Posted in Gatlinburg, TN, tagged a, about, across, All, alley, an, and, any, appearance, around, attempt, avoid, be, Cemetery, certainly, cigarette, claims, course, crowd, crowds, debunk, don't, downtown, ends, expect, Flats, for, Gatlinburg, ghost, ghosts, golfs, haunting, have, hefty, Here, I, in, is, It, make, making, mini, most, my, Oak, of, on, one, own, people, profit, seen, smoke, Some, someone, state, stigma, that, the, three, through, TN, to, touring, tours, town, trek, turning, ways, weeks, white, will on June 13, 2008|
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Someone is turning a hefty profit here.
I will be making the trek across the state in about three weeks and will most certainly attempt to debunk any “haunting” claims.
I have seen that it ends in the White Oak Flats Cemetery and tours through some of the alley ways around town and one of the mini golfs downtown. I, of course, will be touring on my own to avoid the crowds of people, cigarette smoke and the stigma of it all. I don’t expect any ghosts to make an appearance for a crowd.
If anyone knows of any “hot spots” or has a place they would like investigated while I am there, leave a comment or email tnhauntings@writersbeacon.com. I will be happy to take photographs of any area there.
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Posted in photos, Purdy, TN, tagged All, Alright, and, Anyway, be, defense, friends, getting, hang, home, Hurst Mansion, I, I'm, in, is, know, made, my, on, out, Purdy, quarters, second, slave, so, the, There, TN, to, We, weekends on June 9, 2008|
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Alright, I know. Purdy is getting to be my second home. In my defense, I made friends there and we all hang out on the weekends so I’m there anyway.
In the past few weeks, I have not had any interesting photographs. That changed over the weekend.
Across the street from Hurst Mansion is the slave quarters. It’s just a small wooden building. I’ve been intrigued by it for a couple of weekends now.
This was the first photo taken.
There are a few orbs…nothing out of the ordinary for this area.
But in the second photo…..
Forget about the orbs, what is the blue streak?
And the third photograph…
Only these two photos had anything unusual in them. Of course I have plenty of orb photos, but this is something much more interesting.
The slave quarters is across the road from the house. It is also owned by the same person who owns Hurst Mansion, so trespassing is a no no. The good news is you will be able to see it up close around Halloween.
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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 Uncategorized, tagged 1930's, 2, a, able, about, adults, after, afternoon, All, almost, am, an, and, are, around, arrived, as, at, awhile, back, be, beach, bed, been, being, below, bit, boat, breathe, Bridge, broke, Built, but, by, called, came, camper, camping, canyon, climb, clipping, completely, couldn't, damage, daughter, day, decided, did, dug, eat, Elmo, evening, Fall, family, feeling, find, for, Friday, friend, friends, from, frustrating, get, getting, ghost, Go, going, gone, good, got, had, Hagy's, hail, have, head, headed, heard, hiking, his, home, hot, hour, how, I, idea, in, intend, interesting, is, It, it's, just, kids, late, later, left, life, like, little, long, look, losing, made, me, Military, Mississippi, Monday, more, morning, my, National, nearly, neck, newspaper, next, nice, night, no, not, now, obvious, of, off, offered, ok, on, one, our, ours, out, over, pack, packs, park, parts, people, philosophy, Pickwick, picture, place, planned, play, pontoon, posted, pretty, protect, pull, quiet, reached, rest, return, returned, rock, rough, Saturday, scary, scratching, screaming, see, Selmer, shared, she, Shiloh, sick, side, since, sleeping, slept, so, Some, start, starting, state, still, story, Sunday, sure, swim, swinging, take, talk, tent, that, the, them, then, There, they, this, Thursday, Tishomingo, TN, to, took, travel, trekking, trip, truck, turned, unable, under, Unfortunately, up, us, very, voice, walking, was, We, week, well, were, what, When, where, which, while, whisper, whistle, with, without, woke, worn, wrap, You on May 29, 2008|
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Ok, so it’s not a ghost story but parts of it are scary….well to me they are.
