Welcome to

The Mystery of Maggie’s Ghost

Who is this legendary character known as Maggie? Is she the resident ghost in the Haig Point Lighthouse? Maggie Cromer was the daughter of Lighthouse Keeper Patrick Cromer and his wife, Bridgit. When a Naval worker came from Michigan to work on the Lighthouse, Maggie caught his eye. From entries in his diary, it appears the worker fell in love with Maggie. Something must have happened, however, because later he wrote in his diary that he had to leave and couldn’t return to Daufuskie. DId he discover that Maggie was mentally ill, which some say was a fact kept hidden by her family? Or did he decide he couldn’t return because he was a married man?No matter the reason, legends say that Maggie was heartbroken and that her ghost resides in the Lighthouse waiting for the return of her love. Passengers on boats going by the island at night have reported seeing the shadow of a woman in the tower window ... even when the Lighthouse is not occupied. Visitors staying in the Lighthouse tell stories of lights going on and off, wine glasses sliding across the counter, doors locking on their own, empty chairs rocking, and other strange occurrences that are attributed to Maggie’s spirit. If you happen to be visiting Haig Point on Daufuskie Island, look around for Maggie, but be aware...you never know where and when she might show up!

About Maggie

The Mystery of Maggie’s Ghost

Haig Point LighthouseDaufuskie Island, SC

Maggie lived with her

parents in the Haig Point

Lighthouse. Is Maggie still

around? You decide!

Who Was Maggie?

Daufuskie Island, SC

Created by Catherine Tillman Special Thanks to Carol Tietjen

History of the Haig Point Lighthouse

4,000 Years Ago Daufuskie Island was inhabited by native American Indians. Artifacts found by islanders include arrow and spear points, pottery shards and other artifacts, some dating back 4000 years.

1711

James Cockran, a physician and Commissioner of the Indian Trade, was granted 1000 acres of land on Daufuskie in the area currently known as Haig Point.

1740 George Hague of Charleston, a Scot merchant and Indian trader, purchased the land. It remained in his family until 1810, during which time the spelling was changed from “H-A-G-U-E to H-A-I-G.”

1810John David Mongin acquired the property, which at his passing remained with his widow Sarah and her second husband, Reverend Herman Blodgett, until 1850.

1830Sarah and Herman undertook the building of a mansion at the tip of this land. Part of the foundation of the mansion is the basis for the current Lighthouse. The remainder of the mansion foundation is visible next to the Lighthouse.

1850Squire William Pope, a prosperous owner of several Hilton Head plantations, owned the estate from 1850 to 1872. The mansion was destroyed in 1861 during the Civil War.

1872Widow Pope and heirs sold five acres, including the mansion foundation, to the US government on May 20 for $745 for the purpose of constructing a lighthouse. On December 26, the government let the bid of $7,681 to James A. Reed of Washington, DC for the lighthouse and a beacon light 2250 feet south of the tower.

1873The beacon was turned on for the first time on October 1.

The Mystery of Maggie’s Ghost

First a Little History...

Haig Point Lighthouse

History of the Haig Point Lighthouse

Haig Point Rear Lighthouse 1885

The Mystery of Maggie’s Ghost

The First Keepers of the Daufuskie Light

Patrick Comer ...served as Lighthouse Keeper from August 29, 1973 until his passing on March 5, 1891. While he was alive, Comer’s wife Bridgit served as the Lighthouse Keeper’s Assistant. Patrick’s annual salary was $560 and Bridgit’s was $400. In 1875, during the Comer’s commission, the government built a boathouse and ramp. In 1883, Comer convinced the government to add a dock so he could go and come during high or low tides.

More of a range light ...rather than a full lighthouse, its mission was to guide captains navigating the shifting sand shoals. Two separate beacons served as a range for Calibogue Sound. Captains entering the sound aligned Haig Point light with a taller back light about half a mile south. The lighthouse’s small light, located close to the water, operated on a track system and was hooked to oxen to align the lights with shifting channels.

For their daughter, Maggie ...an apparently “challenged” young woman, this might been a soothing environment.. Kathy Gurchiek writes: “The home exudes old-fashioned charm, from the heart of palm floors to the hand-split cedar shingles on the roof, the front porch facing the Intracoastal Waterway and armoires in the bedrooms. A few yards away is the wick house, which stores the fuel for the Fresnel light.”

By the time Patrick Comer died in 1891...there is no indication whether Maggie was living with her family or if she was still alive. Most of the Maggie stories suggest that she either died of a broken heart or succumbed to her “fragile complaint.” Others suggest she took her own life soon after the departure of the naval engineer with whom she fell in love.

Haig Point Lighthouse Haig Point Lighthouse

Maggie lived in the Lighthouse with her parents, Patrick & Bridget Comer

Front Lighthouse Haig Point 1885

Haig Point Lighthouse

“DId Maggie have something to do with the Hunting Lodge accident?

The Mystery of Maggie’s Ghost

The Accident at the Hunting Lodge

Decommissioned by the Coast Guard in July 1924, the Lighthouse and its five acres were sold to M. V. Hass of Savannah for $1499.99. It was used as a Hunting Lodge by member who frequently hosted wild parties.

One night an intoxicated man climbed up to the Lighthouse tower. When leaned against the wooden railing that surrounds the beacon light, the structure gave way and the man fell to his death. According to writer Paul deVere, “The parties ended, but some claim his spirit remains, continually testing the railing.”

adapted from an article by Paul deVere

Haig Point Lighthouse

“The Lighthouse was in a state of decay perfect for ghosts”

The Mystery of Maggie’s Ghost

The Hunter’s Lodge & Other Strange Occurrences

Restoration architect Bill Phillips, who along with a crew brought the Lighthouse back to life in 1986, remembers the first time he heard about Maggie. In 1984, he and his wife Anita were invited by Charles Cauthen to look at the Lighthouse. (Cauthen has had sold the Haig Point land to International Paper). The three motored over to one of the public landings at the other end of the island in Cauthen’s boat named “Press On Regardless.”

