Haunted Plantations : Ghosts of Slavery and Legends of the Cotton Kingdoms

Chilling stories of the antebellum era, ranging from Savannah, Georgia to the Carolina coast, with photos included. Members of a shackled West African tribe drag themselves off a slave ship while singing, drowning in a Georgia creek to avoid being sold. Mysterious letters from a long-ruined church near Mepkin Abbey solicit a man to join the faith. A French teacher disappears from a school after marking final exams in blood. An Egyptian mummy triggers a heart attack in a city museum. These stories and more are wrenched from the gravest parts of America’s past—real lives of people on plantations from Savannah to Charleston and the coast of the Carolinas. Richly illustrated with both historic and contemporary images, most deal with the hub of the East Coast slave trade, Charleston, South Carolina. Sifting through folklore, legends, and emotionally raw history, these stories relate encounters with the supernatural—and reminds us that what actually happened here doesn’t always need a ghost to be disquieting. Since its settlement in 1682 by Welsh Quakers, Haverford Township has been transformed from rolling farmland and water-powered mills to unique suburban neighborhoods linked by a common heritage. Historically, the township was known for gunpowder and textile manufacturing. Workers in the Nitre Hall Powder Mill produced powder for the War of 1812 and fabric for the Union army during the Civil War. The maker of nationally known Swell bubble gum is now Haverford Township's only large manufacturing company. Haverford Township illustrates the strong community identity that has existed since the time of William Penn. Early photographs of the Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company and the famous Red Arrow Lines will entertain history and railroad buffs alike. Familiar scenes of Haverford College, Haverford Meeting, and the Grange Estate await readers in this stunning pictorial history