We arrived on Thursday night and had a nice quiet evening. On Friday morning, we took the kids over to the park to play for awhile. Friday afternoon, some of our family and friends arrived.
By late Friday, it was obvious that I was losing my voice. I was feeling pretty rough and worn out by 2 AM, so I headed in to bed and left the rest of them up. About an hour later, I heard my daughter screaming and nearly broke my neck getting out of the camper to see what was going on. The adults had been been scratching on the side of the tent she was sleeping in.
After a very late night, I was off to a rough start on Saturday. Still, we made the trip to Shiloh National Military Park and did some walking. I took one interesting picture, which is posted below. After trekking around Shiloh, we took the kids to the beach at Pickwick to swim for a while. More friends arrived while we were there. I’m sure you can tell we like to travel in “packs”. My philosophy is, what good is life if not shared with friends?
Sunday morning, we slept in a little bit and then made the trip to Tishomingo State Park in Mississippi. There is a swinging bridge built in the 1930’s and a rock canyon where people rock climb. Since we were going to be hiking a bit and my voice was almost completely gone, I dug out my whistle and took it with me. Unfortunately, it turned off hot and as sick as I was I was unable to breathe. We have planned a return trip for the Fall. We left and returned to Shiloh, TN to eat at Hagy’s. There was an interesting newspaper clipping about a ghost called “Elmo” which I intend to look up.
Sunday evening, a friend of ours came by and offered to take us out on his pontoon boat the next day. Unfortunately, when I woke up Monday I couldn’t talk over a whisper. We decided to pack up the camper and head back home. When we reached Selmer, TN, we had to find a place to pull the truck and camper under to protect it from hail damage.
To wrap this up, we got home and it’s Thursday and I am just now starting to get my voice back after almost a week. You have no idea how frustrating it is to go that long without being able to talk.
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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 Uncategorized, tagged a, also, am, and, Anyone, arrangements, crossed, difficult, do, email, few, fingers, for, has, have, I, if, is, It, keep, lets, like, lined, making, much, photograph, place, places, rain, so, soon, that, the, they, tnhauntings@writersbeacon.com, to, up, update, us, visit, with, would, your on May 15, 2008|
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I have a few places lined up that I am making arrangements to visit and photograph. With the rain, it is difficult to do much so keep your fingers crossed that it lets up soon.
Also, if anyone has a place they would like for us to visit email tnhauntings@writersbeacon.com
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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 a, able, about, also, am, and, any, Anyone, are, as, back, be, because, best, Bethel, bring, Cemetery, Church, crowd, date, day, do, dust, email, everyone, for, Forks, Forty, has, have, his, history, holds, Hopefully, I, identifying, if, in, interested, interesting, is, keep, Liberty, like, long, majority, more, my, not, of, off, on, or, photographs, plan, Please, Purdy, rain, returning, Rickey, road, second, sharing, since, Smith, soon, Springs, stirring, story, taking, tales, telling, thank, the, There, this, time, TN, tnhauntings@writersbeacon.com, to, trip, trying, Unknown, up, visit, visitors, weekend, what, will, wish, would on May 9, 2008|
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Since the majority of my visitors are interested in Purdy Cemetery I am trying my best to keep everyone up to date. I will be returning this weekend as long as the rain holds off. I am not telling what day or time I plan to visit Purdy because I will be taking more photographs and I do not wish to have a crowd stirring up dust.
I would also like to thank Rickey Smith for sharing his Purdy Cemetery story and identifying the unknown church and cemetery in Bethel Springs, TN. Hopefully I will be able to visit there soon and bring back photographs.
The Unknown Church and Cemetery is Liberty Church in Bethel Springs on Forty Forks Road. If anyone has any interesting history or tales about this church, please email tnhauntings@writersbeacon.com.
