B. Matthews Eatery- Is it haunted?

The building at 325 East Bay Street where B. Matthew’s Eatery is located has the prestige of being one of the oldest buildings in Georgia. (1790) Resourceful Savannahians put the building together using old cobblestones and wood from a sailing ship. That alone should make it a good place for a forlorn sailor ghost, but there’s more to this building to stir up some restless spirits.

In the basement, there’s a bricked up entrance to a tunnel leading to the Savannah River and some suspicious huge iron rings in the walls. It’s a sure sign that slaves were the merchandise being kept and sold. And therefore it wouldn’t be unexpected to have some restless angry spirits lurking in the basement.

In the 1920’s, when alcohol was against the law, it housed a “Speakeasy” where drinks and good times flowed freely. After Prohibition the bartenders sold booze out a window for easy sidewalk-service. It would only be typical of Savannah to find a ghostly customer tapping on the window for a to-go cup.

During the 1950’s, when black and white patrons were segregated, the tavern had a black side and a white side. The bar in the center served both sides, but rumor has it that this led to a murder. The black bartender started dating the white bartender’s daughter. The daughter’s mom got upset and shot the black bartender dead, which can only mean there might be a disgruntled ghost employee serving up drinks to unwary living customers.

Is there evidence of hauntings at B. Matthew Eatery? Do misplaced objects, flying salt and pepper shakers, cabinets swinging open, sharp knives stuck in the floor and two dark shadow spirits in the basement make you a believer? Or does it just make you a patron enjoying fine dining in one of Savannah’s most excellent restaurants?

Go find out for yourself and see what’s on the menu.

Books By JK Bovi
www.wickedhaints.com

The Lucas Theatre

The Lucas Theatre, on the corner of Abercorn and Congress Street, in Savannah was built in 1921. It has a definite Italian Renaissance atmosphere which ghosts must especially love to haunt.

Back in the day, the theatre showed the newest silent movies, featured first-rate vaudeville acts and, best of all in 1927 it was air conditioned (which is a much needed commodity on a hot Georgia night).

In 1928, according to local legends, a group of gangsters did a drive-by shooting with Tommy Guns and blasted the outside with bullets.  The ticket taker was shot in the back during the shooting.  According to local legends, he dramatically stumbled out the ticket booth, staggered into the lobby, fell to the floor and vanished.

His ghost, trapped in residual energy, repeats this event from time to time. But there is no record of a drive by shooting, which makes you think it’s make-believe theatrics instead.

The theatre closed in 1976 and became a Savannah eyesore until it was saved and renovated. Naturally during the construction there were reports of paranormal activity; unexplained mechanical malfunctions, light from an empty projection booth, shadow people, and applause being heard in an empty theatre with no audience.

The Lucas theatre opened again in 2000. Today people can view classic films, enjoy operas, orchestras, and cabarets.  It’s the center for cultural events like The Savannah Film Festival.

And hopefully The Lucas Theatre won’t become the real scene for a modern day drive by rampage by Gangsta Ghosts!

Books By JK Bovi
www.wickedhaints.com

The Tybee Bomb

On February 5, 1958 the USAF lost a 7,600 pound Mark 15 nuclear bomb in Wassaw Sound off the Georgia Coast.

How could this happen you ask?

Apparently during a practice exercise, a fighter plane from Hunter Airfield collided with the B-47 bomber carrying the bomb. To protect the aircrew from a possible detonation, the bomb was jettisoned.

Some say the bomb was a functional nuclear weapon, and others say it was disabled, but some folks “in the know” ain’t saying much at all.

The military immediately went looking for it and, after a few months of searching, decided the bomb was sunk 15 feet down in mucky-muck somewhere out-that-a-way. They said, although it wasn’t armed and posed no threat, it was best not to disturb it.

It has never been officially confirmed to be a ticking-time nuclear bomb, but after all, a bomb is a bomb and there’s a very small chance that it might mysteriously one day unexpectedly blow up and nuke Tybee Island, Little Tybee, Wassaw Island and give all the rich Yankees on Skidaway Island radiation burns.

To locals, the missing nuke is referred to as The Tybee Bomb. And practically every low country fisherman will say they know exactly where the bomb is, but after sixty years nobody’s dared disturb it because…

Everybody knows it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie, and it’s probably a good idea to let a nuclear bomb lie undisturbed in Wassaw Sound out-that-a-way somewhere.

Books By JK Bovi
www.wickedhaints.com

The Haunted Poet – Conrad Aiken

Some hauntings don’t necessarily take place in a house, a graveyard, a brewery or a hotel room. Sometimes a haunting occurs within. Such was the unfortunate case of Savannah born poet, Conrad Aiken.

