July 1, 2025 • 17 mins
Think you know Civil War history? Think again.
When Melanie Lanier set out to rescue her captured husband from Fort Warren, she wasn’t expecting her mission to end in tragedy… or that her final request—to be buried in a black dress—would spark one of New England’s most enduring ghost stories.
In this episode, we explore the true story behind The Lady in Black, the haunting of George’s Island, and why Melanie’s spirit may never have left. Love, loss, and one hell of a haunted fort.
Please take a second and head over to Kickstarter to support Paulie and Molassacre!
Support the new project & card game here!
Socials: Instagram | Reddit | Facebook @ WeirderAfterDark
Contact Us: Thegang@weirderafterdark.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Melanie Lanier was a young, brave and desperate woman
disguised as a man, She sailed to George's Island in Boston
Harbor, home to the Union stronghold known as Fort Warren,
with 1 mission to free her husband from a Civil War prison.
But instead of a daring escape, she met a tragic end, and her
spirit never left. To this day, visitors say
they've seen her wandering the stone corridors cloaked in
black, weeping in the shadows. This is the legend of the Lady
(00:22):
in Black, one of New England's most endearing ghost stories.
I'm Kathy. I'm Sean.
And I'm Chris. And this is weirder after dark.
(00:44):
Random question, do you guys like escape rooms?
How do you? Feel I've done escape rooms and
I totally suck at them. If it was a real life or death
situation I would die. I'm not good at it.
I can't escape things. I never get the clues, I never
understand it. I can't find where the things
are in the room and then at usually at some point everybody
(01:05):
else just takes over and I just quietly go to the back.
Chris, what about you? Little claustrophobic OK might
knock some walls down, might be freaked out.
I, I, I think like fundamentallywhat's wrong with the escape
rooms is you go in there and youare, to your point, Chris,
trapped in a room for 30 minutesto an hour and eventually to
your point, Kathy, if you run out of like, what's next?
(01:26):
It's so fucking right. The next thing you know, there's
just seven people pissed off in a small room not knowing what to
do, and someone's yelling at youin a walkie.
Jockie, be like how you looked under the clock.
It's like, yeah, of course I fucking looked under the clock.
Well, and they're giving you like some like random like clue,
they're giving you a different clue.
And it's like I didn't get any of the clues that were in the
room. I'm not going to understand your
(01:47):
just tell me where it is. I just.
Want to make it end? Doesn't it kind of feel like
work though? You're stuck in this room.
You have to do a bunch of tasks before they'll let you about.
Like, doesn't that feel like your office in a way?
I mean now. That you say it?
Yes. This week I actually went to a
place called Level 99. Have you all ever heard of that?
No. It's actually pretty cool.
(02:07):
Apparently there's one in Natickand one in Providence, RI.
And I went to the one in Providence and it's basically a
bunch of mini escape room. Mini being the game only takes 2
to 3 minutes to complete and a lot of it is like mental
challenges. Some of them are physical
challenges. Like there is one where it's
like you got to get your team across this room and there's
just three ropes and you've got to swing from rope to rope to
rope because of the other side. And I think they have fucking
(02:29):
mastered the escape room. If you suck at it 3 minutes and
you're out of your onto your next one.
I guess with this 99 I'm going to find one I'm good at.
Just say like they've mastered it.
It's beautiful. Speaking about escaping from
things, y'all remember when we did the episode on the Boston
molasses incident in the North End?
Yes. What was that?
Like 2.3 million gallons molasses.
A lot of molasses. Killing fifty people, injuring
(02:51):
150 plus? Well, if you haven't got your
molasses fix yet, there's this gentleman on Kickstarter, Polly
Wenger, and he's actually created a card game called The
Molassiker. The Molassiker.
I wish I had thought of that. I know, and I was writing the
episode because it's so close. Opportunity, Kathy.
And also go Paul. A great name.
You killed it. Well, Paulie, he's actually a
(03:12):
historian. He's getting his PhD right now
and actually found this old cardgame that was really popular in
the United States called touring.
Have you all heard of that? No.
No, yeah, I hadn't either. He's trying to take kind of the
principles of that card game andmixing it with molasses incident
in Boston. Load of molasses and call it a
game, yeah? There it is, but it's super cool
looking. I was kind of watching him
(03:33):
explain it. He's got some great artwork over
there. He hired some Italian artists to
go ahead and do all the the drawings onto it and the basic
principles of the game. It's a little dark, but we're
dark here, right? We like dark things here is that
you know the molasses is coming and you're trying to escape.
We thought this was kind of light hearted, a little dark, a
little fun and we thought y'all might like it too.
