amazing the thahorrorst the human body is capable of inflicting upon itself? Here’s a comparison of his skeleton vs. a normal one.

Here are a couple of bones that were broken and not set properly, and that recovered as best they could under the somber circumstances!
I found this one to be a most disconcerting and realistic wax model – of a burn victim. Definitely not something to bump into in a dimly lit room!
This was another topic of great fascination for me: this man’s head had been perfectly preserved by some secret embalming technique. (Why is it that all exceptional embalming techniques are secret? Evita Peron… that little girl in the Italian catacomb… the list goes on…)
Whereas this girl’s head was… less well preserved. But an exceptional mummy, she is! “An American pioneer in arsenic embalming, Dr. Thomas Holmes was active throughout the Civil War, embalming bodies of dead soldiers before they were returned home for burial… During the late nineteenth century, Holmes embalmed a young girl from Kentucky. In the 1940s the remarkably preserved upper torso was donated…”
And with one last gasp – at a horribly deformed spine – our trip through the magnificent National Museum Of Health & Medicine is at an end.

And with that, I drove away from Washington, D.C. and back to Baltimore – my East Coast Morbid Tour 2001 finally at its end!

Ye Antientest Burial Ground

Posted on by
1

Ancientest Burial Ground (New London, Connecticut)
A Comtesse Travelogue!
A look at my trip to a wonderful old Connecticut cemetery full of splendid 18th century gravestone carvings.

Ye Towne’s Antientest Buriall Place

Between Hempstead and Huntington Streets
New London, ConnecticutIt’s hard to find any information on what is commonly known as the “Ancientest Cemetery” in New London, Connecticut, which is surprising to me since it is such a jewel of 17th and 18th century gravestone carving. It’s probably for the best, actually, since these stones are irreplaceable jewels that are best left undisturbed. (And in fact, sadly, some of them have been damaged already.) However, I can tell you a few things about this special little graveyard:
  • The cemetery is located between Hempstead and Huntington Streets in New London, CT.
  • The cemetery was set aside for burial in 1652 and was maintained until 1793.
  • Many of the country’s early settlers, several of whom played important roles in our country’s history, are buried here.
  • Also here are the oldest graves of black colonists.
  • Benedict Arnold is said to have stood at this high elevation during the Revolution in 1781 to watch his British troops conquer Fort Griswold in Groton across the river and then burn New London.

So, as you can see, it’s a pretty interesting little place to visit. Of course, I was really excited about seeing the wonderful gravestone carvings, especially the “death’s head” – otherwise known as “soul effigies”. And I was not disappointed with what I saw. Without
further ado, here’s a glimpse at a beautiful piece of Amerimemoria past.

Before I even entered the Burial Grounds, I noticed a beautiful olde house across the way that I just had to take a picture of. I
love the red and black paint. The Comtesse would be very much at home here, don’t you think?

I love the fact that they use the olde-fashioned spelling on the sign at the entrance to the cemetery. Things like this make the Comtesse smile…
In this shot, you can see why Benedict Arnold would have used this site as a vantage point, since the high ground provides an excellent view of the Thames River (yes, it’s really called the “Thames” – it is “New London” after all).

I thought the most photogenic section of the park was this lovely olde copper beech tree sheltering a crop of gravestones. It has a rather creepy effect, don’t you think?

Here’s the first of the many and varied soul effigies. This one totally cracks me up – it’s like the “Bug-Eyed Butterfly Vicar” or something. I know it’s hard to read the gravestones in the pictures, so I’ll try to decipher them for you as best I can:

In
Memory of
Capt. George Colfax
Who Departed
this Life march
28th 1766
the 38th year of
his Age
Here are a couple of views of the cemetery, showing the bridge across the Thames River in the background.

This is a rather elegant soul effigy. I think I will call it “Feathered
Piety”. This slightly damaged stone belonged to Mr. John Prentis:

In
Memory of
Mr. John Prentis
of New London
son of Mr. John Prentis Esqr.
and of Sarah Prentis deceased
who died Novr. 22nd A.D. 1780
in the 34th Year of his Age.
How lov’d
& vallued once avails him not,
To whom related or whom begot.
A heap of dust alone remains of thee,
It’s all thou art & all the proud shall be.

