Voices to Visions
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January 2012
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Voices to Visions Alice Mary Herden Founder of Dust and Shadows, a Paranormal Investigation and Research Group. Alice is also freelance photographer and sports photographer for Hernando Today. Her experiences with the Paranormal go back to where she resided with her family in Largo. Encounters with the paranormal have been from breathing to a full black mass apparition. For this magazine, I wanted to share as much information about the paranormal without all the adversity. I do hope our readers learn as much as we do with each month we put this magazine together.
Cheryl Smeed Workshop Articles Cheryl is a certified parapsychologist with over 30 years’ experience. She is clairvoyant and remembers communicating with spirit companions from a very young age. Cheryl brings to our group the ability to
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communicate with disembodied spirits, providing information and insight to our investigations. “If you keep your mind open, you will see far beyond your beliefs.”
Richard Senate Ghost Stories Richard has been investigating haunted places since the night I saw a ghost in July of 1978. I have 14 books about ghosts and I have worked as a consultant on TV shows since 1979. I also give tours and do radio shows about ghosts and haunted places. http://www.ghost-stalker.com/
Karen Bashak Article Writer Karen and I work together at the same retail establishment for over 5 years. She is talented, smart, beautiful and just a joy! I am so happy that she has time to write articles for our magazine.
Voices to Visions Issue Contents All material and information gathered within this magazine are researched and/or solely opinions stated by the writer. You choose your opinions and beliefs upon your own conclusion with each expressed view or article written. Jesselee Lang Concept Artist Jesselee Lang is a superb 3D fantasy-based artist that tells astounding stories through digital art. He lives in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where he provides design, artwork, and graphics to the web, print, and video game industries. He offers free images for download at his website, and you can find his art spray-painted on the sides of train cars. Jesselee enjoys creating powerful stories, projecting them into a single work of art for others to appreciate. His works put you in the middle of the action. http://www.darkgeometry.ca/
Tara Tomlin Article Writer Tara Tomlin is my sister and we are excited about her being a part of this magazine. Tara lives in Texas with her two sons, who are also paranormal enthusiasts and major Gears of War fan!
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Photography Artwork All photography and artwork within this magazine are property of the photographer and/or artist. Interviews Interviews are conducted via e-mail. If possible, some interviews are conducted in person and recorded. Our Sponsors Green-Fly Media LLC Merchandising Professionals LLC Action Sales and Merchandising INC Arrowwear USA Become a sponsor Sponsors donations help with the yearly payment of the website. We offer free advertising in our magazine and a link on our website. For more information about becoming a sponsor, please email us at: Editor@voicestovisions.com
Voices to Visions Special Thanks A special thanks to my husband, Donald Herden Jr. You have been the light of my life and I love you will all my soul. Thank you for being a huge supporter in all my goals. I could have never lived without you. Our Magazine is non-profit. You only pay for printing and shipping. Voices to Visions: a Dust and Shadows Magazine in association with Green-Fly Media LLC ©2012
IN THIS ISSUE • Editors Views Catching up • Interview David Cordingly James Caskey
Articles • Editor Views: Alice Mary Herden • Interviews: Alice Mary Herden • Encounters: Alice Mary Herden • Paranormal Folklore: Karen Bashak • 101-Dictionary: Alice Mary Herden • Paranormal Team: Alice Mary Herden • Workshop: Cheryl Smeed * Ghost Stories: Richard Senate • Dust and Shadows: Alice Mary Herden
• Encounters
This month’s Cover Concept by Alice Mary Herden Photo of Wade Sabourin Photography and Digital Artwork by Alice Mary Herden
Women and Piracy
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Spirits of the Sea • Richards Ghost Stories The Ghost Lanterns of San Buenaventura • 101-Dictionary Calling Ghost • Cheryl’s Articles
Voices to Visions Live * Love * Laugh The last seven months of 2011 took my family pretty much for a loop, medically that is. My little sister Tara had been diagnosed with breast cancer, my oldest brother had a stroke, and I myself suffered a TIA and mild cognitive impairment as well as another brother who suffered a TIA, five years ago. What does all this mean? For me, it might just be telling me to slow down, do not rush, and get healthier. So I quit smoking, took out the diet coke in my beverage selection. However, taking out my coffee and chocolate is totally out of the question. Right? I did learn that life is too short, and that you are the only one that can make your life what it is. I feel the most important aspect of anyone’s life is to be happy, live happy. Times may be tough, life may be hard, but when you laugh, there is a special vibration that spreads to other people. When you love there is so much warmth and when you live there are endless possibilities.
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I do understand how hard life is and can be. Regardless of time and past memories, we all can choose to live or not live. So choose to live, manage within your means, be around people that make you
happy, share moments, create memories, and live life daily. Take time to walk along the beach, roam in the park and see how many insects you can find, visit museums and learn about the world’s history, have teatime with the girls, have card night with the guys. Laugh at silly stuff, laugh at whimsy jokes, support each other, and boost each other. Leave this earth knowing that you have Lived, Loved, and Laughed. When was the last time you laid on the grass and just looked up at the sky? Just lay there and look at how the clouds move and make up stories of Gods
Voices to Visions and Goddess that lived beyond the clouds to your kids. Every day that passes with us living it and without a moment of love, a chance to laugh might change how every path works. I do want to thank everyone that has contributed to this magazine and passed the word out there, that we do exist. It was nice to see all the compliments about our magazine; it is nice to know that we are doing something interesting. I do apologize for the last issue, for any errors that were visible, I am sure, and you are able to understand. This magazine is composed and/or summarized from what I have experienced and/or researched. Stating that, I really work hard on getting all sides of the story. Some maybe agreeable and some may not.
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That is okay. Everyone has their choice in believing or accepting what they feel is right for them, especially if this deals with paranormal and so forth. So, as of now, I do hope you enjoy this magazine as much as I enjoy putting this all together, even though it takes longer for me to do so. Now go, play with your doggie, hang out with your friends, read a book, listen to music, live your life! ~alice
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Voices to Visions new characters like Sir Henry Morgan, so he says. However, during the “Golden Age,” words in writing would increase the knowledge of the public, when Captain Charles Johnson published a book called, A General History of the
Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates, in 1724. As the years sailed along and more tales were told, romanticism shadowed the life of a true pirate. People wanted to, just maybe end hearing about the havoc the pirates spread among
Since the movie “The Pirates of the Caribbean” came out, a lot of us took notice about the fantasy life of a pirate, the fictional ones, but for now, let us take a dip into the real characters of the sea. Staring back into the history pages of the “Golden Age of Piracy” dated back between 1690 and 1730, we come across the hey-day years of 1714 and 1724. The most noted pirate during that time would be Edward Teach, aka, Blackbeard. Just as men and even women climb aboard the ships
to live the life of the seas, authors had their pen to paper noting down all the adventures, battles and
the seas, and wanted more fantasy, adventure, and even romance. * The Cilicians: Cilicia was the most famous pirate haven of the Ancient World and formed one of the largest pirate bands in history, dating back to the second and first century BC. * Medieval Pirates: Yep, them there Vikings raiders caused so much destruction and havoc in the waters during the Dark-Ages in Europe, we are talking for a thousand years.
tales that were told, whether it was fact or lore, from
* Byzantine Pirates: These pirates maintained the
eye witnesses accounts to surviving patrons.
seas of the eastern Mediterranean for almost a
Authors like, Alexander Exquemelin, (1684)
millennium.
published a book in London, Buccaneers of America,
* The Barbarossa Brothers:
who actually took part in some buccaneer raids and
brother Hizir born in Greece during the 1470’s.