And if you do, head over to Kickstarter.
I've searched the Molassaker MOLASSACRE and I'll get a little
(03:59):
support. I think that'd be awesome.
I really want to get to play this game.
Yeah, it looks. Super cool, I'm going to get the
donation so we can at least get a deck of cards and we can play
this. I think it looks fun.
Yeah, so Paul is a historian andhe's working on his PhD in
history. You got it.
And he's listening to our episodes.
He is now I guess. Yeah, I got up my game as far as
making sure I have my. Factory.
(04:20):
Oh my God. Yeah, well hopefully he won't be
fact checking the pig Man episode.
Hey, hey, that was that was perfectly fact checked.
You're Henry the. Henry the 13th?
Yeah, Henry the 13th. Yeah, yeah, Paulie, get back to
us. Is Henry the 13th real?
Kathy, were you ready to dive into your episode here today?
Yeah, ready. All right, let's do it.
So the American Civil War was a time in American history where
(04:41):
our country was divided. The only option seen was war.
The newly established country, only 78 years old, was already
divided when Abraham Lincoln wasappointed president in 1860.
The topic of slavery was at a tipping point.
The economic structure of the country was split.
The northern states invested in industry, transportation,
growth, newspapers, banking and investments.
(05:02):
The southern states invested in farming.
Majority of land owners produce cotton which held high value and
with the use of slavery costing was held down and resulting in
the value of owning another human who was thought of as
property to also increase. With the southern land owners
producing crops and having the majority of slaves, their wealth
actually exceeded out of the north with 3/5 of the wealthiest
(05:22):
people being from the South. But the idea to own another
human being immoral growing willbegan a movement that no other
person should have the right to own another.
So when President Lincoln, who was the member of the anti
slavery Republican Party took office, it was only one year
later that war was declared on our homelands.
While I fully support the Union and hope that in the past life I
would have fought alongside those looking to help, life as a
(05:43):
soldier, regardless of the side,was not easy.
Most were young men, some still teenagers, and they were thrown
into conflict that would shape the nation.
They marched long distances, slept on the ground no matter
the weather, survived on rationsof food only when the supplies
allowed. The uniforms were torn, shoes
worn with holes, and their only belongings were pictures of
loved ones that they left back home and letters from those same
(06:04):
people that they carried in their pockets.
These letters from loved ones back at home became the only
temporary cure to their homesickness.
Could you imagine, like one of us going off the war?
I'm not built like. That me neither man.
I'm sleeping outside. Yeah, they'd be like the first
under 60° day, like, Oh my God, I'm so cold.
And they'd be like George Washington was on ice in a
river. Like it's.
(06:25):
Just. Like up kids to anyone got a
bleeded blanket Felt different. Very different, yeah.
Disease and infections from wounds claimed more lives in the
battle, but those who survived the battle faced another
possibility capture. Thousands of soldiers on both
sides were taken as prisoners ofwar, often forced into
overcrowded prisons with deplorable conditions.
(06:45):
For many, the fear of being captured in the unknown horrors
scared them more than the battlefield itself.
So when a young man from Georgiaby the name of Samuel Lanier was
either drafted or volunteered tojoin the Confederate Army in
March off to war, he had to say goodbye to his young wife
Melanie. And I'm sure it was with a heavy
heart. And in 1862, Melanie would learn
(07:06):
the fate of her beloved husband and the legend would be born.
Samuel Lanier. Rankings in the military is
unknown and even his name is controversial.
Some records referred to him as Andrew, while others have him as
Samuel. For this telling of the tale,
I'm going with Samuel and now trying to read it out loud.
I wish I had gone with Andrew. Yeah, for the gang, he cannot
(07:27):
say. Samuel.
Samuel Lanier. Samuel Lanier took a couple
edits there. 15, yeah. Well, while off at war, Samuel's
March would lead him to New England where he would become
captured and brought to George'sIsland off the coast of Boston
to be held prisoner in Fort Warren.
George's Island has its own deephistory in the building of this
(07:48):
new country going back to prior to the American Revolution.
When the English and European settlers first arrived here,
island was home to the indigenous people who lived off
the land, using it for fishing and farming.
And of course when the new settlers came over, they took it
over and began to use it for their own purposes.
As the years went passed and theRevolutionary War took hold, the
island was used to guard the Narrows, the main channel into
(08:10):
the Boston Harbor. The city of Boston would go on
to claim the island and then hand it over to the United
States government to be used formilitary defense.
It's now that the government began construction of Fort
Warren. Fort Warren was constructed
using granite quarried from CapeAnn in Quincy.
