Dash: American Ghost Ship

In the early 19^th century Britain and France were fighting the Napoleonic Wars. Despite President Thomas Jefferson and then-President James Madison’s efforts to keep neutral-- America found itself right in the middle of this conflict.

British impressment of Americans into service.

British and French trade restrictions disrupted American business, which had a devastating impact on our shipping industry and country.

These two country's privateers and military vessels blocked our ports and harassed American ships. The British took this a step further when they began to use impressment to steal American men and goods into their service.

President Madison’s response was to impose the economic Embargo Act of 1807. It mainly kept American ships bottled up in harbors along the East Coast.

This Embargo backfired for since it restricted our ships from trading for needed goods—it hurt the American people even more.

Also, ironically, this embargo didn’t stop the British harassment, which further damaged the American economy. The end result was President Madison declared war against Great Britain in 1812.

Privateering during the War of 1812.

During the War of 1812, the U.S. used government-licensed private armed vessels, known as privateers. These ships were not part of the American navy. Their task was to detain, seize, and take enemy vessels, their crews, and their goods. They then would bring these men into U.S. ports for prosecution.

So privateers were in part sanctioned pirate ships.

Dash

One such ship was a topsail schooner called Dash. It was built in 1813 in Freeport, Maine.

Dash was a half model or what is called a Hawk nest. This meant she had 16 guns and another ten fake “Quaker” wooden ones to fool the enemy.

She was built for speed and eventually was re-rigged with a unique sail to increase her already impressive speed.

The Dash was able to break Portland’s blockade three times in 1813, with a cargo of lumber for trade. She returned from the West Indies, having traded for coffee and sugar cane.

In September of 1814, she was commissioned as a privateer. She was re-armed with more guns and more men—mostly from Freeport. This vessel was able to capture fourteen enemy ships—all without one single injury to her crew.

In January of 1815, she left port with another privateer, the Chamberlain. She pulled ahead but ran into a heavy gale. The Chamberlain turned back but the Dash continued.

She was never heard from again. It is not known what happened to her, but some speculate that her captain underestimated her speed and ran her aground on the treacherous shoals of the Georges Banks.

Within months of the Dash’s disappearance, fishermen in Casco Bay swore they saw this ship bearing down on them through a mist. As this ship turned and headed for Freeport, they clearly saw the words “Dash—Freeport” written on her bow.

Over the years, these sightings continued, at one point they even increased. Fishermen and other boaters reported that this schooner seemed to appear out of nowhere—always in a fog.

Foggy Casco Bay

Witnesses noted that despite the fact there wasn’t any breeze this did not prevent this sailing ship from moving quickly.

As more sightings of this ship were noted, a legend began to be circulated about Dash. It states that when a descendant of one of Dash’s sixty crewmembers dies this ship returns to bear these loved ones on their final journey.

One impressive witness sighting occurred in the 1940s, during WWll. A U.S. naval ship and Coast Guard boats that were protecting Casco Bay saw an unusual sight one foggy afternoon.

A blip was noticed on their radar screens. These vessels headed for the spot. As the sirens went off and all men reported to their stations, they were surprised to see a 19^th century sailing schooner.

It was cruising along the channel headed for Freeport. By the time they reached this old ship, it had disappeared.

This sighting has been written about several times and has gone down as one of the most bizarre occurrences on the East Coast during the war.

Sara Ann and Fort George, Part l

Americans landing at Fort George.

This story is about a young ghost that haunts Fort George located at Niagara-on-the-Lake * in Ontario, Canada.

The Americans destroyed this fort during the War of 1812.

America began this war with Canada after being provoked. The British Royal Navy had taken to forcefully “press-ganging” American sailors into service with their fleet. The British were undermanned at the time because of the Napoleonic Wars, which were raging across Europe.

The British were also trying to prevent the U.S. from trading with France.

Also, the British were arming Native American tribes that were standing in the way of American expansion. During this time, American extended from the Mississippi basin to the Great Lakes.

