Ghosts of Berkeley County, South Carolina

by Bruce Orr

  Many a Girl Scout has reported seeing Alice riding a white horse across the grounds of Richmond Plantation. They are often seen under the moonlit sky racing across the fields. Alice is also said to return and speak to the young Scouts, advising them of the importance of listening to their parents and telling them that she is an excellent example of what might happen to you if you choose not to listen.

  Another young apparition is that of Jeannie, who haunts a little playhouse on the plantation. The house has been set up just as it used to be, but it has been sealed off from entry. Jeannie used to have wonderful imaginary tea parties there until one day, when she accidentally broke a piece of the china she was using and cut herself badly. Before she could even get out of the playhouse, she bled to death. They say that on moonlit nights you can look into the little playhouse and see the blood running down the walls.

  Also on the plantation, there is said to be a large tiger-colored tabby cat with bright, gleaming eyes. He is said to disappear and reappear much like the Cheshire Cat in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

  In addition to those is a gentleman who is the grandfather of a little boy who drowned in the duck pond there. He is said to have died from grief after the death of the child, and he can be seen walking the roads searching for the boy.

  Just like the grounds of the property, the old house is said to have its fair share of ghostly activity, too. Lights turn themselves off and on, and rocking chairs rock and stop all by themselves.

  LOCH DHU PLANTATION

  The Kirks, a very prominent South Carolina family, settled Loch Dhu Plantation in St. John’s Parish. The name is a Scottish-Gaelic term meaning “black lake,” and the plantation was named for just such a pond located on the property.

  During the Civil War, Dr. Philip Sidney Kirk served as a surgeon for the Confederate forces. Loch Dhu served as a makeshift hospital and was used to nurse injured Confederate soldiers back to health. When Union troops arrived in the South, they generally burned everything in their path. Loch Dhu was no exception to the orders, and when the Union troops arrived there, they intended to do the same—except the Kirk women refused to leave.

  The Kirk women had become nurses to the injured Confederate soldiers and refused to leave. No amount of threats and coercion could dissuade them from their duties. In a rare change of heart, the Union troops decided not to forcibly remove the women and did not burn the plantation or any of its building. Loch Dhu was spared.

  When the lands were flooded to create the lakes for the Santee Cooper Project, Loch Dhu survived. The house was on higher ground than its neighboring plantations. Much like the Wampee House survived Lake Moultrie, so did Loch Dhu survive Lake Marion. Also, just as Wampee House seems to be the focal point for the spirits disturbed by the creation of Lake Moultrie, Loch Dhu seems to be the gathering point for those disturbed by Lake Marion.

  The Loch Dhu plantation house. Courtesy of Library of Congress Archives.

  According to some folks, the doors of Loch Dhu often open and close on their own, and heavy boot steps can still be heard echoing up and down the stairs of the plantation house and throughout the upstairs hallways. The boot steps are believed to be those of the Union troops still trying to persuade the Kirk women to leave the home. The boot steps continue as they follow the women in and out of the rooms as they continue to care for the Confederate soldiers in a war that ended more than a century ago.

  CONCLUSION

  The ghost tales and folklore of Berkeley County are as diversified as the cultures that blended together to form the county. By no means is this a complete collection. There are about as many tales as there were plantations. Likewise, just as numerous plantations were lost with the creation of Lakes Marion and Moultrie with the Santee Cooper Project in the 1930s, so are the legends and lore being lost as well.

  For example, Old Fannie at Middleburg Plantation and the Cordesville Conductor are two more examples of spook lights in the Berkeley County area. Old Fannie is said to be the spirit of one of the plantation’s former slaves. She is said to dress in white, and every Friday night she wanders the long road to the plantation house in Huger, South Carolina, carrying a torch. The Cordesville Conductor is said to be the spirit of a man killed while working for the railroad in Cordesville, South Carolina. He is said to have fallen between two moving boxcars and decapitated. He takes his lantern and wanders the tracks nightly in search of the head that was never found. Both of these apparitions, much like the Summerville Light, are said to appear in the form of a glowing sphere of light. There is not a whole lot of information regarding the background of these apparitions, but it does show additional examples and the prevalence of the phenomena known as spook lights in the Berkeley County area.

  Daniel Island supposedly had an apparition of a mounted British soldier riding through the island. I don’t know where—when it was recorded in a two-sentence paragraph in a book decades ago, they failed to mention that part. That tale has forever faded into obscurity due to the fact that it was never properly written down and because the ones who told the tale have long passed on. This is why Ghosts of Berkeley County, South Carolina was created.

  APPENDIX

  A WORD TO WOULD-BE GHOST HUNTERS AND ARTIFACT COLLECTORS

  Once again, as I stated in the introduction, I offer these tales as entertainment, and I will take no stand on the existence, or nonexistence, of any of the paranormal denizens of Berkeley County (Summerville Light excluded). If one chooses to investigate these locations and chase a ghost, a Cymbee or Sasquatch, one chooses to do so on his or her own. Amateur ghost hunting seems thrilling, but there are numerous things to consider before undertaking such an endeavor. First and foremost is seeking permission to be on a particular site. Many areas, such as Strawberry Chapel, are posted with “no trespassing” signs and are under video surveillance due to the severe amount of vandalism the place has experienced throughout the years. If you trespass there, you will be prosecuted. I was fortunate enough to run into a groundskeeping crew the last time I was there, and I was allowed to look around. I am sure that other locations, such as the Nazareth Cemetery, do not want people running through the graveyards late at night, either.