The completion of the Fort came in 1858, but when the Civil War
broke out, it was still standing, unarmed and littered
with construction debris. Seeing how at the time Fort
(08:32):
Warren was the 5th largest Fort in the country, Massachusetts
Governor John Andrews took advantage of the asset.
Weapons were sent in. The Fort was armed to defend
against the Confederate naval ships.
The Fort housed Union soldiers for training and eventually
Confederate prisoners of war, sowhen Samuel was captured he was
one of more than 2000 plus prisoners to be held within the
stone walls of the island fortress.
(08:53):
Fort Warren was under control byColonel Dimmick and despite
being overpopulated, he and his men did their best to make the
living quarters as tolerable as possible.
It is reported that the Confederate prisoners
appreciation for Colonel Dimmickwas so high that they gave his
son, then serving in the Second US Artillery in Virginia, a
letter requesting that he received good treatment in case
(09:14):
of capture by the Confederates. But let's remember, this was
before the Geneva Convention, when we established standard
against torture and established expectations of quality of
living for prisoners. So despite it being rumored that
the prisoners here had it betterthan most, life was still not
good. They were prisoners of war.
Yeah, I remember reading about that.
And especially in the South, theconditions were horrific.
(09:36):
Like they didn't have enough food to feed their own soldiers,
so they were not feeding prisoners and many people died
in prison. Well, it is believed that within
the cold stone walls of Samuel'sprison he drafted a letter and
found a way to smuggle it out sothat his beloved wife, Melanie
could find out what was happening.
The letter has never been found and what words it contain has
never been noted. So it leads us to imagine what
(09:57):
one might say to the love of ourlives when we believe our days
would never lead us back to them.
All we do know is that when Melanie read the words, she set
forth on a of her own. How do we know she got the
letter? Melanie does reportedly make her
way to New England, and that's. Proof that she got.
Proof that positively proof thatthere's a letter.
How also she know where he is right exactly?
She's about to be a bad bitch, isn't?
(10:18):
She is, so that's. Kind of sweet though, right?
Yeah. I'm going to die soon and I'm
going to write my wife a letter and smuggle it out.
You say goodbye. It's kind of nice.
It is kind of nice, very nice, and I think Melanie takes it and
does what any woman would do. At least I know this is what I
would do for you, honey. Are you going to kill him?
(10:39):
What are you? What are you going to do all?
Right. Well, you know the story.
We don't. So Melanie made her way up north
to Boston, where she found shelter with a Confederate
sympathizer. She cut her hair, discarded her
southern dress for a Union soldiers uniform, blended in
disguised as a man, and found passage on a boat to George's
Island. Once on the island, Melanie
(11:00):
located George and snuck tools to him so that he could begin
his escape. Melanie didn't just want to help
George escape though, The plan was to help all the soldiers
within Samuel's barracks find their way home.
Melanie managed to get inside the prison where she swapped out
her Union soldiers clothes for Gray, dirty and ragged prison
uniform. She hid amongst the other
prisoners and together, while the guards were away, they dug
(11:21):
into the ground in an attempt tomake their way to the other
side. Unfortunately, one night while
digging, a tool hit the Stonewall, sending the sound of
the metal tool against the hard stone echoing down to where the
Union soldiers SAT. Oh, OK, wait a minute.
So she gets a letter. She travels to New England, she
gets a uniform of a soldier, cuts her hair so she looks like
(11:41):
a soldier, sneaks onto the base,gets rid of her clothes and puts
on prisoner's clothes and startsdigging a hole.
Yes. She is badass.
Yes, yeah. What she'll do to try to rescue
Herman. All right.
Well. Maybe love Israel?
It is real. I mean, this is some serious
commitment here. So when the soldiers came
(12:01):
running, a massive fight broke out and Melanie pulled out the
pistol she had hidden. She aimed the gun at the man
that was coming, charging for her.
She pulled the trigger, but instead of the bullet piercing
the oncoming soldier, the gun backfired, sending the bullet
and part of the gun through the air off to the side, where it
found Samuel, ultimately killinghim.
Oh, she shot the guy she was trying to save.
(12:22):
She. Come on, shot her husband.
It's so tragic. Got some fucked up karma right
there. Damn Melanie.
Shocked and now in complete despair, she dropped the weapon
and ran to her husband side, holding him in her arms while he
slipped away. She cried out, desperately
trying to cling to her husband'sbody.
As the Union soldiers arrested Melanie and she was charged with
(12:42):
being a spy and immediately sentenced to death by hanging.
Melanie, still dressed in a prisoner's uniform, requested
that she be executed in women's clothing.
