With Hurricane Dorian setting its sites on Florida and the eastern coast of the US, now would be a good time to revisit the Legend of The Gray Man of South Carolina.
The Gray Man begins, as many ghost stories often do, with the strong love between a young man and a young woman. It was during the harsh and cruel times of the American Civil War and the young man put on the gray uniform of the Confederacy and went to fight for South Carolina, leaving his beloved behind. Without fail he wrote letters to her and she answered faithfully. Finally in a passionate letter he professed his undying love and asked her to be his wife. She gladly accepted and was soon overjoyed at the news of the end of the war and the return of her true love.
He wrote to her as soon as the hostilities ended and told her to expect him by early May. By then it was the beginning of hurricane season and mosquito season. As many people in South Carolina did to escape the onslaught of buzzing mosquitoes that carried malaria, her family went to their summer home on Pawleys Island.
Knowing this, the man ventured out with his former slave turned manservant and began the travels to Pawleys Island. As they arrived, a terrible storm began to brew. Thinking to hurry to his love before the storm, the man didn’t take care where his horse stepped and suddenly found himself and his mount sinking in quicksand.
The manservant tried desperately to free his master but it was all in vain. The young man and his horse drowned in the muck.
Meanwhile, the young man’s fiancé awaited him on Pawleys Island. Soon, in the gloom she saw his familiar gait and his gray uniform. She rushed forward with open arms, but her fiancé just stood, pointing toward the mainland. Then in a blink he was gone. The young woman became distraught, for in her heart she knew she had seen her fiancé and knew only death would keep him from her.
Her family tried to persuade her that she was imagining things, but she persisted and explained she felt it was a warning. Finally, her family packed a few things before the storm landed and headed back to the mainland.
A few days later they returned to Pawleys Island and their home was one of the few spared from the storm. The young woman declared it was her beloved warning her of the impending storm that spared them.
Not much is known about the real identity of the gray man but apparently he still appears to some of the people of Pawleys Island as a warning before terrible hurricanes.
Before Hurricane Hugo in in September of 1989 he appeared to a couple. The couple waved and said he then disappeared. Later after they had returned from evacuation they found their home as one of the spared from the wrath of the hurricane.
Locals say he showed up before Hurricane Florence in 2018. Has he appeared before Dorian? If you have had an encounter with the Gray Man, I would love to hear from you! You can email us at thefreakgeekblog@yahoo.com
Until then, stay safe out there all of you in this storm’s path.
The Freak Geek 