Sweetwater Mansion
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Sweetwater Mansion, located in Florence, Alabama, is a plantation house designed by General John Brahan of the Alabama Militia. A veteran of the War of 1812, Brahan owned over 4,000 acres in eastern Lauderdale County, Alabama. The eight room home was built of bricks manufactured on the site of Sweetwater creek that lay just below the house. Sweetwater Mansion received its name from the creek and was first occupied by Brahan's son-in-law Robert M. Patton, a post Civil War governor of Alabama, who completed the mansion in 1835.
Legends and Ghost Stories
Stories of paranormal activity have been told about the house for many years. Numerous apparitions have been seen in and around the house. One of the more interesting stories involves a caretaker who reported that she saw a casket laid out in one of the downstairs rooms with the corpse of a Confederate soldier inside. She later discovered she had possibly seen the body of one of Governor Patton's sons whose funeral was conducted in the house. Local paranormal investigators have investigated the property and Sweetwater Mansion was featured in an episode of A&E's Paranormal State on April 25, 2011.[1][2]Johnston, Debra (2003). Skeletons In The Closet: More True Ghost Stories of the Shoals Area. Self Published, 51-55. ISBN 97809752767. </ref>Penot, Jessica (2010). Haunted North Alabama. Charleston, SC: History Press, 123-125. ISBN 9781596299900. </ref>