Charleston Ghost Stories: The Vigilant Guardian Church

This is my own true story.

The Vigilant Guardian Church

-or-

"Haint Misbehavin"

This is my own true story, a story that took place on a beautiful spring day two years ago. I helped a friend make it to day surgery at Mt Pleasant Hospital. For this West Ashley guy I felt half way to Georgetown. So me and my bud Jamie decided to venture out for a few hours and headed to McClellanville, a sleepy fishing village 30 miles north of Charleston. I hadn't been there in 20 years, so sightseeing was on the agenda. 

Not really knowing the town I first went through a section that was on the street grid but there were few houses. You could see that at one time there were more residences, probably lost to Hugo in 1989. Mostly just woods, coming around the corner was a noble Carpenters Gothic style church with cedar shingles situated prominently on a corner. 

I recall no signage. So beautiful, yet so lonely, we had to investigate. 

Stepping up on the porch I peeked in the abandoned sanctuary. It struck me that, quite a while back, this construction site was abandoned. Whoever left it never came back to retrieve tools and ladders and tarps. It was all very odd.

Leaving the porch we walked around to the large graveyard. The cement monuments with conch decorations clued me in the it was an African American graveyard. I had to muse, where are the descendants of these dead? Where have they gone?. We circled the church and as we were walking to the car on the road we sighted a rusty folding chair laying flat. Jamie, being the curious sort, pulled it back. I saw a brick cylinder with fast food trash. There might have been a valve down there. Jamie saw a sepulchre, brick compartments.* I told him to put the chair back so nobody would step in the hole.As he put it back and started to walk he said

"HEY! Something just grabbed my leg!"

Well, my input on that was if you knew Jamie like I do, you never know what he might say next.We got in the car and continued the grand tour. Maybe four minutes out he says to me

"Its gone, it let go. That thing in the graveyard."

He could see I wasn't getting it. He points down and says "Feel my leg!"

I will never forget that moment. Through the denim his thigh was plainly cold, an unnatural cold  that made me recoil. My first thought was "dead meat". 

So remember, dear reader , should you seek out the old cedar church in McClellanville, remember to tread lightly on that hallowed ground.A vigilant guardian that tolerates no disturbance,  the hain't will getcha!

* We had this discussion much later.

Charleston Old Walled City Tours offers Ghost Tours each evening at 8 PM. Go to www.walledcitytours.com for details

Charleston Walking Tours: Beat the Heat - A Guide to Charleston in the Summertime for Yankees and Scandinavians

Charleston Walking Tours have been my passion and my forte for many years. I am a member of that hardy breed that goes out all year long, so I know a few things about summer weather. Summertime weather in Charleston gets hot. It also gets humid. The combination can lead to dizziness and heat exhaustion. Every summer I am amazed to see Scandinavian visitors and the Dutch walking in full sunlight when the heat index is hitting 110. They LOVE it. Coming from a cold land, they relish the warmth. They spend their summers with the windows open.

But for most Americans in the southeast and west, air conditioning is a way of life. Yes, the South has finally won the War with a new weapon, air conditioning. So we are least prepared to spend time outside in the heat of the day. So as you tour our fair city, or attend that family reunion in July or that Gay Pride Celebration in August, here are a few tips to keep you on your feet.

Rule Number 1: HYDRATE HYDRATE HYDRATE. Drink plenty of water. Don’t be afraid to pour it over your head.

Rule Number 2: Dress For Success. Wear light colors in fabrics such as cotton, linen or seersucker. Wearing a T-shirt beneath will absorb sweat and form a cooling insulation.It also eliminates sweaty shirts and pit stains.

Rule Number 3:  Use Cooling Strategies. 

Freeze water and take it out in the morning and wrap it in a heavy handkerchief or a high  quality paper napkin. The cool condensation creates a refreshing brow wipe. It will also cool you down to wipe the cool napkin across the back of the neck.

Never rush in the heat. Plan accordingly.

