Laurens County Museum
Magnolia Room
Free and open to the public

Patricia McNeely, Professor
University of South Carolina

Professor McNeely will be speaking on the “Historic South Carolina Ghosts and Legends” while attending the Laurens District Chapter of the South Carolina Genealogical Society.

Professor McNeely taught writing and reporting in the College of Journalism for thirty three years. Before joining the USC faculty, McNeely was a reporter and editor for The Greenville News, The State and The Columbia Record. She is the author of many books such as “Historic South Carolina Ghosts and Legends;” “Handwritten Recipes and Memories from America’s First Families;” “Henry Timrod: poet, reluctant soldier and war correspondent”; “Lincoln, Sherman, Davis and the Lost Confederate Gold;” “Andrew Jackson, John C. Calhoun and the Petticoat Affair”; “Eyewitnesses to General Sherman’s Civil War Campaign”; “Sherman’s Flame and Blame Campaign through Georgia and the Carolinas … and the burning of Columbia” and four more.

The lecture will contain dozens of tales of ghosts and haunted places have found their way into South Carolina’s mainstream media. Many have their origins in the 19th century and most in historic places. Some places have only one or two supernatural stories while others like Charleston, Columbia, Beaufort, Chester, Darlington and Edgefield have numerous sightings and unexplained phenomena. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, the author’s stories, pictures and illustrations will leave you wondering. This book will be available to purchase.