*Ghost story! Virginia-born Richard Archer and his wife Ann moved to the Mississippi river town of Port Gibson in 1837, to a home they named Anchuca. There, Richard settled in as a successful planter and amateur scientist, while Ann bore and raised nine children: five daughters and four sons. One of the five daughters from birth looked so much like her father that a nurse laughingly called her “Archie” as a nickname, and the name stuck. Archie Archer, as she grew up, became her father’s intellectual companion as well; they shared books, discussed politics, and laughed over his somewhat unorthodox scientific experiments, triumphs and failures alike, joys his other children took no interest in whatever. It was the failure of one such experiment that inadvertently strained the relationship of father and daughter to the breaking point. One summer Richard Archer, who dearly loved fresh oysters and could only get them on his trips to New Orleans, tried to farm his own oysters by “planting” them in a pond he’d filled with salt water. The result was a stinking failure, and the family was forced to leave Anchuca and spend several weeks in a Port Gibson hotel. While they were there, Richard Archer noticed that Archie was slipping away on her horse almost every afternoon, returning late with a dreamy smile and almost floating with happiness. He thought he knew the cause: she was in love. Unfortunately, her first love was not of her social standing. He was the son of Richard Archer’s overseer, Josh Melvin. Pigheaded Richard Archer did indeed send Josh Melvin away, and Archie never saw her first love again. His daughter was heartbroken and vowed to never speak to her father again. In 1966, the house was purchased by a man named Jack Lavender, who moved in with his wife, daughter and a small servant staff, including a butler named Harry. Mel Lavender, the daughter, was the first to report something strange in the house. One day, around time for a meal, Mel went into the parlor and was startled to see the figure of a young, very pretty girl in a brown antebellum dress, standing at the fireplace. Mel was startled, but not frightened; she stood and watched the girl for some time until she simply faded away. In describing the incident to her parents later, Mel said that while she was not afraid during the encounter, she did feel very sorry for the young girl. *There is an abbreviated account of this ghost story. For more go to this link- fairweatherlewis.wordpress/2012/10/13/angry-archie-archer-of-anchucha/ Photo: MDAH. Note: the house is no longer standing....
Posted on: Fri, 23 May 2014 15:40:29 +0000
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