Stay on the shady side of the street. Walk in  the direction of the breeze when it gets you there.

Rule number 4: Proper Planning Prevents Puny Performance. Charleston is the perfect city to see on foot. When the sun is baking the sidewalk, take a tour that has you finished up by 12:30. Charleston Old Walled City Tours offers 10 AM Walk 7 days a week.(Visit our website at http://www.walledcitytours.com/tours/charleston-walking-tours.html).This allows time for lunch before the real heat sets in between 2 and 5 o’clock. Mid afternoon is a great time to visit the cool and quiet of the Charleston Museum. It’s also a great time to get on the water and tour the harbor, Fort Sumter or even an eco tour! If we are lucky this year, and a tropical pattern sets in , the intense heat and humidity of the midafternoon gives way to a thunderstorm that drops the temperature and cleanses the air. Afternoons like these are perfect for walks before dinner. After dinner, walk south towards the Battery and see the grand mansions lit up along the way.  Check out the night vendors at the City Market.

Rule number 5: Protect your skin. Wear sunscreen. Wear a hat, not a baseball cap. They leave the nape of your neck exposed.

Charleston Old Walled City Tours offers public and private tours on foot or by car.

For information on things to see and do in Charleston go to 

//www.walledcitytours.com/things-to-see-and-do-in-Charleston.html

Charleston Walking Tours - National Park Service Centennial Celebrations

All across the nation, the National Park Service is celebrating its Centennial Year with special events at its parks nationwide. In Charleston, SC we have three National Park sites  including Fort Sumter National Monument, Fort Moultrie, and Charles Pinckney National Historic Site. 

 The Battle of Fort Sumter on April 12 1861 was the first battle of the War Between the States. Fort Moultrie was built for the War of 1812 but sits on the site of an earlier wooden fort. That fort, Fort Sullivan, was the primary defense for a city under attack by  the British on June 28,1776. Against apparently insurmountable odds, the  Patriots won the day. The Battle of Fort Sullivan was the first victory in the Revolutionary War against a British attack by land and sea. The Charles Pinckney Historic site is the country seat of Charles Pinckney. A signer of the US Constitution, 25 clauses in the Constitution are uniquely attributable to Pinckney, more than any other signer.

As a Centennial Celebration Event, authors have been invited to present and sign their books that have NPS or park related themes. Offered from the public auditorium at Fort Moultrie, this NPS Centennial event will connect with new audiences for the park and create Find Your Park experiences. On 23rd 2016, CL Bragg will present his book Crescent Moon Over Carolina. March 25th author Grahame Long will present Stolen Charleston: The Spoils of War. June 25th, Danny Bernstein will present the book Forests, Alligators, Battlefields: My Journey through the National Parks of the South. And finally on September 24th 2016, we will learn about the book For Brotherhood and Duty: The Civil War History of the West Point Class of 1862 by Brian McEnany.  This event is offered  in conjunction with the Fourth Saturday Musket firings in January, March, June and September. For details on National Park Service events in your neighborhood, go to findyourpark.com/find

Charleston Christmas Walking Tour -Celebrate the Season!

What was Christmas in Charleston like....

In 1860? Five days after South Carolina seceded from the Union?
In 1886? Four months after the Great Earthquake?
In 1929? Two months after the Black Friday Stock Market Crash?

Hear about these events while we tour the streets of Charleston made even more beautiful by Christmas decorations! Visit churches decked out for the Season!

City Christmas Tree at Marion Square

 2 PM DAILY (except Christmas)

Call for reservations 843 343 4851

Tours depart in front of the Liberty Center at 151 Meeting Street

Charleston Tours - Christmas in Charleston 1860

Christmas in Charleston is a special time of year! In a city where old traditions persist, it is a city of Holiday gatherings, festoons and greenery, old china and Grandma’s pound cake. Celebrations have evolved through the Years. Christmas trees were a novelty in the 1850s, and Christmas Pie (today we know it as “Mince Meat Pie” was on every table. I  am putting together a Special Christmas in Charleston Tour, so I want to make everyone aware of Christmas 1860 at the Edmondston Alston House.

