Georgia

Adairsville

Barnsley Gardens

The ruins of this Gothic mansion testify to the curse that followed the Barnsley family for over a hundred years. The mansion was built by
Godfrey Barnsley in 1844 on a knoll that Cherokee Indian legend said would bring tragedy to anyone who lived there. Despite the warning of local
townsfolk, the family moved onto the magnificent estate, which they called Woodlands. Within months, Godfrey's wife Julia died from a lung
infection. Not long afterward, their infant son followed her to the grave. In 1858, one of Godfrey's daughters died at Woodland, and in 1862 one of
his sons was killed by pirates during a trip to China. The house was ransacked by Union soldiers in 1864, and several of Godfrey's friends and
relatives ended up buried on his property during the Civil War. One individual was Colonial Robert Earle, who was killed on the property when he
tried to warn the Barnsley family that Yankees were coming. Godrey Barnsley deserted the cursed land and moved to New Orleans, but one of
this daughters, Julia Batzelle, stayed on with her husband. In 1868, he was killed by a falling tree on the property. Godfrey died in 1873 and his
boy was buried at Woodland, but vandals dug up his grave and cut off his hand for use in voodoo rites. Julia's daughter Adelaide was living in the
mansion in 1906 when a tornado tore off the roof and did extensive damage. One of Adelaide's sons went insane and was confined to the state
hospital. In 1935 he broke out and returned to Woodland, where he shot is brother in the chest. The mortally wounded man died in his mothers
arms in the living room.

Now deserted and overgrown with weeds and vines, Woodlands is said to be haunted by its unfortunate inhabitants. The ghost of Julia Barnsley
had been seen among the boxwoods at the front entrance, and Godfrey Barsley's movements have been hard coming from the old library. The
ghost of a Confederate soldier thought to be Colonial Robert Earle has been seen drinking from a spring in back of the home. The property is now
known as the Barnsley Gardens.

St. Simons Island

Christ Church Cemetery

The flickering candlelight over the grave of an island resident who died many years ago is not real. During her lifetime, the woman was intensely
afraid of the dark and was known to hoard candles and have one burning constantly. When the woman died of blood poisoning form an infected
wound, her husband lit a candle on top of her grave every night. In the years since he died and was buried next to his wife, hundreds of people
have reported seeing a candle flame over the woman's grave.

Fort St. Simons

The ruins of this old fort are haunted by a ghost, who is heard speaking in the Cherokee, German, Spanish, and Latin languages. He is Dr.
Christian Priber, who proclaimed himself prime minister of the Republic of Paradise and demanded that all colonists leave America. Priber arrived
on the East Coast in 1736 and promptly joined a tribe of Cherokee Indians. He was arrested for insurgency in 1743 and taken to St. Simons,
where he died many years later.

The Barracks Prison was part of Fort St. Simons. The ruins are located at the Fort Frederica National Monument on the St. Simon Island.

Bibliography: Hauck, Dennis. Haunted Places: Ghost abodes, sacred sites, UFO landings, and other supernatural locations. New York: Penguin
Book, 1994.