Another view of the olde buriall [sic] grounds.

Here’s a shot looking out from under a shade tree.

 

I think I will call this soul effigy The Disapproving Judge. I definitely wouldn’t want THIS guy on my tombstone! The unfortunate soul who gets cursed with this sourpuss for all eternity is, amazingly, a mere baby!

Here
lies Inter’d the
Body of James, the Son
of John & Lydia Procter,
Deceased Febuary the 3rd
1729. Aged 16 Months
Save
Fruitless Tears & Weep no more
This Child’s not lost but gone before
Death’s a Haven towards weh [sic]
all Winds drive
And where at last each Mortal must arrive…

The rest is unreadable, unfortunately. (Per Roots And Routes, this gravestone was carved by George Allen, Providence, Rhode Island.)

Here’s a simple pair of effigies, for a couple of brothers:

 In Memory of
James & Thomas
Sons of Mr. Kimball
& Lucretia Prince.

It looks like they died on September 24, 17-something, but I can’t read the inscription well enough to be exact.

This is another of the bug-eyed carvings (you can definitely tell
the stones that were carved by the same artists, can’t you?):

In
Memory of John W.
Gibbons son to Capt.
John Gibbons & Mrs.
Esther his wife who
died Feb. 26th A.D. 1786
aged 4 years & 3 months
My date on Earth
was very short
My voige of life soon o’er
Being clothed in robes which Jesus wrought
My soul shall rest secure.

(I’m trusting someone else with the transcription of the end of this one, since it’s not readable.)

This particular headstone is the first that shows definite signs
of vandalism in the diagonal scratch marks across the stone.
Oh, what I would do to the people who made those marks if I
could get ahold of them in The Castle DeSpair’s dungeon!!! In
any event, this is the first skull soul effigy that I stumbled
across here, and I was of course most delighted!

Here lyes the Body of
Mrs. LYDIA ADAMS, Wife to
the Rev. Mr. ELIPHALET
ADAMS, Who departed this
Life Sep. the 6th, A.D. 1749

Eliphalet Adams was pretty well-known preacher. Here’s what Answers.Com has to say about him:

The son of Dedham, MA’s, second minister, Eliphalet Adams graduated from Harvard College in 1694. He preached in various places for the next 15 years, until, in 1709, he was ordained a Congregational minister in New London, CT. That same year he married Lydia Pygan.  Adams was a popular preacher, and many of his sermons were published.

Most Famous Works:
* “A Sermon Preached on the Occasion of the Execution of Katherine Garret.…” (1738) Adams’s sermon uses the example of the execution of an Indian servant who murdered her illegitimate infant to warn his congregation to “take heed and beware of loose living.”

Here’s a nice break from the soul effigy imagery – a classic weeping willow and urn:

In memory of
PYGAN ADAMS ESQ.
who died July 1776,
Aged 64.
And of his three Sons
WILLIAM, who died at
St. Pierres Martinico,
April 4, 1778, Aged 33.
ALEXANDER PYGAN,
who was lost at sea, in
the year 1782, Aged 35.
And
THOMAS, who died in
the Island of St. Martins,
Sep. 8, 1815. Aged 55.

 

This particular soul effigy looks drunk, or high, or something! I
can’t read the inscription thanks to the tall grass in front of the gravestone, but this grave is for John, Son to Mr. Samuel
Latimer.

This is my favorite death head from this cemetery. I adore the little crossed bones above the head. Very nice touch, don’t you think? If you look closely, you can still see the lines that were scratched onto the stone by the carver so that the letters are lined up correctly. Very interesting.

Here Lyeth the Body of
Mrs. SARAH CHRISTOPHERS
Wife of CHRISTOPHER
CHRISTOPHERS ESQR.,
who Departed this Life
April the 18th 1745
In the 62nd Year of her Age.