 Tonight, the Edmondston Alston House is presenting a candle light reenactment of Christmas 1860. If you have never attended it is a powerful event. Assisted by the Washington Light Infantry in period garb, you’ll never forget it. For that reason, I have compiled a picture of Christmas 1860 in Charleston as reported in the newspapers.

Keep in mind that only five days earlier, on December 20, 1860, the very document that removed South Carolina from the Union, the Ordinance of Secession, had been signed on Meeting Street. Society was in an upheaval. There had already been a shock in the financial markets., yet this did not stop the Christmas revelry as reported in the Charleston Courier

But Charlestonians, convinced that their cause was right and that the Federal  government would never challenge, joined their enthusiasm for Secession with their Yuletide festivities. Over at the South Carolina Institute Hall there has been a move to rename it Secession Hall. The Charleston Daily Courier announces a big event to celebrate the Holidays:

“at  Secession Hall, the George Christie Troupe (The Christie Minstrels?) would be present to dedicate it, under  that name, with a new and original “Secession Polka”, composed by one of them, and dedicated to the “Palmetto Minute Men of Charleston”. The hall is rich and promising in other good things, and the past triumphs of the Troupe leave no doubt of the success of this Christmas Eve entertainment”. Charleston Daily Courier 12/22/1860

For many, Christmas was like any year. Reverend Porter went about feeding and gifting poor children as was his vocation, the holy man that he was. The German Church sponsored a Christmas Tree Display. The New England Society attended their Annual Forefathers Day Feast, which celebrated the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. The Charleston Mercury announced:

  “The 42^nd Anniversary of the New England Society was celebrated on Saturday evening at the Mills House. The banquet spread was in the usual excellent style of MSSRS Nickerson and Purcell, but it was noticed that attendance was not so large as in former years.” Charleston Mercury 12/12/1860

Since they were from New England, a part of the country that was late to adopt Christmas as a holiday, it is curious to see that they had a feast not unlike Thanksgiving so close to Christmas. Celebrated on December 22, the menu for 1859 showed 60 items on the buffet (!), including East River Oysters from Manhattan. It is sobering to note that the Banquet was cancelled the following year and instead, $1000 was donated to the Cause.

At home there was an assured sense of normalcy. The Mercury reports:

” Santa Claus  bore as heavy  a load of of choice gifts down the chimneys of our houses last night…..his assistants tottering under burdens of brown paper…full of noisy painted things., but the thought of the joy they would occasion at the spring of the Yule converted the shame  to an honor and made the burden light.   “

There was an apparent shame in carrying a huge bundle of gifts, (unless you were Santa , of course!) 

  

Christmas Day, with all those gifts to unwrap, was a joyous day for children. The sun rose on a dreary day, foggy and damp. But the spirits of the children were hardly dampened by the weather. For the young it was all about presents, firecrackers and deviltry. Reports the Mercury;

“Young Charleston was not so easily to be deprived of the privileges and enjoyment of the Festival…muddy youngsters escaped from the parental roof…to revel in the Christmas fun and Christmas fog. Within doors there was the usual frolic and enjoyment, and the fact that they were no longer people of the United States did not diminish a whit of the zest with which relished their turkeys and demolished their plum puddings and mince pies. We venture to predict that next Christmas they will eat them with even keener enjoyment.”Charleston Mercury 12/27/1860

The Mercury also gives a post-game assessment of Christmas 1860:

“It  was feared by many that the Christmas that dawned today would be comparatively dull and silent, that there would be few Christmas trees  the stockings almost empty and the Yule fire would burn with a weaker flame.  We rejoiced in the dispersion of all these ill apprehensions.

