Covered Bridge near Wessyngton
For many years local residents have claimed that the old covered bridge between Wessyngton and Washington Hall was haunted. It was said that you could hear horses walking across the brigde and hear voices when no one was near it. In researching the history of Wessyngton I found a photo of the original bridge taken in the late 1800s.
Emanuel Washington Portrait by Howard Weeden
During the late 1890s and early 1900s the Washington family commissioned [Maria] Howard Weeden to paint the portraits of several African Americans who were once enslaved on Wessyngton Plantation. One of them was of my great-great-grandfather Emanuel Washington. During the Civil War Emanuel ran away with Union soldiers. He and his family returned to Wessyngton after the war. Emanuel was famous for telling ghost stories to all the children on the plantation. He was born at Wessyngton April 23, 1824 and died there in 1907. His portrait remains in the Washington family.
While in Evansville, IN a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting a new cousin, Mildred Moore Robinson. When she saw my book cover she was very surprised and told me that she had the same picture in an old album. It turned out that the photograph she had was an original and had my great-great-grandfather’s name (Emanuel Washington) written on the back of it. He he had paid forty cents for the photograph which was nearly a day’s pay. The photo had been passed to his daughter Martha Washington White, who was Ms. Robinson’s maternal grandmother. I was honored when Cousin Mildred gave me the photograph.
Original 1891 Wessyngton Photo