Ghosts

by Hans Holzer

  * * *

  On July 25th, 1953, a “planchette” session was held at the home of Mrs. Meyers, with herself and the late Mrs. Zoe Britton present, during which Guychone made himself known, and stated that he had a living son, 89 years old, now living in a place called Seymour, West Virginia.

  EVIDENTIAL MATERIAL BEGINS TO PILE UP

  By now we knew we had an unusual case. I went through all the available material on this period (and there is a lot), without turning up anyone named Guychone.

  These were extremely hot afternoons, but the quest went on. Rarely has any psychic researcher undertaken a similarly protracted project to hunt down psychic evidence.

  Sitting of July 28th, 1953

  Finding a St. Michael’s medal around my neck, Guychone says it reminds him of a medal of St. Anne, which his “Huguenot mother,” Marie Guychone, had given him.

  Question: Do you remember the name of your college?

  Guychone: Two colleges. St. Anne’s in Charleston, South Carolina…. Only one thought around another, that’s all I had—curry the horses. Why? I know now. I remember. I want to say my mother is here, I saw her, she says God bless you. I understand more now. Thank you. Pray for me.

  Sitting of August 4th, 1953

  This sitting repeated previous information and consisted in a cat-and-mouse game between Guychone and myself. However, toward the end, Guychone began to speak of his son Gregory, naming him for the first time. He asked us to find him. We asked, “What name does Gregory use?” Guychone casually answered: “I don’t know…Guychone…maybe McGowan….” The name McGowan came very quietly, but sufficiently distinct to be heard by all present. At the time, we were not overwhelmed. Only when research started to yield results did we realize that it was his real name at last. But I was not immediately successful in locating McGowan on the regimental rosters, far from it! I was misled by his statement of having served in the cavalry, and naturally gave the cavalry rosters my special attention, but he wasn’t in them. Late in August I went through the city records of Charleston, West Virginia, on a futile search for the Guychone family, assuming still that they were his in-laws. Here I found mention of a “McGowan’s Brigade.”

  Sitting of August 18th, 1953

  Question: Please identify yourself, Colonel.

  McGowan: Yes…Edward…I can stay? I can stay?

  Question: Why do you want so much to stay? Are you not happy where you are?

  McGowan: Oh yes. But I like to talk very much…how happy I am.

  Question: What was your mother’s name?

  McGowan: Marie Guychone.

  Question: What is your name?

  McGowan: Guychone.

  Question: Yes; that is the name you used, but you really are…?

  McGowan: Edward Mac…Mac…curry the horses! (excited, is calmed by me) Yes, I see…Mac…McGowan! I remember more now, but I can only tell what I know…it is like a wall…I remember a dark night, I was crazy…war on one hand, fighting, bullets…and then, flying away, chasing, chasing, chasing….

  Question: What regiment were you with?

  McGowan: Six…two…sometimes horse…oh, in that fire….

  Question: Who was your commanding general?

  McGowan: But—Butler.

  He then speaks of his service in two regiments, one of which was the Sixth South Carolina Regiment, and he mentions a stand on a hill, which was hell, with the Damyankees on all sides. He says it was at Chattanooga.

  * * *

  Question: The house on Fifth Avenue, New York…do you remember the name of your landlord?

  McGowan: A woman…Elsie (or L. C.)…stout….

  Actually, he says, a man collected the rent, which he had trouble paying at times. He knew a man named Pat Duffy in New York. He was the man who worked for his landlady, collecting the rent, coming to his door.

  During the interrogation about his landlord, McGowan suddenly returns to his war experiences. “There was a Griffin,” he says, referring to an officer he knew.

  Sitting of August 25th, 1953

  “The Colonel,” as we now called him, came through very clearly. He introduced himself by his true name. Asked again about the landlady in New York, he now adds that she was a widow. Again, he speaks of “Griff…Griff….” Asked what school he went to, he says “St. Anne’s College in Charleston, South Carolina, and also William and Mary College in Virginia, the latter in 1850, 51, 52, 53, 54.” What was his birthday? He says “February 10, 1830.” Did he write any official letters during the war? He says, “I wrote to General Robert E. Lee.” What about? When? “January, 1864. Atlanta…. I needed horses, horses, wheels to run the things on.” Did you get them? “No.” What regiment was he with then? “The Sixth from South Carolina.” But wasn’t he from West Virginia? Amazed, McGowan says, “No, from South Carolina.”

