There is a saying in the South that Savannah was built on the backs of its dead. It is true that nearly anytime construction workers dig into the thick red clay earth they discover bones—remains from the Native Americans in the area, remains from the Revolutionary War and Civil War. And it seems that with all the history below the gorgeous gardens and fountains of the city, some ghosts have decided to remain.
Forsyth Park is a lovely escape near the heart of the city. Spanish-moss laden trees cast strange shadows and the perfume of magnolias and azaleas is heavy in the air. Just across the street from Forsyth Park is a beautiful yellow Victorian B & B. Built in 1893, the Forsyth Park Inn and its romantic courtyard evoke a feeling of the deep South at its most luxurious.
But haunting this gorgeous eleven-room and its accompanying cottage is the spirit of a heart-broken young girl. Early in the house’s history, a young couple owned it. Aaron and Lois Churchill were married, very much in love with each other, and sadly—infertile. Dreaming of a child of their own, they brought an adorable little girl, Lottie, home to live with them. Details as to how or where they obtained the girl are now seemingly long-lost to history, but we do know the child lovingly referred to the Churchills as “Aunt Lo” and “Uncle Aaron.” Lo and Aaron gave Lottie an enviable lifestyle. Well-loved, perhaps even spoiled by her doting guardians, Lottie flourished. Lottie’s life seemed perfect.
And then her family changed.
Lois brought home her ailing sister, Anna, a girl well her junior. Anna quickly became like a big sister to Lottie. And as Lo worked to nurse her sister Anna back to health, someone else was working on Anna, too, but in a vastly different way. One day as Lottie was rushing to visit Anna she stumbled into a shocking scene—Anna locked in a romantic embrace with Lottie’s Uncle Aaron. Shocked, thoughts raced through Lottie’s disillusioned mind.
That night, trapped with the secret of their illicit love, Lottie tossed and turned, unable to sleep. She devised a plan—a way to rid the household of the problem that threatened to forever shatter her happy little family. The next day Lottie set her plan in motion while the ladies awaited their afternoon tea in the garden.
A little bit of poison in a teacup did the trick. In a moment Anna was choking, struggling to breathe. She fell to the ground, Lois holding her head in her lap as she choked out her final few gasps of breath. As she died, Lottie standing triumphant, Lois spilled out the tragic truth. It seems that, in killing Anna, to save her family, she had actually killed her biological mother. Poor Anna had been unable to raise her and had trusted her darling daughter to the only person she felt could give Lottie the life Anna so desperately wanted her to have. Anna had sacrificed her happiness, and now lost her life, so that Lottie could be truly happy.
And that was when Lottie’s mind snapped. Lottie went insane, right then and there. She was then committed to a mental institution, where she lived out the rest of her life.
So is Lottie’s ghost the poisoning, vengeance-seeking spirit that she was at her last moment of sanity? No, in fact, it seems Lottie’s ghost is a happy spirit with a child’s simple enthusiasm. Visitors occasionally report a child’s laughter and footsteps echoing in empty rooms. Some claim they’ve spotted Lottie on the staircase, dressed in the clothing of her time period. Others claim to feel her presence near the fountain in the courtyard—near the scene of the mistake that changed her life forever. But mainly Lottie seems to just be revisiting the happiest moments of her life—the moments before she inadvertently destroyed the rest of her life.
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