Wednesday, October 7, 2009

The Mystery of Barnsley Gardens

I have had several readers on this blog email me and ask me about the ever popular legend of Barnsley Gardens. I remember reading about this legend many years ago, and it has been one of the most popular ghost stories associated with Georgia. So, I decided I would post about it at least once. But there are a million places you could read about Barnsley Gardens. I have posted a link to the website of the current resort and spa establishment that is at Barnsley Gardens today. Just click on the title of this post and you will see it.

The story goes that in the late 1830s, Savannah businessman Godfrey Barnsley purchased 10,000 acres of land in Adairsville, a city in the northwest corner of the state. That area of the state still had a substantial Native American population and many of them resented the encroachment of white settlers. One of them, an elderly chief who lived on the property that Godfrey Barnsley had just purchased, was very angered by white encroachment. He put a curse on the land on which Barnsley was going to build his new plantation home.

The land, as it turns out, was also said to include an acorn-shaped hill that inspired fear among the Cherokees. This added to the cloud of mystery surrounding the new estate. It appeared that the curse was beginning to take affect, for right before the mansion was completed, Godfrey Barnsley's wife, Julia, and their infant son died suddenly as they were living in temporary shelter on the property awaiting the completion of the mansion. Godfrey was devastated, but he completed the house anyway, and soon afterwards, he moved in his remaining children, a son and daughter. All went well, that is until the autumn of 1858.

That fall, Godfrey suffered a double tragedy. His son was killed by Chinese pirates on his voyage and journey through the Orient looking for exotic plants to bring back and plant on the grounds of the Barnsley estate. His daughter, now a teenager, died in the house that same year. At this point, Godfrey was so disturbed and distraught that he sought out mediums, psychics, religious leaders and the sort to help him defeat the curse.

Obviously, the curse continued, for over the next few years, Godfrey Barnsley's business ventures began to fail and by the beginning of the Civil War, he was left with a worthless cotton-buying business and an unfinished house at Barnsley Gardens. His estate was in ruins, and his dreams of becoming a wealthy planter was gone. Upon his death, Barnsley still believed in the curse and even begged a minister to help him rid the property and his family of it.

In 1989, a Cherokee chief returned to the property to lift the curse. His name was Richard Bird, and he was a medicine man from Cherokee, North Carolina. He was very disturbed when he arrived, and even commented that upon stepping foot on the property, he knew that the land was cursed. He likened the feeling he got to that of butterflies in his stomach, a very common saying for feelings of nervousness and dread. Bird had been hired by a local attorney who represented the new owners of the estate. However, according to Bird, his services were not really necessary. He reported that the curse on the property died when the chief who placed it died. In his own words, "When a person dies, his magic is no longer good." Nevertheless, the owners wanted to make sure that what befell Godfrey Barnsley did not happen to them. The property is a resort today.

So did the curse actually cause the horrors at Barnsley Gardens? Are curses real? There were a whole host of other weird events at Barnsley Gardens that lend themselves to appear that the property was cursed by the chief, and that the curse indeed was responsible for the misery the Barnsleys encountered. I would like to recommend a few books that include the stories about Barnsley Gardens. First, there is Randall Floyd's More Great Southern Mysteries published by August House Books. Secondly, there is Chris Wangler's Ghost Stories of Georgia published by Lone Pine Publishers. Both should be available online. I would try Half.com for the Floyd book.

16 comments:

Caprice said...

Hi Prof!
Thanks for that interesting story!

I don't know how I feel about curses. They are referenced with frequency throughout history, aren't they? A lot of people do not believe in the ability for one or more people to send out evil intent and that actually have a physical effect on a person. However, if you take the flip side of curses and look at blessings or prayers, you see that a lot more people believe in the effectiveness of prayer. I even read a study on the effectiveness of prayer. In this study, one group studied did not even know that their loved ones or church group were praying for them and they were still miraculously cured.
Can curses be the flip side of blessings? I don't know - but put that way, it seems a little more likely that curses DO work! SCARY!

The Professor said...

Not sure, but this one is a very popular one. Also, you might want to see my post on the Jacksonborough Curse of Lorenzo Dow.

The Doctor said...

Many walk in the dark and many walk in the light. It would be as a mirror image upon life. One believes in the power of one and the other equally believes in their power too. I have seen and been exposed to many things in my life but I do know that the light of prayer does work. And I have watched as the dark side has worked to create it's own. The key here is that one is used to thwart the other.

Caprice said...

Hi Doctor,

It sounds like you are saying that you do believe curses have power. Do you believe, like some, that nothing exists without its opposite? God - Satan, Yin - Yang...
Maybe both prayer and curse have power over us humans because we contain both good and evil?

"What can we know? What are we all? Poor silly half-brained things peering out at the infinite, with the aspirations of angels and the instincts of beasts."

The Doctor said...

