Life's Odyssey

Spirits and Shadows: The Haunting Of Augusta

Elizabeth Davison

The year was 1829, and downtown Augusta was alive with the sights and sounds of the popular Lower Market. Rays of sunshine peered through white cotton-candy clouds as shoppers strolled through the busy streets of the city market where shoppers found livestock, fresh fruits and vegetables, and even slaves. The sound of a visiting preacher's message of redemption could barely be heard over the hustle and bustle.

Annoyed with the lack of attention the preacher found in the market that day, the man cast a curse upon the city of Augusta and all who inhabited it. According to local legend, he predicted a wind would sweep through the city and destroy the market, leaving only one remnant behind-a single stone pillar. Those who touched or tried to move the pillar would meet with certain death.

Almost 50 years later, in the winter of 1878, the preacher's prophecy had nearly been forgotten. Yet on Feb. 8 of that year, a tornado destroyed the Lower Market. And, true to the evangelist's prediction, only one stone pillar remained standing.

There are many stories and legends told by Augustans about the Haunted Pillar, as it is now known. When workers were clearing out debris that winter from the tornado's damage, one of them who had heard about the curse tried to amuse his friends by putting a rope around the pillar in an attempt to knock it down. He died from a sudden heart attack moments later.

Later, during construction on Broad Street, two men tied ropes around the pillar and tried to move it. Both were struck by lightning while straining to knock it down. Other stories tell of those who have tried to take pieces off the pillar as souvenirs and fell ill within hours after their visit to the landmark.

That same stone pillar is still located in downtown Augusta today, although it has been moved to the corner of Fifth and Broad.

In more recent times, a man hit the pillar after veering off Broad Street in his car. It was merely a minor accident, and bystanders and police all agreed that the man's injuries should have been minimal. Yet, the man died at the scene.

The Haunted Pillar is perhaps the most well-known of Augusta's ghost stories, but there are many other very interesting tales of ghosts and creepy occurrences still being passed down through generations of Augustans.

Most students know that Augusta State University is presently on the site of what was formerly a Confederate arsenal. But many don't know that several campus buildings are said to be haunted.

Bellevue, known as Bellevue Hall to Augusta State students, was built around 1805 and renovations have just been completed to restore and preserve it. First used as a plantation home by the Walker family, it was eventually purchased as part of the property for the Augusta arsenal, with a small area of land set aside for the Walker family to use as a cemetery. The arsenal was occupied and guarded until the end of the Civil War, when it was surrendered to the Union forces.

According to Ed Cashin, in his book General Sherman's Daughter and Other Augusta Stories, strange occurrences at Bellevue have ties to the arsenal's fascinating history.

In 1861, the Galt family lived in the Bellevue home. John Galt had two young daughters-Emily and Lucy. According to local legend, 21-year-old Emily met a young, handsome soldier at the arsenal. The two fell in love and decided to get married. Her fiancé soon went off to join the Confederate troops, but only after much heated debate between the two over whether or not he should fight in the war.

Emily used her engagement ring to etch "Emily Galt, 1861" on a second-story window at the Bellevue home. When she heard the news of her fiancé's death, Emily threw herself out the same window and died on the ground below.

Now used as campus offices, several ASU employees have heard arguing in the hallways of Bellevue Hall after other co-workers have left for the day. The hallways are always empty, but the arguing continues. Perhaps it is Emily, trying to convince the soldier she loves not to go to war.

Sibley Mill stands beside River Watch Parkway, a tall brick reminder to passers-by of the successful, rich history of Augusta textile production. It was built in 1880 on the site of the Confederate Powderworks, which had supplied soldiers in the Civil War with gunpowder.

Sean Joiner, in his book Haunted Augusta and Local Legends, describes the legend of a ghost at the mill. On October 20, 1906, mill worker Maude Williams was shot to death by an irate Arthur Glover, a married man with whom she had been having an affair. She had broken off the relationship, and in his anger (and, according to some, lunacy), Glover killed his mistress while she worked at her weaving machine.

After her death, many workers weaving in the same room said they saw the ghost of Williams. They claimed that when the room was empty, they could see the woman at her weaving machine.

Supervisors, in disbelief, discounted the sightings. But when new employees at the mill reported the same sightings, they began to think that the stories could be true. Sure enough, the weaving machine would be turned on when the room was empty and all of the machines should have been off. Was it the spirit of Williams?

In 1989, when the Old Medical College of Georgia building (circa 1834) was being renovated, workers found 154 bodies underneath the building. Organs and bones were found in vats and jars of foul-smelling liquid, giving credence to a tale that had been circulating among Augustans and MCG students for years-the legend of "Resurrection Man."

The Resurrection Man is thought to have been a slave named Gradison Harris, who had been purchased by the Medical College in 1852. He was taught anatomy, reading and writing during a time when educating slaves was illegal. His education, however risky, was for a rather morbid task-he was instructed to exhume bodies from Cedar Grove Cemetery, a then-prominent burial place for African-Americans in Augusta. The story says that Harris would enter the cemetery in the middle of the night, dig up a grave, open the coffin and bring the cadaver to the college for students to use as a test subject. Harris later became the building's janitor.

The bodies found in 1989 were given a proper burial in 1998 at Cedar Grove Cemetery. Ironically, Harris is buried at the same cemetery.

Augsta's second oldest structure, the Ezekiel Harris House, is also said to be haunted. The house was built around 1797 and served as housing for wealthy planters and merchants who visited Harrisburg, the town Ezekiel Harris was attempting to build and populate. He wanted to create a city that would economically rival Augusta, so he invited planters and businessmen to come and hear his vision.

The property adjacent to the home was the site of a small battle during the Revolutionary War. The Mackay Trading Post, located on the property, was being held by the British. Elijah Clark and other patriots engaged the British, who were being led by Colonel Thomas Brown, in battle. The British prevailed and Clark retreated, leaving behind 29 of his patriot soldiers. These men were tortured, hanged and murdered in cold blood.

According to Joiner, visitors to the Harris House have reported seeing ghosts-a woman, thought to be a mother of some of the soldiers, frantically searching for her sons. Others have reported seeing ropes hung from the railings of the stairway or feeling the strain of a rope around their own necks. The creaking of the tall stairways is said to accompany the screams of the tortured patriots.

The city of Augusta is full of rich history, a history that can be seen in lovely old homes, downtown streets and tall brick mills. Magnolia trees and majestic oaks frame cemeteries and stately old buildings that are turning to rubble. But for all its beauty, Augusta has a dark side, a creepy side just waiting to be explored. Ghosts roam long hallways and graveyards turn scary under the cover of darkness. So the next time you're walking downtown and you come across an old stone pillar that looks some what out of place, watch out-you might just become the next victim of haunted Augusta