This was her last attempt at some dignity and a subtle nod to
her southern roots, but as they were all men on the island, the
best that they could do for her was a black robe.
With no other option, Melanie accepted the robe and this is
what she wore as she was led to the gallows.
(13:04):
Shortly after the death of Melanie, the soldiers began to
tell tales of visions of the Lady in Black wandering the
corridors, softly weeping. There's reports of a soldier who
was reprimanded because he fled his post, claiming she was
chasing him. The other claims say that
soldiers would actually discharge their weapons to only
find that the bullets flew through nothing but the air
around them. They shot at a ghost?
(13:25):
That's crazy. Did the soldiers really see the
ghosts of the soul trapped thereforever, or was it their mind
perhaps trying to come to terms with the execution of a woman in
a time of war when they all longed to be home with the ones
they loved? Today, Fort Warren is a
historical landmark where visitors take the 50 minute long
ferry ride from Boston's Long Wharf to the island and spend
(13:46):
the day taking tours and exploring the Fort.
Although historians have never actually been able to prove
Samuel or Melanie ever existed, visitors and workers continue to
stand firm in the claims that they see her lingering, unable
to move forward. Perhaps she is forever searching
for her husband, or she stays asretaliation for those she blames
for her and Samuels life being taken.
(14:06):
Either way, the claims of shadowy figures leaving cries
and echoing streams from empty hallways still remain and
continue on. Could you imagine traveling from
the South all the way to Boston,sneaking into this like islands,
getting in disguise and getting inside of the prison, helping
them escape, and then accidentally shooting the person
they're like? Yeah, that's just so tragic.
(14:29):
If psychic energy is bored emotionally, like you know,
ghost hunters believe, I could see why there would be enough
emotional energy there to keep her spirit alive.
Right. Because like I said, like
there's so much history on that island and at that Fort, you
know, there's claims of, of soldiers and hearing ghosts and
voices and things like that. But I focus just mostly on her,
(14:49):
Yeah. I love the fact that one of the
soldiers shot at a ghost. Could you imagine that
conversation with this? You know, Sergeant, like you
discharged your firearms like ghost.
Ghost. Yeah, I thought there was
someone there. Yeah.
Or the guy that like ran from his post, like literally like
the report was that he ran from it because he thought that she
was chasing him and. Yeah, what's he going to do if
(15:10):
there's an actual enemy there, like.
I have not. I'm having a hard time in my
brain being like, is fate real? Because if so, that motherfucker
was just not meant to leave thatprison.
And there's this like, man, it'sunfair.
But also, you know, he was a Confederate.
They're Confederate supporters. So like you got what's?
Coming. I do think too that I'm not a
Confederate supporter, but some of those soldiers, they were
(15:30):
forced into it, especially like the younger ones, they didn't
really like have a choice. It was.
That's what you had to go do. Do we have any indication on
what Samuel was? No, this is a podcast about
weird shit in New England. Yeah, we're pro union here.
That's right. Yeah, Hell yeah.
That's right, you don't support none of that shit anyways.
Yeah, I got nothing left. Anything.
Else, you know, we keep trying, yeah.
(15:52):
Yeah, yeah, I do want to take a trip out.
The only time that they have ferries out to George's Island
is in the summertime. June 16th, Just September 1st,
so all. Right, we might need to go see
the Lady in Black. Yeah, I want to go out to the to
the Fort. Lady in black?
Yeah, she's out there. Supposedly she's there and they
did say that when you go to the island, the tour guides, it's
(16:13):
like one of the first stories that they'll tell you and they
share their experiences. But I couldn't find any of their
experiences. They are going.
To take the tour. Yeah, got to go to, gotta go to
the island. Take the tour.
All right, well then I guess we'll have an update soon then
maybe. Well, Kathy, thank you so much
for sharing the story. The lady in black definitely was
a Shorty, but a goodie. We like that.
We like that and the gang. We hope you enjoyed this story
(16:36):
as well too. And if you did, make sure you go
ahead and check out our Instagram again that is at
Weirder After Dark. And it's not just Instagram.
We are building some goddamn communities out there and
they're good ones. You can visit us at Facebook or
overall Reddit. Again, that's at Weirder After
Dark, and you can communicate and talk to not just the
afterlife, but people just like you who want to go there and
(16:56):
talk about our podcasts. And no, we are always also on
the search for your stories. So have you seen the Lady in
Black? Have you been abducted by an
alien or was it fucking Randy? Who knows what you've seen, if
you've seen anything like that. Go ahead and send us your
stories. You want to hear them and you
can send that to the gang at Weirder After dark.com.
