We're at the middle of 2021, and the Vicksburg ghosts haven't changed at all.

7th Mississippi Infantry

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Sep 28, 2013
Location
Southwest Mississippi
Last week , the famous "haunted mansion of McRaven" became a topic within
the Siege of Vicksburg forum.

I thought I would see if any new material had been posted about the Vicksburg spirits.

Yep ... same stories ... but in a new century.


For the record, I've spent multiple nights in both "Cedar Grove" and " Anchuca".
I never saw anything weird.

( except a very strange guy playing the piano in the bar at "Cedar Grove" ) .

:unsure:
 
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Last week , the famous "haunted mansion of McRaven" became a topic within
the Siege of Vicksburg forum.

I thought I would see if any new material had been posted about the Vicksburg spirits.

Yep ... same stories ... but in a new century.
That makes sense to me since I have always assumed that ghosts existed forever. :tongue:
 
I was raised within a block of Mc Raven. THE closest I ever came to aghost was back in the 40’s when one of the old ladies threw a big brass key with a ribbon on it at me. I caught it. I kept the key for years…finally giving it to the new owner in the 60’s
Ha Ha !

I had a few similar experiences during the many years I lived in Natchez.

Some of the old Ladies that were the last descendants of the original owners, were scarier ( meaner) than the ghosts
that purportedly shared the old mansions with them.

:D
 
South of Vicksburg in the village of Port Gibson is a bed and breakfast called the Bernheimer House. It was built post-war, but I believe a civil war period home once occupied the site. One of the rooms in the house is called "Grant's Room" because Grant supposedly slept there after the battle of Port Gibson. BUT, the house is post-war so that is kind of amusing. But one thing is for sure in my personal experience....A friend and I stayed in the house back in 2010. We were the ONLY ones staying in the house. To make a long story short - This house DEFINITELY has an unsettled spirit(s) dwelling therein.
 
I was raised within a block of Mc Raven. THE closest I ever came to aghost was back in the 40’s when one of the old ladies threw a big brass key with a ribbon on it at me. I caught it. I kept the key for years…finally giving it to the new owner in the 60’s
A lot of relics came out of that yard at McRaven. Several NICE Hotchkiss and Parrott shells too.
 
South of Vicksburg in the village of Port Gibson

Just as many unexplainable things are common in Port Gibson as well.

Every one in that area ( including the Louisiana side of the Mississippi River) are very familiar with the Ruins of Windsor.

Long story short, I've been going down there since childhood, and never had heard of any serious ghost stories about the ruins .

Until I lived in Natchez .

A few of my staff were graduates of Alcorn State University (a couple of miles away from the Windsor ruins).
They all said it was a common college pastime to go to the ruins late night and look for the ghosts of the little enslaved children.
I don't think anyone said they saw an apparition, but they all did say (at times) had heard kid's voices behind the house
... where the slave cabins would have been.

I have no reason to doubt what they said, and there's always been something about that place that has made me want to leave before nightfall.
 
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Just as many unexplainable things are common in Port Gibson as well.

Every one in that area ( including the Louisiana side of the Mississippi River) are very familiar with the Ruins of Windsor.

Long story short, I've been going down there since childhood, and never had heard of any serious ghost stories about the ruins .

Until I lived in Natchez .

A few of my staff were graduates of Alcorn State University (a couple of miles away from the Windsor ruins).
They all said it was a common college pastime to go to the ruins late night and look for the ghosts of the little enslaved children.
I don't think anyone said they saw an apparition, but they all did say (at times) had heard kid's voices behind the house
... where the slave cabins would have been.

I have no reason to doubt what they said, and there's always been something about that place that has made me want to leave before nightfall.
I was an archeologist for the state of Mississippi and did some investigative work around the foundation of Windsor and in my opinion had it not been for the fire those columns would not be standing. I found the bricks which were made on site were of such untempered material and found only straw was used for tempering and lacked hardening.. the fire hardened the bricks in the columns.
 
I was an archeologist for the state of Mississippi and did some investigative work around the foundation of Windsor and in my opinion had it not been for the fire those columns would not be standing. I found the bricks which were made on site were of such untempered material and found only straw was used for tempering and lacked hardening.. the fire hardened the bricks in the columns.

Thanks !

I find such investigations extremely interesting.

I've got to ask, did you or other MDAH archeologists survey or investigate any remaining
plantation ruins down in Wilkinson County ? They have their share of history too !
(
from all eras of Mississippi history).

I know the one or two remaining columns of Bowling Green plantation down there have been well documented over the years.
But I've always been intrigued with the ruins of La Grange plantation. (also destroyed by a fire around 1900).

It's my understanding the ruins of La Grange remain on private family property, and they will not permit
any officials to disturb the ruins.

