Thomas Jefferson’s favorite grandson and Pine Castle pioneer Francis Wayles Eppes doesn’t strike me as a Halloweeny kind of guy, but it turns out that he’s linked, through his own grandson, to a spooky tale.
Eppes moved from north Florida to the Pine Castle area in 1867. He’s buried in Orlando’s Greenwood Cemetery, where a state historic marker honors him and his family. (You can learn more about him in a booklet from the Pine Castle Historical Society and a YouTube video featuring Greenwood’s Don Price. For the brochure, email pinecastlehistory@gmail.com.)
Eppes has been hailed as a founder of Florida State University, among other achievements. But his legacy is not long on ghost stories.
Not so with Francis Eppes’ grandson Thomas Jefferson Eppes — the great-great-grandson of the third president. In the new book, “Women in White: The Haunting of Northeast Florida,” Elizabeth Randall describes the legend surrounding the 1885 Eppes House in Fernandina Beach — “the former home of murderer who was also a descendant of Thomas Jefferson,” a caption notes.
‘Firecracker’ with raven hair
The story seems to be a staple of Amelia Island lore. Here’s a brief synopsis.
In February 1884, young T.J. Eppes (grandson of our Francis) and his bride reside in a Fernandina hotel. The wife, Celeste, is described as a beautiful Creole woman known for her long, raven-colored hair —which is interesting, because it’s pretty clear from historical records that she was named Kate and was born in Starke, Florida.
“Celeste was known as a firecracker — brightly colored on the outside and explosive within,” according to the story.
This much is true, according to a newspaper report. In February 1884, T.J. Eppes shot the manager of the hotel, whom he accused of insulting his wife’s honor. The wounded man, a married father of five, died several hours later. Eppes was arrested but not convicted.
Now details get more fuzzy. The wife, Celeste/Kate, admits she lied about the hotel manager’s attentions to her. In some accounts, she goes crazy and dies in childbirth.
Records show, though, that in December 1885, Kate Eppes gave birth to the couple’s second son, Douglas, who was not stillborn but lived less than six months. He died June 18, 1886. Kate died a couple of weeks after her baby. She was 22.
Both mother and son are buried in St. Peter’s Episcopal Cemetery in Fernandina, in graves marked by monuments with touching inscriptions: “Darling” in large letters on the mother’s marker; “how soon fades the tender flower” on the baby’s.
The young widower, and slayer of the hotel manager, married again. In 1892, six years after Kate’s death, he wed Illinois-born Mamie Jeanette Shoemaker. The couple lived in Jacksonville and then Savannah, where T.J. Eppes died in 1910.
So much remains mysterious about this old Florida story. We do know that our Orlando Eppes, Francis — buried in Greenwood Cemetery — died in 1881, three years before his grandson in Fernandina would be arresting in a sensational shooting death and eventually linked to the story of a haunting.
The sad Kate lives on in the story that her spirit has appeared in the Fernandina house in which she and T.J. Eppes lived only briefly. Her restless spirit is said to have one white streak in that long raven hair.
Spooky tours at DeBary Hall
DeBary Hall, the grand 1871 “hunting lodge” at 198 Sunrise Blvd. in DeBary, sports 11 bedrooms and a listing on the National Register of Historic Places but no story of a raven-haired ghost. On Oct. 30 at 6 and 7 p.m., candlelight tours offer guests the opportunity to experience some deliciously mild frights, organizers say. Children younger than 12 will not be admitted.
The cost is $10 a person, and reservations are a must. Call 386-668-3840. DeBary Hall Historic Site is owned by the state and managed by Volusia County’s Parks, Recreation and Culture Division.
Joy Wallace Dickinson can be reached at jwdickinson@earthlink.net, FindingJoyinFlorida.com, or by good old-fashioned letter at the Sentinel, 633 N. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL 32801.