I thought this one was particularly artistic. I do think that some of the inscription is missing, however… either that or this is the grave for a woman named Peter… which, well, I guess there could be stranger things in the world…

PETER CHRISTOPHERS
who departed this life
May 3rd 1791, in the
31st Year of her age
PETER CHRISTOPHERS
died Feb. 19, 1829 Aged 81

On the now apparently defunct Old Bones website, someone ventured the following guess as to the identity of the bones lying here:

“After doing a little research on this family, I would venture a guess that this was Peter Christophers first wife Abigail Miller,
daughter of Capt. John and Lucy (Starr) Miller. Abigail was
born 1760, mar. Peter Feb 9, 1777 in New London, CT, and died May 3, 1791, which matches her age and date of death. Peter married again, to Rebecca Saltonstall in 1792. (source: New London, CT Vital records, IGI and First Cong. Church records)”

Here’s a happy little death head who smiles over the bones of Elizabeth Christophers for all eternity.

Here Lyeth the Body 
of
Mrs. ELIZABETH CHRISTOPHERS
the wife of
CHRISTOPHER CHRISTOPHERS ESQR.
who Departed this Life
June ye 14th A.D. 1765
Aged 38 Years, 7 Months & 8 Days

(Per Roots And Routes, this gravestone carving is attributed to William Codner.)

The effigy on this carving kinda looks like she’s wearing those horn rimmed glasses that the women in The Far Side are always wearing. I think I’ll call her “Miriam”. Anyway, she stands solemn watch over the bones of Dr. Giles Goddard:

IN MEMORY
of
Doctr. Giles Goddard
who died January 31
1757 Aged 33 Years.

I found out through internet searches that poor Giles died of gout and that he was the postmaster of New London. Guess that whole “doctor” career didn’t work out so well for him, eh?

This effigy reminds me of a sun figure. Simple and elegant.

In Memory
of Capt.
Adam Shapley, of Fort
Trumbull who bravely
gave his Life for his
Country a fatal Wound
at Fort Griswold Sept. 6th
1781 caused his Death
Febr. 14 1782 Aged
43 years
Shapley, thy deed reverst
the Common doom
and made thy name
immortal in a tomb

I needed some help for the ending from CT Gravestones, who also add some other interesting historical tidbits, such as the fact that Capt. Shapley fell during the same battle against the British that Benedict Arnold watched from the cemetery, and that this gravestone “is one of special historic interest in Connecticut. It is carved on what we call Bolton Granite
which was quarried from the Bolton Notch Quarry that is just a
few miles east of where I live. It was made by a carver named
Jonathan Loomis from Coventry, CT.”

This carving really creeps me out – especially with the erosion of the faces. It makes the angels look quite ghostly.

Here lyes interred
the Body of Doctor
Guy Palmes, who
Departed this Life
on the 27th Day of
March, 1757 Aged
44 Years.

A good name is better
than precious Ointment.

Here’s another nice skull effigy – this one’s for Sarah Soley. Lucky Sarah!

Here lyes Buried the
Body of Mrs. SARAH SOLEY
Widow of Mr. MATHEW
SOLEY of Charlestown
Who Departed this
Sept. 26th A.D. 1744 Aged
93 Years & 4 Months

Wow!! 93 years old is ancient for those days. She must have had a fascinating life. If only her bones could tell me all about it…

This is another carving that cracks me up. What a dopey looking face! This guy was kinda the Picasso of grave carving – he had his own style. Roots and Routes tells me that the carver was Gershom Bartlett from Bolton, Connecticut. CT Gravestones provides the following biography of Gershom:

Gershom Bartlett (1723-1798)
Gershom Bartlett’s gravestone carvings are among the most bizarre of any produced during the eighteenth century. He was a native of Bolton, Connecticut, the son of Samuel and Sarah Bartlett who came from Northampton, Massachusetts. Gershom Barlett appears to be the first owner of the Bolton Notch Quarry where he sold too and worked with other carvers of the area such as the Bucklands and Loomis’s. To those of us who study these carvings, the Bolton schist/granite that came from that quarry is very much appreciated for it’s durability. During one period of his early carving career, he apparently lived in Windsor and possibly also in East Windsor. His stones are easily recognized by the bulbous noses, turned down mouths, row of vestigial teeth at the bottom of the face, raised eyebrows, usually a four-lobed crown, three curved wings of curls beside the face. The finials are most frequently pinwheels or four-leafed clovers and often a small heart can be found near the bottom of the legend. Bartlett was called the “hook-and-eyeman” until identified by Dr. Caulfield. His footstones are often easily recognized if displaying a pattern of three or four diamonds on them. Bartlett stones are found throughout eastern Connecticut but are most common west of Mansfield and become very scarce in the northeast and in coastal communities. They continue until 1772 when Bartlett moved to Pompanoosuc, Vermont, where he continued to carve (but on slate) until late in the eighteenth century.