Apparently, Black Friday is nothing new, as indicated from the same article:

“So crowded were our favorite toy stores that it was difficulty that one was waited upon….some favorite marts were thronged to the doors .It was impossible to elbow a passage through the living ranks. Charleston Courier 12/27/1860”

Anxiety over Secession was overshadowed by a confident  belief that their Cause, Secession and Independence, was the right thing, and that their future was secured. No sons had been lost, no farms burned, no evacuations ordered. It was the last such Christmas.

Charleston Tours and That Crescent on the State Flag –What’s That All About?

When visitors tour Charleston, there is always an interest in our beautiful South Carolina state flag. On my Charleston walking tours, I always point out the flag and use it as a teaching tool.

Its Palmetto tree and crescent moon look like a designer logo welcoming visitors to beautiful sandy beaches and nights with dreamy Carolina moons. Visitors love learning that palmetto logs were purposely used to erect a harbor defense during the Revolutionary War. Dubbed Fort Sullivan, our Patriots won the day on June 28,1776 because the palmetto log walls absorbed the powerful onslaught of the British navy. The cannon balls were absorbed or deflected by the spongy wood which held through the battle. This gave the Patriots, under command of Major William Moultrie, the decisive edge needed  to repulse the enemy. This victory was the first decisive victory in the Revolutionary War of an American force over  a British land and sea force. At a time when the War was at a standstill in the north, victory at Charles Towne was huge. The battle standard that flew over the fort was a deep blue field with a crescent in the top left corner, and the word Liberty splayed boldly across the center.

The Moultrie Flag

For this reason , the palmetto tree emerged as the symbol of liberty in South Carolina.  In 1832 South Carolina first attempted to leave the Union, an event called the Nullification Crisis. Caroline Gilman, wife of the Unitarian minister and a noted author, wrote a friend in Philadelphia that Palmetto trees were being planted up and down the streets!  The state flag continues Moultrie’s theme of the blue background and the crescent, but replaced the “Liberty” with the Palmetto tree. Adopted in 1860, the flag has remained essentially the same over time

But the crescent is a constant. Chosen by William Moultrie for his battle standard, there is an old story that goes with it. The fanciful story goes that Moultrie was challenged to a duel as a young man, and the choice of weapons was swords. Prepared for battle, Moultrie wore a gorget plate that literally saved his neck when his opponent went to slice off his head. Forever his lucky charm, he placed the gorget on his flag.

A gorget is a metal plate  worn around the neck as a defensive armor piece. It is  designed to deflect sword blows to the neck and shoulder. Never manipulated by hand or used to attack an enemy, its purpose comes into play only when the enemy has bested you to the point of having an opening to take your head. One might think that William Moultrie would play down this scenario if such were the case. No, I modestly put forth that the crescent  has a different meaning.

After all, the crescent was adopted by no less than five South Carolina Patriot militia units in 1775 well before the Battle of Fort Moultrie and the Moultrie flag. Moultrie’s use of the crescent joined his unit with others that had previously chosen it as the Revolution ramped up.

What made the crescent so special to rally the troops? Some might claim that Moultrie was so popular and famous that his symbol carried over. But this symbol was adopted before Moultrie by other militias. Was Moultrie that famous by 1775? Colonial militias units often designed their flags with elements of English heraldry including shields, broad axes, bundled arrows and the mace. Armored helmets and eagles also figure prominently. They depict  offensive weapons or chivalric symbols of bravery and aggression. These were largely abandoned by Patriot militia and Continental Army units. Yet the crescent is unique to our flag and unique to our state.

Many assert that the crescent symbolizes a gorget. Webster defines the gorget as

1

:  a piece of armor protecting the throat

2

a :  an ornamental collar

b :  a part of a wimple covering the throat and shoulders

c :  a specially colored patch on the throat

Gorget as body armor

This illustration of a medieval gorget in no way resembles the crescent found on the state flag. It is a a piece of body armor worn by knights of old, appropriate for a jousting tournament. The crescent does resemble the necklace/ ornamental collar worn by George Washington as part of a formal dress uniform. Here we see George Washington  depicted wearing a gorget.

