Ghost May Haunt Sandersville’s Old Jail Museum

SANDERSVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A historic building in Sandersville may be home to a ghost…at least that’s what volunteers at the Old Jail Museum believe, after a series of strange happenings. It’s where a young girl burned to death on a Saturday morning in 1901, and just recently she’s made her presence known on more than one occasion.

Essie English was the young daughter of the Washington County sheriff in 1901. She was engaged to be married, but tragically, as she was standing near her fireplace one morning, her dress caught on fire. According to old newspaper clippings, her brother and father tried desperately to put the fire out, but it was too late. She died two weeks later after intense suffering.

Now, volunteers at the Old Jail Museum say she may have come back to haunt the building. They started to suspect a haunting when the old Victrola that sits in Essie’s bedroom, started spinning…

“It started turning, there’s not a needle in it,” says Loretta Cato, Chair of the Geneology Committee at the Old Jail Museum.

“I think you would classify me more as a skeptic…but I have seen strange things and heard strange things in this building that have caused me to take second thoughts,” says Marilyn Daniel, Cato’s assistant.

“The front door opens and closes a lot…and no one is there. The toilet occasionally will flush…it’s a new toilet,” Cato recalls.

41NBC’s Andrew Reeser was intrigued by these reports, and wanted to find out for himself if the place is really haunted. So, he called in a team of ghost hunters from Milner–a company called Darkside Syndicate.

“There’s been things happening, footsteps in the upstairs, noises,” says Aaron Hayes, Lead Investigator of Darkside Syndicates. He and Will Aymerich have made this their life’s work, and they have a lot of experiece hunting the paranormal. They were excited for the opportunity to try and make contact with Essie, 111 years after her death.