In Memory
of Mrs. Lucretia
widow to Mr.
JOHN Procter
MA who died
Septr. 10th 1770
in the 64th Year
of her age

Another nice skull head – and you can see the lines for the lettering on this one as well.

Here lies the Body of
Mrs. ANNE DENISON
Daur. of Mr. DANTEL
& Mrs. RACHEL DENISON
died NOVr. 10th 1767
aged 24 Years 2 Mo & 11 Ds.

This is another well-done carving which begs the question – what the hell is a “consort” in 18th century terminology anyway??? (I believe it’s either a wife, or a “companion”…)

Here lies the Remains of
Mary, Consort of Thomas Dare
who in full hope of a glorious
Immortality put off this earthly
Tabernacle in her 25th year
A.D. 1775

In youthful Bloom Death came down
Here to await the trumpets sound
When God commands I will arise
To meet my Saviour in … “

Damn. I can’t read the end of the last sentence. What do you suppose it is? “To meet my Saviour in Paradise” maybe? Ah well…

This effigy looks like it’s got a fro goin’ on, don’t it? And the carving begs the question – what exactly is a “relict” in 18th century terminology, anyway??? (I believe it’s a widow…)

In Memory
of
Mrs. TEMPERANCE SHAW
Relict of 
NATH’L SHAW ESQR.
who died
June 27, 1796
Aged 87 Years

Here’s a Siamese Twin effigy. A kinda creepy looking Siamese Twin effigy, actually…

In Memory of Joseph
Harris Esqr. who died
April 21 1792 Aged
72 Years

The rest is sadly illegible. By the way, I wondered what the heck the “Esqr.” (Esquire) behind so many of the names means. Apparently, these guys were either officials of some sort or lawyers.

The lichen growing on this well-preserved gravestone gives it an eerie glowing quality.

Sacred to the Memory of
Mrs. Lucy Wolcott
the wife of 
Doctor Simon Wolcott
who departed this life
April 14th, 1791
in the 39th Year
of her Age

Okay, this carving is even stranger than Gershom’s! I think I’d have to call this one “Mr. Bill”!

Here lyeth
the body of Mr. 
Thomas Wolcott
who died March
the 10 1724…

(That’s a best guess, anyway… damned weeds! Roots and Routes identifies the carver as John Hartshome.)

Here’s another wonderful skull carving.

Here lyes the 
body of Mr.
John Coit
Aged ?? Years.

Here are a couple more skull effigy figures. The inscriptions say (left to right):

HERE LYETH INTERED
THE BODY OF 
WILLIAM COITE
AGED ABOUT 27
YEARS WHO
DEPARTED THIS
LIFE MAY 17th 
1703

HERE LIES THE 
BODY OF
MARTHA GREENE
DAU’r. OF Mr.
THOMAS & Mrs.
MARTHA GREENE
DIED AUG. 3rd, 1752

Another nice carving by the same skull artist as the previous stones.

ELIZABETH GARDINER
the Daughter of
Mr. DAVID & Mrs.
ELIZABETH GARDINER
Aged 2 Years &
10 months Died
Aug’st. the 6th 1746
& lies Buried Here

On this one you can see some of the crosshatch scratches which sadly mar many of the stones.

Here Lies the Body of
Mrs. HANNAH CHADWICK
the wife of
Mr. CHARLES CHADWICK
Died November the 7th
1765 (?) in the ?? Year
of her Age.

This effigy head looks in dire need of a long nap and a little love. Poor thing.

IN MEMORY
of Sarah the Wife of
Mr. David Allen
Daught’r of Mr. Nathan
& Temperance Shaw
who died Sept. 11
A.D. 1759 Aged 25
Years & 5 Months

This one is a bit different. It has a more human quality to it than most of the carvings, which befits the 2 year old in whose name it is dedicated.

James the son
of James &
Mary Culver
died May 30
1760 Aged 2
Years & 6 M.

Another nice skull (although sullied by a bird).

