released August 22, 2023

Florida

1. New Smyrna’s Mysterious Ruins

One of the weirdest mysteries on Florida’s east coast is in New Smyrna’s Old Fort Park across from the City Hall. Sitting on the east side of the park facing the river, is what appears at first glance to be a Spanish fort measuring 40 by 80 feet, but was it a fort or something else? No one seems to really know, but since it had to be called something, why not a “fort”?

The ruins are constructed of coquina blocks like the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, which would have required a considerable labor force and time. The project would have involved quarrying the coquina, cutting and shaping it, then transporting it, and then building the structure. This does not take into account that the site would have needed excavation, and workers to turn oyster shells into “tabby,” the cement used in early construction. So, who had such a labor force or time to build this stone fort, foundation, or whatever it is? Unlike St. Augustine’s fort, there are no records as to the origin of New Smyrna’s so-called fort.

According to local historian and publisher, Gary Luther, the ruins have also been called the Turnbull Ruins. During Florida’s British period in 1768, Dr. Andrew Turnbull, a physician from Scotland, recruited 1,403 colonists comprised of Greeks, Italians, Corsicans, and Minorcans for establishing a settlement in Florida. Dr. Turnbull’s wife, Gracia Dura Bin, was from Smyrna, Asia Minor, and in recognition of her birthplace the settlement was named New Smyrna. Sailing in eight ships, 1,255 of these settlers survived the three month journey, only to find extreme hardships awaiting them in Florida. First, preparations had only been made to accommodate 500 people. Then there were the mosquitoes, heat, food shortages, Indians, and the difficult tasks of clearing land and digging drainage canals.

The colonists experienced harsh treatment by overseers, which resulted in rebellions and a dwindling labor force. Nine years later only about 500 remained in the settlement. Considering all of these factors, and available time, it would seem unlikely that these colonists had anything to do with building New Smyrna’s weird structure. There’s another question that needs answering––where was the quarry for the coquina rock used in the construction of the ruins? If you calculate the amount of coquina blocks that went into building this mystery, there would have to be a pretty big pit somewhere around town. In St. Augustine the old Spanish quarries can still be seen on Anastasia Island, but no such holes exist in New Smyrna.

The ruins are not indicated on maps of the colony period or mentioned in the records. However, on the 1605 Albero Mexia map, the Ais Indian village of “Caparaca” is shown at the location of the ruins. Historian Gary Luther points out that the ruins were built within a pre-existing Indian shell mound that was probably the village of Caparaca. Naturalist William Bartram reported this mound when he passed through the area in 1766 just before the arrival of the Smyrna colonists, but makes no mention of a stone structure.

In his History of New Smyrna, Gary Luther writes that in 1776 a group of Englishmen from St. Augustine visited New Smyrna “to see the improvements, especially a very large stone building that was commenced for a mansion house.” Luther adds, “Work was never completed because nearly all of the colonists, freed from their indentures, fled to St. Augustine in 1777.” Does this mean that the ruins are the remains of a foundation for an unfinished mansion? Perhaps Turnbull’s palace? In 1778, following the collapse of the Smyrna colony, Andrew Turnbull moved his family to Charleston, South Carolina.
During the second Spanish period, which began in 1783, Dr. Ambrose Hull moved down from Connecticut and under a colonization deal offered by Spain, received a grant in 1801 for 2,600 acres including the site that is now Old Fort Park. Hull began preparing his land for growing sugar and cotton but he suffered a major setback when Indians attacked his plantation. By 1803 a new settlement had evolved at New Smyrna that had a population of 500 to 600 settlers. Hull referred to the location of the ruins as “Mount Olive” because of the olive trees that had been planted there during the Turnbull colonization.

Although Hull offers no observations of any ruins at the site, he did write in 1805 about having a number of stonemasons at work building a two story house. He later described his house as being of hewn stone and consisting of two large rooms, one over the other, three double doors, and six windows. There is also a mention of two “turrets or towers” extending four feet on each end of the original foundation. Historians are in agreement that Ambrose Hull built his house on an existing foundation. Historian Gary Luther points out that where Hull added the towers, “the cut and color of the coquina, as well as the mortar, are noticeably different from the rest of the ruins and that six window indentations can be seen as described by Hull.” The Hull house was destroyed during the Patriot’s War of 1812.

