Haunted Cape Henlopen, Delaware
Ghostly Beacon, Shipwrecks, Phantom Ship, Ghosts, Bad Weather Witch
A spectral lighthouse, said to be the result of a Delaware curse, lures ships to their doom aided by violent storms said to be caused by a spirit.
Phantom Lighthouse
There is a legend of a cylindrical structure of stones rising from the mist and emitting a beacon that draws ships to their doom. The anomalous light is also called the Corpse Light.
According to legend, the ghostly lighthouse is the result of the Delaware curse of the stone drum that signals death to white men.. The curse was laid to punish British soldiers who killed a gathering of Native Americans celebrating a wedding.
Devonshireman
The first recorded ship to sink by being “guided” by the phantom beacon was the Devonshireman in 1655.
Captain Faulkner, was going to Philadelphia with a group of Quakers. One night, his lookout and passengers saw an erratic light off starboard and thought it was the New Jersey Landing Cape Light. Faulkner ordered the ship kept to port because the shoals of New Jersey are treacherous. Soon, the ship was grounded. The few survivors discovered no lighthouse existed where they had seen the beacon.
The Picnic Barge
In the late 18th or early 19th century, Louisa Barstead and Frederick Starr, both from prominent Maryland families, were going to marry. They decided to celebrate by having a picnic on a ship, sailing from Rehoboth and rounding Cape Henlopen. A sudden violent wind arose. As the passengers struggled in the storm, a lone figure dressed in breechcloth, with a blanket around his shoulders and eagle feathers in his hair was seen. His arms were raised and he screamed, a sound of anguish that the people could hear above the storm. The ship crashed. Only a few survived. People have seen Louisa’s ghost, crying, searching for her fiancé who survived the storm. The Bad Weather Witch is a companion to the Corpse Light in causing shipwrecks by producing violent storms. The salvage ship, Liberty, was searching for the wreckage of the HMS DeBraak, in 1935 when her captain, Clayton Morrissey, frustrated with the boredom of the fruitless search, damage to salvage gear and accidents, decided to put an end to the Bad Weather Witch’s curse. He gathered his crew on deck and built an effigy of the witch out of rags and cardboard. The witch was tried, convicted and sentenced to death. She was ridded with gunfire, torched and thrown into the sea, but the Libertywas still plagued by severe weather and forced to give up the search. Related topics: Ghost Ship: The Flying Dutchman Shawnee Chief Cornstalk’s Curse Source: Haunted Heritage, Michael Norman & Beth Scott, (Tor, 2002)The Bad Weather Witch