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Arju and younger
Voices to Visions During the 16th Century, they gained control of
joint raid with Drake on the Spanish Main died on
much of the Barbary Coast and went to war against
board his ship) and Sir Francis Drake (in 1596
the Spaniards. Arju was killed trying to break out of
caught a fever and died at sea) were among the
town, while his younger brother Hizir lived to
noted pirates during that time.
around 1547.
The first decades of the 17th Century, men with
* Murat Rais: Captured as a teenager by the Barbary
hatred of the Spanish took upon the name of
pirate named Kari Ali Rais in 1546. Rais gained
buccaneer. Sir Henry Morgan was considered the
reputation as an audacious corsair and by the 1570’s
most successful buccaneer that only lasted a decade.
he was regarded as one of the most successful
By the time he was forty, Morgan was knighted and
corsairs. Until his death in 1638, he was appointed
made lieutenant governor in England, but 1682 was
the “Captain of the Sea by the Sultan of Algiers in
removed from office and he died six years later.
1574, was killed during the Ottoman siege of the Albanian town of Vlore.
More buccaneers followed in history, for instance Jean “L’ Olonnais” who was noted to be the cruelest
There many other pirates that forth the history into
man of his time, who was a torturer who caused so
piracy during that time, some Muslims and some
much havoc in the Spanish Main. He would hack his
Christians. Some helped countries keep their trade
prisoners to pieces and lick the blood of his victims
waters safe, while others took what they could. Over
from
time, some men were promoted as Pirate Hunters.
cutlass, and
The pirate hunters, often recruited by the Navy,
that was not
sailed the seas to stop the piracy, murder and
the
destruction these notorious men created.
thing he did.
Then we go towards the Spanish time-line for over thirty years the Spanish New World became the target of the most devastating attacks, from French to English raiders. Known as the Elizabethan Sea Rovers, these English sea captains, concerned only with wealthy greed, plundered the Caribbean. Sir John Hawkins (a 63-year-old commander during a
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his
only
“L’ Olonnais death was an appropriate one; he was attacked by cannibalistic Indians, no more needs to be said.
Voices to Visions Residents worried about their state becoming a new haven for pirates, the Governor of Virginia took action and sailed to to Ocracoke in 1718, where there the the demise for Blackbeard. Maynard, a Royal Naval Lieutenant fought with Teach to the end. Maynard wounded Teach and then killed by a navel crewmember. Maynard collected the remainder of the any surviving pirates, along with the decapitated head of Blackbeard and return to Williamsburg. The seas filled with some much death and violence through all these centuries, each wave or current that Now we are heading into the Golden Age‌
rides over or underneath the sea might truly carry the souls of the men, women, and children that had
The Golden Age of Piracy lasted for forty years and
fallen victim to this line of survival, greed, or even
birth the most noted pirates in the world.
fate.
* Edward Teach: Blackbeard, Calico Jack Rackham, Bartholomew Roberts, and William Kidd. Blackbeard is more or less famed just by his appearance. He was tall and slender and had this sort of demonic appearance that went well with his long black beard tied with a black ribbon. In 1717 1718, Teach sailed the seas, capturing many ships, but after his return voyage to Ocraoke, lost his ship
Queen Anne’s Revenge on a sandbar. While in Bath Towne, North Carolina, Teach sold his ships, his cargo, and bought a house and while residing there, the Governor actually granted him a pardon.
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Voices to Visions Considering off the coasts, buried underneath the
very sad for all the men that were just were
sand, over years and years of storms and movement
deckhands, cooks and so-forth.
of the seas, they might be some answers to who still wonders the ocean depths. The fate of a Pirate was not a very pleasant ending. Some pirates here hung, covered in tar, displayed in a metal cage called the gibbet and left there to rot as a public reminder that being a pirate is not a right choice. Others fate would be that of being tied to a peg, now this was in London before the 1500s, on the banks, so when the tide rose they would slowly drown. Authorities did not believe that pirates had the right to be buried in cemeteries, but instead bury them along the beach in unmarked graves. It is said that those not buried in consecrated grounds, your soul will be doomed to wonder until Judgment Day. Rather makes you wonder, how many hundreds of souls are awaiting their Judgment Day. And that is
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By the late 1820’s the era of pirates ended, leaving the seas free from the mayhem these men and even women demised. Thanks to the ruthless and tactical determination of the British and United States Naval Fleet. Piracy was no longer. -----------------------------------------------------------------------* The history of Pirates by Angus Konstam * Pirates; Predators of the Seas by Angus Konstam * 1717 Real Pirates by Barry Clifford and Kenneth J. Kinkor
Voices to Visions Dead men tell no tales
They knew no mercy, and the only love they had was the love of and for the sea. Death among them was vital for a pirate. To be killed in battle was an honor, being captive by the opposite was not. “Ye shall die upon the sea of yer ship or die with honor by the chains that hold thy treasure.” However, not all pirates were tantalizing horrid. Some pirates were honorable men, which loved the sea and died in the sea. Their spirits are just as important to know as those well-known pirates are.
Lie upon the waters that wave the song of the pirates honor, blend with the current that guides the moon to your destiny. Rise and show your spirit, for all pirates live to breathe the sea. How many untold stories of ghostly tales from the sea been told? How many pirates that have died within the sea still are looking for their ship, looking for their treasures, looking for their captain? Now let us explore some tales of the sea, from Ghostly Pirates
phantom ships to pirates being seen on the shores off the coast of Florida to the New England banks.
Down in the depths of the deep seas, lies the souls of men who chose to live within the the depths of the seas. They were scavengers that killed for the wealth aboard those ships that sail amongst the wind. They were horrifying men that taunted the seas from coast to coast.
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First, we can start with a pirate called Stede Bonnet, a “Gentlemen Pirate.” According to historical events, Bonnet was hung off the little bank of Charleston, South Carolina. My husband and I stayed in a beautiful Bed and Breakfast just across the park where it was told that that is where Bonnet was
Voices to Visions hung in the gallows. The employee that checked us
are two named captions of the Flying Dutchman,
in gave us a history lesson about Bonnet’s life. Some
Hendrik Vanderdecken, Van der Decken, Ramhout
say that they see a shadowy figure walking the
van Dam, either or the Captain of the ship sailed
grounds of the park during the mist fog Charlotte
into a massive storm. The seas were ramped; swells
nights.
blasted the bow and ripped the sails. Terrified with sailing within these seas, the crew and passengers begged the captain to turn the ship around, but in no way this captain was going to bow to the seas without a fight and unfortunately, that fight was a losing battle for the Flying Dutchman. Many that sailed in path of the Flying Dutchman have seen the spectral ghost ship.