But if we are to assume that Hull built his house on existing ruins, then why does a survey map dated May 25, 1817, show “Turnbull’s Palace” at the site of the ruins and “Hull’s House” a little northwest of this location? And why did Hull make no mention the Turnbull Palace? Most likely, the surveyor simply relied on what someone had told him and not on factual information.

In 1854, John D. Sheldon built a forty room hotel and home on the ruins. During the Civil War in July 1863, this structure was destroyed when the Union navy shelled New Smyrna. In 1867 Sheldon built a new hotel constructed of wood salvaged from the beach. This building, which also housed a post office and several stores, stood until 1896 when it was torn down.

2. TALLAHASSEE’S WITCH GRAVE

A century old legend surrounds a curious tomb in Tallahassee’s old City Cemetery. As I entered the iron gates of the cemetery my attention was captured by an ornate, towering obelisk marking a curious tomb. It’s easy to get the feeling that this unusual grave magnetically beckons visitors to come closer. This is the most visited grave in the entire cemetery, mainly due to a legend about how it’s the final resting place for a witch named “Bessie.”

“Bessie” is actually the nickname for Elizabeth Budd-Graham who was only 23 when she died in 1889 leaving behind a husband and two small children. She was laid to rest in one of Tallahassee’s most elaborate tombs, surrounded by a stone wall, large granite vases, a huge monument adorned with sculptured feathers, ivy, and a cross inside of a crown. There’s no doubt, this was a most expensive grave for 1889, considering that wooden markers were still common for that time period. Historians are not sure why Bessie rated such a fancy burial place, or who paid for it, although there’s a traditional yarn about how she bewitched a wealthy man into marrying her and he wanted to commerate her with the most elaborate stone in the cemetery
The legend about Bessie being a witch is built around a number of odd things about her grave. To begin with, Bessie was born in October, the month of Halloween, and her grave is the only one in the cemetery that faces west, which some say is contrary to Christian burial customs. But it’s the strange epitaph chiseled on Bessie’s tomb that has stirred imaginations and caused folks to conjure up a dark meaning. You’ll probably recognize the passages from the mysterious Edgar Allan Poe’s

“Lenore.”
“Ah! Broken is the golden bowl.
The spirit flown forever!
Let the bell toll! A saintly soul
Floats on the Stygian River;
Come let the burial rite be read
The funeral song be sung;
An anthem for the queenliest dead
That died so young
A dirge for her the doubly dead
In that she died so young.”

Legend believers have translated a variety of “witch evidence” from the weird epitaph. Some equate the first line, “Broken is the bowl,” to driving a stake into a vampire. The lines “the spirit flown forever” and “A saintly soul floats on the Stygian River,” are said to mean that a witch’s spirit cannot cross the river of death and is trapped between life and death. According to practitioners of witchcraft who often visit the grave, the “Stygian River” is the Styx River of Greek mythology, where “Souls of the dead were carried across the River Styx to the lower world.” Others, refer to “…the queenliest dead” as meaning she was the “Queen of the Dead” and that the words “doubly dead” meaning a witch must be killed twice.

In spite of all the sinister allegations, my research found no evil in Bessie’s life. Maybe that’s why most people will tell you that she was a “good witch.” It’s more likely that she wasn’t a witch at all. However, one thing is for certain; the strangeness surrounding her burial place has spawned a legend larger than life, and whether fact or fiction, it has kept the spirit of Elizabeth “Bessie” Budd-Graham alive for more than a hundred years.

3. THE PATHWAY OF WICCADEMOUS

In Fernandina a scary legend has been making its rounds among teenagers for a long, long time. No one really knows how old this story is, but according to local high school kids it’s at least a few hundred years old. It has to do with an evil called “Wiccademous” that lurks in the woods. The story begins in the 1600s when a young girl was brought to trial for practicing witchcraft and sentenced to be hanged. Allegedly, her execution was carried on September 12, sixteen-hundred and something. No one seems to know the exact year, but for some reason everyone claims to know the day and month. Of course there’s a historical problem with this early date, since there wasn’t much here in the 1600s, certainly not a village. Fernandina is the only town in the U.S.A. to have been under the flags of eight different nations. In 1592, the French fleet of Jean Ribaut dropped anchor here, but no real settlements appear on any maps until 1767, when the town of Egmont was established in the area of present day Fernandina. There are no records that suggest witchcraft was an issue in Egemont, nevertheless, this legend of evil is rooted in witch and demon lore, hence the name Wiccademous.