Here lyes Buried
the Body of Mr.
BENJAMIN SWEETLAND
Who Departed this Life
Febru. the 9 Anno Dom. 
1759 Aged 2 Years

In Memory of
Benjamin Starr
Esqr. who died
Aug. the 23 1753
in the 74th Year
of his Age

This one has my favorite of all gravestone sayings – the “prepare for death” one! Oh, why don’t they write them like this anymore? Incidentally, it looks like the carver forgot the last digit of the year on the stone.

In Memory of
Mr James Ryon Jun’r
who departed this
life Sept 22 AD 179
Aged 22 years

Consider friends as you pass by
As you are now So once was I
As I am now Soon you must be
Prepare for death & follow me

These are two of my favorites. They are quite elegant in that simple, unadorned, puritan way.

In Memory of
Capt BENJAMIN BILLINGS
who Departed this
Life Jan’ry 15th
A.D. 1780
in the 52nd year
of his Age

In Memory of Benja-
min & Sally Billings
Son & Daug’r of Capt
Benjamin & Mrs Le-
ment Billings Benjamin
Died July 22 1784
Aged 21 Years Sally
Died Nov’r 17th 1786
Aged 18 Years

(I can’t decipher the poem that appears at the bottom of the gravestone, but it has to do with “Jesus” and “flesh” and “iron”. Probably just boring Bible verse anyway…)

Nice shot from underneath the beech tree. These graves haven’t seen the sunlight for a VERY long time.

Here’s another elegant carving (by John Stevens, Jr. of Newport, RI per Roots & Routes).

And finally, here’s an interesting, very delicate carving in slight profile which shows the unfortunate scratch-marks of a pathetic vandal. The scariest thing for me is that all of these invaluable headstones are so desperately vulnerable. If ever a cemetery needed a security system to keep vandals away, it’s this one. I only hope that something can be done to save these gorgeous and historic stones before the next idiot strikes.

In Memory of Mr.
JOSEPH HURLBUT
who departed this Life
Nov. 4th A.D. 1773 in
the 30th Year of his
Age.

Addendum:

Cranky Yankee provides the following information:

This book will have the info you need to identify the carvers in this cemetery:

Colonial Burying Grounds of Eastern Connecticut and the Men Who Made Them
(Memoirs of the Connecticut Academy of Arts & Sciences, July 1987, Vol Xxi)
by James A. Slater
Hardcover: 326 pages
Publisher: Connecticut Academy of Arts (August 1, 1987)
Language: English
ISBN: 0208021604

———–

Further info on this burial ground can be found in the writings of the late Ernest Caulfield. These writings were owned by James Slater (who worked with Caulfield) and now is in the process of being organized for the CT Historical Society.

Another place to find Caulfield’s research is the AGS journal, Markers. The entire Vol. 8 of Markers was dedicated to Caulfield. That issue is out of print, but copies can be obtained from AGS (Association for Gravestone Studies).  The Slater book can be purchased here as well.

Anyone have any additional tidbits or photos to add?

If so, by all means, write me!

 

Keddie Resort

Posted on by
43

Keddie Resort (Plumas County, California)
A Comtesse Travelogue!
My rather unsatisfying visit to an allegedly haunted cabin where a gruesome unsolved murder was committed all those years ago… Unfortunately, the cabin has since been razed, but the murder remains unsolved.

Keddie Resort
Plumas County, CA
09/02/01

One day in August, 2001, Stephen O’rourke forwarded me an ‘Emazing X-Mail of the Day’ on a ‘Haunted Resort’ in Northern California: “A 20-year-old unsolved multiple murder still haunts California police. Even more so because the ghosts of the deceased still walk the grounds of the mountain resort where they were brutally killed. New owners are attempting to reopen the once popular Keddie Resort in the Sierra Nevadas, where a mother, her two children and a teenage friend were stabbed to death in 1981. But moans, mysterious slamming doors and the sound of heavy footsteps have caused fear in the hearts of many. A prominent California psychic says that the ghosts of the victims are in shock and most likely don’t know they’re dead.” Stephen suggested that perhaps I could add this to my morbid travels.Of course, being a native Northern Californian, I had to investigate further to see if I could possibly make this journey. I did a search on ‘Keddie Resort’ and found a great article originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle that discussed the murders in detail and I forwarded the link to my friend Grey Wolf who had spent many of his formative years in the mountains, asking him if he’d ever been to Keddie. He replied that he had lived near Keddie and that he had been there a few time, and a classmate of his named Tina had been killed while he was there. He then read the link I had sent and wrote back, “Oh my god! This is the same story! I knew Tina!” I asked him if he could take me up there sometime soon so that we could explore the exterior (and perhaps the interior) of the haunted cabin. He agreed and, along with our compatriots K and C, headed up to Keddie on Sunday, September 2, 2001.Before I discuss any of the details of our trip, I figure I’d better fill you in on the facts of the murder. As I said, the article from the S.F. Chronicle does a great job of discussing the details of the case – so here it is:

