Anna Kingsley and other plantation ghosts

Anna Kingsley, is that you? Image courtesy of Joyce Elson Moore

The legends and sightings extend well beyond Old Red Eyes. A number of visitors have reported seeing an ethereal “woman in white” on the back porch of the main house, who appears particularly in photographs. Most often, this is said to be the figure of Anna Kingsley herself. Joyce Elson Moore, author of the Haunt Hunter’s Guide to Florida, snapped a photo she believes captures Anna.

This identification comes despite the fact that Kingsley did not die on the island and is not buried there. In fact, when she died in 1870, she hadn’t lived on the Kingsley plantation for over 30 years. She lived near two of her daughters in the African-American community in present-day Arlington, where she is buried in an unmarked grave in Sammis Cemetery. Additionally, Palmer says that while Anna’s ghost is usually reported in the planter’s house, she never lived in the building - she had her own quarters in the nearby kitchen house. As with Old Red Eyes, Palmer isn’t swayed by these sightings or photographs. “They’re often pointing out this shape that appears to be almost tucked in at the waist and then going out into a skirt. But when I’ve looked at it all I see is the curtains.”

Peacocks - ghostly white or otherwise - are found on Fort George Island.

According to another common tale, visitors may hear a little girl screaming from the woods, but when they run to her, all they find is a ghostly white peacock. As it happens, Fort George Island is home to albino peacocks, as well as the more familiar iridescent versions. “If you’re unfamiliar with the fact that there are albino peacocks, and if you are not familiar with the sound a peacock makes when it’s doing its mating call, you might take that for a little girl screaming,” said Palmer. “It’s a pretty unique noise.”

Palmer also says that guests have approached her with an apparently newer addition to the Kingsley ghost roster: a ghost alligator that’s said to guard the bottom of a mysterious stairwell. Others that frequently come up in ghost books and websites include a ghostly crying child in the well, who supposedly fell in and died. Other encounters have been reported by park staff over the years. Frances Duncan, a volunteer tour guide in the 1970s and 80s, told researcher Alan Brown about several such experiences, including furniture moving inexplicably, the mysterious aroma of gingerbread in the kitchen, and an encounter with the ghost of a turban-wearing African in the main house. Zepheniah himself is also said to be present. Duncan told Brown that the rangers maintained a tradition of never saying “Goodnight, Mr. Kingsley,” as “something bad” may happen. One night when she absentmindedly uttered the phrase, she learned why it had been proscribed when a wave of sickness came over her.

Palmer doesn’t put much stock in the ghost stories, but is respectful of those who see the plantation as a weighty spiritual site. “I don’t mean to disrespect people’s beliefs or experiences. We definitely have a lot of people who say they feel a spiritual connection to the site and a connection to their ancestors, and we want to give them the space to be able to do that,” she said. “But a lot of the stories that people come up with, and reasons to come up here at specific times at night - and specific months of the year like October - a lot of those can be debunked.”

ARTICLE COMMENTS AND REPLIES HERE

Article by Bill Delaney. Contact Bill at wdelaney@moderncities.com.