The Stoney-Baynard Ruins

Posted: 03.26.2025 | Updated: 03.26.2025

The Stoney-Baynard Plantation Ruins are located just a few hours southwest of Charleston, South Carolina, on Hilton’s Head Island. These ruins stand as a testament to the rich, colorful history of the island’s storied past. 

This once-grand estate overlooked the Calibogue Sound. Its remains whisper tales of opulence, misfortune, and spectral beings that continue to haunt visitors.

Like many of South Carolina’s historical sites, ghost stories rooted in truth have attracted many visitors who want to see an apparition. 

Want to see for yourself? Take a Charleston ghost tour with Charleston Terrors for a history-packed lesson about the deaths shrouding Charleston. With possible spectral sightings on the menu, this tour is a must-do for any traveler looking for a spiritual spook!

Why Are The Stoney-Baynard Ruins Haunted?

As with all ghost stories (especially the good ones), some of the details in the Stoney-Baynard Ruins story are a little fuzzy. But a few things remain clear. This story involves a government-sanctioned pirate, an ill-fated poker game, a Civil War raid, and a spirit mourning his deceased wife and his place of rest.

To understand why the ghost of William Eddings Baynard still wanders his earthly home today, you’ve got to understand how the ruins came to be in the first place. So, how did this magnificent plantation come to be? What caused the heartbroken angst of this long-dead spirit to continue to roam?

The Privateer Who Built The Grand Plantation

Even simply looking at the burned-down remains of the Stoney-Baynard ruins, you can tell it was once a grand plantation. Captain Jack Stoney built his legacy on six acres between Baynard Park Road and Plantation Drive. This plantation consisted of a main house, an overseer house, and a slave house. But who exactly was Captain Jack Stoney? 

Captain Jack Stoney was a merchant who arrived in Charleston in 1774 aboard his ship, the “Saucy Jack.” He was interested in building his merchant business in Charleston. But, upon connecting with a friend from Ireland, he learned that he could become wealthy much more quickly if he became a privateer.

If you’re unfamiliar with privateers, they’re basically like government-sanctioned pirates. They are responsible for raiding enemy ships during wartime. The government requires them to give a fifth of their spoils from the raids back to the government, but the privateers can keep the rest.

Captain Jack Stoney became so wealthy from privateering that he could purchase over 800 acres on Hilton Head in just under two years. He called this land Otterburn Plantation. Later, his son announced his intention to support his father by working the land at Otterburn. 

Captain Jack and his new daughter-in-law did not get along, so Captain Jack purchased nearly 1,400 additional acres on the south end of Hilton Head. There, at Braddock’s Point, he vowed to build his wife a “proper home.”

And a proper home is what he built! The tabby mansion, completed in 1805, was the only full tabby home ever built on the island. The ruins of the mansion still stand today in a preserved historic site. 

The Baynard Plantation

This is where the story gets a little bit twisted. Some say, generations later, Col. John Joseph Stoney bet the land and the home in a late-night poker game. Others say the Stoneys declared bankruptcy, and William Eddings Baynard acquired the estate from the bank. Either way, the Baynard family acquired the plantation home in 1837. 

William Baynard was quite successful as a cotton planter before he died in 1849. Unfortunately, he only had the opportunity to use the plantation for about nine years, from 1840 to 1849. He died young, aged 49 years old when he passed. His wife, Catherine Adelaide, died five years later at 42.

Before he passed, Baynard built the Baynard Mausoleum, today’s oldest structure on Hilton Head Island. It is a single giant stone tomb where both Baynard and his wife were originally buried.

After their passing, rumors quickly spread that Baynard had built the mausoleum to safeguard some of his most precious possessions that he wanted to take into the afterlife with his wife.

Civil War and The Stoney-Baynard Ruins

Ephraim Baynard, William’s son, left the island in 1861. Around the same time, Union officers rated the land in the home. They decided to take over the plantation to use it as their own base in the Civil War.

Some say the soldiers stole every piece of treasure in the mausoleum. Others claim the burglaries didn’t take place until the 1940s when the caskets of William Baynard and Catherine Adelaide were thrown into the marsh. Either way, the mausoleum stands virtually empty today.

Since then, William’s angry and wounded ghost is said to wander the ruins of the Stoney-Baynard Plantation and the Baynard Mausoleum.

Shortly after the Civil War ended, the main house caught fire in 1867. Some say the other structures also burned down in the fire, while others say they were salvaged for building materials after the war.

The government had seized all the land on Hilton Head Island. In 1875, the Baynards repurchased most of the land for $533 in back taxes. They eventually reclaimed all of the land; however, no attempt was made to rebuild the mansion at Braddock’s Point.

Hauntings of The Stoney-Baynard Ruins

The Stoney-Baynard ruins became registered in the National Register of Historic Places on January 7, 1994. Since then, visitors to the site have claimed to see William Baynard. Some even say they have witnessed an entire funeral procession accompanying Baynard to the mausoleum.

Is he angry about his stolen treasures? Does he mourn his short-lived success and life? Is he feeling sorrow for his wife Catherine’s early death?

It’s hard to say what exactly is keeping William Eddings Baynard on this side of the veil. Maybe you’ll get a chance to see him and ask when you visit!

Haunted Charleston

Whether drawn by the allure of history or the thrill of ghostly tales, visitors to the site encounter a palpable feeling of the past colliding with the present. That feeling of something creeping up from the moss-draped oaks follows you wherever you go on this plantation.

You can feel spectral eyes on you as you tour even more haunts two hours away in Charleston with a Charleston Terrors ghost tour. While the Holy City may seem innocent, it’s actually anything but. Restless spirits await your visit on this walking tour of Charleston. You won’t want to miss their wails of woe!

Before you tour, be sure to check us out on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. We’ve got plenty of tours all over the U.S. that will satisfy the ghost hunter in you. Can’t wait? Check out our blog to read all about the horrors you might encounter!

Sources

• https://www.locallifesc.com/hilton-heads-untold-history-captain-jack-stoney/
• https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/art/exhibits/conflicts-and-operations/the-war-of-1812/privateers.html/1000
• https://south-carolina-plantations.com/beaufort/otterburn.html
• https://www.nps.gov/timu/learn/historyculture/kp_tabby.htm
• https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5802c4d9414fb5e45ce4dc44/t/5998b38c15d5db7a7d559603/1503179665638/Baynard%2C+William+Eddings.pdf
• https://www.locallifesc.com/hilton-head-myths-misconceptions-baynard-poker-game/
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/77009560/william-eddings-baynard
• https://hhisunsetrotary.com/stories/baynard-masolemn-at-zion-cemetary
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/181041815/ephraim_mikell-baynard
• https://www.hiltonhead.com/hilton-heads-haunted-cemetery/
• https://readtheplaque.com/plaque/stoney-baynard-the-plantation-house#gsc.tab=0
• https://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/article287200600.html