Lessons from the Ghosts of Saint Simons

BF1472.U6 G48 1970z_Ghost Stories and Superstitions of Old Saint Simons_Southern Folklife Collection_The Wilson Library_UNC Chapel HillBF1472.U6 G48 1970z_Ghost Stories and Superstitions of Old Saint Simons_Southern Folklife Collection_The Wilson Library_UNC Chapel HillWe were lucky to find this short manuscript of stories and superstitions collected by Burnette Vanstory from the sea island of Saint Simons off the coast of Georgia just in time for Halloween (call no. BF1472.U6 G48 1970z). Vanstory lived on Saint Simons for over 40 years, publishing one of of the first histories of the Georgia coast, Georgia’s Land of the Golden Isles. Along with the delightful illustrations featured here, Ghost Stories and Superstitions of Old Saint Simons, features six short stories, including “The Ghosts of Ebo Landing” in which hundreds of enslaved Africans from the Ibo tribe from southeastern Nigeria drowned themselves in Dunbar Creek while singing and chanting in solidarity rather than become slaves.
“The Ghost with the Long Arms” warns travelers from looking too long into the twisted branches of a the liveoak trees, mistaking a haunting apparition for the Spanish moss waving in the wind with terrifying results and the legend of Mary de Wanda (or “Mary the Wanderer”) who roams the banks of the Frederica River searching for her love lost in the hurricane of 1824
BF1472.U6 G48 1970z_Ghost Stories and Superstitions of Old Saint Simons_Southern Folklife Collection_The Wilson Library_UNC Chapel Hill
The final four pages, “Superstitions of Old St. Simons,” include the most important information, and if you pay attention, information that may well just save your life. You will have to visit the library to examine all of the techniques and methods of protection from supernatural forces and evil curses. Note well what a “smutty-nosed cat” can do for you and remember “A sassafras root carried in the pocket guarded against illness.”BF1472.U6 G48 1970z_Ghost Stories and Superstitions of Old Saint Simons_Southern Folklife Collection_The Wilson Library_UNC Chapel Hill