Washington in formal dress uniform after French and Indian War

So I ask the question, why was this crescent symbol chosen to rally the troops? Flags are designed to rally the troops to acts of bravery and patriotism. Spears and  arrows, of course, but a necklace???? Why the gorget?

I put forth the idea that the gorget as we know it is a symbol from English Heraldry. It is the symbol of the second sons. The probable explanation why we find George Washington sporting the gorget is that his grandfather, Lawrence Washington, was the first of his family to settle in Virginia. He was the second son of Lawrence Washington, an Anglican vicar.

In English Heraldry, the symbol of the Second Sons is the Crescent. Adopted at the time of the Crusades, the eldest son stayed home and oversaw his holdings while the Second Sons ventured to Palestine seeking glory and treasure. They brought back the Islamic Crescent as their proud symbol. A simple Google search for “English Heraldry second sons” immediately brings up the gorget as worn by George Washington .  http://www.rarebooks.nd.edu/digital/heraldry/cadency.html

Similarly, many early settlers to South Carolina were second and third sons. The Law of Primogenitor left entire estates to the eldest sons. Younger siblings might practice law, enter the military or engage in trade. For those who loved the land, their destiny would be planting. Huge fortunes were made in one generation off tobacco in Virginia and sugar cane in the West Indies. It was possible for a young adventurer with a passion for planting to establish himself in the New World as landed gentry with an estate sometimes equal or greater than that of his elder brother. Generous land grants attracted second sons to Carolina.

It is the same symbol used by South Carolina militias by 1775 and later adopted by Moultrie.  So we can put this argument to rest. South Carolina was settled by second sons who prospered, fought and died while  establishing their legacy in the rich lands of Carolina. Their symbol displays prominently on our flag along with the symbol of South Carolina Liberty, the Palmetto tree.

She’s a grand old flag!

Charleston Old Walled City Tours offers guided tours  daily and by appointment. Check out our webpage at www.walledcitytours.com or call us at 843 343 4851.

Charleston Ghost Tours -- A Spooky Tale Just in Time for Halloween!

Edward Teach aka Blackbeard

Charleston is a city of memory. Through its many years  the city has experienced a rich confluence of wars, pestilence and flood. This has created a rich tapestry of lore and legend. One such legend was  related to me by an old Charleston dowager named Adeline. My good friend Dan lived with Adeline in a grand old house facing White Point Gardens. One Indian Summer evening in late September 15 years or so back, Dan, Adeline and I were sitting on the upstairs porch watching the sun set over the Ashley River. The weather was perfect, and I asked Dan why they had the house shut up tight as a drum, that old place was designed to ventilate. But Dan ignored my question, but not Adeline, she pipes up: “Don’t you know boy, it gets eerie around here this time of the year. I don’t like it, we keep the windows shut.” I thought maybe she was talking about the kids that like to party on the seawall. But then, she started into a tale which takes us back to the earliest days of the colony,  Most often, these tales reflect an ethic of strength and courage in adversity. But there is one tale of a terrified populace fleeing for the hills, and that would be Adeline’s story of Blackbeard’s raid in the spring of 1718.
Blackbeard’s raid was his biggest take ever, seizing 11 ships coming and going. He himself had an Armada of seven ships with 400 men. Lurking beyond the bar, he seized a ship entering port which held important local officials, among them was Samuel Wragg, the comptroller for the colony, and his five year old son John. Pirates were a democratic sort in their dealings with each other, and so it was  that Blackbeard called his pirate comrades together to inform them that they had hostages. His question to them, “Look boys, we have hostages, more valuable than gold itself. What is it that we desire from the good people of Charles Towne?”