  I then inquired about his family in New York.

  McGowan explained that his mother did live with him there, and died there, but after his own death “they” went away, including his sister-in-law Gertrude and brother William. Again, he asks that we tell his son Gregory “that his father did not do away with himself.”

  I asked, “Where is there a true picture of you?” McGowan replied, “There is one in the courthouse in Charleston, South Carolina.” What kind of a picture? “Etch…etch…tintype!”

  All through these sittings it was clear that McGowan’s memory was best when “pictures” or scenes were asked for, and worst when precise names or dates were being requested. He was never sure when he gave a figure, but was very sure of his facts when he spoke of situations or relationships. Thus, he gave varying dates for his own birthday, making it clear that he was hazy about it, not even aware of having given discrepant information within a brief period.

  But then, if a living person undergoes a severe shock, is he not extremely hazy about such familiar details as his name or address? Yet, most shock victims can describe their house, or their loved ones. The human memory, apparently, is more reliable in terms of associations, when under stress, than in terms of factual information, like names and figures.

  By now research was in full swing, and it is fortunate that so much prima facie evidence was obtained before the disclosure of McGowan’s true name started the material flowing. Thus, the old and somewhat tiring argument of “mental telepathy” being responsible for some of the information can only be applied, if at all, to a part of the sittings. No one can read facts in a mind before they get into that mind!

  The sittings continued in weekly sessions, with Colonel McGowan rapidly becoming our “star” visitor.

  Sitting of September 1st, 1953

  Question: What was your rank at the end of the war?

  McGowan: That was on paper…made to serve.

  Question: Did you become a general?

  McGowan: Naw…honors…I take empty honors….

  Question: When you went to school, what did you study?

  McGowan: The law of the land.

  Question: What happened at Manassas?

  McGowan: Oh…defeat. Defeat.

  Question: What happened to you personally at Manassas?

  McGowan: Ah, cut, cut. Bayonets. Ah. Blood, blood.

  Question: What happened at Malvern Hill?

  McGowan: Success. We took the house. Low brick building. We wait. They come up and we see right in the mouth of a cannon. 1864. They burned the house around our ears. But we didn’t move.

  Question: What was under your command at that time?

  McGowan: Two divisions.

  Question: How many regiments?

  McGowan: Four…forty…(Four?) TEEN!

  Question: What did you command?

  McGowan: My commander was shot down, I take over. (Who for?) John…Major….

  Question: Listen, Colonel, your name is not Edward. Is there any other first or middle name you used? (Silence) Did anyone of high rank serve from South Carolina? (My brother William) Anyone else? (Paul)

  McGowan: Do you thin
k of Charles McGowan? That was no relation of mine. He was on the waterfront. He was…exporter.

  Question: Were you at Gettysburg, Colonel? (Yes.) What regiments were under your command then?

  McGowan: I had a wound at Gettysburg. I was very torn. (Where did you get the wound?) Atlanta…change of rank. Empty honors (About his son Gregory) Seymour…many years Lowell, Massachusetts, and then he went back down South, Seymour, South Carolina, and sometimes West Virginia…he was in a store, he left and then he came into property, mother also had property, down there near Charleston in West Virginia…that is where he is, yes.

  Question: You say your father was Frederick? (Yes.) Who was William. (My brother.) Who was Samuel? (Long pause, stunned, then: I wrote that name!) Why didn’t you tell us? (Crying: I didn’t want to tell….) Tell us your true rank, too. (I don’t care what it was). Please don’t evade us. What was your rank? (Brigadier…General). Then you are General Samuel McGowan?

  McGowan: You made me very unhappy…such a name (crying)…blood, empty honors….

  Question: Who was James Johnson? (My commander.) What happened to him? (Indicates he was shot.) Who took over for Johnson? (I did.) What regiment was it?

  McGowan: I don’t know the figures…I don’t know.

  Question: Your relative in New York, what was his name?

  McGowan: Peter Paul.

  Question: What was his profession?

  McGowan: A doctor. (Any particular kind of doctor?) Cuts. (What kind?) (McGowan points to face.) (Nose doctor?) (McGowan points to mouth and shakes head.) (Mouth doctor?) (McGowan violently grabs his teeth and shakes them.) (Oh, teeth? A dentist) (McGowan nods assent.)