Black Bartelmy Off the cape of Nova Scotia within the Roaring Bulls, Bartelmy trusted mate called Ben the Hook, killed all of the Bartelmy’s crew. He did not feel like sharing the large fortune of treasure amongst his crewmembers. When Bartelmy and Ben the Hook
The Flying Dutchman Off the coast of Cape of Good Hope is the most noted nautical tale of ghost ships. The Flying Dutchman, the oldest inversions of this tale dates th
back into the 18 Century of how this ship met her finally demise. As we know, there are many tales passed on from storyteller to storyteller. The common tale is the captain of this ship, which there
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rowed to the shore and buried the treasure, Black killed Ben the Hook, right there on the spot and watched him die at his feet. Black soon realized he must get out or die. Therefore, he continued to walk along the shoreline, only to be caught in quicksand and never to be seen again, in physical form that is. * AmericanFolklore.net
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Voices to Visions
Interview
For most of my working life, I was a museum curator with a special interest in paintings and in maritime history. After working at Brighton Museum and the Museum of London, I got a job at the National Maritime Museum where I became Keeper of Pictures and then Head of Exhibitions. The most successful exhibition I organized was called "Pirates: Fact and Fiction" and this resulted in an American literary agent asking me to write a book about pirates. This was published by Random House in the USA and was entitled "Under the Black Flag.� This book (and the English version entitled "Life among the Pirates") sold extremely well and I left the museum to become a full time writer. My other books have included "Heroines and Harlots: women at sea in the great age of sail";
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"Cochrane the Dauntless" and my latest book "Spanish Gold: Captain Woodes Rogers and the Pirates of the Caribbean" This is about a tough sea captain who led a private ring expedition against Spanish ships in the Pacific, captured a treasure galleon, and rescued the marooned sailor Alexander Selkirk (the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe) from the island of Juan Fernandez. On his return to London, Captain Woodes Rogers was appointed Governor of the Bahamas and was sent out to the West Indies to deal with an upsurge of piracy which was seriously disrupting trade. He hanged nine pirates on the beach at Nassau and alerted the authorities to the exploits of Calico Jack and the female pirates Mary Read and Ann Bonny who were eventually tracked down and put on trial in Jamaica. Most of the pirates operating in the West Indies were former seamen, either from the Royal Navy or the merchant service, and they became pirates because it offered them an easier life and the possibility of getting rich. There was no form of initiation ceremony, although it was usual for pirates to have to swear to abide by a set of rules or articles. These set out the punishments for defrauding their mates or deserting their posts in battle, and set out the compensation agreed for any injuries received. It was usual for pirates to elect their captains by a majority vote, and to vote captains out of office if they proved incompetent.
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Voices to Visions Pirates tended to be an unruly, anarchic bunch of young men (the average age was 27) who were much given to blasphemous language, gambling and heavy drinking. Pirate attacks were usually accompanied by a lot of casual violence and torture. Some of their victims were released after their ships had been ransacked, some were murdered and some were marooned on deserted islands and their ships either captured or set on fire. A few pirates returned to civilian life and disappeared among the taverns and lodging houses of seaports. A great number were tracked down and hanged. Others died of tropical diseases or were drowned in storms and shipwrecks. The records suggest that the average working life of a pirate was no more than two or three years. Apart from Captain Kidd who buried some treasure on Gardiners Island near New York, there are very few records of other pirates burying treasure. The most likely source of treasure was, and still is, the sunken Spanish treasure ships, which were overcome by storms while they were en route from the treasure ports on the Spanish Main to their home ports of Cadiz and Seville. Many of these ships were loaded with incredibly rich cargoes of gold, silver and precious stones. A number of American salvage expeditions have managed to locate a number of these ships, and have brought to the surface great quantities of silver pieces of eight, gold bars, as well as guns and ships gear. David Cordingly
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Voices to Visions been lost from battles between pirates and merchants, how many lives were swallowed by the one natural element they loved?
Sprits of the Sea Through all the myth and folklore, the tales of Pirate spirits leaves everyone wondering who bawls the depths of the sea. As you ride so gently above the surface aboard the safety of your vessel, do you ever think that by any chance you might see a glimmer of a lost soul, a mythical mermaid that has lured so many sailors to their doom. Would you have that fear of being devoured by a huge octopus that lurks in the depths of the sea or ghosts that climb aboard your ship to take your own soul? Granted the sea is a massive untouched area of mythical realms, and only around twenty percent of the sea has been actually explored. We know more about the moon then what lies on the ocean floor. How many ships that has sailed the seas for so many centuries have gone un-noticed, how many lives had
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In mythology, seagulls and albatross’s that fly above the sea or wade in the ocean are the souls of the sailors, seamen, and even pirates that have died among the seas. Anyone killing an albatross, which sailors did kill and have been known to have eaten them; brought them bad luck. So are the seagulls or albatross there to guide you to a safe passage or guide you to a destructive end? Ghost Ships are tall-tales stories that surround the sea. The Mary Celeste is one of the top ten listed at weburbanist.com. She was found in 1872, floating six hundred miles west of Portugal. Everything aboard that ship was untouched, but the crew had disappeared. In cases like these Ghost Ships, so many scenarios could be the case for the missing crewmembers. You have weather, piracy, mutiny, and just maybe spirits of the un-rested. Thread carefully, for the beauty of the sea might just be too much for one’s own vision. In 1909, William Hodgson wrote a book called “The Ghost Pirates.” It is an ill-fated tale from one lonely survivor aboard a ship called the Mortzetus. http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10966/pg10966 .html
Voices to Visions ghost or spirits who call out the names of the living and when you turn around to look at who you think called out your name, they have attracted your attention and will lure you to your ultimate death. Sirens are also this type of spirit in Greek Mythology. Sirens are water nymphs and their beautiful singing lured sailors to their death. Their voices are so luring, so magical, that the men cannot seize the attractiveness and only to follow the music without realizing any consequences. As pretty as the painted picture in all the pre-Raphaelite paintings, Waterhouse portrays my favorite
Dictionary
interpretation of a mermaid.
Calling Ghost
Therefore, that is a nicer version of a Calling Ghost, what about the true ghosts that call your name?
The term calling ghost fits nice and neatly with this issue. The explanation of calling ghosts is that of
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Voices to Visions coastal community just south of Santa Barbara. It is a legend called.... The Ghost Lanterns of San Buenaventura
Ghost Pirates Legends and Lore by Richard Senate
Pirates infested the seas in the 17
th
Century, even sailing California's Pacific Coast. Some of their exploits have made their way into local folklore. Such a tale can be found in Ventura, California, a
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Long ago, when Spain ruled half the world, the pious Franciscan padres built a chain of Missions along the sunny coast of California, then a far-flung possession of the Spanish King. The Missions prospered and were the main economic engine of the province. As such, the governors visited them frequently. One new governor, a wealthy man, was appointed to the post. As he traveled though California, he made it a point to see the Missions. He had with him his young and beautiful wife. He loved her a great deal and showered her with gifts. He gave her all sorts of jewelry, pearls, diamonds, emeralds, set in necklaces, earrings, rings, tiaras, bracelets and broaches. They came to the Mission San Buenaventura where they were well received, offered the finest the establishment had, their best wines, and their finest foods. The native converts sang for them and danced even as fireworks were shot off to celebrate the coming of the official and his wife. The next day the Governor and his party saddled up to ride north.
