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Haunted Eastern Shore: Ghostly Tales
Tales From Down Below - Lower
Dorchester County, MD
In 1970–72, folklore
students from Salisbury University
went into lower Dorchester County
(referred to by the locals as "down
below") and interviewed some of its
residents. The students asked about
legends, tales, ghost stories,
traditions and rural living
practices. These interviews have
been preserved and are now housed in
the Nabb Research Center on the
Salisbury campus. I extracted
several narratives that dealt
specifically with ghosts or
hauntings in the region. They are
retyped here just as the informant
dictated, with a little editing to
make them readable. These short
accounts of ghostly experiences felt
by lower Dorchester folks weave an
interesting cosmic tapestry that
offers a glimpse of the private
communities "down below."
From Gloria McWilliams (age
twenty-four) of Fishing Creek,
September 18, 1971. Gloria lived on
Hooper Island most of her life:
"Our milkman, Ham Phillips, said
that one morning while he was making
deliveries, he saw a woman dressed
in all white by the Blackwater
Bridge. He approached the woman and
asked her if she wanted a ride; she
did not answer so he left. As he
pulled away he noticed the woman was
running alongside of his truck. He
kept on going and the woman was
still running beside him. She
followed him to the bridge at Great
Marsh (approximately 8 miles). When
she got to the Great Marsh Bridge,
she jumped over. Mr. Phillips kept
on going and the lady was never seen
again. Even today at Hooper Island
the story is still being told.
People say that this happened about
seven years ago."
From Lilly Todd of Cambridge (born
in Golden Hill), November 1971:
"A long time ago, a distant relative
of mine was bitten by a rabid dog
and had later developed rabies. At
this time there were no hospitals or
medications, so this relative of
mine had to be cared for at home.
They kept him in a locked room and
fed him through a hole in the door.
His condition got so bad that at
times he would be found gnawing
flesh out of his own body. Not long
afterwards he died and was buried in
Golden Hill Cemetery. To this day at
times his jawbone still comes to the
surface of the grave. This might
sound a little far-fetched but I’ve
seen this myself. My husband told me
another story about Slaughter Creek
Bridge at Golden Hill. On foggy
nights a woman of some sort is
suppose to come out of the water and
call to travelers to follow her.
After she calls to these people, she
goes back over the bridge and
vanishes in the water."
From William Gootee Jr. (age
twenty-five) of Golden Hill,
November 10, 1972:
"I know of a haunted house that you
wouldn’t believe. It is located at
the foot of Great Marsh Bridge, near
Hooper Island. The house used to
belong to the Spicers. I’ve been
inside the old place and that is the
weirdest place! You can be just
standing in the hallway and all of a
sudden this howling and whistling
and clanging starts. It’s almost
impossible to trace the location of
this as it seems to be coming from
every direction. Needless to tell,
not too many people care to look for
the source either.
"It’s been said that if your car
breaks down in the vicinity of the
Catholic Church (about 6 miles from
Gootee’s Marina going towards Hooper
Island) that while you’re fixing
your car, for instance changing a
tire; you can feel something like a
lady’s breath on your neck.
"Some have actually seen a figure
like a woman’s form, but whatever it
was, there have been some awfully
strange tales from this area. This
form or whatever will not disappear
until you have gotten the car fixed.
Whatever it is, if my car ever
breaks down there, I’m going to just
leave it there, take the keys and
run!"
From Diana McClain (age twenty-two)
of Cambridge, October 18, 1971:
"At Bishop’s Head it is said that an
old woman used to rock and sing to
her children before she sent them to
bed at night. Bob would walk by her
house sometimes when she was doing
this. Then the old woman died. One
day, Jimmy Bramble walked by the
house and saw her ghost sitting on
the porch. The rocking chair was
rocking and he could hear hymns
being sung from inside the house. As
he walked by a nearby graveyard, he
saw a lantern moving so he hid in
order to see who was carrying the
lantern. When the lantern went past
him, he could see that no one was
holding it and he ran away."
Images: top
- house in Crapo, MD (M. Burgoyne).
bottom - house in Bishop's Head, MD
(M. Burgoyne)
..... more of these interviews and a
complete chapter on hauntings in
this region will be featured in "Haunted
Eastern Shore"
- written by
Mindie Burgoyne - published by
History Press.
OTHER HAUNTED STORIES ...
Hope House |
Hanging Tree |
Patty Cannon |
Capt. Leonard Tawes |
Tales From Down Below, Lower Dorchester
| Two Haunted
Tales from Somerset |
Crisfield Tales
Haunted Eastern Shore
Ghostly Tales from East of the
Chesapeake
by Mindie Burgoyne
ISBN: 1596297204
PRICE: $17.99
160 Pages
Published by History Press
Haunted America series
ON SALE NOW!!!
Order Your Copy Today
BECOME A FAN of Haunted Eastern Shore
Book Description:
They walk beside the
murky waters of the Chesapeake Bay,
linger among the fetid swamps and
roam the manor halls. These are the
tormented souls who refuse to leave
the sites of their demise. From
pitiless smugglers to reluctant
brides, the ghostly figures of the
Eastern Shore are at once terrifying
and tragic. Mindie Burgoyne takes
readers on a spine-tingling journey
as she recounts the grisly events at
the Cosden Murder Farm and the
infamous legend of Patty Cannon.
Tread the foggy lanes of Kent Manor
Inn and linger among Revolutionary
War dead to discover the
otherworldly occupants of Maryland's
most haunted shore.
Haunted sites
mentioned in the book include:
-
Cecil County -
Holly Hall, Old Bohemia,
Mitchell House
-
Kent County -
Cosden Murder Farm, White House
Farm, St. Paul's Cemetery &
Bridge, Kitty Knight House
-
Queen Anne's
County - Bloomingdale, Kent
Manor Inn
-
Caroline County
- The Tale of Wish Shepherd, The
Murder Sallie Dean, Athol - a
Child's Ghost in Henderson,
Willson's Chance
-
Talbot County -
The Lost City of Dover,
Whitemarsh Cemetery, The
Wilderness, Tunis Mills Hanging
Tree
-
Dorchester
County - Shoal Creek Manor,
Patty Cannon's Trail of Tears,
Suicide Bridge, Green Briar
Swamp & Big Lizz, Tales From
Down Below
-
Wicomico County
- The Ghost Light Road
-
Worcester County
- Cellar House, the Snow Hill
Inn
-
Somerset County
- Ananias Crockett's House,
Holland's Island, Vance Miles
House.
Tales include
narratives given to Salisbury
University Folklore students thirty
years ago, describing hauntings,
ghosts and legends of the Eastern
Shore.
Order Your Copy Today
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