Exorcising ghosts of past New owner hopes to reopen resort haunted by 20-year-old slayings


Keddie, Plumas County — It had been more than a year since she ran screaming from the inexplicable, dark things she saw there, yet Ashley Conte still shivered as she stood in front of the battered little house.

“Anyone with any brains will never set foot in there again,” she said, mustering all the conviction her 16 years would allow. “You can never change what happened inside. The house should just be ripped down.”

She wrenched her gaze from the twilight shadows creeping onto the boarded up windows. “It’s haunted,” she whispered. “Everybody knows it. Rip it down.”

Whether the terrors Ashley and others say they saw inside Cabin #28 of the Keddie Resort — chairs and bodies floating mid-air, carvings disappearing from walls — were figments or genuine spooks is up for grabs. But what took place 20 years ago this spring is not.

Back then, a mother, her two children and a teenage friend were butchered here in a one-night frenzy so off-the-charts savage that to this day cops don’t like to step inside the house.

The murders ruined this northern Sierra mountain resort, a 3,205-foot- elevation enclave so popular people used to drive hundreds of miles just to eat at its log-walled lodge. In short order, appalled tourists began staying away in droves. And even now — spirits or not — the specter of the killings continues to keep this pretty resort empty.

“It’s spooky, a real ghost town,” said Scott Lawson, director of the Plumas County Museum in nearby Quincy. “Nobody goes there, really. And I doubt anyone will until they find out who killed all those people.

“But that,” he said, eyes going wide, “is the whodunnit of the century around here.”

Twenty years ago, Keddie Resort was in the latest of many heydays dating from its founding in 1910, a placid getaway where you could rent one of 33 rustic cabins or a room in the hand-crafted, two-story lodge. The streams had great trout fishing, and pine-studded trails beckoned all around.

The Keddie Lodge restaurant was packed most every night with customers who came from as far as San Francisco to dine on barbecued bear ribs, sherry- basted racoon steaks — all shot locally — and fine wines.

“It was always a special, pretty place to go, a real draw,” said Lawson.

Then came April 11, 1981. Sometime between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. that day, 15-year-old John Sharp and his buddy, 17-year-old Dana Wingate, were seen hitchhiking from Quincy to Keddie Cabin #28. John had been living there for months with his 36-year-old mother, Glenna Sharp — and once the two boys walked through the door, police say, the horror began.

A pair of killers either went in with the boys or were waiting with Glenna Sharp, and they tied up all three with duct tape and electrical wire. Soon after, John’s 13-year-old sister, Tina, showed up and was bound, too.

What followed was a night of torture.

By the time the killers left 10 hours later, they had used steak knives and a claw hammer to such effect that the victims were barely recognizable.

“Whoever did this stabbed the victims so violently they bent one knife totally double from the force,” said Sheriff’s Patrol Commander Rod DeCrona. “They stabbed and pounded on everything in sight — the walls, the people, the furniture. Everything.”

He shuddered at the memory of first walking into the murder scene. “There was blood sprayed absolutely everywhere,” DeCrona said. “You knew right away we were involved with a psychopath.”

The carnage was only discovered the next morning by John’s 14-year-old sister, Sheila, who had been at a sleepover next door. To the enduring surprise of police, nobody outside the charnel house had heard a thing.

And the mystery only deepened: Not only was the body of Tina, most likely killed at the scene, missing — but three near-toddlers sleeping in one bedroom had been amazingly left untouched.