His father and mother moved to Savannah from “up north” and settled into a nice brick home. Dr. Aiken was a brain surgeon and his wife a popular socialite. But the Aiken house was not a happy home. Conrad’s parents fought a lot and as time went on Conrad’s father turned dark and volatile.

One night, as the eleven-year-old Conrad lay in his bed he heard his parents arguing. He heard his father count to three, followed by one gunshot, and then another. Conrad ran to his parent’s room to find them both dead. His father had killed his mother, then shot himself in the head.

Little Conrad was sent “up north” to live with family. He graduated from Harvard and eventually became an American Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, short-story writer, novelist, and a critic. But the tragedy of his youth would haunt him and his writings forever. He was fearful he’d be afflicted by the insanity that his father had succumbed to. His poems were sometimes dismal and hauntingly sorrowful.

In his later years, Conrad moved back to Savannah, and morbidly odd as it may be, he bought and lived in the house next door to the family home. He spent many days in Bonaventure Cemetery by his parent’s graves.

One day he saw a ship named Cosmos Mariner pass by. When he inquired about where the ship was going he was told “destination unknown”. He decided that would be the perfect epitaph for his own grave. Being a true Savannahian, he selected his grave stone made in to a seating bench to invite visitors to sit down and share a drink with him.

I have in fact visited Conrad Aiken’s grave in Bonaventure Cemetery. I sat upon the bench and raised a glass of wine to toast The Haunted Poet to bid him a peaceful journey home.

Because we are all Cosmos Mariners sailing among the stars to unknown destinies.

Books By JK Bovi
www.wickedhaints.com

Deathbed Confession

If you were to give a deathbed confession what would it be? What would you want your loved ones to know before you died and went off into the great beyond? I doubt you would tell them about the person you kilt-and-buried-for-dead in the wall of your house. Well, that’s what Honoria Foley did on her deathbed… she fessed up about murdering of one of her guests.

The Foley House Inn on Chippewa Square in Savannah Georgia was owned and operated by Honoria Foley. As the story goes she had an unwanted suitor who would not leave her alone and, much to her displeasure went so far as to book a room in her Inn. He proceeded to make inappropriate advances and snuck into her bedroom one night for a visit. She fought him off and eventually beat him in the head with a candlestick which resulted in his untimely, but seemingly necessary death.

Much to her dismay, Honoria found herself with a body to dispose of and she did what every proper southern lady would do; she called in a few “favors”.  The next day a brick mason friend came over to seal up the dead man good and tight in a wall. The murderous secret was kept a hidden until 1989 when workers, doing a bit of reconstruction, were surprised to find a skeleton in a wall at The Foley House Inn.

Hononia had no explanation for how a dead person could’ve ended up in her wall. She said she knew nothing about it and was just as surprised as everyone else. And as for who the gentleman was, she had no idea about that either.

People dismissed the matter as being just another Savannah unsolved mystery and they saw no reason to purse the matter further. It was not until Honoria died that she confessed to killing Mister Guest in the bedroom with the candlestick.

And today they say Mister Guest, having been disturbed from his resting place in the wall, haunts The Foley House Inn.  There are no records of who this ghostly guest is (Honoria left that bit of information out of her deathbed confession). The owners affectionately named him Wally. His ghostly shadow is a harmless presence and he doesn’t seem to have any ill feelings towards Hononia for killing him. Perhaps it’s because she made a sincere confession on her deathbed, or perhaps it’s because none of this is true and somebody just said that Hononia confessed, although that somebody didn’t hear it all personal from the source, but heard it from somebody who knew somebody who heard it from somebody who told them that’s just the way it happened.

A deathbed confession. True or false? Ask the dead.

Books By JK Bovi
www.wickedhaints.com

Aargh! Ghosts In The Pirate House

The building for The Pirates’ House Restaurant in Savannah Georgia is over 250 years old. And so, it only stands to reason that a place being that old, and also being in Savannah, can mean only one thing…. it’s haunted!

During the golden olden days, when Pirates sailed off the Georgia coast, it’s understandable they’d drop in to the old tavern on the bluff for a tankard of rum. (Savannah has always been a hospitable friendly party town.) Rumor has it that not only did pirates come to town, but upon occasion they’d Shanghai a few drunken sailors into a secret tunnel under the tavern and make them join their pirate team.

With so many pirates coming and going it’s possible some notorious evil-doers died here and never left or they just decided to return to haunt the old tavern.

They say shadow ghost pirates can been seen lurking in the corners, and the thump-thump-thump of a peg-leg sailor can be heard stumbling across the wood floorboards. Photos taken outside of the inside capture the flash a golden pirate toothy grin. While dining people sometimes get the sensation of being watched… by a ghostly one-eyed pirate with a black eye patch perhaps?