Voices to Visions They had not progressed far when a rattlesnake appeared off the road and frightened the Governors horse. The animal bucked, tossing the man to the ground. His head struck a rock and the man lapsed into a coma. The padre's sent help, the injured man was carried back to the mission. Here the good padre's did what they could for him but they were not doctors, they were men of God. Frantic, the wife went to them only to be told that if he came out of the coma he would live, if not he would die. She asked what she should do. They told her to go into the church and pray for the recovery of her husband. This she did, she knelt before the statue of the Virgin and prayed with all of her heart. She refused food, as she never left the church or stops her vigil. As the hours passed, she looked at all the fine jewels she wore. “What good are these baubles if I should lose the man I love,” she thought. Therefore, she vowed that if he lived, she would give all her jewels to the Virgin Mary! Not long after this, the governor woke from the coma. True to her sacred vow, the wife took off all her fine things and gave them to the padre. They left when he was feeling better, leaving the Franciscans with a quandary. What should they do with the jewels? They had taken vows of poverty. After many prayers they came to the decision that as the governor's wife had given them to the virgin, they should use the jewels to adorn the statue. When they were done, the statue gleamed and sparkled. Soon it became known as “the Bejeweled Virgin” and
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many came from everywhere to gaze upon the image and pray at Mission San Buenaventura. Word of this wonder reached the ears of a desperate band of pirates. They began to make plans to raid the church and take the wealth of the bejeweled virgin statue. They sailed up from Mexico, their black painted galleon using the moon light to anchor off Ventura's beach. They rowed their jolly boats ashore with muffled oars so their attack would be a surprise. The Mission settlement was sleeping when the pirates burst in. One sextant tried to stop them from entering the church, but their cutlasses struck him down. When the pirated burst into the chapel, they were stopped by the beauty of the statue in the candle light. For a moment they realized what sacrilege they were about to perform but there greed was too great and they ran to the altar, pulled down the statue of the Virgin and cut it to pieces with their swords. They fished the jewels from the broken wood and plaster and filled their pockets with treasure. Next, they looted the Mission Church, taking silver goblets, crosses, and candlesticks. Then they broke into the stores of sacramental wine and drank their fill. Just before sun up, now drunk and carrying all their loot, they returned to their boats on the beach. They were singing foul songs and started to row out to their ship. The angels were watching their actions. Angered, they beat their wings on the water causing the waves to crest and tumble. The little boat started to take on water in the storm tossed sea. Finally, the ocean became so wild the little boats turned over,
Voices to Visions sending the pirates into the sea. Their pockets weighing them down, they were pulled to the bottom and perished. The waters became so turbulent that even the anchored pirate galleon capsized and went down. The story does not end with their deaths. Their spirits went to St. Peter at the gates of Heaven. He refused to judge the pirates. Because of their sacrilege, he ordered them to return to the earth and find every jewel they robbed from the Mission. Only on the day they return the jewels will St. Peter judge them. The pirates were not stupid men. They knew they had no chance of entering heaven with all of the many sins each one had committed in their lives. They know also the punishments of Hell, so they are taking their time gathering the jewels. They say, that many times when you walk the beach, or the pier at Ventura at night, you can see lights under the water. Moving lights that are the phantom lanterns of the ghost pirates, seeking the jewels. They also say that if you should walk the beach in Ventura, and if you should find a jewel, whatever you do, don't carry it away—or the ghost pirates will come out of the sea to reclaim their treasure and pull you back to the sea floor to help them search for all time. If you find a jewel, a ring, a bracelet, or anything, throw it back in, for it is cursed.
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Voices to Visions Pirates did not normally let women on their ships as it was considered bad luck to have a woman on your ship. Furthermore, women were not up to the physically demanding tasks necessary to run a ship. On many ships, women did not identify themselves as such. Anne Bonny, for example, dressed and acted as a man while on Captain Calico Jack's ship. She and Mary Read, another female pirate, are often credited creative and innovative cross-dressing. Also, many women dressed as men during this time period in an effort to take advantage of the many rights, privileges, and freedoms that were exclusive to men.
Some of the most famous woman pirates
Women in Piracy by Cheryl Smeed
While piracy was a predominantly male activity, a significant number of pirates have been women. Female pirates generally stepped up where their fathers, husbands, and brothers left off after their respective deaths or retirement. Some served beside their husbands. Nevertheless, some were simply liberated women who answered the call of the sea on their own.
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Rachel Wall married George Wall, a former privateer who served in the Revolutionary War, when she was 16. Thought to be the first American female pirate, Rachel Wall operated along the New England Coast. In 1782, George and the rest of his crew were drowned in a storm. She was accused of robbery in 1789 and confessed to being a pirate. She was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. Anne Dieu-le-veut was a Caribbean pirate believed to have been a criminal deported to Tortuga from
Voices to Visions France. In Tortuga she was married to the buccaneer, Pierre Length. In 1683, Pierre was killed in a bar fight by the famous buccaneer, Laurens de Graff. Anne challenged Laurens to a duel to avenge her husband’s death and while Laurens drew his sword, Anne drew her gun. Laurens then succumbed saying he would not fight a woman; he then proposed to her on the spot in admiration of her courage, and she accepted. In reality, the two were actually not married, as Laurens already had a wife he had abandoned many years ago, but they were accepted as man and wife. Anne accompanied Laurens on his ship and fought by his side during acts of piracy, sharing his work and the command on his ship in the same fashion as Anne Bonny did with Calico Jack. Unlike Anne Bonny, she did not disguise her gender, and her acts therefore aroused much attention and fascination. She was talked about as brave, stern and ruthless, and it was in these years that her name, “Anne Dieu-le-veut,” meaning "Anne God-Wants" became known. While it was usually considered bad luck to have a woman on board a ship, Anne was instead regarded as the bringer of good luck.
