Original story by: John Surratt (Mississippi Press)

"Lore, Spirits Mix at House"

Nov. 30 1991:

Pascagoula- Longfellow House's long and colorful past has been the source of legend and lore for Pascagoula natives for years. But the story that captivates most people is about the secret occupant-or occupants-who has resided for longer than many can remember. And only few have experienced his-their-presence. "We call him George; George the ghost," said Cindy Fortenberry, the house's manager. "He lives on the third floor. We can hear the bumps and grinds." Accounts of ghosts at Longfellow House go back to the days that before the Civil War to the first owner in 1849. According to legend, slaves living at the house began hearing mysterious noises in the night and claimed it was the spirit of a slave who was tourtured for some infraction and then ran off to nearby woods to die. The spirit, the slaves said, returned to haunt his mistress. But there are more recent accounts, and they indicate that George-if that is his real name-is not alone.

Same Story..Different Version/Account:

Original Story by: Unknown

"Close incounters" Bobbie Slaughter, (isnt that an errie name?) who was a night auditor at Longfellow House when it operated as a hotel, recalls several close encounters with spirits while she was at work. Slaughter, who worked at Longfellow during the 80's, said the building has a depressed felling about it.

Her most serious encounter involved a slap to the face she recived one night from the ghost.

"The slap was loud enough for people to hear it," she said. "It was hard enough to leave a hand print."

She said a co-worker heard the also and saw the hand print. "It made me angry, and I was going to blame her (the co-worker) but she was too far away. She couldn't have done it, and I was the only one in the room. It was very scary."

In another incident, a worker was either tripped or was pulled down to her knees showing a room to a couple. Only the employee and the couple were in the room at the time.

Slaughter came to work at the Longfellow soon after moving to Pascagoula and was unaware of the mansion's past.

"I was new to the area," she said. "I didn't know the stories. I told my husband about what was happening and he was getting worried about it. It's real; I would have never have believed it, but it's very real."

And there were noises and other strange occurrences in the night, "A jukebox would come on at three in the morning and play until five," she said "We would hear babies crying, toilets flushing, cafe doors opening and closing, sometimes, it would sound like a party was going on upstairs; you'd hear conversations and ice tinkling in glasses. But when you got upstairs, the noise stoped. Early one morning, Slaughter said, she walked through an area of the hotel and smelled the strong odor of whiskey.

Another time she put down a cigarette to investigate a noise and returned to her desk to find it missing. She later found the cigarette in another office where she hadn't been.

"We couldn't keep glasses in the bar," she said, "They would just burst. There was a huge door going into the bar that was pulled off its hinges. I was there the whole time, and I don't know how it happened."

Workers and guests reported seeing shadows darting across rooms and halls. some guests would become frightened and leave.

Yet Another Version, same witness interviewed..

"Don't Have to be a Psychic"

Original author: Unknown

Slaughter said psychics visited the hotel to determine who (or what) was haunting it. In meetings with people who had encounters, she said, the psychics were able to recall the experiences.

"They said it had something to do with poltergeists," she said. "They said whatever was in the house was mean, but it wasn't evil, and it was either three ghosts or one ghost going through three different stages in life."

Once the hotel closed and workers began moving things out of the building, Slaughter said, the spirits became settled.

But did they?

Contractors currently renovating Longfellow House say they've encountered some strange things during their labors.

"It's just some odd things that have happened, but we haven't really run up and seen a ghost," said Andy Tillman. Tillman and his brother, Eric, are renovating the house.

"It's mostly noises; doors slamming when there's no wind, creaking noises. Just haunted house stuff.