It’s believed Captain Flint, from the book Treasure Island, died in The Pirates’ House and he haunts the place, which would be appropriate considering he’s a fictional character.

There’s no doubt there were deviant pirates pillaging off the Georgia coast and also believable they’d sail into Savannah for a good o’l Pirate-fest, but all I know is; I’ve dined at The Pirate House and although I did see a creepy skeleton bone display and a gift shop, I did not see, hear or sense any paranormal pirate activity.

But perhaps on that particular evening the ghost Pirates were sailing on the high seas, raising the black flag, slitting throats, walking gangplanks and collecting treasure. Or could it be the ghost pirates are just waiting offshore for favorable winds so they can return to The Pirates’ House and order the shrimp gumbo?

The Pirates’ House is a location in my book Zombies Y’all! There’s lots of excitement happening in the underground Shanghai tunnels when they’re filled with hungry zombies!

Books By JK Bovi
www.wickedhaints.com

 

The Eliza Thompson House

The first house on Jones Street in Savannah was built in 1847 by the wealthy cotton merchant, Joseph Thompson and his wife Eliza. Joseph died soon after the 13 room mansion and 12 room carriage house was built. Eliza was left with a big house and seven kids, which would seem like a Nightmare on Jones Street.

But in true southern woman style Eliza took care of the estate, raised her family and even threw a grand o’l Savannah party or two.

Eliza Thompson died and her family eventually sold the house. It was occupied by other families and even a few businesses. Now it is the elegant haunted B&B Eliza Thompson House.

Who haunts this place? A soldier, a lady, a kid and a cat.

Eliza’s son, James Thompson fought in the American civil war. He survived the war to come home, but had the misfortune to be standing in front of the house when he was kicked in the stomach by a horse. He died of course.

It is believed James Thompson is the ghost who haunts room 132. He’s often seen dressed in his confederate officer uniform. And odd as it may be, only the top half of his ghostly shape can be seen seated on the couch or at the window overlooking the courtyard.

There is also a spirit woman dressed in white who wanders around the house. White apparently is the preferred dress color for spirit women to wear for haunting because most of them appear in white.

Visitors say they’ve felt the presence of a giggling ghost child who stands at the foot of beds. There is no explanation for that, but kids do the strangest things.

And there are reports of a ghost cat because, if The Davenport House has a ghost cat, then Eliza Thompson can’t be outdone and her house needs a ghost cat too.

The Eliza Thompson House was featured in The South Magazine’s Savannah Paranormal Investigation and got a 4.5 out of 5 on the Fright-o-meter.

Oh nooooooo! The ghosts have been certified! Beware if you spend the night there, or you might experience a Nightmare on Jones Street!

Books By JK Bovi
www.wickedhaints.com

The Kehoe House

The Kehoe House on Columbia Square in Savannah Georgia is a huge, four story, 1892 Victorian Renaissance Revival mansion. It’s most distinctive and unique feature is the “exclusive” use of cast iron for the exterior trim. And the other unique feature is the legend that it’s haunted by Kehoe’s twin boys that got stuck in a chimney and died.

A visit to the Kehoe House will show that all the chimneys are sealed up and little statue angels watch guard over the fireplaces just so nobody else gets sucked up into ghost smoke.

How could this have happened? Or a better question would be… Did it happen ?

Here’s a bit of history:

William Kehoe came from Ireland and grew up poor but apprenticed as an iron molder. He worked his way up the ladder of success until he owned his own Iron Foundry; Kehoe Iron Works.

He married the love of his life, Annie. He built a big house on Columbia Square and they settled into a happy family life. They had ten children, but two of their children; Anna Louise Kehoe (4 years) and Mary Elizabeth Kehoe (almost 2 years old) died from the childhood disease roseola, within days of each other. They were buried in Bonaventure and not stuffed up a chimney, but some believe the spirits of the two girls (because they look similar with blonde hair and blue eyes) are misidentified as being the twins who haunt the house.

The little girls are playful friendly spirits and appear at the end of beds giggling, whispering to each other, and are heard running up and down the hallways.

But it’s not just Anna Louise and Mary Elizabeth who’s spirits remain in the house. It seems mom and dad are also regular apparitions.

William Kehoe’s presence is sometimes detected up in the study in the home’s room with a cupola. During the evening hours, an unexplained light is sometimes seen in this unused room. Mrs. Anne Kehoe is known as the Lady in White seen mostly on the second floor. She is spotted writing at a desk in room 203 or floating around in room 201.