Cauthen told Phillips the stories about Maggie and Phillips said the Lighthouse was in a state of decay perfect for ghosts. This was before he was assigned to restore the building.

quoted from an article by Paul deVere

The Mystery of Maggie’s Ghost

Two years after that first visit, Bill Philips was commissioned to head up restoration of the Lighthouse. He reports two stories related to “spirits” in the place while he was on the job.

The first report is that the team was well into the project when one of the young workers hung a small straw cross inside the front door ‘to keep the workmen from being harmed.’ A few days later another crew member called the first workman ‘that silly fool’ and pulled the cross down; when he turned around, he stepped through a hole and broke his leg. “We put that cross right back up there,” said Phillips. Then there was Jake, a Daufuskie islander who helped the crew with his mule-driven wagon and his ancient pick-up truck. Jake often referred to “a spirit” who lived in the Lighthouse. This spirit, however, was not Maggie but a “fella.” When pressed by the workers, Jake finally told them that “ a guy had been shot with a gun while going up the stairs to the tower.” He further explained, “When we were taking out boards in the tower, we found what we thought were beetle holes; but when we cleaned them out, there was lead shot filling the holes, and they formed the outline of a person on the stairs.”

The Restorer’s Stories Is there more than one spirit in the Haig Point Lighthouse?

Haig Point Lighthouse

Carpenter Talks to Maggie

Tom Bass was the head carpenter when renovation of the Haig Point Lighthouse got underway. Interested in the stories about Maggie, Bass managed to acquire the journal of the naval engineer from Michigan who reportedly fell in love with Maggie. In the journal, the engineer wrote that he had had the privilege of seeing one of the sweetest faces in the world. Several days later, the engineer wrote that he could not return. Some sources suggest that the Naval engineer discovered that Maggie had a mental problem which her family had tried to keep secret; others say he left because he was already a married man.

During the eight to nine months of renovation, several of the workers had experiences they attributed to Maggie’s presence. One day Bass read aloud from the engineer’s diary. One of the women who was listening was reportedly drawn into a trance and Maggie spoke directly through her. The woman, who had been working at Haig Point, found this experience so frightening she left her job.

Bass also reported that when workers began renovating the tower there were further problems. One day, a worker fell off a ladder and broke a vertebrae. The next day, a two-by-four fell and broke the arm of another worker. Some say the tower was where Maggie was kept because of her mental instability; other reports say the tower was the place she preferred.

Bass decided that Maggie believed they were trying to tear down the Lighthouse. So he climbed into the tower, which he believed was Maggie’s favorite place, and talked to her. He told her exactly what they were going to do step by step, and that they were restoring the Lighthouse it, not tearing it down. After that the work went ahead smoothly.

adapted from an article by Kathy Gurchiek and a history of the lighthouse by Tom Bass

The Mystery of Maggie’s Ghost

Haig Point

Did Maggie Try to Scare the Workers Away?

Haig Point Lighthouse

Back in 1984, Sandra Moretti, former communications specialist for Troon Golf at Haig Point, remembers when she and her sister, Laura, were sitting on the front porch of the Lighthouse one evening. “We were just rocking and talking. Then we heard this noise and we turned around and said, “What was that? What was that!” They rushed to the screen door only to find that it was locked.

“The hasp was all the way in. Pushed down. It really was creepy,” Laura Moretti recalls.

“All I remember is Laura freaking and saying, ‘It’s Maggie; she’s locked us out!’ laughs Sandra. “I said, ‘Come on.’ I wouldn’t believe her. I was always the practical one. But it was creepy.”

So what were the Moretti sisters doing on the porch of the yet- to-be-restored Lighthouse? Sandra, who was living in Houston at the time, was on vacation and visiting her sister. Laura, who later owned and managed the popular Metropolitan Lounge on Hilton Head, was at work as a land transportation specialist and security guard for International Paper (Haig Point’s original developer). Laura’s job included arranging for workers to come to Haig Point on the barge Monarch. She also patrolled the Haig Point property to make sure that any bonfires set by the crew (while they cleared land for the Haig Point golf course) were under control.

“We would work 24 hours on, 48 hours off,” Laura says. When on duty at Haig Point, she stayed at the Lighthouse. She claims she never saw Maggie, but “I heard her a lot,” she said.

adapted from an article by Paul deVere

You’re Never Alone in the Lighthouse

The Mystery of Maggie’s Ghost Haig Point Lighthouse

Did Maggie lock the ladies out of the Lighthouse?

It’s Maggie; she’s locked us out!

A few years ago, a family was planning their daughter’s wedding at Haig Point. The bride was an international business executive and the groom a Chinese businessman. The mother of the bride decided to reserve the Haig Point Lighthouse for the parents of the groom who would be traveling from overseas to attend the wedding.

In order not to alarm or upset the groom’s parents in any way, the bride’s mother removed all articles or other references to “the Maggie story” from the Haig Point Welcome Center, the Clubhouse, and the Lighthouse itself. The morning after their first night’s stay, she asked the parents of the groom if everything was satisfactory.

They replied with enthusiasm, exclaiming that their room was attractive and comfortable. Then, with a shy smile and a twinkle in her eye, the mother of the groom added,

“But you did not tell us that you have a ghost here! Not a problem, quite hospitable. Thank you very much.”

More Maggie Sightings...

The Mystery of Maggie’s Ghost

The Mother of the Groom

Haig Point Lighthouse