Tina’s severed head was found three years later by a bottle-digger, 50 miles downhill at a waterfall. One of the children in the bedroom — two were Sharp brothers, the other a play-pal — remembered enough so police could make a sketch of two killers, but the boy was so young the picture’s accuracy is considered questionable.

Thousands of leads and suspects have been picked over since then by deputies, the FBI and state investigators — but nothing panned out, DeCrona said. A timeline of the case dominates three walls of the sheriff’s office, tips still come in, and DNA samples were sent to the state crime lab just two months ago, but nobody’s holding his breath.

“Usually in a crime like this, the killers get sloppy and leave more behind, ” said DeCrona, sighing. “I wish it were that simple. We have no motive, no suspects.”

Dana’s father, Gary Wingate, thinks there were so many police agencies involved that they “stumbled over each other and fouled up the case.” But he tries not to stew about it. He never even calls the Sharp family — who declined requests through intermediaries to be interviewed.

“Nobody has the faintest idea who killed my son, so I long ago had to let this thing go or it would eat me alive,” said Wingate, who lives near Quincy. “I don’t think about it, I don’t go to that ghost town and I have no idea if ghosts exist there.

“But I do know this. There is evil in this world, and evil was in that house that night.”

Ashley Conte and her neighbors think the evil is still there.

People began to shun the resort after the killings, and within a year it was empty. The owners put Keddie up for sale in 1984 for $1.8 million — and nobody bit.

Over the next decade or so, it rotted into a refuge for squatters and hobos, and the county condemned most of the buildings. But in the past few years longtime owner Gary Mollath has gone on a furious restoration campaign that has the old resort looking pretty much as it did in 1981 — sans people.

He’s rented out a couple of the best cabins, and says he hopes to rehab the rest enough to reopen in a year.

But first there is Cabin #28 — dubbed “The Murder House” by locals — to contend with.

The condemned building’s yellow-and-white paint is flaking, doors are nailed shut and most windows are covered with plywood. Bums and kids — including Ashley, Mollath’s stepdaughter — have often broken in for kicks, but by several accounts they all flee in a hurry.

Ashley said that aside from seeing murky forms and rocking chairs in the house, she once saw a pitchfork and the word “no” carved in the kitchen door. “When we went back a half-hour later, the words and the pitchfork were gone,” she said.

Other locals, including 22-year-old Forest Jones, said they heard moans, doors slamming and footsteps when the house was obviously deserted.

Others don’t buy all the spooky stuff.

“I hate it when people call this a ghost town,” said Lynn Seavy, 46, who lives next to The Murder House. “Keddie is a nice, peaceful place where you can hear the wind in the trees. I wish people would get over what happened.”

Mollath’s solution is just as his step-daughter suggests.

“That house has been such a negative point for so long that I intend to tear it down and put a park there,” Mollath said. “Then I’m going to open this place back up and cater to groups — with people traveling closer to home now, I think the timing will be just right.

“I want people to come and say, ‘Wow!’ when we start up again. Not be scared.”

Before he flings open the gates, though, he’d better do more than just raze The Murder House, maintains Annette Martin, a psychic in Campbell who advises police throughout the nation on murder cases.

The trouble in Keddie, she said, is that because the mayhem was so abhorrent, the victims’s ghosts are probably in shock and don’t know they are dead. So even if their house is demolished, “they’ll still be there, hanging out.”

“We often find this type of poltergeist activity in cases like this, especially if people were chopped up,” said Martin. “My guess is that the ‘no’ the girl saw was the victims still trying to say ‘no’ to their killers. There is unresolved business there.”

The only way to cleanse the area of spirits, she said, is to have someone spiritual perform a healing ceremony after the house is gone.

“Otherwise, whatever is in its place will be haunted,” Martin said. “And it will stay haunted.”

Okay, obviously you know that this article annoys me because… WHY ON EARTH WOULD THEY WANT TO TEAR DOWN THE HAUNTED CABIN??? They could much better use it as a tourist enticement! “Come stay in the Haunted Cabin – we dare you!! Muahahahahahahahaha!” They could have Halloween parties there! They could charge admission! But instead, they want to tear it down and ruin everything. Typical boring people.

