Photos of the Ghost tale/legend of "Alice" of Pawleys (Charleston: new house, school)
Myrtle Beach - Conway areaHorry County
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20 years ago I visited a home called the Hermitage....I knew it had a ghostly tale attached to it....little did I know that I would this year be taken to the "ghosts grave!"
In fact, I had to put the two stories together to realize that the ghost house was that of Alice. If you read the story above you will see some interesting tale about Alice and her family.
Recently our friends in SC took us to Alices grave. Still, during our trip there I had not pieced the puzzle together. That 20 years ago I had indeed visited her home. At that time we had to make an appointment. During this time......the new owners no longer have visitors to the Hermitage home. But, off we were to the All Saints Cemetery.
Alice's brother and Mother would not let her be with a young man who was beneath her station in life. The story begins in 1849 and at the time they all lived at the Hermitage. Alice secretly got engaged...arguments of great fervor incurred. Dr. Allard Flagg( her brother) refused to consent to her new love. She was then sent to Charleston to go to school. Alice got sick in this new, strange place, far from home. Her brother traveled for four days to take her back to Murrells Inlet....It took four days to return over water and many rugged roads. Alice died soon after arrival.......Her engagement ring taken from the ribbon on her neck. To this day people leave rings and other items on her grave. It is said if one walks 6 rounds clockwise and 6 counter clockwise their wish will come true. There is a path worn around and round her gravesite. Many say they have felt her spirit in the Hermitage home...Some have seen her spirit. Ring have disappeared from hands at the gravesite. There are many stories and tales about dear Alice. I have taken some pictures at the old cemetery today and I will post them in the next posting.......... I feel now I have gone full circle. I have been to the Hermitage home and now to the burial grounds of sweet Alice. There was a lot to be discovered there. Many of the stones say loved ones were lost in a "tidal wave" in 1883. Now, that was news to me.......But, yes........it is listed as such in documents. So after many years of coming this way.......I have found Alice. Little did I know she has been her all along.......
i dont want to say that this is kinda cool lol...its a sad, tragic story, but its kinda neat that after all this time, she isn't forgotten. thanks for sharing. i enjoyed learning about miss alice
Your welcome Sparklez........
When our friends who live in the SC area asked us if we wanted to visit Alices grave, I had not put the story together of our visit long ago with our young daughter to the "Hermitage"...Alices home.
My friend was reading the story to me as we ventured along the back roads to the cemetery.
The story seemed to come back to me in pieces, I remembered the long ago visit to the "ghost house" in Murrells Inlet.( over 20 years before)
Now, I knew where I was going and how that home related to my upcoming cemetery visit.
It was so interesting.........all those old stones. Many saying a loved one who died " in the 1883 tidal wave."........
I went home and looked up more information. Then I had to return....
I was able to connect people with stones, and it was history coming to life.
I saw a stone also of a " Pawleys" daughter who married and had five children. All buried near the front of the cemetery. I read on a stone near the back of parents who died in the "tsunami" of 1883.
To think that this type of weather has been a concern around the World recently....and here it was an issue that stuck the SC area, way back in time.
It is a sad tragic story........But her story lives on. Even the little school children were at her grave the second time we visited. New items are always there.....
As most of the area people know the area of Pawleys was named after Pawley a big rice plantation owner.
Alice is surely loved.
We visited Alice's grave and heard her story about 12 years ago when we took a trip with the Carolina Jeep Safari Tour. I highly recommend them for a touristy and informative thing to do. They also told us the story of the "grey ghost" of Pawley's Island and how if you see him walking the beach before a hurricane your house will be spared from destruction.
Yes, that grey ghost seems to protect the area very well.......Everything is still standing..........The improvements are great. The colors of the high rises. The new boardwalk......Your looking good Myrtle Beach.
I cannot attest to the validity of this rumor, but I have been told that the grave site in the photo is just a memorial. The actual grave contents were moved to another section of Georgetown County many years ago. I do know that the local sheriff deputies are constantly chasing people from the cemetery after dark when it closes.
The tale of the Gray Man of Pawleys Island consists of a male figure who is seen on the beach just before large storms to warn folks of impending danger.
The Gray Man of Pawleys Island (http://www.state.sc.us/scdah/grayman.htm - broken link)
This story has always had my attention. I have researched it many times. I have lived in the area since 1987. Many locals say that the popular grave that is claimed to be the Alice we seek, isn't her but a namesake child of her brother, Dr. Allard Flagg. This child was one of many of the Flagg family members who lost there life in the tidal wave in 1883.
Years back , I was so into this story that I read all I could on it. My boyfriend at the time, had lived in Murrells Inlet his whole life. He took me first to the All Saints grave and then to a little cemetery in Murrells Inlet. Showing me a head stone of a Alice Flagg that is said to be the first Alice, the one we seek.
Like I said , it has been years since I was there but I want to go back to the little grave yard and take pics. The house is no longer there. I was told it was bought by a local contractor, who had the original house moved ( this is what I want to know, where was the original house moved to? ) and built one of his own on the same site. I was told by a close friend of the contractor that the first night he spent at the new house, he was sitting at the dining room table eating a Big Mac and looked up and there she stood, a beautiful girl in a long white dress... Alice.
Now the land is a small gated housing development. This is all that comes up when I search for any info on the original Hermitage.
Did it get destroyed? If it was just moved, does Alice still haunt it? Is the little grave yard the actual place that Alice is at rest?
I am willing to search and find out these answers in the next few weeks. I will come back and post to let you know what I find.
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