The Sorrel Weed House

Courtyard of the Sorrel Weed house

The second night in Savannah, Sheri and I took another haunted tour, this time of the Sorrel Weed House.  From the second we walked into the courtyard I had the creeps.  I have never been more jumpy or nervous in my life.

But, before I get to the good stuff there’s a little history about the house to go over.

The home’s first owner was Francis Sorrel a wealthy Savannah man known for hosting parties for prominent families.  According to www.sorrelweedhouse.com, Civil War Generals Robert E. Lee and General Sherman were among the many guests at this house.

In 1862 the home was purchased by Henry Weed, a successful Savannah businessman.

But the events that make the home so interesting happened while Francis Sorrel owned the home.  According to our tour guide, Francis was half white and half Haitian.  But Francis didn’t want any one to know about his Haitian side so he denied it completely, bringing bad heebie jeebies to himself and his family.

Francis had several children with his wife, Matilda, and among their slaves they had a favorite, her name was Molly.  Rumors have it that one day, Matilda went to Molly’s quarters looking for her.  When she walked in she caught Molly and Francis in an embrace (DIRTY)!  Matilda then went to her bedroom and “fell” over her railing, landing on her head and dying.  Our guide was quick to mention “fell” because truthfully, no one knows if Matilda jumped to her death or if she was pushed. 

Two weeks later, Molly was found hanged from a beam in her bedroom.  Once again there is much speculation as to whether Molly committed suicide or she was murdered.  Here’s a fun tidbit for you.  While working as an investigator for a Coroner’s office, I was taught, by the Coroner I worked for, that individuals of African-American heritage will not typically commit suicide by hanging themselves.  The reason for this is due to all of the lynchings that occurred in the past by angry White mobs.  Therefore, whenever investigating these deaths, close attention to the arms and the neck around the ligature needed to be made to make sure signs of a struggle weren’t overlooked.  Knowing this certainly makes me wonder what really happened to Molly.

Enough of this morbid stuff.  Let’s move on to something more cheerful.  In Halloween 2005 Ghost Hunters filmed at this house for their Halloween Special.  Another fun fact I found on Wikipedia is that the opening scene of Forest Gump (the one with the floating feather) was filmed from the roof top of this home.  I wonder if the film crew had any strange experiences.  I know Sheri and I did…..Stay Tuned!