Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The Petticoat Ghost


When news that Union Gen. J.H. Wilson's troops were headed to Selma back in the spring of 1865, Mrs. Frances John Hobbs set about to save the fine jewelry from her Confederate soldier husband's jewelry store. First, she hid silver in the walls of their house. Then, she stayed up late at night sewing the best pieces of jewelry in her petticoat. She deposited the least expensive pieces in the family safe. When Union soldiers knocked on her door, she welcomed them inside and pretended to be very reluctant about opening the safe. Of course, the Yankees took the jewelry, thinking they had made a great haul. They thanked her for her cooperation and did not burn the house.
Here, the "ghost" of Mrs. Hobbs returned from the grave last Friday to tell her story at Selma's Historic Pilgrimage.
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9 comments:

smilnsigh said...

Great photo and great story...

Troop 1309 said...

Great story and photo!

iBlowfish said...

Thank you for a interesting story, I am sure she was a smart lady.

Chris said...

What a great story!

Small City Scenes said...

Ah history! Interesting story and great pic. The ghost of history past.
Thanks for the visit. MB

Bergson said...

Beautiful story. The phantom brought back the jewels ?

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed the story and read it twice. I like your photo with it too.

Imagine this:
Take a picture of your car with you seated in it, going down the super highway at 65 mph. I just put this on my Brookville blog this morning.

Jilly said...

What a great story accompanied by a super photograph.

Halcyon said...

She's a very pretty ghost at least!