The Kehoe family sold the home in 1930. After this it was used as a funeral home and the downstairs front parlors, and the second story bedrooms were turned into viewing rooms. The basement was converted into embalming, prep, and cold storage for the dead. They say, if the deceased were too long for the coffin, the staff would cut the lower limbs off and when the place was renovated in the 1990s, they found hundreds of sawed-off feet. Of course it’s not true, but it makes for a creepy diabolical Savannah story that everyone loves to hear and tell.

In 1980 The Kehoe House became a private residence for quarterback Joe Namath (who, God forbid, was going to turn it into a nightclub). He sold it and in 1990 it opened as a Bed and Breakfast.

The William Kehoe House was built for a large family, (apparently a ghost family) and now it provides 13 rooms for guests. It is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and on one of the top ten haunted hotels to visit before you get stuck in a chimney and die list.

Books By JK Bovi
www.wickedhaints.com

 

The Savannah Cotton Exchange

The original Savannah Cotton Exchange was built 1872, but the structure has been added too and renovated a few times so who knows who was doing what, when and why. The current two-story building is a combo construction of ballast stonework on the lower River Street level and brick on upper Bay Street level. In the olden days the ships unloaded the shipped merchandise from the river and moved it to Factor’s Walk where factors (buyers) made purchases at the exchange.

The Savannah Cotton Exchange was a symbol of importance of the cotton industry in Savannah and was originally called King Cotton’s Palace and by 1880 the area was known as the Wall Street of the South. In the 1920’s the boll weevil did some weevil-evil-cotton-eating devastation to the cotton industry and the old exchange closed.

Today the building serves the tourist industry with retail stores, antique shops and a tavern. The living people enjoy shopping, dining and drinking in the Cotton Exchange, but the dead folks also seem to like hanging around.

Renovations were done after a fire in the building and it sort of stirred up some ghostly trouble. Now people hear footsteps when no one is there and the sounds of crying babies. In the tavern there are reports of flying bread loaves, deadly ice-cream scoopers, unexplainable falling objects and the volume on the radio randomly changes.

A ghostly woman in a long white dress has been seen descending the staircase and another ghost is thought to be Oompah, an old clockmaker who liked to visit the tavern for his morning coffee. The strong smell of coffee sometimes fills the tavern before anyone has turned on the pot.

On Bay Street the impressive old Savannah Cotton Exchange has a beautiful red terra cotta winged lion fountain in front surrounded by a fence with medallions of poets and presidents.

The original terra cotta lion, which dated to 1890, was shattered by a car that sped north on Drayton Street, jumped the curb at Bay Street, knocked down a section of wrought-iron fencing, obliterated the winged lion, snapped a lamppost in half, soared over a pedestrian walkway and came to a grinding halt at the front steps of the Savannah Cotton Exchange.

The most amazing part of the accident was that the driver was a native Savannahian, not a tourist and nobody died, which was fortunate otherwise there might be more ghosts haunting the old Savannah Cotton Exchange.

 

Books By JK Bovi
www.wickedhaints.com

The General’s Daughter

Located in Savannah Georgia at 432 Abercorn on the east side of Calhoun Square is a big o’l creepy southern mansion rumored to be inhabited by multiple ghosts.

Reports include ghostly figures, strange sounds, children’s laughter and sightings of a little girl in a white dress tied to a chair looking out the window. Other restless spirits include a trio of sisters from Florida who were reportedly murdered in 1959 while visiting with their family.

The house was built in 1868 for Civil War veteran General Wilson. His wife died of yellow fever and he raised his two daughters alone. One was a good child and the other was not so good. The bad daughter wanted to play with the poor kids at Massey School across the street. As the legend goes, General Wilson did not like his daughter associating with the “lower class”. For punishment he tied his daughter to a chair and she sat for days facing the window, watching the children play, but not permitted to join them. After a couple days baking like a hot sweet potato in the blistering Georgia sun with no water, she died from dehydration. Her father, upset with his bad parenting supposedly killed himself in the house.

Apparently, as a ghost child, she’s still sitting there waiting for revenge, freedom or perhaps a glass of water. And Dad is wandering around feeling sorry about the whole extreme punishment torture thing.

Unfortunately that’s not quite what happened because records indicate that General Wilson died in Colorado in 1896. Both daughters, the good and the bad, grew into adulthood, got married, moved away and lived happily ever after.

As to the supposed triple homicide of Florida tourists, in the late fifties or early sixties, there’s no solid information on that either.

But typical of Savannah (the city built upon its dead) the house at 432 Abercorn is built on top of not one, but two overlapping cemeteries. So, perhaps there are restless spirits in the creepy big o’l southern mansion on Calhoun Square looking for the stairway to heaven.

 

Books By JK Bovi
www.wickedhaints.com