Posted in photos, Purdy, TN, tagged a, about, after, again, alone, an, and, announcement, another, Anyone, arresting, as, at, attempt, attempting, be, big, broke, cabin, can, care, caught, complete, completed, deter, do, During, enforcement, enough, enter, entered, entry, far, First, for, four, friend, from, gain, Go, haunted, have, He, Here, hiding, himself, house, Hurst, I, if, inform, information, Inside, internet, is, isn't, law, leave, leaving, like, Mansion, mine, month, more, much, nears, needed, night, not, now, occasionally, October, of, off, officer, on, operate, out, owner, part, periodically, private, Proceeds, property, prosecuted, provided, Purdy, restoration, so, someone, something, star, staying, stress, taken, that, the, thinking, this, those, Tim, time, TN, to, trespassers, trespassing, used, vandals, who, will, window, work, would, You, you're, youngsters on June 9, 2008|
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I would again like to stress that this is private property and trespassers will be prosecuted. The owner caught four youngsters attempting to enter the house and after leaving for the night someone broke a window and entered the house.
I would like to inform anyone thinking about trespassing that the owner of the property is periodically staying at a cabin not far from the house. He will occasionally be hiding out at Hurst House and apprehending those who attempt to gain entry.
If that isn’t enough to deter you, I have another big announcement from the owner himself. IF vandals will leave the property alone so part of the work needed can be completed, he will operate a Haunted House inside Hurst Mansion during the month of October. Proceeds will be used to complete much needed restoration. More information will be provided on this as the time nears.
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Posted in photos, Purdy, TN, tagged a, acroos, and, are, around, at, backyard, bedroom, door, few, from, Here, house, Hurst, Hurst's, I, in, night, of, pcitures, pics, picture, Purdy, quarters, slave, street, taken, the, TN, to, took on May 19, 2008|
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Here are a few of the pictures I took in and around the house at night.
This is a photo of the backyard.
This is a photograph of the slave quarters across the street.
This was taken from the door to Hurst’s bedroom. Notice the orbs on the door facing and between the windows.
This is, of course, the front of the house. Note the large orb on the tarp.
This photo was taken looking down the road towards the New Purdy Cemetery.
This photo was taken in Hurst’s bedroom. The owner had just shut the small attic door and everyone else had left the room. It was completely dark and right about the time I snapped this picture, that door creaked open and scared the life out of me. You can see where it is slightly ajar and there are orbs on and around the door.
There was NO ONE smoking when this picture was taken. Two friends were standing nearby and I double checked with both of them to make sure neither of them had been smoking. If you look beyond the odd mist, you’ll also see a few orbs around the house. (The shiny spot in the top window is a bit of reflective tape of some sort.)
Look at the tarp on the roof.
Taken in the backyard.
This photo was taken from behind the house. This is not the moon. The moon was on the other side of the house.
The bright figures in these photos have a very odd shape.
Just in case you couldn’t see the one in the bottom of the picture…
And the one in the top of the picture…
This photo was taken behind the house.
This photo is of the old barn across the street.
This photo is of the kitchen. I’m not sure if you can see them but there are two small orbs on the cabinet doors.
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Posted in photos, Purdy, TN, tagged 1888, a, about, access, across, actually, added, adding, after, All, also, and, any, are, around, as, assume, attic, attics, away, back, backyard, barn, bathroom, be, bedroom, behind, Bell, belonged, BEWARE, building, bullet, but, by, can, chimney, collected, cooked, could, course, covers, dark, dates, daytime, did, do, Dodds, don't, door, email, face, fell, few, Fielding, found, from, front, get, gives, got, grazed, grounds, grown, guy, happened, have, Here, house, how, Hurst, Hurst's, I, if, in, information, Inside, intends, internet, is, It, June, killed, kitchen, known, large, later, leaking, located, M., Mansion, may, meals, multitude, new, no, not, of, old, on, one, only, original, out, over, owned, owner, peeking, peeled, person, photo, photographs, photos, piano, pics, pictures, pot, prepared, property, quarters, R., rainwater, really, records, restore, roof, say, see, seen, shotgun, showed, shrubbery, signatures, slave, slaves, small, snakes, Some, speculate, staircase, street, T., take, tarp, that, That's, the, There, these, they, this, through, to, took, tree, trespass, true, truly, under, underneath, us, vines, wall, wallpaper, was, We, well, what, When, where, which, who, will, window, with, wood, years, You on May 19, 2008|
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Here are some pictures of Hurst House in the daytime. I DID NOT trespass to take these photographs. The owner showed us the house. DO NOT trespass on this property.
I will also be adding pictures I took of the house after dark.
This photo is of the back wall in Fielding Hurst’s bedroom. The small door gives access to one of the attics.