The location of this evil activity is across from the Fernandina High School, down a narrow a path under the branches of an ancient oak tree. It’s here that Wiccademous will get you, so say those in the know. There’s a grave here that belongs to the girl that was hanged for witchcraft, and if you dare to disturb it…that means just being near it, you’ll feel the wrath of Wiccademous. Supposedly, the ground will shake violently and you’ll hear loud booming noises--all warnings for you to leave the area. Most of the time these effects will be experienced before reaching the grave, but other times the evil will let people get all the way to the grave, and then trap them.

There are stories about how people have ventured into the woods and were never heard from again. I guess Wiccademous got them, although no locals can recall anyone ever disappearing down that path.
Sometimes the spirit of Wiccademous will follow intruders home. If this happens, you will dream of her two nights in a row, and if you visit the grave after the second night, you’ll see the apparition of Wiccademous. The path is almost hidden, but I found it and took a short hike into the woods.

There’s a deep, natural gully that cuts through the oak woods and near the entrance is an old weather-worn kiosk that was once used as an information board when the path was a nature trail. It was apparent that the path had not been used for a long time. As for a grave, I did not see anything that looked like a burial place…of course that doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist, after hundreds of years it could be hidden beneath the growth of time.

4. The Devil’s Chair

Many of the original Cassadaga spiritualists are buried about a mile up the road in the Lake Helen cemetery. Each Halloween, guards must be posted at the cemetery to ward off outside pranksters and curiosity seekers looking for goblins. One of the big evil attractions at the cemetery has always been the sinister “Devil’s Chair.”

According to the stories, if you sit in this big, brick chair at midnight, the Devil will communicate to you. The Prince of Darkness also enjoys a cold beer once in awhile, for I’m told that if you place an unopened can of beer on the chair it will be empty the next morning. He’s probably a pretty thirsty fellow after working in all that fire and brimstone.

I went to see the chair and thought it looked more like a big brick barbeque pit sitting next to a grave. Actually, there are three such brick chairs, so it is a little confusing trying to figure out which is El Diablo’s. I sat in all of them, but I didn’t hear the Devil say anything…maybe because it was broad daylight, or because I didn’t leave him a beer.
hen it comes to Cassadaga, Louis Gates is not only a medium; he’s a regular historian and folklorist. I knew he would know about the Devil’s Chair. He laughed as he began telling me the truth behind the legend. “There’s nothing to it, kids started that story. The real story goes back to a man who lost his wife, it was a quick death and unexpected, this was back in the twenties. She was buried in the cemetery, and he would walk there each day and sit beside her grave. The man had arthritis real bad in his legs and the walk was hard on him. He needed something to sit on, so he built that big, brick chair so he could rest beside his wife’s grave. There are all kinds of stories, how if you sit in it the Devil will talk to you…it’s just a story…it has nothing to do with the Devil.”

They Could Hear Voices

There is a big stone chair in Cassadaga. If you sit in this chair at midnight the Devil will talk to you. I know someone who went there and they said they could hear voices in their head but when they got up out of the chair the voices went away. If you put a can of beer on the grave next to the chair it will be empty in the morning and the top will still be sealed. Now how is that possible? But I know someone who did it and the next morning the can was empty. –deathvader
Dark Figures Lurking

Go to the Lake Helen cemetery just down the road two miles from Cassadaga. Up on the hill in the middle of the cemetery you will see a large brick chair with arms. This is the Devil’s Chair and if you sit in it he will appear. We went out there at night but no one would sit in it because we saw some dark figures lurking in the shadows. We did not know if it was just some kids or something else. –thestetsonkid
Saw Some Strange People

Some students from Stetson went there on Halloween night but they said they could not get into the cemetery because the road was blocked by some strange people. They said the people were mediums from Cassadaga and were there talking with the dead. –Kim S

Chris Phinney – (Mental Anguish) – synthesizers, electronics , fx, final mix
Ced Debear – Cover art

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