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Lady Mary Killigrew was a famous English pirate who was the daughter of a former Suffolk pirate. Mary's husband Sir Henry Killigrew, a former pirate himself, was made a Vice-Admiral by Queen Elizabeth I and was tasked with suppressing piracy. Whenever her husband went to sea Mary engaged in piracy using the staff of her castle, Arwenack Castle in Cornwall, as crew and possibly with the Queen's knowledge. In 1570 she captured a German
merchant ship off Falmouth and her crew sailed it to Ireland to sell. However, the owner of this ship was
Voices to Visions a friend of Queen Elizabeth who then had Lady Mary arrested and brought to trial at the Launceston assizes. Some sources say she was sentenced to death and then pardoned by the Queen but this is due to confusion with another family member, Lady Elizabeth Killigrew, who may or may not have been a pirate. According to sources, her family either bribed the jurors and she was acquitted or Queen Elizabeth arranged a short jail sentence. Whatever transpired, she gave up pirating and took up fencing stolen goods until she died several years later. Possibly more of a legend than truth, The Red Lady was believed to be one of the most cunning pirates of the sixteenth century who never revealed her identity. She commonly disguised herself as a singer or an entertainer to be brought on ships and once she was left alone she would remove her disguise revealing a top, pants and her weapons underneath. She would then kill everyone aboard the ship and sail it out to sea. How she could sail a pirate ship alone was a question of which the legend was borne. Born Gráinne Ní Mháille in 1530, Grace O’Malley was a famous Irish pirate, sometimes known as the “Sea Queen of Connaught,” who commanded three galleys and 200 men. Known as the Queen of Umaill, Grace was chieftain of the Ó Máille clan. She was often referred to as the “Bald Gráinne," as she wore her hair very short, even as a young woman. Jacquotte Delahaye was a Caribbean pirate. She was known as "Back from the Dead Red" due to her red
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hair and return to piracy after faking her own death and hiding out dressed as a man for several years. Known as the “Lioness of Brittany,” Jeanne-Louise de Belleville became a pirate to avenge the execution of her husband, Charles de Blois, who was found guilty of treason in France for defecting to the English side during the mid fourteenth century. She painted her ships black and the sails red and took out her vengeance by attacking only French vessels, leaving two or three crew members alive to take back the message that the “Lioness of Brittany” had struck again. A brilliant cantonese female pirate, Ching Shih, commanded 1800 ships and more than 80,000 pirates — men, women, and even children — throughout the 19th century. She challenged the world superpower empires at the time such as the British, Portuguese, and the Qing dynasty. Undefeated, she would become one of the world’s most powerful female pirates. She was also one of the few pirate captains to retire from piracy. Female pirates were often believed to be even more ruthless and diabolical in inflicting terror, torment, fear, and death upon victims of their tyrannical acts. But it was also believed that many female pirates “righted wrongs” among the pirate community. Still, it was believed that a pirate was a pirate and good or bad, they were charged as criminals accordingly. That is, if they got caught!
Voices to Visions Savannah is our favorite place to go on vacation and one stop we always make is at the Pirate House. You can sit at the bar and have a wonderful conversation about the history of the Pirate House and of course, the extracurricular activity that goes on during the morning light to evening hours with your bartender, or sit in the dining area for other tales told from a variety of servers. It is my pleasure to have the opportunity to have corresponded with James Cakey, who has so kindly taken time out from his busy schedule to talk to us about what he has going on in his life and also a little history of Savannah.
On the corner of E Bay Street and E Broad Street sits just one of many places in Savannah, Georgia noted to be haunted.
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Voices to Visions currently in its 8th printing. I've been featured on the Travel Channel's top-rated show Ghost Adventures, America's Scariest Places, a segment on CNN, PBS, the New York Daily News, South Magazine, and InFlight Magazine, just to name a few. I still lead tours, although not as often since I write a lot now. I just finished a History and Guide to Savannah, which was just submitted to a publisher, and I'm midway through a first draft of a haunted book about the ghosts of New Orleans, which I'm enjoying writing immensely.
* What was that change in your life that made you interested in the Paranormal?
* Share with our readers about who you are, your accomplishments and what you do in Savannah, Ga. I'm James Caskey. In 2001 I founded Cobblestone Tours, which is a candlelight walking tour in Savannah's Historic District. In 2005 the book I had labored over and researched for four years was published, named 'Haunted Savannah', and it is
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In lieu of a long drawn out answer, let me just say that living in Savannah eventually forces you to confront the incontrovertible fact that there is another unseen world out there. I mean, it's either that or a significant portion of Savannah's population hallucinates ghosts on a regular basis. It's one or the other, and people are free to make up their own minds on the subject. Practically every time I come into contact with the public, whether it's on tour, at a book signing, or even just hanging
Voices to Visions with friends in the hotel/restaurant/hospitality sector, the talk in Savannah eventually always turns to a paranormal experience that someone has had. The owner of 17Hundred90 Inn, Patrick, was describing something just the other day... hearing new ghost stories in this city is a fact of life. A town as haunted as Savannah just means you have to decide what you choose to believe.
* The tour company you began in 2001, Cobblestone Tours, has been a success for visiting tourist to the Savannah area. How has the history of certain locations on your tour and the paranormal occurrences coincide?
location we pass on tour has a documented story attached to it of someone meeting a violent or tragic end. Is it any wonder that a city like Savannah is haunted? The history is almost always the key to unlocking what the haunting means...
* Our issue is about Pirates and in Savannah there is the well-known Pirate House. Share with us your knowledge about the true spirit essence of this historic location. The Pirate’s House & Hard Hearted Hannah’s
Very close to the Savannah River on East Broad Street, one of the oldest surviving
structures
in
Savannah sits in an area called the Old Fort section of the Historic District. It is known today as the Pirate’s House Restaurant. Little can be confirmed about the early days of the structure other than it was used as a sailor’s tavern, but what is known is that members of the staff have said for years that The history of Savannah has been full of wars, disease, fires, mass graves, and all manner of violent death. Tragedy stalked the streets of this town in the 1700's and 1800's. Yellow Fever filled our cemeteries at a frightening rate... you don't have to look very far below the surface to find death. Nearly every
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areas of the Pirate’s House are haunted. Among its features are fifteen dining rooms, arranged in a confusing and seemingly random winding manner, built at all different periods of Savannah’s development. This building also contains
Voices to Visions a famous rum cellar, and the legend regarding this
Suggesting that the Pirate’s House precedes the
subterranean room is that it is the starting point of a
development of the squares which connect it to the
since-sealed tunnel which led down to the river. This
city proper is counterintuitive.
secret passageway was allegedly used both for smuggling and for forcibly conscripting unwary drinkers at the tavern and forcing them to work aboard ship. We’ll explore the tunnel’s veracity and its possible uses below.
What we do know: it was built in an area used previously as Trustees’ Garden, a spot used as an experimental botanical garden by the city’s founders. This garden was an abysmal failure, and eventually the land was developed (along with Washington and
Some claim the structure was constructed as early
Warren Squares) into residences as the city expanded
as 1753, but most learned sources place it at a more
that direction after the Revolution. Although
conservative 1794. Apparently those who claim the
describing this place as ‘residential’ paints the wrong
earlier date cannot read a map, because the layout of
mental image; this area was a wretched slum known
British defenses ringing the city during the
as ‘Foley’s Alley’ or ‘Old Fort’, and was the poor
Revolutionary War in 1779 (Siege of Savannah) were
Irish section of town. This is ironic because today,
well-documented by both the British and the
many of these homes have been renovated into
attacking French. All of these battlefield maps plainly
houses much nicer than they would have been at the
show the redoubts (defensive trenches) slicing right
time of their construction. When visitors marvel at
smack dab in the middle of where the Pirate’s House
the beautifully restored wooden houses in the area,
is currently located—the British smartly incorporated
Pirate’s House included, they are actually looking at
into their defensive plan the already then in-ruins
a former ghetto, reimagined. The nicer homes, which
fort in the area, which has been known by four
at various points in Savannah’s history have nearly
different names throughout Savannah’s history: Fort
all burned, were made of brick, not wood.
