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|
Leave a Comment »
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.
Read Full Post »
Posted in Jackson, TN, tagged a, ago, and, Anyone, anything, appear, are, at, be, been, believe, beside, Bridge, but, car, claimed, do, do not, else, email, flash, followed, get, ghoststories@writersbeacon.com, Go, had, happened, Harts, has, haunted, haunting, have, heard, High, honk, horn, I, if, in, Jackson, killed, know, legend, lights, local, location, miles, mist, never, nor, not, of, on, onto, or, Others, people, place, Please, proof, reach, really, road, said, say, says, School, seen, several, side, Some, someone, South, start, supposed, that, the, their, them, There, they, this, times, TN, to, trouble, turn, until, was, what, white, will, would, years, You, your on April 30, 2008|
14 Comments »
To get to the bridge, turn beside South Side High School in Jackson, TN onto Harts Bridge Road. Go several miles until you reach the bridge.
I have been to this bridge several times years ago. I do not know what really happened there, but local legend says someone was killed on this bridge and you honk your horn and flash your lights and they are supposed to appear. Some people have said their car would not start and others have claimed a white mist followed them.
I will say that I have never seen or heard anything, nor have I had car trouble at this place. I do not believe this bridge to be haunted. If anyone else has proof of a haunting at this location, please email ghoststories@writersbeacon.com.
Read Full Post »
Posted in Bolivar, TN, photos, tagged 1854, 1862, a, across, alleged, allowed, also, and, Ann, at, be, beautiful, bedroom, beside, Bolivar, Built, buried, by, can, Cemetery, chair, Civil, cross, daughter, daughter's, day, days, death, district, downtown, due, During, each, easily, Ezekiel, few, from, grave, had, has, haunted, have, her, his, historical, history, home, in, inconsolable, is, It, James, K., legend, Lines, local, located, McNeal, McNeal House, Mrs., near, Nest, not, occasionally, of, on, only, original, out, owner, pass, passing, place, Polk, Priscilla, property, quite, reach, relative, rich, right, road, rocking, same, say, says, second, see, she, side, signs, simply, Some, Sonic, special, spirit, stand, stare, staring, stop, story, teens, that, the, this, through, to, Tom's, turning, Uncle, Union, very, visit, visited, War, was, west, When, where, which, who, window, within, would, Wren's, You on April 26, 2008|
30 Comments »
Built in 1862, this home is beautiful AND it has a very rich history.
Photograph by Barbara Chambers-Hensley of http://www.barbarasgraphicdesign.com/
This home is located within the historical district in downtown Bolivar. You can reach it quite easily by turning beside Sonic and passing through a few stop signs.
McNeal Place was built due to the death of the only daughter of the original owner, Ezekiel K. Polk (a relative of James K. Polk). Mrs. (Ann) Polk was inconsolable at the death of Priscilla, who was in her teens in 1854. Polk built the home on the west side of his property near Polk Cemetery where Priscilla was buried. Ann visited the grave each day. During the Civil War she had to have a special pass to cross the Union Lines.
The local legend says that on the days when Mrs. Polk was not allowed to visit the cemetery, she would stand in the second story bedroom window and stare out at Polk Cemetery. Some say you can occasionally see her spirit in that same window simply staring across at her daughter’s grave.
Even though I have never seen the ghost of Mrs. Polk, I still enjoy visiting this neighborhood. There are many other historic homes nearby, including one that is documented as being haunted. (The Wren’s Nest, Uncle Dave’s rocking chair) It is also right across the road from Polk Cemetery which is alleged to be haunted.
Read Full Post »
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|
62 Comments »
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.
Read Full Post »
Tennessee Hauntings 