Last year, my brother Miles went on a ghost tour in Savannah, Georgia. One of the mansions on the tour is one that was built by a relative of ours, Carl Espy, Sr., who was a wealthy cotton merchant. He was born in Abbeville, AL (Henry County) and moved to Savannah to build his little empire. Unfortunate tragedies occurred at his Savannah home, and the story is that it's now haunted. Based on my own research, there's a lot of fiction to the stories. Deaths occurred, yes, but the circumstances and characters - even basic biographical info about Carl - have very likely been altered and embellished as the years have passed. Remain skeptical, and do your own homework.
Carl's grandparents were Robert Marion Espy, Sr. and Elizabeth Watt Espy, who are buried on an old plantation just north of the Henry County (AL) line, near Lawrenceville. Robert and Elizabeth are my great-great-great-grandparents. One of their children was Thomas Franklin Espy, whose son was John Jolly Espy, Sr., father of Headland's Major Watt Espy, Sr. (my namesake). Robert and Elizabeth also were the parents of Professor Joseph S. Espy of Abbeville. Joseph was the father of Carl Espy, Sr., who's featured in this blog post. One of Carl's siblings was Alabama State Senator James Buhrman Espy. You can see Robert Marion and Elizabeth Watt Espy's headstones here.
3 comments:
Wesley Espy - aka the ghost - was my grandfather's first cousin. His name was James Espy Daniel, and his mother was Lula Mae Espy Daniel, who moved from Abbeville to Americus, Georgia when she married. She was Carl's sister. My father has memories of his rich great uncle Carl driving around in a fancy car and being rather a mean, Gatsby-like personality. My grandfather worked for the Espy cotton company for a bit.
My friend and I Laura hair We Are acquainted with a direct descendant of the Espy family and he just happens to be named after his great great great uncle Wesley Esply, we are now living in Warner Robins GA and are just dying to get a chance to visit Savannah and to see Wesley's home I believe he told us he was raised there
My maiden name is Espy. I wonder if there is any relation.
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