Savannah, Halifax, Prevost and Wayne. This fort, which we shall call Fort Wayne for continuity’s sake, was located directly adjacently north. From this we can almost certainly state that the building is postRevolution. Also lending credence to this is that both Washington and Warren Squares, which flank the area to the west, were not laid out until 1791.
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Pegging the exact date the Pirate’s House was built is difficult to say the least because of the strange manner in which rooms were added onto the house one at a time. The records at the Georgia Historical Society seem to suggest that there was an earlier structure which was demolished to make way for the
Voices to Visions first buildings which currently comprise what we
The truth about the Pirate’s House is much more
know today as the Pirate’s House. The restaurant
complicated. Did pirates really raise tankards of ale
naturally would like to claim the earlier 1753 date
at the bar? Or is it nothing more than a lot of
for marketing purposes, but there is very little proof
stories and a marketing scheme?
of this. Likewise to their claims that a portion of the property known as the Herb House is from 1733, the
History of Pirates in the Area
year of our founding. Research indicates that the
A quick recap about the era of piracy that is
Herb House actually is from a time period quite a
pertinent to this discussion. What we know is that
bit later than is suggested, and could possibly be as
the so-called ‘Golden Age of Piracy’ existed from
late as the 1850’s.
1680 until 1730, but the most significant dates to the
Many false stories have circulated about the Pirate’s House—it is said to be where Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a portion of Treasure Island (yet there is no evidence he ever visited Savannah, and mentioned this city in the book only in passing) and that he used it as a setting for where the bloodthirsty pirate Captain Flint died while asking for rum. Many Savannahians claim that Captain Flint’s ghost still haunts the rooms of the house. However, this is easy to disprove since Flint was a fictional character in Stevenson’s epic tale. Some also say that Edward Teach—also known as Blackbeard—roamed the halls, and some claim he still does. This story is also simple to discount, since Edward Teach died in November of 1718, a full fifteen years before Savannah was even founded, and thirty-five years before the earliest possible completion of the Pirate’s House.
issue was 1701 to 1714, which marked the years of the War of Spanish Succession (known in the Americas as ‘Queen Anne’s War’). When the Treaty of Utrecht ended hostilities in 1714, suddenly there was no need for massive navies that had been amassed by the European combatants, and the naval forces were abruptly disbanded. For instance, the British Royal Navy went from about 53,000 sailors in 1703 to about 13,000 in 1715. This figure does not include privateers, who were merchants carrying ‘letters of marque’, which authorized them to raid enemy shipping. (Sidebar: Both piracy and privateering consisted of the practice of preying on merchant ships and raiding coastal towns for profit. Privateering was legal and piracy was not, because privateers were sanctioned by a government to be conducted against an enemy during wartime. Privateers declared their prizes in court rather than robbing their victims and
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Voices to Visions
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Voices to Visions fleeing. They had the appropriate certificates and
Blackbeard’s flagship: Queen Anne’s Revenge, does it
even flags for the activity. These privateers were in
not? Clearly, Edward Teach was making a political
many cases a lot worse than pirates, because pirates
statement by christening his flagship with the name
would often just relieve the ships of cargo; whereas
of the conflict in which he had loyally fought for the
privateers would claim the cargo, sometimes even
British. He was angry over the fact that he had been
killing the crew and selling the vessel. The true irony
trained as a sailor/warrior, but abruptly found
was that it was often privateers who more closely
himself unemployed, along with about 40,000 other
resembled the modern idea of the ‘savage pirate on
British seamen. Imagine how many men of other
the high seas’. Privateers were essentially pirates who
nationalities also suddenly found themselves in this
paid their taxes.)
predicament at the same time!
For an idea about privateers, consider the
Against this backdrop, it is easy to see why many
differences between Sir Henry Morgan the privateer,
of these former navy sailors would turn to piracy. It
and Edward Teach, the pirate. Both captured ships,
was dangerous work, but incredibly profitable. In
both tortured captives, and both held coastal cities
fact, pirate ships were more democratic than most
for ransom (Morgan did this to Portobello, Panama
realize, because they actually elected captains and the
and Blackbeard did this to Charleston, South
loot was shared more or less equally amongst the
Carolina). The difference was the share: Morgan paid
crew. This is not to make any sort of statements that
one to the Royal Crown, and Teach did not. So to
pirates were misunderstood or had any sort of
the authorities, Morgan was a hero and Teach was
nobility to their actions. Pirates were ruthless killers,
an outlaw.
and should rightly be called terrorists of the High
So suddenly the seas were full of English, Spanish and French sailors (to say nothing of the Dutch,
Seas. For a number of years before Savannah’s founding, these brigands ruled the oceans.
Portuguese, Prussians, etc.) who were skilled in
By the early part of the 1720’s however, the British
attacking enemy vessels but suddenly found
Royal Navy finally got enough control over
themselves out of work. From this perspective it is
American waters to finally start ridding the oceans in
easy to see why pirate attacks would skyrocket in the
that area of pirates. They employed multiple tactics,
years following the cessation of hostilities. This gives
including offering pardons to pirates who would give
an interesting new meaning to the name of
up the practice of raiding vessels, and the opposite
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Voices to Visions extreme of highly publicized executions of notorious
were alarmed by a sloop who as soon as he perceived
pirates who refused to stop. These strategies
us standing along shore, emediately (sic) changed his
appeared to work. According to David Cordingly’s
course and bore down upon us, which... made us
seminal work on the subject, Under The Black Flag,
conclude that he must... be a pirate...” Gordon
the number of pirates operating in the Caribbean
related that the craft was flying colors which
and North American waters declined drastically:
appeared Spanish, and the craft veered away soon
from 2000 pirates in 1720, the number drops to
after being fired upon. Gordon also noted that “the
around 200 pirates by 1726. Those still interested in
pilote (sic) whome we hade on board said he hade
piracy as a career were not stupid; they moved to
some knowledge of him that he hade been a pirate,
other locations where the British Navy presence was
and that he certainly would have plundered us hade
not as pronounced or simply retired. Since Savannah
he not found we were too strong for him.” In a
was not established until 1733, it appears unlikely
humorous aside, Gordon also commended the
that the Pirate’s House was a haven for bloodthirsty
women of the Anne, taking notice of their bravery in
buccaneers. Pirates were becoming increasingly
that they asked to be permitted to load the weapons
extinct, and had been for at least the last fifteen
and even to fight alongside the men, but “some of
years prior.