And lastly, don't forget, if youare liking this shit, or maybe
(17:18):
you're loving this shit, the best thing that you can do to
help us out and continue growingis go ahead and share the shit
with someone you know or love. We'd appreciate it forever.
And remember, it always gets a little weirder after dark.
Thank you guys.
Melanie Lanier was a young, brave and desperate woman
disguised as a man, She sailed to George's Island in Boston
Harbor, home to the Union stronghold known as Fort Warren,
with 1 mission to free her husband from a Civil War prison.
But instead of a daring escape, she met a tragic end, and her
spirit never left. To this day, visitors say
they've seen her wandering the stone corridors cloaked in
black, weeping in the shadows. This is the legend of the Lady
(00:22):
in Black, one of New England's most endearing ghost stories.
I'm Kathy. I'm Sean.
And I'm Chris. And this is weirder after dark.
(00:44):
Random question, do you guys like escape rooms?
How do you? Feel I've done escape rooms and
I totally suck at them. If it was a real life or death
situation I would die. I'm not good at it.
I can't escape things. I never get the clues, I never
understand it. I can't find where the things
are in the room and then at usually at some point everybody
(01:05):
else just takes over and I just quietly go to the back.
Chris, what about you? Little claustrophobic OK might
knock some walls down, might be freaked out.
I, I, I think like fundamentallywhat's wrong with the escape
rooms is you go in there and youare, to your point, Chris,
trapped in a room for 30 minutesto an hour and eventually to
your point, Kathy, if you run out of like, what's next?
(01:26):
It's so fucking right. The next thing you know, there's
just seven people pissed off in a small room not knowing what to
do, and someone's yelling at youin a walkie.
Jockie, be like how you looked under the clock.
It's like, yeah, of course I fucking looked under the clock.
Well, and they're giving you like some like random like clue,
they're giving you a different clue.
And it's like I didn't get any of the clues that were in the
room. I'm not going to understand your
(01:47):
just tell me where it is. I just.
Want to make it end? Doesn't it kind of feel like
work though? You're stuck in this room.
You have to do a bunch of tasks before they'll let you about.
Like, doesn't that feel like your office in a way?
I mean now. That you say it?
Yes. This week I actually went to a
place called Level 99. Have you all ever heard of that?
No. It's actually pretty cool.
(02:07):
Apparently there's one in Natickand one in Providence, RI.
And I went to the one in Providence and it's basically a
bunch of mini escape room. Mini being the game only takes 2
to 3 minutes to complete and a lot of it is like mental
challenges. Some of them are physical
challenges. Like there is one where it's
like you got to get your team across this room and there's
just three ropes and you've got to swing from rope to rope to
rope because of the other side. And I think they have fucking
(02:29):
mastered the escape room. If you suck at it 3 minutes and
you're out of your onto your next one.
I guess with this 99 I'm going to find one I'm good at.
Just say like they've mastered it.
It's beautiful. Speaking about escaping from
things, y'all remember when we did the episode on the Boston
molasses incident in the North End?
Yes. What was that?
Like 2.3 million gallons molasses.
A lot of molasses. Killing fifty people, injuring
(02:51):
150 plus? Well, if you haven't got your
molasses fix yet, there's this gentleman on Kickstarter, Polly
Wenger, and he's actually created a card game called The
Molassiker. The Molassiker.
I wish I had thought of that. I know, and I was writing the
episode because it's so close. Opportunity, Kathy.
And also go Paul. A great name.
You killed it. Well, Paulie, he's actually a
(03:12):
historian. He's getting his PhD right now
and actually found this old cardgame that was really popular in
the United States called touring.
Have you all heard of that? No.
No, yeah, I hadn't either. He's trying to take kind of the
principles of that card game andmixing it with molasses incident
in Boston. Load of molasses and call it a
game, yeah? There it is, but it's super cool
looking. I was kind of watching him
(03:33):
explain it. He's got some great artwork over
there. He hired some Italian artists to
go ahead and do all the the drawings onto it and the basic
principles of the game. It's a little dark, but we're
dark here, right? We like dark things here is that
you know the molasses is coming and you're trying to escape.
We thought this was kind of light hearted, a little dark, a
little fun and we thought y'all might like it too.
And if you do, head over to Kickstarter.
I've searched the Molassaker MOLASSACRE and I'll get a little
(03:59):
support. I think that'd be awesome.
I really want to get to play this game.
Yeah, it looks. Super cool, I'm going to get the
donation so we can at least get a deck of cards and we can play
this. I think it looks fun.