In one battle in the spring of 1813, an American fleet appeared at the mouth of the Niagara River. These warships bombarded Niagara-on-the-Lake with cannonballs. Two days later they sent hundreds of rowboats ashore at Lake Ontario close to Fort George.

The Canadians and British were outnumbered 10 to l so they could not hold back the Americans. They were forced to retreat, and U.S. troops took control of the town.

American Patriots who were loyal to King George lll during the Revolutionary War, populated Niagara-on-the-Lake, so its residents held a robust anti-American sentiment already.

Many of these Patriots lost their property and were ostracized after the Revolutionary War so most of them then headed north to the Niagara region.

Fort George played a vital role as the Americans attacked Niagara-on-the-Lake, but it was ultimately destroyed during the fighting.

A depiction of Fort George
in 1812.

The U.S. hoped this conquest would help them gain control of Upper Canada but their defeat at the Battle of Stoney Creek, later that June, halted their ambitions.

When winter arrived the Americans finding themselves vulnerable to attack had no choice but to retreat back to the American side of the Niagara River.

But before they did this, on December 10, 1813, they burned Niagara-on-the-Lake to the ground. Which left the residents out in the freezing cold.

Part of Fort George today.

Within a decade this town was rebuilt and is today a thriving tourist area. Fort George was restored in more recent years and is today a National Historical site that offers tours.

It contains several buildings including barracks, officer’s quarters, and craftsmen shops. Many witnesses feel this fort’s Palisades and earthen parapets are haunted.

In fact, the fort is considered one of Canada’s most haunted.

There have been many sightings of ethereal soldiers standing guard along the parapets. Witnesses have heard drum rolls across the grounds, and phantom gunfire is also heard rumbling.

But by far the fort’s most active ghost is not a soldier but rather a young girl who was the daughter of one of the families that lived at Fort George.

*  The town of Niagara-on-the-Lake has had many names over the past 200 years. It was first named Butlersburg, then New Niagara, West Niagara, Lenox and then Newark. It wasn’t until the late 19^th century it was called Niagara-on-the-Lake.

In Part ll of Sara Ann and Fort George sightings of this young ghost is shared.

The Ghost of Theodosia Burr Alston

Theodosia Burr or Theo as she was called was Aaron Burr’s only daughter. 

Burr, an influential political figure in the early 1800s, was a doting parent. He made sure Theo was educated beyond what most young ladies of the time were offered. She was allowed to study music, languages, philosophy, and politics. 

Theo was also charming and very beautiful. 

When her mother passed away from cancer, Theo was more than prepared to take over as her father’s hostess, at Richmond Hall, the family home in Albany.

Prominent figures of the time, as well as hopeful young suitors, attended the dinners that Theo hosted. Theo had her pick of eligible bachelors, but to everyone’s surprise, Theo married Joseph Alston. 

Joseph was a southern gentleman who had inherited his families’ wealth. 

Alston came from a very different world from the high society that Theo was used to. Burr, unlike most, was delighted with his daughter’s choice. He admired Alston’s political ambitions.

Theo and Alston on their way south, to the Carolina Lowcountry in February of 1801, stopped to see Aaron Burr inaugurated, as Thomas Jefferson’s vice president. 

Joseph Alston had attended Princeton and passed the bar at the age of twenty, but he didn’t practice law. 

Part of his inheritance was a large rice plantation called “The Oaks” in South Carolina. This is where he brought Theo after they were married. 

Theo helped manage The Oaks and several other properties Alston owned, but the hot, humid southern climate did not agree with her. Though she loved her husband, she missed her father and the beauty of the Hudson River Valley.

The distress she felt being separated from her father increased as Burr became embroiled in two political scandals. 

The first involved a bitter political rivalry he had with Alexander Hamilton, which resulted in a duel in which Burr killed him in 1804. Burr was arrested for murder but later was acquitted. 

Theo rushed to be at her father’s side during this time. 