our men who hade been noted the whole voyage for
Okay, we’ve established that a pirate presence was unlikely from 1733 forward, but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t exist in Savannah. After all, absence
noisy bullying fellows, were not to be found on this occassion but sculked either in the hold or between decks.”
of evidence is not evidence of absence. So I checked
If this is the only recorded instance of a pirate
the archives, which sounds a lot easier than it
being sighted near Savannah, the odds of
actually proved to be. After an exhaustive search of
‘bloodthirsty buccaneers’ being in Savannah in 1794
available records which took several weeks, the only
are unlikely, but not impossible. Also clouding the
account linking Savannah and piracy which turned
issue was the fact that while piracy was very much
up was in the journal of Peter Gordon, who was one
against the law, privateering was acceptable to the
of the original colonists in 1733. His story, occurring
English government, as long as the privateers
before Savannah was even established, describes the
attacked French or Spanish shipping.
colonists’ ship the Anne running across a strange and suspicious-looking vessel. Gordon writes, “...We
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Voices to Visions The famed Jean Lafitte (c. 1776- c. 1826), who was
killed in 1811 by a French privateer crew. Two
often called a pirate but actually a privateer and
French privateer craft, La Vengeance and La
double agent for both the Americans and Spanish, is
Franchise, were anchored in the harbor. According to
thought to have visited Savannah. Lafitte’s
Jacob’s friends, the crew of one of these vessels
connection to the area is shadowy, but that is not
attacked and stabbed the unarmed Mr. Taylor as he
unusual since he was engaged in mostly-illegal
strolled the streets of Savannah. The funeral for
activities—the last thing he’d want to do would be to
Taylor nearly turned into a riot when friends of his
write down his dealings. So although records are
ran into some crewmen of the French vessel.
unclear it would not be a huge leap of logic since we were such a major seaport. The building which currently houses the Pirates House is occasionally referred to as once belonging to the famous privateer, but there is absolutely no historical basis for that claim. Lafitte did indeed own a house which later became known as the Pirate House, but it is one located in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi (and curiously enough, that house, though now destroyed, also had a much-debated tunnel leading to a body of water). Equally spurious in nature is the claim that Lafitte married a local girl (who according to some accounts reformed his wayward ways). Lafitte did indeed marry, but it was to a girl from Galveston, Texas named Madeline Regaud. But Savannah is connected to privateers. The newspapers of the time were full of accounts of problems with the freelancers trying to recruit crews from the local populace. In fact, there is a stone in
So the question of whether or not pirates really did inhabit the old bar on East Broad St. is not an easy one to answer. Technically, the answer is: probably not. However, since most people’s concept of a savage pirate is actually closer to the true definition of a privateer, and since first English and later French privateers did sail Savannah’s waters, then the answer in the spirit of the law is yes. But true piracy was seeking less-civilized waters, such as the Indian and Pacific Oceans, even before Savannah was founded. The Tunnel: Rumor or Reality? A time-honored legend at the Pirate’s House is one of the infamous basement tunnel, long since sealed, that ran from the sublevel of the house to the seaport. It has been suggested that via this passageway, unscrupulous sea captains would arrange for sailors to be shanghaied, a practice also known
Colonial Park Cemetery that exists as a testament to
by more formalized titles: conscription or
the brutality of privateers—Jacob R. Taylor was
impressment. It is also said that many men fell prey
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Voices to Visions to this barbaric practice, including one Savannah
There are two sections visible: one is inaccessible;
policeman walking the dreaded beat of ‘Foley’s
you can just catch a peek of subterranean passage in
Alley’. This same kidnapped policeman awoke
the dining room to the south near the buffet table.
aboard a strange vessel bound for China and was
There is another section to the north which is
forced to work as a privateer. It supposedly took him
entered via stone stairs leading downward directly
two years to finally make his way back to Savannah.
beneath the so-called Captain’s Room, the true oldest
The tunnel was discovered during renovations in
part of the property (claims about the Herb House
1962, and is reputed to have been sealed for safety
notwithstanding). Like so much of the history at this
reasons at that time.
location, the tunnel is possible but not plausible. I’ve been in what is described as a section of the tunnel many times, and it is by all appearances simply a dirt floor basement. I could find no evidence of a tunnel dug out to the Savannah
River.
Furthermore, the two sections seem to be truly separate, and not part of a cohesive How much of this is fact and how much is fiction? What we have are two separate issues: was there a secret
tunnel,
and
were
men
shanghaied
(conscripted) out of the old tavern which is currently the Pirate’s House? First, let’s explore the tunnel and compare it to the historical backdrop already discussed earlier.
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tunnel. They do not appear to meet up. And even if they did join, and if the area able to be accessed is truly the beginning of the tunnel then the tunnel would be running south, not north to the Savannah River. Yes, you read that correctly: if it is indeed a tunnel, it runs the wrong
way.
Voices to Visions But is it a smuggler’s tunnel? Unlikely. A more
to shanghai men (or boys), but having a basement
plausible explanation for the unknown basement or
would help, because he could lure the unsuspecting
tunnel (we will take the 1962 ‘discovery’ story at face
victim downstairs with promises of strong drink or
value) is that the dugout area is part of the nearby
other more unsavory activities. He could then secure
Fort Wayne, which protected the extreme east of the
his prey with either drugged alcohol or a simple
city from attack from the very early days of
solid whack on the back of the skull. The crimp
Savannah’s founding, or perhaps part of the British
would then sell the victim to the boarding master,
defensive network. It may well be some combination
whose job it was to secure able bodies to fill out the
of the two. Perhaps we are looking at a powder
roster aboard the merchant sailing vessel.
magazine, or even a storage area for Wells’ Wharf, which was then at the far eastern end of River Street and located about a block north from the Pirate’s House.
Again, it is doubtful that true pirates would feel the need for such an arrangement, because serving on a pirate crew was so profitable. Pirate craft needed experienced crewmen who performed jobs like
Now regarding the forcible conscription of sailors:
carpentry, medical care and coopers (barrel makers)
this was a real practice, and it likely happened right
and not random, fairly unskilled sailors. No, it would
here in Savannah. There are reports of this method
be far more likely that a tyrannical privateer captain
of filling out ship’s rosters from shipping ports all
would engage in such practices of smuggling
over the world. There is no word that it occurred at
unconscious men to serve as crewmen; that, or the
the Pirate’s House, but I really don’t disbelieve that
captain of a warship. Likely, many men who enjoyed
it did. Speaking as a researcher, the fact that I
a drink at the old seaman’s bar on Broad Street
couldn’t find any substantiated reports of this does
wound up waking up aboard ship, heads pounding
not mean that it didn’t happen. It was a highly
either from drugs or a wallop, bound for ports
illegal and immoral practice, and no one would write
unknown.
it down if they were involved. Sometimes as a writer you’re forced to go with your gut, and I feel that this did take place. The man involved in securing the unwitting dupes was called a ‘crimp’. A crimp wouldn’t need a tunnel
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The Staff’s Ghostly Encounters The people who work in the Pirate’s House have had numerous supernatural experiences. Included in these stories was a tale about strange voices issuing forth from the deserted downstairs. A bartender one
Voices to Visions night complained to me in confidence about hearing
deserted space with her, so against her better
“men call out from down below, but those are men
judgment she went alone. She moved down the
that aren’t there anymore.”