Yeah, so Paul is a historian andhe's working on his PhD in
history. You got it.
And he's listening to our episodes.
He is now I guess. Yeah, I got up my game as far as
making sure I have my. Factory.
(04:20):
Oh my God. Yeah, well hopefully he won't be
fact checking the pig Man episode.
Hey, hey, that was that was perfectly fact checked.
You're Henry the. Henry the 13th?
Yeah, Henry the 13th. Yeah, yeah, Paulie, get back to
us. Is Henry the 13th real?
Kathy, were you ready to dive into your episode here today?
Yeah, ready. All right, let's do it.
So the American Civil War was a time in American history where
(04:41):
our country was divided. The only option seen was war.
The newly established country, only 78 years old, was already
divided when Abraham Lincoln wasappointed president in 1860.
The topic of slavery was at a tipping point.
The economic structure of the country was split.
The northern states invested in industry, transportation,
growth, newspapers, banking and investments.
(05:02):
The southern states invested in farming.
Majority of land owners produce cotton which held high value and
with the use of slavery costing was held down and resulting in
the value of owning another human who was thought of as
property to also increase. With the southern land owners
producing crops and having the majority of slaves, their wealth
actually exceeded out of the north with 3/5 of the wealthiest
(05:22):
people being from the South. But the idea to own another
human being immoral growing willbegan a movement that no other
person should have the right to own another.
So when President Lincoln, who was the member of the anti
slavery Republican Party took office, it was only one year
later that war was declared on our homelands.
While I fully support the Union and hope that in the past life I
would have fought alongside those looking to help, life as a
(05:43):
soldier, regardless of the side,was not easy.
Most were young men, some still teenagers, and they were thrown
into conflict that would shape the nation.
They marched long distances, slept on the ground no matter
the weather, survived on rationsof food only when the supplies
allowed. The uniforms were torn, shoes
worn with holes, and their only belongings were pictures of
loved ones that they left back home and letters from those same
(06:04):
people that they carried in their pockets.
These letters from loved ones back at home became the only
temporary cure to their homesickness.
Could you imagine, like one of us going off the war?
I'm not built like. That me neither man.
I'm sleeping outside. Yeah, they'd be like the first
under 60° day, like, Oh my God, I'm so cold.
And they'd be like George Washington was on ice in a
river. Like it's.
(06:25):
Just. Like up kids to anyone got a
bleeded blanket Felt different. Very different, yeah.
Disease and infections from wounds claimed more lives in the
battle, but those who survived the battle faced another
possibility capture. Thousands of soldiers on both
sides were taken as prisoners ofwar, often forced into
overcrowded prisons with deplorable conditions.
(06:45):
For many, the fear of being captured in the unknown horrors
scared them more than the battlefield itself.
So when a young man from Georgiaby the name of Samuel Lanier was
either drafted or volunteered tojoin the Confederate Army in
March off to war, he had to say goodbye to his young wife
Melanie. And I'm sure it was with a heavy
heart. And in 1862, Melanie would learn
(07:06):
the fate of her beloved husband and the legend would be born.
Samuel Lanier. Rankings in the military is
unknown and even his name is controversial.
Some records referred to him as Andrew, while others have him as
Samuel. For this telling of the tale,
I'm going with Samuel and now trying to read it out loud.
I wish I had gone with Andrew. Yeah, for the gang, he cannot
(07:27):
say. Samuel.
Samuel Lanier. Samuel Lanier took a couple
edits there. 15, yeah. Well, while off at war, Samuel's
March would lead him to New England where he would become
captured and brought to George'sIsland off the coast of Boston
to be held prisoner in Fort Warren.
George's Island has its own deephistory in the building of this
(07:48):
new country going back to prior to the American Revolution.
When the English and European settlers first arrived here,
island was home to the indigenous people who lived off
the land, using it for fishing and farming.
And of course when the new settlers came over, they took it
over and began to use it for their own purposes.
As the years went passed and theRevolutionary War took hold, the
island was used to guard the Narrows, the main channel into
(08:10):
the Boston Harbor. The city of Boston would go on
to claim the island and then hand it over to the United
States government to be used formilitary defense.
It's now that the government began construction of Fort
Warren. Fort Warren was constructed
using granite quarried from CapeAnn in Quincy.
The completion of the Fort came in 1858, but when the Civil War
broke out, it was still standing, unarmed and littered
with construction debris. Seeing how at the time Fort
(08:32):
Warren was the 5th largest Fort in the country, Massachusetts
Governor John Andrews took advantage of the asset.
Weapons were sent in. The Fort was armed to defend
against the Confederate naval ships.
