The Haunted SouthOther University of South Carolina Press Books
______________________
by Nancy Roberts
South Carolina Ghosts:
From the Coast to the Mountains
Ghosts of the Carolinas
Ghosts of the Southern Mountains and Appalachia
The Gold Seekers:
Gold, Ghosts, and Legends from Carolina to California
North Carolina Ghosts & Legends
Civil War Ghost Stories & Legends
The Haunted South
Where Ghosts Still Roam
By Nancy Roberts
University of South Carolina Press
1970 by Nancy Roberts and Bruce Roberts
1988 University of South Carolina Press
Originally published in 1970 as This Haunted Land
by McNally and Loftin
Cloth and paperback editions published as This Haunted Southland: Where Ghosts Still Roam by the University of South Carolina Press, 1988
Ebook edition published as The Haunted South: Where Ghosts Still Roam in Columbia, South Carolina by the University of South Carolina Press, 2013
www.sc.edu/uscpress
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth edition as follows:
Roberts, Nancy, 1924
p. cm.
Reprint. Originally published: This haunted land. lt. ed.
Charlotte, N.C.: McNally and Loftin, 1970
ISBN 0-87249-588-4 (hard back)
1. TalesSouthern States. 2. GhostsSouthern States
I. Title
GR108.R63 1988
398.2'5'0975dc19 88-26096
ISBN 0-87249-589-2 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-61117-363-5 (ebook)
Photographs by Bruce Roberts
Contents
Prologue
We believe there are spirits who walk this land and we would like to introduce some of them to you as you read this book.
They are the spirits of the people, both good and bad, who forded the rivers, climbed the hills and cultivated the fields which are our inheritancemen and women who loved and fought and gave the land we call home names like Gold Hill, Kings Mountain and Wizard Clip.
Housing developments now cover the countryside where hundreds of miners, many from foreign lands, once worked in the Carolina gold fields. Modem highways slash through hills where King Georges men stood in resplendent battle lines. But the builders and developers have only destroyed the physical appearance of the area. They can never kill the ghosts and spirits which must rise at night as surely as does the full moon.
And the supernatural is far from remote. It is a matter of daily experience for those who look for more than mediums and witchcraft can never offer.
C. S. Lewis once said, There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan. The spirits in this book have fought for both sides and there are others who dont appear to have been on any particular side, but dazed by death and perchance in some sort of limbo, they still return to the land they knew in life.
The ghosts in these pages have an attachment for certain places and when you read these stories, we hope you will understand why. For they do not respect the deed books at the county court house. This is THEIR land and they plan to be here through countless centuries, if they so choose. For a time we feared that progress would eliminate spirits but now that we know them better, we become more convinced that the spirits will not only endure, but will outlast progress.
Bruce and Nancy Roberts
February 4, 1971
P.S. For those who dont believe in ghosts we have a remedy. The first night of the full moon in October walk to the top of Kings Mountain and then down the path to Colonel Fergusons grave. Spend the next night watching the Brown Mountain lights alone from a deserted overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. And, on the third night go alone at midnight to the Devils Tramping Ground near Siler City and wait for the moon to set. This will help restore your faith.
The Haunted South
Passenger Train Number 9
She was sure she had seen a horrible train wreck, but the stationmaster said there had not been a wreck
D o people have premonitions of fearful events which are going to happen to them in the future? How can we tell how often premonitions like this come true, especially if the people are no longer here to tell us.
The baggage master was a tall thin man with a prominent nose and fair skin so transparent the bony structure of his face could be plainly seen beneath it. His eyebrows were a sandy color tipped with gray and the blue eyes which peered out from beneath them had a surprising degree of sparkle and humor. Right now he was scrutinizing his watch observing that it was almost one oclock in the morning and satisfied that all the baggage was loaded and the train would be leaving Salisbury for Asheville, North Carolina, in a few minutes.
The steam engine spewed forth smoke and cinders, the cry of the whistle was a thin, earsplitting shriek in the stillness of the early morning. The baggage masters name was H. K. Linster and he was from Statesville where he usually got off for a few minutes to chat with friends. He frowned as he snapped the case of his large lavishly engraved gold watch shut and prepared to board the train. Was there a hint of reluctance in his step? Did he feel any differently tonight than on the hundreds of nights before?
But that was many years ago, early morning of August 27th, 1891 to be exact, and our story has more to do with the summer vacation trip of a family from Columbia, S.C.
There was nothing unusual about the way it all started. Pat and Larry Hayes had been planning their mountain vacation for a long time. Not that they could really afford a trip what with Larry having only been in business for himself a year, but they both knew the whole family needed it.
The borrowed camper would save money and although Pat knew little about camping, she was game to learn and the children were old enough to help. Larry was not through work until late and it was after ten when Pat put the extra bedding in the trunk and they were ready to go. Larry decided he would let Pat drive from Columbia, South Carolina, to Charlotte, North Carolina, and he would drive the next lap to Statesville which was not far from Pats mothers home.
At the filling station where they stopped in Charlotte, the station attendant commented that one of the tires was low and Larry agreed that he should fill it with more air. By now the children were asleep and Pat laid her silver blonde head back on a pillow wedged between the seat and the door so that she could nap.
Larry drove silently, following the road almost automatically, while his thoughts were on the past year and his efforts to build up his business. Suddenly, he felt the wheel twist beneath his hand and the car begin to go toward the other side of the road. He realized the tire had blown and the weight of the trailer was making it more difficult for him to control the car. Pat was immediately awake but she did not scream or cry out. Luckily he managed to slow the car, guide it back into his own lane and off the road onto the safety of the shoulder.
