DIXIE HAYGOOD 

The Georgia Wonder

Famous for her special powers and talents as an illusionist, Dixie Haygood was often called “Little Miss Georgia Magnet” or “The Georgia Wonder” by those who knew her.

Born in 1861 in Milledgeville, she traveled all over the world, performing in opera houses under the stage name Annie Abbot. As a stage magician who enamored crowds, some of her acts included using psychic powers to move pianos and lifting men from billiard cues, the act consisted of holding a billiard cue in one hand while a group of men tried to force the billiard cue to the ground but were unable to do so. At a petite 100 pounds, Haygood could resist being picked up by the strongest of men, an “inexplicable mystery.” She could lift as many as 4 or 6 men at the same time, yet they were unable to lift her. Called “The Little Georgia Magnet,” she inspired other women to pursue performing magic and even had a magic act named after her. Rumors about Haygood began to spread quickly, as they do in small towns, that her talents were owed to psychic abilities and witchcraft.

There are those who claim that Dixie’s mysterious ways and eccentric spirit are still at work inside Memory Hill Cemetery even today. For reasons unknown, every year around Christmas time, a hole forms in the ground near Haygood and Yates plot in Memory Hill Cemetery. Maybe Dixie Haygood is still practicing or John Yates who was said to have been cursed by Haygood is simply trying to get away from Haygood?  Despite workers' best efforts of filling it in, the hole continues to return each year, ignoring the cement that has even been placed to try to stop the strange phenomenon. 

The final resting place for Dixie Haygood can be found in Memory Hill Cemetery in the West Section F. The headstone is located in the middle of the section, #40 on the Memory Hill Self Guided Walking Tour. Brochure are available at the gazebo at the front of the cemetery or online. 

The image of the "ghost" is an interpretation of the character depicted.