  Question: I will name some regiments, tell me if any of them mean anything to you. The 10th…the 34th…the 14th…(McGowan reacts?) The 14th? Does it mean anything to you?

  McGowan: I don’t know, figures don’t mean anything on this side….

  SOME INTERESTING FACTS BROUGHT OUT BY RESEARCH

  In the sitting of August 18th, McGowan stated his landlord was a woman and that her name was “Elsie” or L. C. The Hall of Records of New York City lists the owner of 226 Fifth Avenue as “Isabella S. Clarke, from 1853 to (at least) March 1, 1871.” In the same sitting, McGowan stated that Pat Duffy was the man who actually came to collect the rent, working for the landlady. Several days after this information was voluntarily received from the entity, I found in Trow’s New York Directory for 1869/70:

  The house today

  Page 195: “Clark, Isabella, wid. Constantine h. (house) 45 Cherry.”

  Page 309: “Duffy, Patrick, laborer, 45 Cherry.”

  This could be known only to someone who actually knew these people, 80 years ago; it proved our ghost was there in 1873!

  The sitting of September 1st also proved fruitful.

  A “Peter McGowan, dentist, 253 W. 13 St.” appears in Trow’s New York City Directory for 1870/71.

  J. F. J. Caldwell, in his “History of a Brigade of South Carolinians known first as Gregg’s, and subsequently as McGowan’s Brigade,” (Philadelphia, 1866) reports:

  Page 10: “The 14th Regiment South Carolina Volunteers selected for field officers…Col. James Jones, Lt. Col. Samuel McGowan…(1861).”

  Page 12: “Colonel Samuel McGowan commands the 14th Regiment.”

  Page 18: “McGowan arrives from the Chickahominy river (under Lee).”

  Page 24: “Conspicuous gallantry in the battle of Malvern Hill.”

  Page 37: “…of the 11 field officers of our brigade, seven were wounded: Col. McGowan, etc. (in the 2nd battle of Manassas).”

  Page 53: “Col. Samuel McGowan of the 14th Regiment (at Fredericksburg).”

  Page 60: “The 13th and 14th regiments under McGowan….”

  Page 61: “Gen. Gregg’s death Dec. 14, 1862. McGowan succeeds to command.”

  Page 66: “Biography: Born Laurens district, S.C. 1820. Graduated 1841 South Carolina College, Law; in Mexican War, then settled as lawyer in Abbeville, S.C. Became a Brig. Gen. January 20, 1863, assists in taking Ft. Sumter April 1861; but lapsing commission as General in State Militia, he becomes Lt. Col. in the Confederate Army, takes part at Bull Run, Manassas Plains, under Gen. Bonham. Then elected Lt. Col. of 14th Regiment, S.C.; Spring 1862, made full Col. succeeding Col. Jones who was killed. McGowan is wounded in battle of Manassas.” Biographer Caldwell, who was McGowan’s aide as a lieutenant, says (in 1866) “he still lives.”

  Page 79: “April 29, 1863, McGowan’s Brigade gets orders to be ready to march. Gen. McGowan commands the brigade.”

  Page 80: “Wounded again (Fredericksburg).”

  Page 89: “Gen. Lee reviews troops including McGowan’s. Brigade now consists of 1st, 12th, 13th, 14th Regiments and Orr’s Rifles. Also known as ‘McGowan’s Sharpshooters.”‘

  Page 91: “McGowan takes part in battle of Chancellorsville.”

  Page 96: “Battle of Gettysburg: McGowan commands 13th, 12th, 14th, and 1st.”

  Page 110: “McGowan near Culpepper Courthouse.”

  Page 122: “Gen. McGowan returned to us in February (1864). He had not sufficiently recovered from the wound received at Chancellorsville to walk well, but remained with us and discharged all the duties of his office.”

  Page 125: About Butler: “Butler to lead column (against McGowan) from the Eastern coast.” Another Butler (Col.) commanded the Confederate 1st Regt. (Battle of Chickamauga)

  Page 126sq.: “Battle of Spottsylvania, May 1864.”

  Page 133: “Gen. Lee and Gen. Hill were there (defeat).”