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Posted in Bolivar, TN, tagged 1980's, a, accessed, add, Administration, ago, All, also, and, another, Anyone, are, around, as, at, attempt, aunt, aunts, awake, awhile, be, because, become, beneath, blog, Bolivar, building, buildings, but, by, camera, cameras, can, captured, care, caught, Clement, condemned, could, decades, did, died, Dietary, disappeared, do, doesn't, don't, down, easily, employees, enter, entire, entrance, entry, even, ever, everywhere, exist, extent, far, figured, First, flying, for, friend, friends, from, fullest, gain, going, grounds, Guard, guards, had, Hall, hangers, happens, has, haunted, have, Health, him, himself, his, Honestly, hung, I, if, illegal, in, information, Institute, internet, is, isn't, It, kept, kill, know, land, large, law, leads, Let, lightening, lives, locals, longer, looking, lost, Luton, main, majority, man, manage, many, mate, matter, maze, me, men, Mental, mirrors, mother, murder, my, nearby, no, None, not, now, occasionally, of, on, once, one, only, or, other, Others, out, patients, people, person, places, populated, property, prosecuted, read, really, rear, reason, recent, remain, removed, retired, revolved, room, rumor, said, say, searching, Secondly, security, see, seen, several, simply, since, snoring, so, sock, Some, spot, spotted, Springs, squirrels, state, stated, still, strangled, struck, supposed, swinging, swirled, that, the, their, them, There, these, they, things, this, three, Timber, TN, to, top, trespass, tube, tunnels, two, Uncle, uncles, unit, units, untrue, use, very, via, view, was, way, well, went, were, Western, what, When, where, while, who, will, wings, with, WMHI, work, worked, works, would, years, You on May 8, 2008|
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I have had several people land on my blog while searching for Western Mental Health Institute so I figured I would add some information.
The grounds of WMHI were once populated by flying squirrels but they have disappeared in recent years. The main entrance leads to the Administration building. This building once had two large wings. They were condemned and removed in the 1980’s. Some of the locals said the wings were haunted but it really doesn’t matter since they no longer exist.
Some of the things I have read on the internet are simply untrue. One person stated that when lightening struck nearby you could see a man who hung himself swinging from the top of the Administration building. None of the employees, security guards or locals have ever seen this. It was also said that there were places in Luton Hall where there are no cameras and the patients use this spot to kill other patients. My mother works in Luton Hall now and did many years ago as well. First of all, there are cameras everywhere. Secondly, this unit is all men. The majority of these men will remain there for their entire lives. They have had patients murder other patients but they really don’t care if they are caught or not. Honestly, what are they going to do to them? Many years ago, one of the men strangled his room mate with a tube sock because his snoring kept him awake. It happens.
One rumor that swirled around at WMHI for awhile revolved around the tunnels beneath the buildings. It was said that patients had become lost in the maze of tunnels and died down there. Some have even went so far as to say that the tunnels are haunted by these patients who are still looking for a way out.
Let me say this now: It is illegal to trespass on state property. All employees have hangers on their rear view mirrors so anyone who isn’t supposed to be there is spotted very easily. Even if you did manage to gain illegal entry to the grounds, the tunnels can only be accessed via the units. If you attempt to enter a unit, you will be captured on camera and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. DO NOT trespass!
The reason I know all of this is because my mother, three aunts, two uncles, and several friends work or have worked at WMHI. Several of them have retired from there and others have worked there for several decades. My mother has worked in Luton Hall, the Clement Building and occasionally works the Timber Springs Unit. My aunt and uncle worked in Dietary. One uncle is a Security Guard. Two aunts worked in the Administration Building. One friend is a Security Guard, another retired from Dietary.
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Posted in Purdy, TN, tagged a, adding, and, as, be, been, Cemetery, doing, has, hospital, Hubby, I, is, of, out, pictures, planned, Purdy, return, soon, the, to, trip, well, will on May 5, 2008|
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Hubby is out of the hospital and doing well. A return trip to Purdy Cemetery has been planned and I will be adding pictures as soon as I return.
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Tennessee Hauntings 