Tag Archives: ghosts

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Unsettled Sins in Savannah

Reverend John Wesley stands as a statue in Reynolds Square with the same commanding presence he had when he used to clutch his bible under his arm and preach to his flock in the very same spot. After growing up and receiving his religious training in England, Reverend Wesley undertook a mission to spread the word in Savannah which lasted from 1735–1738. He started the Methodist church and established the first Sunday school class in America.

Reverend Wesley stood outside his home which was located at his statue when addressing Native Americans in the great outdoors. This practice cause controversy within the church because the custom was to deliver the Gospel within the church.

Reverend Wesley began seeing a young woman in his congregation, but refused to marry her. His mistress would go to the square and stand under a tree to listen to him preach even though he heartlessly shamed her. During the conservative period, once he ruined her reputation, the community rebuked her. The woman fled Savannah and never returned.

However, her spirit still haunts Reynold’s Square. There is a blue spirit orb in the tree that looks over the statue.

Poor indentured servant, Annie, wanders the Oglethorpe Square where she hanged to death. Early teen, which was marriageable material for the times, Annie was physically and emotionally abused by her influential owner. Like any other young lady, she yearned for love and acceptance. She found her soul mate in a boy who also worked for the man.

When she discovered she was pregnant, Annie asked for freedom but her cruel employer refused. Determined to give her child a better life, Annie and her soul mate sliced her employer’s neck while she washed his hair.

The authorities found her guilty of murder and hanged her. Her spirit lingers in the square. Above her execution spot, Spanish moss never grows, even though the rest of the trees remain covered. Visitors regularly report speaking to a hysterical woman in search of her lost baby. There are ghost orbs in the above photo.


Oftentimes, visitors of the DAR cemetery have seen a child dressed in a white dress sitting on a bench, crying her heart out. Those who walked over to comfort her witness her transform into a white light and vanished as soon as she noticed them getting close to her. She was a victim of the Bay Street killer.

In the late 1800s, a teenage boy named Renee had been accused of snapping the necks of numerous children and animals, and then tossing their dead bodies into the graveyard and alleyways. The community arrested Renee and placed him behind bars. The killings ceased. Renee managed to escape during a city fire and the deaths increased, once again.

Outraged, a mob attacked Renee and strung him by the neck from a tree along the river on Bay Street. Alas, the townspeople made a mistake. Within days, the bodies of additional animals and children were discovered with broken necks. Unless, the folklore is true and Renee’s ghost continues to kill. The only way to ward away his spirit is with iron since it held him captive during his life.

Renee ‘s red spirit is visible at the DAR cemetery. He hovers over the unmarked spot where his body was tossed after his execution.

Ghosts love being alive in stories. In my novel, Surfer Murder, when a surfer returns to the water after her sister’s death, she is confronted by spirits that lead her to a murder.

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Dial 911 for 311 Hauntings

 

While visiting Chattanooga, Tennessee for Zip’s annual gun show, we stayed at the Sheraton Read House. The National Register of Historic Places recognized the hotel for its Georgian architecture. The hotel brags about its Drexel Furniture and Sheraton Sweet Sleeper Beds, and I am here to tell you, the sleeping situation is outstanding. There is a rumor about the hotel being haunted and seeing as how I love a good mystery, I had to check it out. The hauntings are so well known, the locals believe them full-heartedly and even use the room to their advantage. As a joke, they put Al Capone in room 311 on the night he was taken into custody before being tried and convicted for his unlawful gangster related tax evasion.

Site History

The hotel site has had several names beginning in the 1847 when the Western and Atlantic Union train station was built across the street. During Civil War days when it was referred to as the Crutchfield House, the location thrived with politics, social events and boomed economically, acting as the Union occupied headquarters and hospital during the war. In 1861, Jefferson Davis and William Crutchfield argued vehemently about whether or not Jefferson was a traitor and military despot, drawing guns and firing into the crowd. After a fire, the hotel was reinvented as the Read House in 1872, with Georgian Revival additions in 1926. The impressive guest list includes, Winston Churchill, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bob Hope, William McKinley, Eleanor Roosevelt, Margaret Truman, Charles Laughton, Tallulah Bankhead, Eddie Rickenbacker, and along with the many other famous folks, of course, Al Capone.