This is the bathroom. It, of course, was added in later years by the Dodds.
This is the original kitchen in the backyard, where the slaves prepared the meals.
This is the grounds behind the house.
This is the front of the house. The tarp covers the leaking roof. The window peeking out from under it is the one you may have seen around the internet with a face in it. That’s Hurst’s bedroom.
This is the front of the house.
This is a close up of Hurst’s bedroom window. Make of it what you will.
This is where a bullet grazed the staircase. Some say this was where Hurst was killed, but this is not true. It is not known how this truly got there and one can only speculate about it as there are no records of what really happened here.
This is the new kitchen which was added on to the back of the house by the Dodds.
This is the chimney and pot from the old kitchen where the slaves cooked. A tree fell on the kitchen a few years back. The new owner intends to restore the building.
This is the back of the house. You can see all the vines and shrubbery that have actually grown to the house over the years.
This is the old barn across the street.
This is the piano inside the house. We assume it belonged to the Dodds.
This is the attic through the small door in Hurst’s bedroom.
This is the side of the house. The top window is Hurst’s bedroom.
This is the slave quarters located across the street from the house. BEWARE! This property is also owned by the owner of Hurst Mansion. DO NOT trespass! If the snakes don’t get you, the guy with the shotgun will.
This was where they collected rainwater.
This wall is in Hurst’s bedroom. When the owner peeled away the old wallpaper, they found a multitude of signatures and dates on the wood underneath. The large one is R. T. M. Bell in June 1888. If you have any information on who this person could be, email tnhauntings@writersbeacon.com.
This is the well inside the old well house in the backyard.
This is another picture of the side of the house.
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Posted in Purdy, TN, tagged &, a, adding, after, also, and, are, ask, at, attempt, attempting, back, be, because, been, but, by, Cemetery, cool, couple, curious, damage, do, done, enough, find, for, fortunate, girlfriend, Go, great, had, hard, has, have, his, home, house, Hurst, I, if, It, jail, like, lovely, lucky, making, many, me, meet, new, not, of, old, on, over, owner, people, pictures, post, probably, property, Purdy, really, restore, returned, saddens, say, seeing, several, share, shot, so, Some, start, Super, take, taken, that, the, them, There, they, this, through, time, TN, to, tomorrow, tons, tour, trespass, trespassing, unbelievable, until, vandals, very, was, We, weekend, will, with, won't, would, You, youngsters on May 18, 2008|
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I returned to Purdy, TN over the weekend and was fortunate enough to meet the owner of the Hurst House and his girlfriend. They are a super cool couple and we had a great time with them. I have tons of pictures to share but I probably won’t post them until tomorrow because there are so many.
I would also like to say this: After seeing the damage that has been done to this house by curious youngsters, it really saddens me. Because of this damage, if you attempt to trespass on this property you will be shot at. Several people have been taken to jail for trespassing. If you are lucky enough to find the owner at the property, ask for a tour but do not trespass on this property. They are attempting to restore this lovely home and vandals are making it very hard to do.
Back to the pictures…
I have some unbelievable pictures but it will take me some time to go through them. I will start adding them tomorrow.
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Posted in Purdy, TN, tagged a, also, and, Anyone, are, area, asked, attend, be, before, believes, blog, buried, but, by, can't, Cemetery, Cemtery, children, colonel, conceived, D., day, decsendants, descendant, descendants, dream, family, Fielding, Fielding's, generations, going, had, haunting, having, He, her, his, home, house, Hurst, Hurst's, HurstNation.com, I, if, in, is, It, Kevin, leave, likely, located, Mansion, many, may, McCann's, Melocky, met, more, Mrs., of, old, on, one, opinion, or, over, personal, Purdy, read, relative, remember, reunions, saddened, says, several, show, sites, slaves, spirit, stated, states, still, than, that, the, There, these, this, those, through, TN, to, told, us, very, was, We, weekend, went, were, where, why, wife, with, would on May 13, 2008|
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Over the weekend, I met a relative of Colonel Fielding Hurst. He went with us to Purdy Cemetery and was going to show us where the Old Purdy Cemetery was located before we were asked to leave.
This descendant states that in his personal opinion, if anyone were to be haunting Hurst Mansion it would more than likely be Colonel Fielding’s wife, Melocky Hurst. He says that it was told through the generations of his family that Mrs. Hurst was very saddened by having to leave her dream home and this is why he believes her spirit may still be there.
I was also told that many of the Hursts buried in this area are children that Colonel Hurst conceived with his slaves. He stated that the descendants of these children attend the family reunions to this day. I had read that he had children with several of his slaves. I can’t remember if I read it on Kevin D. McCann’s blog or on HurstNation.com, but it was one of those sites.