The pirates had already accumulated enough booty to make each wealthy for a lifetime. But there was one thing they desperately needed that they did not have: Medicine. They needed medicine to treat diseases they had picked up from young ladies in Jamaica. There was  an old saying: “One night with Venus, a lifetime with Mercury.”

Sending his first mate Ezra Hand and two rowers into the city to demand medicine, the rowers immediately disappeared into the taverns and the brothels. Hand presents his terms to Governor Johnson, who initially refuses to surrender anything to the pirates.

Blackbeard's " Jolly Roger"

A day passes and Blackbeard’s men do not return. Blackbeard assumes that his men have been captured and jailed by the Governor.  Flying his Jolly Roger, Blackbeard enters the harbor and sends a second demand to Johnson: "Return my men with the medicine and  I will leave the city unmolested, if not, I will loot the city and burn it to the ground!"

 The sight of pirate ships in the harbor terrorizes the townspeople and they flee for the woods. Panicked, the Governor orders a house to house search to find the drunken pirates. Pulled from a brothel, they and First Mate Hand are returned to Blackbeard with medicine in tow. This time , Blackbeard is true to his word and departs, leaving word that they were  sailing for point south.

But Governor Johnson has had his fill of pirates. He commissions Colonel William Rhett to take three swift ships to track Blackbeard and bring him back to Charles Towne for justice. But Blackbeard gets away. Instead Rhett returns with Stede Bonnet , the Gentleman Pirate, and his crew of 29 pirates  who were, after all, with Blackbeard at the siege of the city.

 In those days there was but one building in Charles Towne stout and strong enough to hold 29 pirates, and that building was the old Court of Guard , which stood at the foot of Broad Street where today we have the Old Exchange. The basement where the pirates were kept was not a nice place. Sitting directly on the waterfront, the basement took on water at the high tide. The pirates found themselves every day, twice a day, up to their knees in the filth and nasty to be found in the waters of an eighteenth century trading ports. Seven of them died from exposure and they, dear reader, were the lucky ones. You see, the other twenty two were condemned to death by hanging Judge Nicholas Trott. Their sentence was to hang by the neck until dead.  They were escorted to White Point, today the site of our lovely park, only to discover that twenty two gallows had been erected, one for each. They watched in horror as one by one their comrades were lead to the platform, the nooses were placed around their necks, the trap doors dropped, and they danced the hempen jig.

Stede Bonnet dances the Hempen Jig

After all twenty two pirates were thoroughly dead, the good people of Charles Towne had plans for the bodies. And that , my friends, is why I tell you that the first seven were the lucky ones. You see, in order tp preserve the bodies a while longer, they covered the bodies in boiling tar and pitch. They then placed the bodies in chain harnesses with arms and legs akimbo as a sign to any other pirates, and hoisted them high at the waterfront as sign to other pirates: This is what we do to your type, stay away from Charles Towne!

The bodies were left hanging for three weeks. In a sultry Lowcountry Indian Summer, as you might imagine, their fate was rancid stinking rot. And let’s not forget the contributions of the seagulls and the buzzards, swooping in on the bloated corpses, pecking at the putrid flesh through the cracks in the tar. (The eyeballs went first.) It wasn’t long before body parts began to falloff and on to the ground. As they fell, they were gathered daily and buried in the pluff mud at the low water mark. At the high tide, the graves were covered with sea water, and exposed again at the low tide. You see, in pirate tradition , to be buried at land was right and honorable. To be buried at sea was likewise right and honorable; but to be buried at neither land nor sea , where the tide rose and the tide fell, that was the guarantee of an afterlife in Davy Jones Locker – a dark, hellish netherworld.

And so they claim, that if you down to White Point Gardens, our lovely park, on an Indian Summer night, in late September, in the middle of the night:

That’s not the wind you hear whistling in the trees, but rather the curses, the screams of the pirates, condemned to their hellish netherworld.

Charleston Old Walled City Tours offers Ghost Tours for your family, school, or corporate group by appointment. Call 8433434851 for details or got to www.walledcitytours.com