Likely Spirits

During the Civil War in 1863, a prostitute was taken to room 311 and heartlessly murdered by a soldier. Coincidentally, in the late 1920s, after the Crutchfield House burned to the ground and was rebuilt as the Read House, a woman named Analise Netterly died in the new room 311. There are several versions of her story. 1) She was a kept woman and once she realized her male suitor was dishonorable, she unexpectedly died, some believe due to a broken heart, others say suicide and still more claim murder. 2) She was a wife who cheated on her husband and was cast off at the hotel. Determined to get even with him, she intended to live a lavish lifestyle on his dime, but days before the divorce was final, she was found in the bathtub with a slashed throat.

The Haunting

Regardless of which woman remains attached to the property, men who smoke cigars or cigarettes have reported being harassed by a female spirit. For many years, the third floor of the hotel was the smoking floor but with so many guests checking out during the middle of the night, demanding a refund because they woke with a woman sitting on their chest, or slamming the bathroom door, or staring at them inches from their faces, the hotel came up with some strategies. 1) The hotel switched the room number with 313, thinking people fabricated the sensations, but the hauntings never left the original 311. 2) After switching the rooms back, all guests were responsible for the hotel fee regardless of what time they checked out. 3) When hauntings continued after the smoking floor was removed, room 311 was removed from the guest room list. It is no longer available for lodging and has been converted into a broom closet.

Why Al Capone?

Chattanooga was once referred to as the Dynamo of Dixie because the town relied on manufacturing for its revenues and with that, was a strong supporter of unions. Al Capone was incarcerated nearby and spent his last night as a free man in room 311 during the early 1930s. The guards stayed with their ears against the door, laughing amongst themselves, expecting to hear Capone cry out in fear any minute. Instead, all they heard was loud, rattled snoring. A new legend was born. The discontented spirit in room 311 recognized Capone as being more evil than she was, and hid from him that night.

Al Capone in Chattanooga 

My photos suggested to me that an evil spirit looms in room 311 as opposed to a woman with a broken heart. Could it possibly be the intense personality of Al Capone? I wondered if the gangster leader would have close enough ties to the hotel for him to remain there in his afterlife.

He owned property on top of a mountain forty-five minutes west of town. Today, it is called High Point, a restaurant voted as having the Best Gourmet Meal in Tennessee. Capone financed the stone house for John Dillenger as a hideout for booze transported across the country during the prohibition years. The building has underground tunnels and escape hatches and sand under the floorboards to stop bullets, plus numerous bullet holes in the walls. On December 30, 1941, his son, Albert Francis “Sonny” Capone, married his sweetheart Diane Ruth Casey who was from Chattanooga. Apparently, Capone spent quite a bit of time in the area.

Haunting Encounter

Once I heard the stories about the 311 hauntings, I rallied my children to investigate the third floor with me. My husband, Zip, who doesn’t believe in such rubbish, couldn’t resist joining us, just in case something interesting happened. The hallway was empty and just as the story said, all the rooms on the floor were numbered except for 311.

I took photos from different angles, at first finding an orb beside the door, which grew smaller. As we stood outside the room discussing whether or not the hotel brochure would mention the story of Ms. Netterly being afraid of Al Capone, I noticed a black image, a reddish smokey figure shaped like splattered blood, move across the door. I asked everyone to step back and took another shot. We ordered the ghost to return to its home, i.e., not follow us back to our place. The figure slipped under the door frame and was gone.

I’d never photographed a sinister image before and all of us were a little spooked. Even skeptical Zip flinched when he saw the figure move around us. In unison, we all said it must’ve been Al Capone, maybe attached to his last great night of sleep. He might’ve been curious what we had to say about him, or wanted to protect his property. This haunting resembles the ghostly character in my novel, Under a Full Moon, by interacting with others on the material plane.

