Courtyard of the Sorrel Weed house

On our 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.

Homeowner History

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

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

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

Francis had several children with his wife, Matilda, and among their slaves they had a favorite, her name was Molly.  Rumor has 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 hanging from a beam in her bedroom.  Once again, there is much speculation as to whether Molly committed suicide or was murdered.  Here’s a fun tidbit for you.  While working as an investigator for a Coroner’s office, I learned that individuals of African-American heritage don’t 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 happened to Molly.

Sorrel Weed House in Pop Culture

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 rooftop of this home.  I wonder if the film crew had any strange experiences.  I know Sheri and I did…..Stay Tuned!