ancient stone stairs, and immediately felt a chill
The Travel Channel program ‘America’s Most Haunted Places- Savannah’ featured the Pirate’s House. One account was from a cook who saw an apparition one night, which from his description
could be nothing but a 18th- or early 19th- century seafaring man. He was working alone in the kitchen, and the stranger walked through the area, pausing only to glare at him briefly. The sailor then walked
through the door without opening it. The cook described him as looking incredibly threatening, and it was not coincidentally the last time the cook has worked alone in the kitchen. This same cook attested that one evening he was cleaning up near a piano, and suddenly saw a pair of malevolent ancient eyes glaring at him from the reflection on the piano. He wisely fled the area. The cook also will not enter the kitchen without his large gold crucifix, which he wears as a talisman around his neck, which he believes protects him from further spectral visits. A former server named Lisa recounted her story for this author one night. She had always been curious about the stories of the old tunnel under the restaurant, so one night she mustered her courage. Lisa initially tried to get a few friends to accompany her, but no one else was brave enough to go into the
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which was much deeper than the cool of the basement air. As she progressed, she felt extremely ill and woozy. Waves of nausea struck her, and finally she had to abandon her trek downstairs in an attempt to find the rumored passage. She retreated her way back up into the restaurant, but her sick feeling did not fully disappear until she left to go home. She initially thought that perhaps she had inhaled some fume or vapor that had made her dizzy and ill, but she felt it every night when she returned to work at the Pirate’s House after that night she explored the subterranean area. She began to believe that some sort of psychic energy given off by the spirits at the House perhaps was making her ill for invading the passageway. She finally quit two weeks later, and in a bit of irony began to work at the 17Hundred90 Inn and Restaurant, which has its own share of ghosts. Fortunately for Lisa, the ghosts in 17Hundred90 have been more receptive to her presence, and several of her occurrences are recounted in that chapter. It is the opinion of this author that perhaps in her experience at the Pirate’s House she was reliving the drugged and woozy state of many of the shanghaied men, in years now departed, which
Voices to Visions passed through the very tunnel in which she first
as roses, copper or even the smell of blood. Strange
had that feeling.
lights and voices have also been known to emanate from the upper floors, which in years gone by were rooms for rent to sailors. There was for many years an upstairs jazz bar, Hard-Hearted Hannah’s, in this portion of the restaurant. A former server, Brittany, recounted several stories involving bizarre happenings in Hannah’s. She once was back in the prep room, and she cleaned out the coffee pots and pushed them onto one of the metal prep tables, far from the edge. She turned and walked out through the swinging door, and heard a loud crash behind her. She walked back into the prep room and found the coffeepots smashed on the floor— somehow they had hurled off of the table with enough force to crash against the far wall. There was no one on the back room, so the pots had
Hard-Hearted Hannah’s The staff on occasion has experienced bizarre smells not normally associated with a restaurant. These olfactory manifestations have been described
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apparently
moved
by
themselves. In another similar instance with another server, a girl whom Brittany had trained was closing by herself one night, and she called Brittany late at night and begged her to come back down to the
Voices to Visions restaurant. The girl claimed that the coffeepots had
was a stairwell connecting the upper bar with the
jumped off of one of the back tables by themselves
downstairs restaurant, and on several occasions she
and smashed on the floor. The girl refused to close
would feel a presence. “I’d suddenly have the feeling
Hannah’s by herself because of the incident. When I
that I was not alone,” she claimed firmly. Several of
asked Brittany why coffeepots would shatter on a
the staff would refuse to walk down the stairs alone,
regular basis in the old structure, she smiled, and
preferring instead to take the more circuitous route
told me her theory. “Maybe there’s a ghost of some
of walking outside to get to the Pirate’s House.
old sailor who didn’t like us drinking coffee. Maybe he wanted us to have rum, instead.” This, of course, is just as good a supposition as any—and makes a great story: the ghost who doesn’t like to drink alone.
The times of sailing adventures, pirates and privateers were incredibly violent and brutal. One can only imagine the quiet desperation of the sailors involved that has seeped into the very timbers of one of the oldest structures in Georgia. And perhaps too,
Brittany also said that she would also see people
those men who were shanghaied also left behind
from time to time out of the corner of her eye—
their energy, as well, thinking so often of the port
people that would then disappear. “I’d just catch a
city they were taken from so brutally, against their
quick glimpse, like someone flitting by, and then
will.
they’d be gone,” she said. She also related that there
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Voices to Visions
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Voices to Visions * If you had an opportunity to actually sit down and talk with a spirit that resides in one of your locations on your tour, what location would that be and what question would you ask? There are so many! If we're not talking about tour, then there was a house on Oglethorpe Avenue I used to live in that was haunted. I had three different people, all of whom were 'sensitive' to energy in a way I am not, all three told me the exact same story about a man that used to live there, and I always wanted to have a conversation with him, but it never happened. And of course, a round-robin discussion with some of the ghosts in the Moon River Brewing Company. I'd want to ask them, "Why are you so angry?" I'd love to know where that rage comes from. Anna, from 17Hundred90; I'd love to ask her about her life. And naturally, some of the tormented souls at the Pirate's House. I'd love to a chance mto communicate a few things. -------------------------------------------------------------------James Caskey http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2695495/ http://www.ghostsavannah.com/?vm=r
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Voices to Visions
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Voices to Visions Credits: Cover by Alice Mary Herden Pages 5: Cloud photo by Alice Mary Herden Pages 6-7: photo of Bree by Alice Mary Herden Page 8: Louis Rhead (Dover Publications; Pirates) Page 9: Wikipedia Page 10: Top; Frank Schoonover Bottom; Will Crawford (Dover Publications; Pirates) Page 11: Ship Illustration by George Albert Williams (Dover Publications; Pirates) Page 12-13: Howard Pyle (Dover Publications; Pirates) Page 14: Book Cover used with permission by David Cordingly Page 15-16: David Cordingly photo provided Page 17: Will Crawford (Dover Publications; Pirates) Page 18: Seagull photo by Alice Mary Herden Page 19: Howard Pyle (the-atheneaum.org) Page 20: San Beunventrua (Wikipedia) Page 23: Anne Bonny; Wikipedia Page 24: unknown (Dover Publications; Pirates) Page 26: Photo: Pirate House by Alice Mary Herden Page 27: Photo provided by James Caskey: Credit Lisa Charpentier Page 28: Photo provided by James Caskey Page 31: 3D Pirate created and rendered by Sergey Samuilov http://tonzy.cghub.com/ Page 35; Photo: Pirate House by Alice Mary Herden Page 38: Photo: Pirate House by Alice Mary Herden Page 40: Flyer photo provided by Amanda Marks Page 41: Admiral of the Black by Alice Mary Herden
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