True love never dies. It has an energy, power, and a life of its own that is capable of bringing about untold passion and joy, yet also capable of bringing a person such pain and sorrow that when their heart breaks, it never fully mends. Sometimes, there's no un-breaking a broken glass. Even in death. In the Holy Bible, the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:13 "Three things will last forever-faith, hope, and love-and the greatest of these is love."
Seventeen year old Queenie Bennett learned this on February 17, 1864 when the love of her life was taken from her. His name was Lt. George Dixon and he was the Commander of the C.S.S. Hunley, the world's first hunter-killer submarine. The Civil War was raging, and, on this day, after successfully sinking a Union screw sloop-of-war named the U.S.S. Housatonic, the Hunley drifted out with the tide into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina. It was there that Lt. Dixon along with seven brave members of his crew asphyxiated, and simply went to sleep...forever. This is where they laid, lost, until their remains were discovered in 2000.
Queenie Bennett was the sweetheart and lover of George Dixon. She came from a prosperous family in Mobile, Alabama, and her father owned riverboats that ferried gamblers up and down the Mississippi. George Dixon was an engineer of one of these boats when he met young Queenie. They immediately hit it off, and after falling in love, they were inseparable. There was an age difference between the two of them, with Dixon being about seven years older, but love doesn't recognize an age. Love only knows love. The heart wants what it wants, and Queenie's heart wanted George. And luckily for her, George also felt the same way.
Four days before his death, George Dixon celebrated a wonderful Valentine's Day with his Queenie. He'd purchased her a beautiful gold necklace with a golden locket on the end of it in the shape of a heart. Inside the locket was his picture, and he'd had engraved, "Forever In My Heart. George and Queenie February 14, 1864." Queenie had cried when she'd received the gift. She was a tough young woman who was know for speaking her mind, but when it came to George, she melted like butter. She was 17 years old at the time, and he was her first love. It was a love that carried passions for her that she'd never felt before, nor ever felt again after his death.
Dixon knew of his upcoming mission, and he knew that it was dangerous. This was the second submarine christened the Hunley; the first one had been lost along with all of her crew. He wanted to spend Valentine's Day with Queenie, so he brought her to Charleston from Mobile. Queenie loved Charleston and its cosmopolitan atmosphere. She loved the city's sound and smells, and she also loved the beautiful mansions with their different styles of architecture that were scattered throughout downtown. However, the war had been going on for almost three years at this point, and the city's landscape reflected this. What the war ultimately came down to was the very same thing that decides who wins or loses most wars: Money.
The Confederacy was literally bled dry of her most precious resource: men; but she was also drastically low on basic things such as clothing, food, and especially iron for armaments. The city of Charleston, in her support of the war effort, reflected this in everything from families who had lost all of their male members, to houses and churches that donated their fences and bells to Confederate foundries so that they could be converted into rifles and cannon balls for the troops.
Whenever Queenie was in Charleston, and whenever it was safe to do so, she liked to go out to Sullivan's Island for walks on the beach. Hand in hand, they would walk underneath the warm Carolina sun as the waves crashed and formations of pelicans swooped down and skimmed the top of the surf. They would talk about their future, and the children that they planned on having, and sometimes, they would just walk and talk about their love. Eventually though, their conversation would always come back to the war.
On Valentine's Day in 1864, Queenie wore a long blue dress with a yellow sash, and she had her hair tied up and held by a yellow bow. The locket was around her neck. She was terrified of losing George, and she told him, "If you die, I want to die too, because if you die, I won't have a reason to live anymore." George comforted her that day and told her, "Nothing is going to happen to me, Queenie. But when you get to missing me and worrying about me, come out here to this spot, close your eyes, and grab the locket around your neck and call my name, and wait for me." Unfortunately, this would be the last Valentine's Day that George Dixon and Queenie Bennett got to spend together, and it would be George's last visit to their spot on the beach. But not Queenie's.
Queenie overheard of George's death in a conversation between two people at the market in downtown Charleston as she shopped. She ran screaming through the streets, and her father ended up having to come to Charleston and personally take her back to Mobile. She stayed sedated and in bed for weeks to come, and although she eventually recovered and met somebody else, she never recovered from losing what she described as her soul mate. Four and a half years later, she died in childbirth at the age of 21.
Although Queenie Bennett's body ceased to exist in 1871, her soul has yet to leave this earth. Back around the year 1900, the first reports of her ghost were recorded. The sightings were always at the same place and same time; Valentine's Day around midnight on the beach at Sullivan's Island. The reports mentioned the translucent image of a young girl who was weeping and wailing as she called out, "George!!! George!!! Where are you???" Fishermen off the coast have even reported hearing this voice.
On May 17, 2004, George Dixon and his crew were finally laid to rest. They were buried with full military honors in Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston. Thousands of people attended the funeral that day, including a local man who'd brought his camera along. He snapped a picture of the tent that had been set up for the burial. Behind the tent was a stand of trees, and when he had the picture developed, the image of a stunning young girl appeared. What made her stand out was that she was by herself, and peeking out at the service from behind a tree. The girl in the image had on a long blue dress with a yellow sash, and her hair was tied up, and held by a yellow bow. Around the girl's neck was a golden locket in the shape of a heart.
Some 140 years later, Queenie Bennett still loved George Dixon. Her spirit wandered the earth and did exactly what he told her to do...wait for him. As the Apostle Paul said in the same chapter of 1 Corinthians, in the 7th verse, "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."
True love never dies. Even in death. Just ask Queenie Bennett.
