The "ghost" of Arabella Hampton, a well-known spy of the Revolutionary War, played hostess Friday evening, October 14, 2011, to a carriage full of people eager to hear her stories of long ago lives in Beaufort, South Carolina, USA.
Arabella Hampton, a historic figure who was denied the opportunity of becoming a soldier as the men were allowed to do, would go to balls, dance with Tory officers, then report what she learned to the Federalists. Unfortunately, she was thrown from her horse and killed on just her fourth spying expedition.
However, in 2011, she announced that she is allowed out each year especially to lead tours through an area she knew well when alive. This is the 19th year for the ghost tours.
Very solemnly, she counted heads and announced her hope of having the same number when the carriage returned to Waterfront Park as when it departed for the tour. She told the people in her carriage that the smell of sulfur will drive away spirits, and handed matches to each person on the back row (which included the only two children on the carriage) and a match for each person on the corner. During the ride through The Point and other historic areas of downtown Beaufort, only one match had to be struck, and all 14 passengers arrived back to the starting point in Waterfront Park.
Gilbert "Gilby" was the knowledgeable horse who navigated his way through the shadowy, moss-hung streets, and Bonnie was the intrepid driver who successfully returned her entire list of passengers safely. At one point, Arabella did have to negotiate strongly, "They're mine! They're mine!" in order to keep her people safe.
Exchange Club's Carriage Tour: Ghost Stories
The route through the narrow streets, beneath waving Spanish moss, produced numerous present-day people, dressed for fright, who told well-known stories of hauntings or who accosted the carriage just for effect.
One of the saddest ghosts was a little boy, permanently trapped on a porch. He's scared and asking if the Indians are coming, but he can not run and hide for he is forever inhabiting a side veranda and lives in horror of attack.
The Belle of Beaufort is a humorous ghost who parades around a large-appearing, stately house declaring that she was deceived into marriage with a Mr. Rhett, who pretended to build her a glorious mansion, and offered the house with two floors of upper and lower verandas as proof. After her marriage she learned of his deception, for the splendid-looking home that appears large from the outside really has only four rooms. She considers that she was imprisoned there for her lifetime, but her treacherous husband is trapped there for an eternity, so his grand design backfired.
Along the way, the carriage passes a garden party in which young women dressed in jewel-toned ballgowns are dancing with invisible partners to inaudible music.
The owners of homes along the shore of the Broad River have been known to awaken and discover the yards have been dug up during the night. The story is that the area was visited regularly by pirates, who hid their treasure, then returned at night to dig it up (not always remembering precisely where the gold and silver were buried).
One of the eeriest portions of the tour takes the carriage beneath "The Hanging Tree," a spreading live oak with massive branches low to the ground. As the name implies, many people have drawn their last breath there and served as examples to others.
On Friday night's excursion, the camera captured dancing orbs (perhaps some long ago victims of the Hanging Tree).
Exchange Club's Carriage Tour: A Man's Paranormal Experience
The carriage stopped in front of a large, empty home with a "For Sale" sign. Known as "The Castle," the building is said to be haunted by a dwarf who appears fairly regularly.
Just as the carriage left Waterfront Park, Arabella told a story of a person allowed to spend the night in a mansion just across Bay Street from the park. It was intended to be an honor for the man, but turned into a horror instead.
He was awakened by a glorious piano sonata being played in the music room. Knowing that he was supposed to be alone in the house, he went to investigate. There was no one in the music room, nor anywhere else in the house. He went back to sleep, only to again be awakened and the same procedure followed. This time, determined to outsmart whoever was teasing him, the man hid close by and allowed time to pass.
Suddenly, the sonata began and he jumped out to confront the person pestering him. To his astonishment, there was no sign of a human being. However, the piano keys were being depressed as though "someone" were playing the instrument.
He finished the night in a hotel.
Exchange Club Tour Information
The Exchange Club's tours began October 14 and will continue on October 15, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29 and 30.The tours cost $20 per adult, and $10 for children 3-11 years old.
The carriage tours leave Waterfront Park, 1006 Bay Street, Beaufort, South Carolina, every 20 minutes from dusk or sundown at 6:30 p.m. and continue to leave until 8 p.m.
There are also walking tours that cost $12 per person for all ages. They begin at 6:50 p.m. and leave every 20 minutes from Cannon Park, across the street from 611 Bay Street. Tours are about one hour.
Reservations can be made by calling (843) 524-4678.
Velma Southerland - Velma Southerland has been employed in the lifestyles section of an award-winning East Tennessee community newspaper for more than 20 ...