Anyone with interesting information on the Hurst Family, please email tnhauntings@writersbeacon.com.
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Posted in Purdy, TN, tagged $5, 000, 1800's, 1993, 6th, 70's, a, after, also, always, an, and, another, are, area, Army, as, Aside, at, back, bad, be, became, bedroom, been, before, believe, blood, bottom, buried, burnt, but, by, can, car, carriage, case, Cavalry, cemeteries, Cemetery, circle, Civil, closer, colonel, compared, could, county, course, dating, dawn, decide, did, die, died, discouraged, discuss, do, Dodds, down, drawn, During, early, enemies, entire, excluding, existing, extorting, face, fascinating, Fielding, five, for, forced, friends, from, ghostly, Gilead, going, grave, has, have, have a, He, hear, heard, highly, him, his, history, home, horse, house, However, http://www.hurstnation.com, Hurst, Hurst Mansion, Hurst Nation, Hurst's, I, if, image, images, in, interested, interesting, is, It, itself, Jackson, joined, land, last, left, legend, legends, life, local, look, makes, man, Mansion, many, McNairy, Melocky, minutes, Mount, moved, much, murdered, my, name, neighbors, never, not, note, numerous, of, oldest, on, once, one, only, or, Others, over, overlooked, own, owned, owner's, park, parts, people, phenomena, photographs, photos, pictures, place, places, Please, possibly, post, posted, prankster, prominent, property, provide, purchased, Purdy, read, really, reappear, recently, referred, repeats, resemblance, respect, respectful, roadway, same, say, says, scream, seat, see, seen, sell, several, share, shot, side, since, slaves, so, soldiers, Some, sometimes, soon, spot, stair, stall, start, starter, still, stories, strongly, structure, surrounding, sympathizer, take, taking, taking a, Tennessee, that, the, them, There, these, they, this, times, TN, to, town, trespassing, true, truly, Union, University, unlikely, until, update, updates, upstairs, vandalized, vehicle, very, visit, visiting, visits, War, was, We, When, which, who, wife, will, windows, wishes, with, woods, years, You, your, yourself on April 26, 2008|
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This is another place I have been to numerous times. The history of these places is truly fascinating so I will share the true stories before I discuss the local legends.
Purdy was once the county seat of McNairy County and home to Purdy University. The area surrounding Purdy Cemetery and Hurst Mansion was once referred to as “Hurst Nation”. A prominent man by the name of Fielding Hurst owned Hurst Mansion and much of the land surrounding it.
During the Civil War, Hurst became a Union sympathizer and joined the Union Army as colonel of the 6th Tennessee Cavalry. He murdered many of his neighbors and burnt town the entire town of Purdy, excluding only his own home. Of course, this makes Hurst Mansion the oldest existing structure in the town. He also burnt down parts of Jackson, TN after extorting over $5,000 from them.
In the last years of his life, Hurst was forced to sell his home and he and his wife, Melocky, moved to the Mount Gilead area. It was there that he died (in his 70’s) and is buried in Mount Gilead Cemetery. His grave has been vandalized several times.
The Hurst Mansion was purchased by the Dodds, who owned the home until 1993. This home is posted and trespassing is strongly discouraged. Please be respectful.
Local legend says that you can hear soldiers and slaves in Purdy Cemetery. Some people say they have seen a horse drawn carriage. Others say that if you park on the left side of the circle your car will not start until dawn.
After many visits, I can only say this: I have never heard soldiers or slaves. We did hear a scream from the woods which could very possibly have been a local prankster. We did have a vehicle stall for five minutes on the left side of the circle but I believe it was a starter going bad. Aside from that, it is still interesting to visit as it is one of the oldest cemeteries in Tennessee dating back to the early 1800’s. I will be visiting Purdy Cemetery very soon as it has been years since my last visit and many of my friends are interested in going. I will provide an update after my visit.
Hurst Mansion was always a place we overlooked, really. It was not until recently that I read the history of this house. Local legend says one of Hurst’s many enemies shot at him from the bottom of the stair case and he died in his bedroom. (Hurst DID NOT die in this house. He died in Mount Gilead.) They say sometimes the blood spot will reappear and you can hear him scream. This is highly unlikely since he did not die there. However, I have seen several photographs of Hurst House with a ghostly face in one of the upstairs windows. When I compared the image to photos of Hurst, you can see a resemblance. (You can see these images for yourself on http://www.hurstnation.com.)
I will be taking a closer look at Hurst Mansion and taking my own photographs to see if this phenomena repeats itself. Please note: I will NOT be trespassing on the property. I will take my photos from the roadway. If you decide to visit, please respect the owner’s wishes and do the same.
I will post pictures and updates after my visit.
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Tennessee Hauntings 