Litchfield Plantation has a history of being haunted throughout several books, websites as well as paranormal investigation groups. The legend is pretty simple, it goes a little like this:
From http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com, it reads:
- Litchfield Plantation – Some believe Dr. Henry Tucker, the plantation’s owner in the late 1800s, still remains. People have reported seeing him in the Blue Room. It is said he used to ring the bell at the entrance gate in the middle of the night, until the bell was removed several years ago.
The Litchfield Plantation Grounds
Shells
In Psychic’s automatic writing, he mentioned shells, which was alarming at first since we weren’t going to be near the beach. What we found after we toured the main house was a giant casing that was used to harvest rice, a major crop throughout the Grand Strand in the 1800’s. This was my first clue that psychic was on the right track.
Mona, Age 16
Also, on the grounds are several headstone markers randomly placed. The most significant one that has the current owner stumped was a small marker that simply read “Mona, Age 16”.
Through research, I was able to find the death certificate of a Mona Avant who died of pneumonia at the age of 16. Not much can be told by the death certificate as you can see, but the parents were both South Carolina residents. Through my research, this was the only “Mona” who died at the age of 16 that I could find in South Carolina.
Later, Psychic confessed that he felt his breathing get very heavy while in one of the bedrooms and near Mona’s grave. I took this is him channeling the pneumonia that Mona would’ve felt while lying on her deathbed.
With the last name of Avant, I couldn’t find any owners of Litchfield Plantation with same surname. Which could lead to the “Child Not His Wife” in Psychic’s automatic writing. I can’t say anything for sure on this topic, but found it interesting nonetheless.
“L/F” and “Tea”
Here’s where things got a little out of hand for Psychic and I. And I will say that I did not truly discover this reference until I listened to the audio when recapping this investigation.
After leaving the main house and thanking John for his hospitable tour, we went off track to venture down the other roads on the plantation. What we found was a few more headstones destroyed by vandals. One of the few headstones still in tact was that of “Wm Bowens”.
When researching the symbols on the headstone, I found that the three chain links and the FLT in the links stands for the mantra for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), Friendship, Love and Truth. Taking a listen to Psychic’s testimony throughout the tour, he came across an “L” at first, then an hour later, an “F” and once outside, he mentioned “Tea”. Now, I might be reaching with the tea, but it is a bit coincidental that F and L came through first, then tea.
Slave Graveyard
I mentioned earlier that I met up with the Lost Souls Paranormal team. I took them to the site where I found the Bowens headstone. They pointed out that the small patch of land where the headstone stood was a full blown graveyard. I took a step back to get the full picture and it was then obvious to see the sunken in parts of land, each about 6 feet in length. Very few headstones, even broken, remained. There’s no telling how many slaves have been buried there and forgotten.
Secret Society
During the tour with John, he took Psychic and I into the caretaker’s house. Immediately, Psychic mentioned old secrets being held and something masonic. Give a listen here:
It wasn’t until I began researching the Bowens grave markings that I discovered the secret society of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Also, with the Bowens grave being in a slave graveyard, I decided to look up his race and investigate if blacks or slaves were even allowed into this society during that time period.
As it turns out, Mr. Bowens was African American as his death certificate says “colored” in the race section. I also learned that African Americans were allowed into secret societies after the Civil War ended in 1865. It began in the northern states and slowly trickled down into the southern states. With Bowens’s death in 1916, he would’ve rightfully been allowed in the IOOF.
“L” Again
I want to revisit this “L” again since my audio with Psychic was so strong about it. With the legends of Dr. Tucker being the prominent urban legend, I dug into previous owners of the Litchfield Plantation.
I found Louis Claude Lachicotte and his wife Ella Florence Stokes Lachicotte who owned the property in 1887. There are plenty of “L’s” and even an “F” in these names. It would also match up with the time period of the graves on the grounds.
Granted, the word “medicine” came through in Psychic’s automatic writings as well, but that could also lead up to Mona’s death of needing medicine to ease her breathing.
As to exactly who is haunting these grounds, I cannot say for sure. The Lost Souls Paranormal Group have caught EVP’s of a girl laughing and a woman trying to tell them something. Could this be Mona? Or maybe even Ella? Nobody knows for sure, but all the same I was inspired by this investigation. It proved Psychic’s abilities yet again and well, I gained inspiration for my writing.
I’m Nicholas McGirr, Author of the Afterlife, and now you know another story that has inspired my fiction works. Be sure to click the book covers to the right to check them out.
Thanks, for reading,
Nick.
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This is episode 7 of the Stories in the Cemetery podcast.
E49: 2023 Prediction Reveal – Stories in the Cemetery
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