  Page 142: “McGowan wounded by a ‘minie ball,’ in the right arm, quits field.”

  But to continue with our sittings, and with McGowan’s personal recollections—

  Sitting of September 8th, 1953

  McGowan: (speaking again of his death) It was in the forties…they killed me on the top floor. They dragged me up, that ‘man of color’ named Walter. He was a giant of a man. She was a virtuous woman, I tell you she was. But they would not believe it.

  I wanted to get his reaction to a name I had found in the records, so I asked, “Have you ever met a McWilliams?”

  McGowan: You have the knowledge of the devil with you. Her family name.

  Question: Did you stay in New York until your passing?

  McGowan: 1869, 1873. Back and forth. I have written to Lee, Jackson, James, and Beaufort. 1862–63, March.

  Question: What did you do at the end of the war?

  McGowan: Back and forth, always on the go. Property was gone, ruined. Plantations burned. I did not work. I could not. Three or four bad years. I quit. My wits, my wits. My uncle. The house was burned in Charleston. Sometimes Columbia. (Then, of Mignon, his wife, he says) She died in 1892…Francois Guychone…he was so good to little boys, he made excursions in the Bay of Charleston—we sailed in boats. He was my uncle.

  Sitting of September 15th, 1953

  I asked, what did he look like in his prime.

  McGowan: I wasn’t too bad to look at, very good brow, face to the long, and at one time I indulged in the whiskers…not so long, for the chin…colonial…I liked to see my chin a good deal, sometimes I cover (indicates mustache)….

  Question: What can you tell us about the cemetery in Abbeville?

  McGowan: There is a monument, the family cemetery… nobody cared…my father was born the fifth of January…. (What was on your tombstone?) Samuel Edward McGowan, born…32?…died 1883? 1873? 1-8-7 hard to read, so dirty…age 40…41…gray-brown stars…battered…. I go between the bushes, I look at the monument it’s defaced….

  Question: What news did your family give out of your death?

  McGowan: Foul play. (What happened to the body?) Cremated I guess, I think in this city. The remains were destroyed: not in the grave, a monument to a memory…. (What did they tell the public?) Lost forever…I could have been at sea…house was destroyed by fire…. (Do you mean there is no official record of your death?) No. Not identical to passing, they never told the ex
act month or day…I see…1879…very blurred…September 4th….

  Question: Were you ever injured in an argument?

  McGowan: I spent much time on my back because of a wound…on my head. (An argument?) Yes. (With whom?) A man. Hand to hand. Rapier…. Glen, Glen…Ardmore.

  Sitting of September 22nd, 1953

  “Mother” Marie Guychone spoke briefly in French and was followed by McGowan. He said he was at one time “an associate Justice” in the city of Columbia.

  Here again do I wish to report some more research information bearing on this part of the investigation. Evans, in his Confederate Military History, 1899* has a picture of the General which became available to us after the September 22nd sitting. His biography, on page 414, mentions the fact that “he was associate Justice of the (State) Supreme Court.” Curiously, this author also states that McGowan died in “December 1893.” Careful scrutiny of two major New York dailies then existing (Post and Times) brought to light that the author of the Confederate Military History made a mistake, albeit an understandable one. A certain Ned McGowan, described as a “notorious character, aged 80” had died in San Francisco on December 9, 1893. This man was also a Confederate hero. (The New York Times, XII/9). However, the same source (The New York Times, August 13, 1897) reports General McGowan’s death as having occurred on the 9th of August, 1897. The obituary contains the facts already noted in the biography quoted earlier, plus one interesting additional detail, that McGowan received a cut across the scalp in a duel.

  Another good source, The Dictionary of American Biography, says of our subject: “McGowan, Samuel. Son of William and Jeannie McGowan, law partner of William H. Parker. Died August 9, 1897 in Abbeville. Buried in Long Cane Cemetery in Abbeville. Born Oct. 9, 1819 in Crosshill section of Laurens district, S. C. Mother’s name was McWilliams. Law partner of Perrin in Abbeville. Representative in State House of South Carolina. Elected to Congress, but not seated.”

  A Colonel at Gettysburg, by Varina Brown, about her late husband Colonel Brown, contains the following: “In the battle of Jericho Mills, ‘Griffin’s Division’ of Federals wrought havoc against McGowan’s Brigade.”