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London Ghost Warning

If during a visit to London you have a vacant evening, consider filling the time with a ghost bus tour. Beware, or that is to say wary, if you anticipate actually seeing paranormal activity.

The London ghost tours answer any questions you had about where out of work British actors find work. The commentator of the bus tour puts on a grand show, leaning into the camera to distort his face, utilizing every crazed voice he’s developed and screaming as he runs up and down the stairs. Not that he’s uninformed. Quite the contrary. The commentator shares educational narratives about English monarchy and their brutal deaths. He gives accounts of fires and romances. The catch is, he interrupts himself regularly to intentionally create chaos.

It is all in good fun and is an excellent opportunity to see areas of the city you might otherwise overlook. He talks rapidly, pointing out so many interesting monuments and providing such shocking accounts of English history, it is difficult to glimpse every location.

If there are ghosts, the bus moves too quickly for anyone to take photographs or see them. The actors are there to entertain. The ghost tour creates suspense to scare the patrons. It is similar to a haunted house where the purpose of going inside is to be scared.

Patrons include a families and gothic collegians. Young adults show up with wigs, black lipstick and Goth clothing. Expect to laugh and sit at the edge of your seat to avoid being attacked by ghoulish monsters. The interior of the bus resembles a coffin and gives the feeling you are headed to a funeral.

Surprises crop up, according to the time of year. For instance, around Easter, a serial killer rabbit joins the crew.

Patrons get off the bus one time, and a huge surprise is that the tour ends on a sentimental note, instead of somewhere dangerous. It is a great way to learn about London and monarchy deaths. The actors discourage young children from taking the tour because they do want to scare you.

The tour reflects on experiences of people who often lead to their becoming ghosts. Paranormal activities first interested me when I was three years old and my grandmother passed away. My interpretation of paranormal activities appear in my stories. In Evangabella and Under a Full Moon, the protagonists encounter ghosts they must learn to understand in order to solve their conflicts with the world.

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Ghost Orbs Populate St. Augustine

The ghost tours in St. Augustine, Florida encourage visitors to take photographs of the haunted locations in hopes ghost orbs appear on film. Orbs are a recently discovered phenomena. Researchers theorize orbs of light appear in pictures when spirits drift into the scene. Some believe the spirits seek out past relatives to comfort and protect the living. Others consider the orbs to be disquieted souls with unfinished business on earth. Such ghosts suffered emotionally or physically at the time of their death.

Even though I saw no evidence of ghost orbs while walking around the town, images of round lights appeared on my developed pictures. “Are they nothing more than distorted refractions of light taken by digital cameras?” I asked the film developer. He also toured St. Augustine and felt some were glitches with digital cameras and others were actual spirits. “It’s whatever you want them to be,” he said.

The spirit of a boy likes sits in this tree at the Catholic cemetery. Thousands of confused spirits join him, wishing someone would tell them how to get out of the graveyard.

Native American Chief Osceola was imprisoned at the fort on the river. Upon his death, the doctor decapitated him and kept his head as a souvenir. Taking on a bluish appearance, the head of Osceola bounces above the fort in search of its body.

Spirits enjoy hearing stories about themselves and follow the tour guide along with the visitors. My dog growled and became anxious at this point so I took a picture curious if she was reacting to ghosts.

Many townspeople died at the city gates, forbidden to enter because of an illness or unsatisfactory behavior. The town burned to the ground on several occasions and fleeing residents died. One sweet little girl still skips down the street and then sits at the top of the left column.

Robbers uncovered a body and stole a man’s gold teeth. The man’s spirit searches for his teeth during the night. This yellowish orb is identical in size and placement to other photos posted on the ghost tour websites.

Three rogue brothers lived a jovial life, drinking and partying every night. Even after their death, the three brothers play around the cemetery.

A school mistress looks out the window in search of her students who burned in a fire. The spiral lines inside the orb suggest it is a spirit and not refracted light.

Ghostly encounters throughout my life inspired the theme for my supernatural story, Evangabella, where a girl senses paranormal activity but doesn’t know whether to trust the spirits.

What do you think? Are they real?