( but I could easily be wrong)
However, I do know a couple of guys that have accidentally walked upon the La Grange columns while deer hunting.

They compared what's left of La Grange to the Windsor ruins ... only instead of the 15 or so columns at Windsor ... the La Grange ruins only consist of four or five columns.

Literally in the middle of nowhere.

Sorry to ramble, just asking.


After dark, I wouldn't hang out at the La Grange ruins either !

:unsure:
 
Those are some really beautiful homes with some odd stories! It is interesting to me that those beautiful places weren’t burnt down by the Federals as other places were in Georgia or Virginia. But they certainly went into declines and became all sorts of things before being restored. The ghosts could be anything!
 
Those are some really beautiful homes with some odd stories! It is interesting to me that those beautiful places weren’t burnt down by the Federals as other places were in Georgia or Virginia. But they certainly went into declines and became all sorts of things before being restored. The ghosts could be anything!
Many Mississippi homes were indeed burned by the Federals.
Of the three I mentioned, Windsor was saved because it was an asset to Grant & Sherman
during/and after the Vicksburg Campaign.
( Observation post and a hospital)

La Grange was too remote to be an asset to either side, so it was ignored.

Bowling Green plantation was a bit different.
The Federals burned it down on purpose.
It was the home of a staunch Confederate .
Screen Shot 2021-09-25 at 6.05.37 PM.png


I actually have family connections to Bowling Green, but here's a cliff notes version regarding what happened:
https://woodville4.tripod.com/bowling_green_plantation.htm#:~:text=Bowling Green Plantation Home was,Mary Louisa and Augusta Eugenia.
 
Thanks !

I find such investigations extremely interesting.

I've got to ask, did you or other MDAH archeologists survey or investigate any remaining
plantation ruins down in Wilkinson County ? They have their share of history too !
(
from all eras of Mississippi history).

I know the one or two remaining columns of Bowling Green plantation down there have been well documented over the years.
But I've always been intrigued with the ruins of La Grange plantation. (also destroyed by a fire around 1900).

It's my understanding the ruins of La Grange remain on private family property, and they will not permit
any officials to disturb the ruins.

( but I could easily be wrong)
However, I do know a couple of guys that have accidentally walked upon the La Grange columns while deer hunting.

They compared what's left of La Grange to the Windsor ruins ... only instead of the 15 or so columns at Windsor ... the La Grange ruins only consist of four or five columns.

Literally in the middle of nowhere.

Sorry to ramble, just asking.


After dark, I wouldn't hang out at the La Grange ruins either !

:unsure:
Did a little surveying and testing at fort adams. Found some buttons and a troctal
Thanks !

I find such investigations extremely interesting.

I've got to ask, did you or other MDAH archeologists survey or investigate any remaining
plantation ruins down in Wilkinson County ? They have their share of history too !
(
from all eras of Mississippi history).

I know the one or two remaining columns of Bowling Green plantation down there have been well documented over the years.
But I've always been intrigued with the ruins of La Grange plantation. (also destroyed by a fire around 1900).

It's my understanding the ruins of La Grange remain on private family property, and they will not permit
any officials to disturb the ruins.

( but I could easily be wrong)
However, I do know a couple of guys that have accidentally walked upon the La Grange columns while deer hunting.

They compared what's left of La Grange to the Windsor ruins ... only instead of the 15 or so columns at Windsor ... the La Grange ruins only consist of four or five columns.

Literally in the middle of nowhere.

Sorry to ramble, just asking.


After dark, I wouldn't hang out at the La Grange ruins either !

:unsure:
i did some archaeological surveying around port adams where I found some buttons and a 4 prong caltrop
 
Those are some really beautiful homes with some odd stories! It is interesting to me that those beautiful places weren’t burnt down by the Federals as other places were in Georgia or Virginia. But they certainly went into declines and became all sorts of things before being restored. The ghosts could be anything!
 
Did a little surveying and testing at fort adams. Found some buttons and a troctal
Fort Adams is one of the most historic, intriguing, remote and forgotten places not only within Mississippi history, but within the formative history of the new United States.

" Off the beaten path " is an understatement !

For a couple of years, Fort Adams was the official port of entry into the USA from the Gulf of Mexico. (almost 400 "river" miles below). During 1797, Spain still held New Orleans and all of "Spanish West Florida" ... now the entire part of Louisiana - east of the Mississippi River.

( But I'm sure you know more about that than I ever would) .

I've been to Fort Adams twice, and only got lost once.
Even with written permission from the owner to go up that loess bluff " little mountain " to the Fort, I never found it.

I ended up on a cow path in someone's pasture with less than a third of a tank of gas in my vehicle .

:laugh:

But I did make back to Woodville and Highway 61.
So all was OK.
 
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