  Sheep Island Road is completely blocked off from travel and is also posted with “no trespassing” signs. It is an isolated and dangerous area regardless of the existence of ghosts. In May 2003, a Summerville police officer was shot in a confrontation with a suspect on Sheep Island Road. Fortunately, his body armor stopped the round, and he survived. The fact is that the area is secluded and dangerous, and trying to locate the ghosts of the dead may cause you to be turned into one by the living.

  Vandalism to the graves at the historic Strawberry Chapel. Courtesy of KOP Shots.

  The plantations that remain, regardless of being inhabited or not, are owned by someone somewhere. Being in a building without permission is burglary in this state.

  That is just the legal side of amateur ghost hunting. Running around in a graveyard late at night is ill-advised. Brown recluse spiders leave nasty bites—been there and done that. Black widows can kill you. So can rattlesnakes and copperheads, which love hunting at night. Again, you may become a ghost searching for ghosts.

  The State of South Carolina requires a person to obtain a license from the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology to collect artifacts or fossils while diving in the state. One must report their discoveries quarterly in order to maintain their license. This accompanied by the fact of obtaining scuba certification can get you started as a hobby collector, but diving obviously has its own dangers. If you choose to dive Lake Moultrie in search of the sunken plantations described in this book, here is a little information you may want to consider. Water moccasins are territorial and deadly but are nothing compared to alligators. On September 16, 2007, fifty-nine-year-old Bill Hedden was snorkeling in the lake when he was attacked by a twelve-foot, 600-pound alligator, which ripped off his left arm. Five nurses who were at a picnic near
by were able to stop the bleeding until paramedics arrived. The alligator was killed, and Hedden recovered, but doctors at the Medical University of South Carolina were not able to reattach it. Another fact for consideration is that in September 2010, Maryellen Mara-Christian from Fitchburg, Massachusetts, bagged a thirteen-and-a-half-foot, 1,025-pound alligator in Lake Moultrie during the state’s hunting season. It took about two hours to secure the gator.

  The author exploring the old foundation of Wadboo Bridge. Water moccasins and alligators can create hazards for freshwater divers in South Carolina. Courtesy of Swamp Fox Diving.

  Rick Presnell of Swamp Fox Diving. A state license is required for the underwater collection of fossils and historic artifacts. Courtesy of Swamp Fox Diving.

  During mating season, a bull gator blows bubbles under the chin of his intended love interest. When you are scuba diving, as you exhale through your regulator, you blow bubbles that rise upward to the surface. That fourteen-foot bull gator lingering up there may mistake you for some other bull gator fooling around with his girlfriend and may just charge in fighting and ask questions later.

  Amateur ghost hunting and artifact collecting may seem fun, but there are risks. Just because some yo-yo accidentally snaps a picture of his thumb over the lens of his camera and gets excited at the blurry orb he created does not make that orb a ghost. Orbs do not equal ghosts…sorry. Don’t let some amateur group with a whole lot of pricey toys sucker you in and get you hurt, arrested or killed chasing lightning bugs in a graveyard. Likewise, don’t let some artifact hunter with a scuba mask get you drowned. Check credentials and references.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Adams, Natalie P. “The Cymbee Water Spirits of St. John’s Berkeley.” The African Diaspora Archaeology Network newsletter, June 2007.

  American Wars 101. “The American Revolutionary War, the Skirmishes at Quenby Bridge and Shubrick’s Plantation.” http://www.americanwars101.com/battles/810717a.html.

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  Baxley, Sandra. “Ghostly Summerville Light Still Makes Nightly Rounds.” (Charleston) News and Courier, November 12, 1970.

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  Bostick, Douglas W. Sunken Plantations: The Santee Cooper Project. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2008.

  Brown, Dan. “Wampee House: A Haunted Place.” Berkeley Independent, October 27, 2008.

  Buxton, Geordie. Haunted Plantations: Ghosts of Slavery and Legends of the Cotton Kingdoms. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2007.

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  South Carolina’s Information Highway (SCIWAY). http://www.sciway.net.

  Staff of John F. Blair Publishing Company, eds. Boogers and Boo-Daddies: The Best of Blair’s Ghost Stories. Winston-Salem, NC: self-published, 2004.

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  ———. “Huguenot.” http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Huguenot&oldid=435938276.

  ———. “Jack Sprat.” http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jack_Sprat&oldid=423393061.

  ———. “Philip Simmons.” http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Philip_Simmons&oldid=425896930.

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND PHOTOGRAPHER

  Bruce Orr was raised in the Lowcountry of South Carolina and grew up hunting and fishing the plantations of Berkeley County with his father and brothers. It was during those times that he spent many evenings listening to the tales and legends surrounding this historic area. As a young boy, he had an insatiable appetite for the bizarre, unexplained and paranormal and was always searching for answers behind the events he heard at the hunt clubs and fish camps.

  As he grew into an adult, this natural curiosity in seeking the facts brought him into law enforcement, where he eventually became a detective and a supervisor within his agency’s Criminal Investigative Division. Now retired, he uses the skills he obtained in his career to research the legends and lore that he grew up with in order to record and preserve them for future generations.

  Photo by Tiffany Baur.

  Kayla Orr became interested in photography at a very young age. She studied photography throughout her high school curriculum and, at the age of sixteen, created KOP Shots, her own amateur photography company. Professionally, Ghosts of Berkeley County, South Carolina is the third book featuring her work, and she is currently working on an inspirational project that will combine her love of nature and photography.

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