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Sorrel Weed

Savannah Attractions: Sorrel Weed House

So you have decided to visit Savannah. Fabulous idea!  We look forward to seeing you at Cool Savannah Tours & Gifts in the heart of Savannah’s Historic District.  There are so many historic sites and attractions to see when you visit Savannah.  One of the goals of our blog is to share with you some of the best sites to see.  

The Haunted History of the Sorrel Weed House 

There are a number of haunted mansions in the city, but the Sorrel Weed House has among the most haunted houses in Savannah.  The 16,000 foot home is one of the largest mansions in Savannah and is one of the best examples of Savannah architecture. Francis Sorrel was a wealthy commission merchant from the West Indies, who became a prominent citizen of Savannah in the 19th century.   Sorrel hired the architect Charles Cluskey to design and build the Greek Revival and Regency style mansion.  The amber-colored home features a sweeping double entrance with Doric Columns on the portico and an oval shaped library with curved wooden doors.  This property consists of a mansion and a connecting carriage house in the rear.  It is located in near Madison Square, on Bull St, just south of Liberty.  The mansion is a National historic landmark as well as a Georgia state landmark in the the Historic District of Savannah.

The Sorrel Weed house was built in 1841 during the Antebellum period of South.   During this era, slavery and agriculture were predominant with the primary crops being  cotton and rice.  Savannah became very prosperous and was known as an international shipping port.   Sorrel became a friend of Confederate General, Robert E. Lee.  General Lee often vacationed in the area and was assigned to oversee the construction of nearby Old Fort Jackson.  Lee is said to have visited the mansion on numerous occasions.  The house was also home to Francis Sorrel’s son, Moxley.  Moxley Sorrel is known as the youngest Brigadier General in the Confederate Army at age 26.  Francis’s oldest son was a surgeon who performed surgeries in the basement.  Francis and his wife Matilda lived at the mansion with their sons and daughters.  Slaves were basically kept behind the carriage house.  Molly, Mathilda’s personal maid had a room above the carriage house of the Sorrel Weed house.  Sorrel Weed

Rumor has it that Mathilda found Molly and Francis together in a compromising position in Molly’s room.    Mathilda is said to have run to the parlor facing the courtyard and to have thrown herself over the balcony.  Within two weeks is said that Molly was found hanging from the rafters in her room.  It was possibly a suicide, more likely a cover-up murder.

Whether or not this sad tale is true, many have experienced and recorded numerous paranormal lighted orbs , voices, and sensations in the Sorrel Weed House over the years.  The house was built on or near to the site of a British barracks and the bloody, brutal Siege of Savannah.  It is said that the bodies of many soldiers are buried there.  A number of visitors have seen an apparition of soldiers or women.   Many claim to have seen Matilda looking out the windows and in the parlors.  She has also been seen walking on the grounds wearing a black Antebellum style dress with fancy hat and carrying a cape.  Some of the most intense paranormal experiences have occurred in the back room of the basement where Sorrel’s son performed his surgeries.   Researchers have been unable to use their equipment in this area to record voices, sounds, and images.  Tap dancing has been heard on the main floor by researchers in the basement.    Orbs of light have been captured on film near Moxley Sorrel’s painting and in the rafters of Molly’s room.    A bearded man’s face has also been seed in the rafter’s in Molly’s room.  Many voices have been recorded by researcher during their tours of the Sorrel Weed House. Shrieks or screams of a lady’s voice have been captured in the parlor, probably Matilda’s.  In the basement, a woman’s voice is recorded as saying “Get Out” and “Get Out of my Way”.  In the rear room of the basement, another voice is recorded as saying “Come Back Here, Please”.

In 1856 Sorrel built a townhouse for his two sons in the garden area of the property.  Francis and his wife and daughters continued to live in the mansion.  Sorrel made a sales agreement with Henry David Weed to sell the mansion around 1860, which added the Weed to the name of the Sorrel Weed House.  Sorrel and his wife and daughters lived in the house for an extended period of time during which some alterations took place on the mansion and the townhouse.  Weed finally took possession of the mansion sometime in 1862.  There’s more to know about the Sorrel Weed house, but we have to leave some of the legends for you to learn for yourself.  

Sorrel Weed HouseWhen you visit Savannah, the Sorrel Weed House is one of the sites that is really worth your time to see.  You will be enveloped by the architecture of the one of the most elegant times in American history and some of the most increidble paranormal experience imaginable.

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