The Fort housed Union soldiers for training and eventually
Confederate prisoners of war, sowhen Samuel was captured he was
one of more than 2000 plus prisoners to be held within the
stone walls of the island fortress.
(08:53):
Fort Warren was under control byColonel Dimmick and despite
being overpopulated, he and his men did their best to make the
living quarters as tolerable as possible.
It is reported that the Confederate prisoners
appreciation for Colonel Dimmickwas so high that they gave his
son, then serving in the Second US Artillery in Virginia, a
letter requesting that he received good treatment in case
(09:14):
of capture by the Confederates. But let's remember, this was
before the Geneva Convention, when we established standard
against torture and established expectations of quality of
living for prisoners. So despite it being rumored that
the prisoners here had it betterthan most, life was still not
good. They were prisoners of war.
Yeah, I remember reading about that.
And especially in the South, theconditions were horrific.
(09:36):
Like they didn't have enough food to feed their own soldiers,
so they were not feeding prisoners and many people died
in prison. Well, it is believed that within
the cold stone walls of Samuel'sprison he drafted a letter and
found a way to smuggle it out sothat his beloved wife, Melanie
could find out what was happening.
The letter has never been found and what words it contain has
never been noted. So it leads us to imagine what
(09:57):
one might say to the love of ourlives when we believe our days
would never lead us back to them.
All we do know is that when Melanie read the words, she set
forth on a of her own. How do we know she got the
letter? Melanie does reportedly make her
way to New England, and that's. Proof that she got.
Proof that positively proof thatthere's a letter.
How also she know where he is right exactly?
She's about to be a bad bitch, isn't?
(10:18):
She is, so that's. Kind of sweet though, right?
Yeah. I'm going to die soon and I'm
going to write my wife a letter and smuggle it out.
You say goodbye. It's kind of nice.
It is kind of nice, very nice, and I think Melanie takes it and
does what any woman would do. At least I know this is what I
would do for you, honey. Are you going to kill him?
(10:39):
What are you? What are you going to do all?
Right. Well, you know the story.
We don't. So Melanie made her way up north
to Boston, where she found shelter with a Confederate
sympathizer. She cut her hair, discarded her
southern dress for a Union soldiers uniform, blended in
disguised as a man, and found passage on a boat to George's
Island. Once on the island, Melanie
(11:00):
located George and snuck tools to him so that he could begin
his escape. Melanie didn't just want to help
George escape though, The plan was to help all the soldiers
within Samuel's barracks find their way home.
Melanie managed to get inside the prison where she swapped out
her Union soldiers clothes for Gray, dirty and ragged prison
uniform. She hid amongst the other
prisoners and together, while the guards were away, they dug
(11:21):
into the ground in an attempt tomake their way to the other
side. Unfortunately, one night while
digging, a tool hit the Stonewall, sending the sound of
the metal tool against the hard stone echoing down to where the
Union soldiers SAT. Oh, OK, wait a minute.
So she gets a letter. She travels to New England, she
gets a uniform of a soldier, cuts her hair so she looks like
(11:41):
a soldier, sneaks onto the base,gets rid of her clothes and puts
on prisoner's clothes and startsdigging a hole.
Yes. She is badass.
Yes, yeah. What she'll do to try to rescue
Herman. All right.
Well. Maybe love Israel?
It is real. I mean, this is some serious
commitment here. So when the soldiers came
(12:01):
running, a massive fight broke out and Melanie pulled out the
pistol she had hidden. She aimed the gun at the man
that was coming, charging for her.
She pulled the trigger, but instead of the bullet piercing
the oncoming soldier, the gun backfired, sending the bullet
and part of the gun through the air off to the side, where it
found Samuel, ultimately killinghim.
Oh, she shot the guy she was trying to save.
(12:22):
She. Come on, shot her husband.
It's so tragic. Got some fucked up karma right
there. Damn Melanie.
Shocked and now in complete despair, she dropped the weapon
and ran to her husband side, holding him in her arms while he
slipped away. She cried out, desperately
trying to cling to her husband'sbody.
As the Union soldiers arrested Melanie and she was charged with
(12:42):
being a spy and immediately sentenced to death by hanging.
Melanie, still dressed in a prisoner's uniform, requested
that she be executed in women's clothing.
This was her last attempt at some dignity and a subtle nod to
her southern roots, but as they were all men on the island, the
best that they could do for her was a black robe.
With no other option, Melanie accepted the robe and this is
what she wore as she was led to the gallows.
