Gypsy Heart
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Port Tobacco Maryland
By most accounts and local lore, the spirit of a large blue dog protects his murdered master's treasure, buried somewhere on Rose Hill Road outside Port Tobacco. According to Rose Hill Road resident Charles Stuart, whose property contains the fabled rock that Blue Dog and his master were killed on, the first written account of the Blue Dog legend dates back to 1897, when his home's former owner, Olivia Floyd, told the Maryland Independent she had seen the ghost of the Blue Dog.
Although he hasn't seen the ghost of Blue Dog on February 8 in the 20 years he has lived on Rose Hill Road, Stuart, "doesn't doubt" the accounts of that date following the Revolutionary War, when Charles Thomas Sims, a soldier, and his dog were killed on Rose Hill Road while returning from a Port Tobacco Tavern.
Stuart said that Henry Hanos of Port Tobacco killed Sims and his dog for his gold and a deed to an estate. Hanos then buried the gold and deed under a holly tree along Rose Hill Road. When Hanos returned to recover the treasure, he was scared away by the ghost of Blue Dog and then fell ill, before suddenly dying.
One of the oldest communities on the East Coast, Port Tobacco first existed as the Indian settlement of Potopaco and was colonized by the English as early as 1634. Port Tobacco became a major seaport during the late 1600s and was the original county government seat. In addition to being a hot spot for confederate conspiracy and a part of John Wilkes Booth’s escape route, Port Tobacco suffered from local conflict as well. A vote was taken to move the county seat to La Plata where the railroad industry was becoming more resourceful than the seaport of Port Tobacco, but the vote did not pass. Then in 1892, the center part of the courthouse was burned in a mysterious fire and the county seat was moved to La Plata.
By most accounts and local lore, the spirit of a large blue dog protects his murdered master's treasure, buried somewhere on Rose Hill Road outside Port Tobacco. According to Rose Hill Road resident Charles Stuart, whose property contains the fabled rock that Blue Dog and his master were killed on, the first written account of the Blue Dog legend dates back to 1897, when his home's former owner, Olivia Floyd, told the Maryland Independent she had seen the ghost of the Blue Dog.
Although he hasn't seen the ghost of Blue Dog on February 8 in the 20 years he has lived on Rose Hill Road, Stuart, "doesn't doubt" the accounts of that date following the Revolutionary War, when Charles Thomas Sims, a soldier, and his dog were killed on Rose Hill Road while returning from a Port Tobacco Tavern.
Stuart said that Henry Hanos of Port Tobacco killed Sims and his dog for his gold and a deed to an estate. Hanos then buried the gold and deed under a holly tree along Rose Hill Road. When Hanos returned to recover the treasure, he was scared away by the ghost of Blue Dog and then fell ill, before suddenly dying.
One of the oldest communities on the East Coast, Port Tobacco first existed as the Indian settlement of Potopaco and was colonized by the English as early as 1634. Port Tobacco became a major seaport during the late 1600s and was the original county government seat. In addition to being a hot spot for confederate conspiracy and a part of John Wilkes Booth’s escape route, Port Tobacco suffered from local conflict as well. A vote was taken to move the county seat to La Plata where the railroad industry was becoming more resourceful than the seaport of Port Tobacco, but the vote did not pass. Then in 1892, the center part of the courthouse was burned in a mysterious fire and the county seat was moved to La Plata.
