Ghosts of the Carolinas

The Ghost of Litchfield

54 Litchfield Plantation near All Saints Church near Georgetown. South Carolina . is one of the oldest plantations in the area. It is still beautifully preserved. The ghost of Litchfield who retums to haunt it is one of its former owners. He was a doctor who lived and died here before the Civil War. Later owners of the plantation and the Negroes who lived on it have seen him many times. The Ghost of Litchfield OCCUPANTS OF LITCHFIELD PLANTATION HAVE BEEN AWAKENED MANY A NIGHT BY THE NOISY SHADE OF A FORMER OWNER The wooden gates and the bell post are gone now, replaced by more durable iron. But still told are stories of the kindly doctor who returns to his beloved Litchfield. His visits are made at night, or very occasionally on a dreary, gray day. When the doctor was alive he would ride up to the plantation gate on a handsome bay and strike the bell, which had no clapper, with the handle of his riding crop. The doctor kept the gates of his plantation locked. But nearby lived a gatekeeper whose responsibility it was to hear the bell and let him in. Sometimes the gatekeeper would slip away on a visit to a neighboring plantation. When this happened the tired doctor would beat the bell furiously and no one would answer. He would finally tie his horse to the bell post, climb over a split log fence, and walk down the long avenue of oaks to the house. After late calls he would use the small, pri- vate stairway to his room to avoid disturbing the family. Long after the doctor's death owners of Litchfield would hear the clanging of the bell at all hours of the night as it did when the doc(or returned from his calls. Sometimes he would suddenly appear in the house or on the dark little back stairs. But most often he would make his presence known by the clamorous ringing of the bell. Finally, one ownerdecided he would have his slumbers disturbed no longer. He ordered the bell removed. He made no secret of the fact that he didn't care how often the good doctor returned but he was tired 55 56 of being waked up in the dead of night by the bell at the gate. If you should pass Litchfield late at night and see a bay tethered there in the shadows-you may be sure the doctor has come home again. ...