(13:04):
Shortly after the death of Melanie, the soldiers began to
tell tales of visions of the Lady in Black wandering the
corridors, softly weeping. There's reports of a soldier who
was reprimanded because he fled his post, claiming she was
chasing him. The other claims say that
soldiers would actually discharge their weapons to only
find that the bullets flew through nothing but the air
around them. They shot at a ghost?
(13:25):
That's crazy. Did the soldiers really see the
ghosts of the soul trapped thereforever, or was it their mind
perhaps trying to come to terms with the execution of a woman in
a time of war when they all longed to be home with the ones
they loved? Today, Fort Warren is a
historical landmark where visitors take the 50 minute long
ferry ride from Boston's Long Wharf to the island and spend
(13:46):
the day taking tours and exploring the Fort.
Although historians have never actually been able to prove
Samuel or Melanie ever existed, visitors and workers continue to
stand firm in the claims that they see her lingering, unable
to move forward. Perhaps she is forever searching
for her husband, or she stays asretaliation for those she blames
for her and Samuels life being taken.
(14:06):
Either way, the claims of shadowy figures leaving cries
and echoing streams from empty hallways still remain and
continue on. Could you imagine traveling from
the South all the way to Boston,sneaking into this like islands,
getting in disguise and getting inside of the prison, helping
them escape, and then accidentally shooting the person
they're like? Yeah, that's just so tragic.
(14:29):
If psychic energy is bored emotionally, like you know,
ghost hunters believe, I could see why there would be enough
emotional energy there to keep her spirit alive.
Right. Because like I said, like
there's so much history on that island and at that Fort, you
know, there's claims of, of soldiers and hearing ghosts and
voices and things like that. But I focus just mostly on her,
(14:49):
Yeah. I love the fact that one of the
soldiers shot at a ghost. Could you imagine that
conversation with this? You know, Sergeant, like you
discharged your firearms like ghost.
Ghost. Yeah, I thought there was
someone there. Yeah.
Or the guy that like ran from his post, like literally like
the report was that he ran from it because he thought that she
was chasing him and. Yeah, what's he going to do if
(15:10):
there's an actual enemy there, like.
I have not. I'm having a hard time in my
brain being like, is fate real? Because if so, that motherfucker
was just not meant to leave thatprison.
And there's this like, man, it'sunfair.
But also, you know, he was a Confederate.
They're Confederate supporters. So like you got what's?
Coming. I do think too that I'm not a
Confederate supporter, but some of those soldiers, they were
(15:30):
forced into it, especially like the younger ones, they didn't
really like have a choice. It was.
That's what you had to go do. Do we have any indication on
what Samuel was? No, this is a podcast about
weird shit in New England. Yeah, we're pro union here.
That's right. Yeah, Hell yeah.
That's right, you don't support none of that shit anyways.
Yeah, I got nothing left. Anything.
Else, you know, we keep trying, yeah.
(15:52):
Yeah, yeah, I do want to take a trip out.
The only time that they have ferries out to George's Island
is in the summertime. June 16th, Just September 1st,
so all. Right, we might need to go see
the Lady in Black. Yeah, I want to go out to the to
the Fort. Lady in black?
Yeah, she's out there. Supposedly she's there and they
did say that when you go to the island, the tour guides, it's
(16:13):
like one of the first stories that they'll tell you and they
share their experiences. But I couldn't find any of their
experiences. They are going.
To take the tour. Yeah, got to go to, gotta go to
the island. Take the tour.
All right, well then I guess we'll have an update soon then
maybe. Well, Kathy, thank you so much
for sharing the story. The lady in black definitely was
a Shorty, but a goodie. We like that.
We like that and the gang. We hope you enjoyed this story
(16:36):
as well too. And if you did, make sure you go
ahead and check out our Instagram again that is at
Weirder After Dark. And it's not just Instagram.
We are building some goddamn communities out there and
they're good ones. You can visit us at Facebook or
overall Reddit. Again, that's at Weirder After
Dark, and you can communicate and talk to not just the
afterlife, but people just like you who want to go there and
(16:56):
talk about our podcasts. And no, we are always also on
the search for your stories. So have you seen the Lady in
Black? Have you been abducted by an
alien or was it fucking Randy? Who knows what you've seen, if
you've seen anything like that. Go ahead and send us your
stories. You want to hear them and you
can send that to the gang at Weirder After dark.com.
And lastly, don't forget, if youare liking this shit, or maybe
(17:18):
you're loving this shit, the best thing that you can do to
help us out and continue growingis go ahead and share the shit
with someone you know or love. We'd appreciate it forever.
And remember, it always gets a little weirder after dark.
Thank you guys.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.