Ghosts of the Pee Dee by Tally Johnson

Author:Tally Johnson [Johnson, Tally]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Folklore & Mythology, Photography, Subjects & Themes, Historical, Body; Mind & Spirit, Supernatural (Incl. Ghosts), History, United States, State & Local, South (AL; AR; FL; GA; KY; LA; MS; NC; SC; TN; VA; WV)
ISBN: 9781614235361
Google: Y4V2CQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Published: 2009-05-04T04:54:21+00:00

AGNES OF GLASGOW: DOES SHE STILL SEEK HER LOVE?

One of Camden’s better-known ghost legends centers on a young lady known as Agnes of Glasgow. According to the romantic legend, she so loved Lieutenant Angus McPherson that she left home and hearth and followed him to South Carolina when he was sent here under General Cornwallis. In fact, some sources say that she had abandoned the lieutenant for the general by the time of departure and was with Cornwallis until just before he left Camden. Of course, some scholars, far less chivalrous than I, have even accused her of being a mere camp follower and kept woman. Sadly, according to the most common version, she had to take a later boat and was separated from McPherson in Charleston. But love will find a way, and she soon learned his regiment’s destination in the backcountry.

Sadly, Agnes had been stricken with yellow fever and never saw her love again. In fact, if not for the friendly chief of the Catawba tribe, King Haigler, she might not have even received a Christian burial. He and some of his braves brought her body to the local Quaker meeting, and the people there buried her in their graveyard, where General Cornwallis interrupted his planning for the Battle of Camden to both pay for her tombstone and attend her funeral. There is no word if Lieutenant McPherson was in attendance; in fact, some versions claim that she did find her lieutenant, just in time to watch him die of yellow fever. Now, though I am far from a romantic, I am human and this tale does tug at the heartstrings. Facts may be silly things, but they are key to understanding past events. And the facts don’t jibe in this account. First, King Haigler, while friendly to the early settlers at Camden, was killed by a Shawnee raiding party between 1763 and 1765 during the French and Indian War. Also, it is unknown when in 1780 Agnes arrived in Camden, and it is possible that the British had already departed. Finally, there is no mention of a Lieutenant Angus McPherson in service near Camden in 1780. Even still, an attractive young lady died on what was then the frontier and was kindly buried by strangers.

According to local lore, Agnes still walks near the Quaker Cemetery in which her body lies and near the historic Camden site along U.S. Highway 521 south of modern Camden. I have been that way many times and have never seen anything, and if you’ve read my other books, picking up a phantom hitchhiker is old hat for me. However, on my research trip to the Kershaw and Sumter County sites with my wife, Rachel, and our friend Erin Maloney, Rachel—who responds to the supernatural with much less calm than I—was noticeably shaken while we were at the Quaker Cemetery. She refused to say why until we were headed home and safely past the area. She said she felt a weight of sadness bordering on grief while we were at the graveyard.

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