“This magnificent and storied square was also ominously known as ‘hanging square,’ the place where the condemned met their fate on the gallows in the eighteenth century. Knowing its past history, one cannot walk around it at night or on a bright sunny day without feeling, and perhaps faintly hearing, the cries, moans and groans of those who met their deaths dangling from the end of a sturdy rope.””
The First Woman Executed in Georgia
According to local legend, visitors to Savannah’s Historic Wright Square have been known to encounter a young woman dressed in 18th-century style clothing. Some are said to have been approached and begged for their assistance in finding the woman’s lost son. Yet when folks begin to search the area, the girl disappears. Many believe this is the ghost of Alice Riley, the first woman executed in the colony of Georgia.
Alice Riley arrived in the American Colonies in January of 1734 as an indentured servant who would work for about five to seven years to pay back her debt and earn her freedom. To pay back the cost of the voyage she would be sent to work for William Wise, a man of questionable character. It would be a tragic assignment that led to Wise dead and Alice Riley convicted of a murder that some believe she may not have actually committed.
Additional Links From This Episode:
Sources:
“Alice Riley.” Murderpedia. Accessed August 15, 2022. https://murderpedia.org/female.R/r/riley-alice.htm.
Brown, Alan. Haunted Georgia: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Peach State. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2008.
Byrd, Georgia R. Haunted Savannah. Guilford, CT: Morris Book Publishing, 2011.
Caskey, James. Haunted Savannah: The Official Guide to Savannah Haunted History Tour, 2010. Savannah, GA: Bonaventure Books, 2005.
Freeman, Robert Michael. “Alice Riley: A Sad Savannah Story.” Freeman’s Rag (blog). April 28, 2018. https://www.freemansrag.com/historical-ruminations/alice-riley-a-sad-savannah-story
“The Ghost of Alice Riley: Savannah’s Most Famous Ghost Story.” Ghost City Tours. Accessed August 15, 2022. https://ghostcitytours.com/savannah/ghost-stories/alice-riley/.
“The ghost of Alice Riley and the legend spanish moss.” Random-Times. July 29, 2020. https://random-times.com/2020/07/29/the-ghost-of-alice-riley-and-the-legend-spanish-moss/
Harris, Michael & Linda Sickler. Historic Haunts of Savannah. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2014.
Harris, Michael. “Murder & lies: The ghost of Savannah’s Wright Square.” Savannah Now | Savannah Morning News. October 30, 2014. https://www.savannahnow.com/story/news/2014/10/31/murder-lies-ghost-savannahs-wright-square/13526612007/
“History of Savannah.” Visit Savannah. Accessed August 15, 2022. https://www.visitsavannah.com/article/history-savannah.
Michaels, Brenna & T.C. Michaels. Hidden History of Savannah. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2019.
Temple, Sarah Gober & Kenneth Coleman. Georgia Journeys: Being an Account of the Lives of Georgia’s Original Settlers and Many Other Early Settlers. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2010.