The second scandal revolved around some shady land schemes Burr was involved in. Burr left for Europe in a self-imposed exile.

Theo’s health was in a frail condition when she gave birth to a son in 1802. It was a rough delivery, and Theo never managed to completely recover. 

Joseph and Theo named their son Aaron Burr Alston, they were very devoted parents, making sure their son had the best of everything. 

Theo often wrote letters to her father about her son's progress, this and news about her husbands’ political successes kept Burr interested. He usually replied to her messages with political advice for his son-in-law.

It was during this period that Theo’s life brightened, but then another tragedy struck. 

Theo and her husband each summer would move to their summer home “The Castle” on Dubordieu Beach, to escape the rice plantations’ oppressive heat and swamps. 

Early in the summer of 1812 two weeks after they arrived young Aaron, now ten years old, and already ill with tropical fever (malaria) died. Theo was inconsolable.

Burr heard of his grandson’s death as he returned to New York. He encouraged Theo to visit him over the holidays. Theo desperately wanted to but her husband, now governor of South Carolina, felt the trip would be too dangerous. 

He was concerned about her health, and the fact that American was again at war with Britain (War of 1812). 

There were also rumors that pirates were active off the Carolina Outer Banks. Despite these dangers, Theo won out, and Joseph reluctantly wrote her a letter to the British Navy requesting safe passage.

Theo said her last goodbye to her husband, while they waited in a warm warehouse in Georgetown, near the wharf where she was to embark. 

She boarded the schooner “Patriot” in December of 1812 anticipating the six-day trip north. Joseph having important business regretted that he could not make the voyage with her. 

The Patriot never made it to New York. Theo's disappearance remains a mystery.

The Patriot did encounter a British vessel, her second day out, and Joseph’s letter worked for the British let the ship pass. 

That night a strong winter gale swept across Cape Hatteras known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” Some speculate the Patriot was lost in this storm. 

There is also evidence that the Patriot might have been a victim of pirates or “wreckers." Wreckers are people who plunder a ship after it has foundered near to or close to shore.

In 1833, an Alabama newspaper reported a confessed pirate admitted that he had participated in the plunder, and murder of all on board the Patriot at Nags Head. 

Fifteen years later, another former pirate, “Old Frank” Burdick confessed a similar story on his deathbed. 

His description included how he had held a plank for a pretty woman in a white dress. Before she plunged to her death, she begged someone send word to her husband and father. 

Burdick stated they then plundered the ship and abandoned her under full sail. He also said he saw a portrait of a woman in white in the main cabin.

Further evidence came to light in Nags Head to support the above stories.

An ill patient, too poor to pay her doctor, offered instead a portrait her husband’s family had given her as a gift. 

When the doctor questioned her possession of the portrait, she admitted to him that her in-laws were wreckers and they had plundered a ship they found abandoned after a gale. It sails were fully set, with no one aboard.

She stated that her relatives had found a woman’s belongings strewn about the main cabin, and amidst this, they had found the portrait. 

It is not known if Theo left Georgetown with a portrait. It did not surface until after her husband Joseph Alston had died. But many feel this is a possibility. For the picture could have been intended as a gift for her father. 

Years after the doctor was given the portrait, a descendant of the Burr’s came forward and immediately identified it as a picture of Theo.

Whatever her fate, Theo’s uneasy spirit appears to still roam some of the locations where she was most happy and sad in life.  

Her ghost has been spotted in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. 

She is observed pacing near the warehouse in Georgetown Harbor, where she said goodbye to her husband before she boarded the Patriot. 

Others have seen her strolling along the strand near Alston’s summer home-- The Castle at Dubordieu Beach--her head bent in sorrow. 

Some have described seeing her on foggy nights floating above the waves at Huntington Beach—once called Theaville in her honor.

Her spirit is also seen walking the paths, and descending the rice island steps near her husband’s plantation, The Oaks. 

Today this plantation, combined with three other rice plantations, make up what is called Brookgreen Garden. This spot is a popular tourist attraction.