Danny Lewis Hansford was killed by a bullet fired from Jim Williams while they argued in the study of the historic Mercer House. Of that there is no doubt. If you’re asking whether Jim killed him in self defense or in the heat of the moment? Now that is a different story entirely and one with differing answers depending on who you talk to…
Danny’s death started a chain of events, including four trials for his convicted then acquitted killer, that set the city ablaze with gossip and controversy. In a town where the first question isn’t ‘where do you go to church?’ but rather ‘what would you like to drink?’ this is no mean feat! Everyone in the South loves some dirty laundry aired for all to see. Unless it’s their own.
The Book aka Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was loosely based on the event of that night and eventually became a blockbuster 1997 movie directed by Clint Eastwood. It was EVERYWHERE for a while and with a recent 30 year anniversary of its release it has resurfaced to mainstream media once more. Albeit to a bit quieter fanfare than before.
If you’ve never seen it then I really suggest you watch it. Yes, it’s dated and the accents are prettttyyy bad from some of the Hollywood folks (a true Savannah drawl is a thing of beauty) and it does have Kevin Spacey but it’s also a slice of insight into a specific type of Southern culture. View the trailer here.
But the biggest thing to remember is that at the center of all this was that a young man lost his life to a bullet. While the movie and book most definitely capture the quirky, offbeat, oddball and wildly interesting nature of Savannah and the trial while glossing over certain specifics, the real life and death of the situation was much darker and sadder and sordid than portrayed onscreen or in pages. Here’s a read from a Savannah lawyer who was involved in the legalities and it’s a good jumping point if you want to find out more about how things may have truly unfolded.
And with it being Savannah and having a reputation of being haunted as hell, the question of whether or not the house has ghostly sightings is answered with a resounding yes.
See, Hanson wasn’t the only person to die in the Mercer House. Jim Williams himself died in the very room where he shot Danny and was supposedly in a very similar position – sprawled with hand to heart – when found dead on the floor. But it wasn’t a gun that took out Williams. It was health issues. Another death was from a young boy in 1969 who fell from the roof while chasing birds. So if you ask local ghost tours or ghost hunters, or heck even some of the older neighbors, you’ll find that they believe that there are spirits there that are still restless…
The Mercer House is open to tours, the Bird Girl statue has been relocated to a local museum, Bonaventure Cemetery is very close to downtown and Greenwich is right next door to Bonaventure. There are still plenty of tours featuring sites from The Book and it still plays a leading role in Savannah’s tourism culture. If you go to the city you’ll find it all with ease!