Just as Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end we all began with nothing and will leave with nothing. Only that which the Almighty has instilled us with. I believe deeply in prayer. And for curses. My family is from a rural area of north Georgia where they believe deeply in omens, potents and things I rather not discuss. It is life right out of Harvest Home. We do gain authority of the mind if we know how to use it.

Caprice said...

Yes, I do believe we can control our environment and our bodies (health) with our minds, the question, however, was whether or not we can control someone else's environment and body (health)with curses.

The Doctor said...

Do you believe you can? And does the person who receives the curse believe it? Then the mind will take over to control. Strange things do happen in our world. My mom always said be careful what you wish for you might get it.

Caprice said...

Hi Doctor,
Yes, that is sage advice.

Okay,let's say, for the sake of argument, that prayer works (even when the subject does not know they are being prayed for - like in the study I referred to), and let's say that curses work (even when the subject does not know they are being cursed). Why does not every prayer and every curse stick?

The Doctor said...

Because the person who is being prayed for or being cursed is not what the Maker wishes. Remember many who are afflicted and prayed for are not healed because they may be used as an example of inspiration to someone else. I have lived through much that would have killed most but I am still here. My time is not up and He who made me sets that time. Just as He who made his son who was cursed he cannot always have his way. My mom also said be weary of the night for it carries many things we don't understand and shall not. Think long and hard before you jump because the fall might hurt.

Caprice said...

I'm not sure I buy that, Doctor.
That God decides who is cured and who is cursed.
I'm leaning toward a thought that God set up a system (and gave us all the Tools necessary) to cure ourselves. I think Jesus wanted to teach us how to use those Tools. He kept trying to show his disciples how to control and manipulate their surroundings. He turned water to wine, He walked on water, He calmed a storm, He cursed a tree and it died, He healed indiscriminately! He never told someone, "No, I cannot heal you, it is your time to die." He kept telling his disciples that they can do everything that He was doing.
I think some of us have learned to use the Tools and that is why a lot of prayer works. And if curses work like prayer, how does one keep from receiving and being effected by curses? If we are referencing the Bible for this, the only curse I can remember on a person was Job - but that was Satan and not a person. Can anyone think of any curses in the Bible?
I know in religions other than Christianity, curses are mentioned and of course folklore has many stories of curses (even recipes for cursing, and of course cures for curses).

The Doctor said...

The one thing the disciples could not be and that was He. Try as they might and we as we are in this life we cannot be a grain of what he was to us or in the presence of His Father. We can try but it will never be. Cure theyself of inner woe and inner evil and that is an achievement bestowed to all. And wasn't Cain cursed with the mark so no one would kill him. Wouldn't it be a curse upon him to roam the land in shame. I can tell you this all that you seek whether it be supernatural, holy, earthbound or spiritual can be found within the Word of God. If you live long enough you will learn much. But be watchful of what you seek.

Caprice said...

Right! Cain was cursed, but like Job, not by a person.
Oh, well, I cannot think of any, I guess no one else can...
I need to call my Mom. She'll know!

The Doctor said...

And you know the man Moses was used to bring the plagues upon Egypt. And we all have been cursed after we were cast from Eden. But Jesus brought us redemption with his death and ressurrection. And you know I often wonder how the people felt the moment Jesus died on the cross that the graves opened and the saints of old walked among men again. A time of fear and yet a time of joy for mankind.

The Doctor said...

Here is something on Bible curses.
Gen. 3:14 and Gen. 4:11 Both pronounced by God against the serpent and then against Cain. Those divine maledictions carried their effect with them.
Curses by Men in the Bible:
Gen. 9:25 Noah cursed his younger son for him taking advantage of him while naked. Cursed be Canaan a servant of servants shall be unto his brethren.
Gen. 49:7 Simeon and Levi were instruments of cruelty. Cursed be their anger for it was fierce and their wrath cruel.
Deut. 27:15-26 Cursed be the man that maketh any graven image or molten image an abomination unto the Lord. Curse he who removes a neighbors landmark. Curse he tht setteth light by mother and father. Curse he who make the blind to wander out of way. Cursing those who lay with mother, father, sister, beast, and mother n law. Curse he who smiteth neighbor in secret. Curse he who take reward to slay innocent persons. Curse he that confirmeth not all these laws.
Josh. 6:26 Joshua said, cursed he the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his first born, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.
Ex. 21:17 He that curseth his father or mother shall surely be put to death.
Ex. 22:28 Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.
Lev. 19:14 Thou shalt not curse the deaf nor put a stumblingblock before the blind but shall fear thy God.
Lev. 24:10-16 Those who blaspheme God shall be stoned to death and their camp cursed.
Job. 2:9 Curse God and die.

I hope this information helps.

Caprice said...

Well, there sure is an awful lot of cursing in the Bible, huh?
Thank you for the references!

The Doctor said...

You are welcome.