“I've only been here three days and it's just a shooting, but give me time, okay. This place is fantastic. It’s like Gone With the Wind on mescaline. I know you're my agent. Listen to me, they walk imaginary pets here, Garland. On a fucking leash. Alright? And they're all heavily armed and drunk. New York is boring. I'll call you later."
- The character of freelance writer John Kelso, as he describes Savannah, GA in the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
It all started for me when I took a tour of the Mercer Williams House on Monterey Square. Like so many others, I was drawn in by the intrigue created by a murder that took place there in 1981.
The killing of Danny Lewis Hansford by Savannah antique dealer Jim Williams became the backbone of writer John Berendt’s first novel, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
The book was a sensation, staying on the New York Times’s Best Seller List for 216 weeks. It spawned an incredible tourism industry in the city of Savannah. The 1997 Clint Eastwood-directed movie of the same name only increased the interest.
I was fascinated by this story from the start, and my curiosity only heightened after seeing the movie several times.
Since I am a cemetery traveler, I made it a point during one of my trips to Savannah to do a little research and see if I could locate the graves of Danny Hansford and Jim Williams. I also wanted to find the statue of the Bird Girl, whose image graces the book’s cover. Following is an overview of what I found. I'll leave the rest up to you for your own cemetery adventure.
If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, I highly recommend you do. It’s a colorful, offbeat tale full of memorable characters such as the Lady Chablis, a true-to-life sassy transgender performer who convinced Clint Eastwood to allow her to play herself in the movie, and Joe Odom, "former tax lawyer, cocktail pianist, a squatter in temporarily unoccupied mansions." Then there's the man who keeps horseflies on thread "leashes". And that's just the beginning.
The construction of Mercer House, as it was originally called, began just before the Civil War. It was to be the home of General Hugh Weedon Mercer, the great grandfather of Savannah-born singer/songwriter Johnny Mercer. When the war finally broke out, construction was postponed. By the time the house was finished in 1868, it had passed to a new owner, John Wilder, who paid for its completion. Later, it became the Temple of the Savannah Alee Shriners and for much of the 1900s, the house was used for their parties and events.
After standing vacant for ten years, the house was purchased in 1969 by Jim Williams. He not only restored the structure, making it his home, but also spearheaded efforts for the restoration of at least 50 more homes in Savannah, and South Carolina.
His annual black-tie Christmas party was a hot ticket and invitations were highly sought after by the wealthy elite of Savannah society who turned a blind eye to Williams' homosexuality for the opportunity to mingle.
At twenty-one years old, Danny Lewis Hansford was a local male escort, who Jim Williams passed off as his "assistant". In truth, he was also Williams' lover.
He had a well-built physique, and the book describes him as a "walking streak of sex." In the movie, he was casually characterized as "a good time not yet had by all." I searched for a long time for a picture of him without much luck. This is the only one I could find.
His death in the study of the Mercer Williams house was the catalyst of four trials for Jim Williams. The jury in the fourth finally believed his self-defense claim and acquitted him of the murder.
In January 1990, just six months after his exoneration, Jim Williams died from a combination of pneumonia and heart failure in the same room where he fatally shot Danny Hansford.
Jim Williams was not buried in Bonaventure Cemetery. Instead, I drove two and a half hours from Savannah to Gordon, GA where he was born. In a modest cemetery next to the Ramah Baptist Church, he is buried near his mother. His grave is the one on the left.
Danny Hansford does not rest in Bonaventure either. He is interred in Greenwich Cemetery right next door to Bonaventure. His simple, flat stone is covered year-round with tokens from visitors.
The Bird Girl was photographed by Savannah resident Jack Leigh, a well-known photographer, and writer. Given just a short time in Bonaventure after the gates closed for the night, he traveled the cemetery looking for something to use as a cover shot for Berendt’s book. Eventually, he came upon the statue.
I once attended an exhibit held at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) that featured photos by Jack Leigh, including the original picture of the Bird Girl and all of his notes. It was truly awesome to see this up close.
Sadly, Jack Leigh passed away from colon cancer in 2004. He is buried in a family plot in Bonaventure on the opposite side of the cemetery from where the Bird Girl stood.
Up until the publication of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in 1994, the Bird Girl was undisturbed in the quiet of Bonaventure, standing at the back of the Trosdal family plot. They called her "Little Wendy". But, now, the secret was out. Throngs of people came to Bonaventure searching for the statue, trampling graves, and causing much damage. Eventually, she was removed and placed in the Telfair Academy in downtown Savannah, which is where I first saw her. Then she was moved across the street to the Jepson Center, another part of the Telfair Museum complex. Now, the Telfair Academy is once again her home.
The wistful song "Skylark" that opens and closes the movie has lyrics written by Johnny Mercer.
He is buried in Bonaventure along with several members of his family including his mother, father, and wife.
When this photo was taken his gravestone was covered with stones placed for remembrance and the beautiful blossoms of camellias that bloom in the winter months in Savannah.
If you'd like to hear a clip of K.D. Lang singing the a capella version of Skylark used in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil just click on the following link https://youtu.be/tH-xzt91Lgc
Writing about all of this makes me want to watch the movie again. So it's time for me to grab a beverage, kick back in my lounger and start streaming.
Photographs taken by Christine Shephard and all written copy may not be used in any other format or publication without express written permission
Information for this article was gathered from the Athens Banner-Herald, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil the book and the movie, Find a Grave, Wikipedia, personal visits to Bonaventure Cemetery, Ramah Baptist Church Cemetery, Greenwich Cemetery, Telfair Academy, and the Jepson Center.
#midnightinthegardenofgoodandevil #jimwilliams #mercerwilliamshouse #dannyhansford #bonaventurecemetery #greenwichcemeterysavannah #ramahbaptistchurchcemetery #jackleigh #johnnymercer #skylark #birdgirl #telfairacademy
Comments