[Does the preceding paragraph grievously offend you? You’re not alone. – Comtesse]

Okay, now that I’ve finished my rant, let me continue my tale. So, we drove up Highway 70, through the beautiful Feather River Canyon, up to Keddie Resort. A short drive down Keddie Resort Road and we were in the midst of a large number of cabins, most in disrepair and featuring ‘Condemned’ signs on the front door. We were a bit disappointed – and surprised – to find that cabin #28 is actually located right in the middle of a group of cabins, several of which seemed to be occupied. I was expecting it to be tucked away in some dark, deep secret place where we could snoop in peace, but that was not to be. I also couldn’t help but wonder how such savagery could be inflicted on several people for several hours right in the middle of this inhabited area and nobody outside heard a thing? Pretty strange…

We parked the car and got out and I began to photograph cabin #28 when a rather scary looking shirtless rednecky guy came meandering over to us. “Can I help you?” he asked. We said that we were just looking at the old cabins and asked some innocent-sounding questions about when the resort was going to be opened up again, etc. hoping to throw him off-track. (We figured that if he knew we were only there to investigate the haunted cabin, he’d shoo us away for sure.) We asked if he minded if we look around and he said no, so we wandered off around some other rundown cabins, before sneaking back up to #28 and taking some more shots.

The unfortunate thing was that the front windows were boarded up, and the side windows that would look into the living room – which I suspect is where the murders took place – were too high for us to reach. There was a back porch, and C went up the stairs and looked in but there was no good view in from there either. The only window that I could actually look through was on the left side of the cabin, and it looked into a bedroom. But, you know, with someone watching us there was only so much snooping we could do.

We actually drove away after getting only a few shots and went to nearby Quincy to get some refreshments at the Polka Dot (a crummy little ice cream & burger joint) and discussed our strategy. We decided to go back again and try to get some more shots. This time we also explored the outside of the Keddie Lodge and wandered around the outskirts of more of the cabins to try and look less “suspicious” before we wandered back up to The Murder Cabin again. This time, however, after only getting a few shots, the scary guy caught us and asked, “Is there any special reason you’re focusing on this cabin?” C responded, “We heard a rumor that there was a murder in this house.” “Several of ’em,” he replied. “But the owner doesn’t like people taking pictures of it.” That said, we were officially heading home, frustrated at not being able to get a better view inside. I swear, why don’t they sell admission to the place instead of shooing us off? It would be much more lucrative! At least I was happy to have gotten some pictures of the cabin before they tear it down.

Anyway, without further ado, here are the pictures:


Cabin #28 -The “Murder” Cabin

Through This Door, The Killers Came.

The poor cabin has been condemned.

Another view, showing the surrounding cabins.

A back view of the Murder Cabin.


A shot using flash through the front left window – kind of a ghostly effect, isn’t it?

Here’s a shot without flash, catching the reflection of the cabin behind me… also kind of a cool effect.

I finally (somehow) managed to get an unobstructed view into the room. I tend to think the murders occurred in that front room through the doorway…

Here’s another shot in the room – the dirty window sure made for a great effect!

Here’s a nice view of the back left window – you can see the beautiful scenery reflected quite well.. but not much of the interior…

Another shot of the back of the cabin

Looking inside the back window… If you use your imagination, it almost looks like blood on the door, doesn’t it? Creepy…

I thought that the blue streak in the foreground of this final shot was creepy… until Grey Wolf pointed out to me that it’s just my car window. Oh, how disappointing!

The Keddie Resort Lodge sign…

The Keddie Resort “Club” sign… It’s definitely seen better days!

On our way out of the area, we also stopped at the Paxton Lodge which is also supposedly haunted by the ghost of a miner who was chopped up in the basement (or something like that). However, the lodge is still occupied so I didn’t feel right snooping around there. I took a single solitary snap and we were on our way…

If anyone has been able to get ahold of some interior shots of the Keddie Murder Cabin – please send them my way! I’m still very disappointed that I wasn’t able to get some juicier shots, but I’m grateful to have been able to see the cabin while it’s still standing.

UPDATE 8/26/06

Cabin 28 is no more! Yes, tragically, I have recently found out that the cabin was razed in the summer of 2004 in an act of senseless brutality! Be still my bleeding heart…