FLORIDA CHARM
“THE GHOST OF BELLAMY BRIDGE” JACKSON CO. STORY BRINGS OCTOBER CHILLS! Written by: Dale Cox
The ghost always appears in the vicinity of Bellamy Bridge, a rusting steel-frame structure in Marianna—northwest of Tallahassee. Not far from it is the overgrown and neglected grave of a young woman who died more than 175 years ago. Her name in life was Elizabeth Jane Bellamy. She was the bride of Dr. Samuel C. Bellamy, and the story of their courtship could have been ripped from the pages of a romance novel. All their dreams and adventures collapsed in unspeakable tragedy. In fact, the misery that enveloped them was so intense that even today it reaches through nearly two centuries of time to touch the cultural fabric of Jackson County. The legend as commonly told revolves around a horrible wedding night accident. Married on the grounds of a magnificent mansion that he supposedly built for her in Marianna, Elizabeth and Samuel danced into the evening, surrounded by their friends and guests. It was an exciting, magical and exhausting affair. Worn down by the long day, the young bride excused herself to a suite on the second floor. With a blazing fireplace and flickering candelabra, Elizabeth drifted off into a deep and happy sleep in a comfortable chair.
Downstairs the reception continued in full swing until suddenly a piercing scream interrupted the music and revelry. All eyes turned to the elegant staircase as Elizabeth Jane Bellamy—engulfed in flame from head to foot—burst from the second floor and ran shrieking down the stairs. Screams of terror erupted from the guests as she escaped through the front doors of the mansion, flame and smoke and the smell of burning flesh trailing behind her. Samuel and other men rushed to help, but Elizabeth’s pain was so excruciating and her panic so complete that the young woman could not be saved. The shocked young husband descended into a haze of alcoholism and opium addiction. Overcome with depression, he took his own life while waiting for a ferry at Chattahoochee, Florida. The storytellers say that Elizabeth loved Samuel so deeply that the grave could not contain her when she sensed his passing into the afterlife. Rising from the damp earth of her sister’s Terre Bonne plantation, she started to roam the swamps around a nearby bridge in the hope that Samuel would cross it on his way back to her. He never came. To this day visitors to Bellamy Bridge claim to see strange white and blue lights or a mysterious shadowy figure. They say that they experience otherworldly chills and inexplicable feelings of dread and sorrow. It is a fascinating story, but is it true? As is the case with many such tales, we can say… in part!
A section of the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail, left, which follows an old roadway in use for years in Jackson County, Florida.
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PHOTOS BY RACHAEL CONRAD
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he story of the ghost of Bellamy Bridge is perhaps Florida’s best known spooky tale. Residents of Jackson County have long held that a restless and earthbound spirit haunts the deep swamps of the Chipola River.