Jeffrey P. Frye
10/26/14
For: Queenie and George, and my Confederate friend from Charleston, Samuel G. Garwood. And for his website thelastcharlestonconfederate.weebly.com
Seventeen year old Queenie Bennett learned this on February 17, 1864 when the love of her life was taken from her. His name was Lt. George Dixon and he was the Commander of the C.S.S. Hunley, the world's first hunter-killer submarine. The Civil War was raging, and, on this day, after successfully sinking a Union screw sloop-of-war named the U.S.S. Housatonic, the Hunley drifted out with the tide into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina. It was there that Lt. Dixon along with seven brave members of his crew asphyxiated, and simply went to sleep...forever. This is where they laid, lost, until their remains were discovered in 2000.
Queenie Bennett was the sweetheart and lover of George Dixon. She came from a prosperous family in Mobile, Alabama, and her father owned riverboats that ferried gamblers up and down the Mississippi. George Dixon was an engineer of one of these boats when he met young Queenie. They immediately hit it off, and after falling in love, they were inseparable. There was an age difference between the two of them, with Dixon being about seven years older, but love doesn't recognize an age. Love only knows love. The heart wants what it wants, and Queenie's heart wanted George. And luckily for her, George also felt the same way.
Four days before his death, George Dixon celebrated a wonderful Valentine's Day with his Queenie. He'd purchased her a beautiful gold necklace with a golden locket on the end of it in the shape of a heart. Inside the locket was his picture, and he'd had engraved, "Forever In My Heart. George and Queenie February 14, 1864." Queenie had cried when she'd received the gift. She was a tough young woman who was know for speaking her mind, but when it came to George, she melted like butter. She was 17 years old at the time, and he was her first love. It was a love that carried passions for her that she'd never felt before, nor ever felt again after his death.
Dixon knew of his upcoming mission, and he knew that it was dangerous. This was the second submarine christened the Hunley; the first one had been lost along with all of her crew. He wanted to spend Valentine's Day with Queenie, so he brought her to Charleston from Mobile. Queenie loved Charleston and its cosmopolitan atmosphere. She loved the city's sound and smells, and she also loved the beautiful mansions with their different styles of architecture that were scattered throughout downtown. However, the war had been going on for almost three years at this point, and the city's landscape reflected this. What the war ultimately came down to was the very same thing that decides who wins or loses most wars: Money.
The Confederacy was literally bled dry of her most precious resource: men; but she was also drastically low on basic things such as clothing, food, and especially iron for armaments. The city of Charleston, in her support of the war effort, reflected this in everything from families who had lost all of their male members, to houses and churches that donated their fences and bells to Confederate foundries so that they could be converted into rifles and cannon balls for the troops.
Whenever Queenie was in Charleston, and whenever it was safe to do so, she liked to go out to Sullivan's Island for walks on the beach. Hand in hand, they would walk underneath the warm Carolina sun as the waves crashed and formations of pelicans swooped down and skimmed the top of the surf. They would talk about their future, and the children that they planned on having, and sometimes, they would just walk and talk about their love. Eventually though, their conversation would always come back to the war.
On Valentine's Day in 1864, Queenie wore a long blue dress with a yellow sash, and she had her hair tied up and held by a yellow bow. The locket was around her neck. She was terrified of losing George, and she told him, "If you die, I want to die too, because if you die, I won't have a reason to live anymore." George comforted her that day and told her, "Nothing is going to happen to me, Queenie. But when you get to missing me and worrying about me, come out here to this spot, close your eyes, and grab the locket around your neck and call my name, and wait for me." Unfortunately, this would be the last Valentine's Day that George Dixon and Queenie Bennett got to spend together, and it would be George's last visit to their spot on the beach. But not Queenie's.
Queenie overheard of George's death in a conversation between two people at the market in downtown Charleston as she shopped. She ran screaming through the streets, and her father ended up having to come to Charleston and personally take her back to Mobile. She stayed sedated and in bed for weeks to come, and although she eventually recovered and met somebody else, she never recovered from losing what she described as her soul mate. Four and a half years later, she died in childbirth at the age of 21.
Although Queenie Bennett's body ceased to exist in 1871, her soul has yet to leave this earth. Back around the year 1900, the first reports of her ghost were recorded. The sightings were always at the same place and same time; Valentine's Day around midnight on the beach at Sullivan's Island. The reports mentioned the translucent image of a young girl who was weeping and wailing as she called out, "George!!! George!!! Where are you???" Fishermen off the coast have even reported hearing this voice.
On May 17, 2004, George Dixon and his crew were finally laid to rest. They were buried with full military honors in Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston. Thousands of people attended the funeral that day, including a local man who'd brought his camera along. He snapped a picture of the tent that had been set up for the burial. Behind the tent was a stand of trees, and when he had the picture developed, the image of a stunning young girl appeared. What made her stand out was that she was by herself, and peeking out at the service from behind a tree. The girl in the image had on a long blue dress with a yellow sash, and her hair was tied up, and held by a yellow bow. Around the girl's neck was a golden locket in the shape of a heart.
Some 140 years later, Queenie Bennett still loved George Dixon. Her spirit wandered the earth and did exactly what he told her to do...wait for him. As the Apostle Paul said in the same chapter of 1 Corinthians, in the 7th verse, "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."
True love never dies. Even in death. Just ask Queenie Bennett.
Jeffrey P. Frye
10/26/14
For: Queenie and George, and my Confederate friend from Charleston, Samuel G. Garwood. And for his website thelastcharlestonconfederate.weebly.com