October 28, 2025 • 15 mins
The return of The Unseen Paranormal with a special Halloween Edition. Eric narrates stories from his book "Small Town Haunts and Legends of Tennessee". The stories included are The Beast of Sugar Flatt Road, Shiloh National Battlefield, and Cragfont Plantation.
"Small Town Haunts and Legends of Tennessee" by Eric Freeman Sims is available on Amazon, Kindle, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble.com, Good Reads and wherever fine books are sold.
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Eric-Freeman-Sims/author/B0DT23C4TS
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/small-town-haunts-and-legends-of-tennessee-freeman-sims/1147401897?ean=9798349333255
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223627397-small-town-haunts-and-legends-of-tennessee
Host Eric Freeman Sims and the show on the interwebs
https://www.facebook.com/TheKnightHouseKY
https://www.theknighthouseky.com/
https://www.facebook.com/eric.freeman.1048
https://www.instagram.com/theunseenparanormalpodcast/
https://twitter.com/TheUnseenPara
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Nm2o2t_a1TlqDgqlpxxUg
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-unseen-paranormal-podcast--5862293/support.
"Small Town Haunts and Legends of Tennessee" by Eric Freeman Sims is available on Amazon, Kindle, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble.com, Good Reads and wherever fine books are sold.
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Eric-Freeman-Sims/author/B0DT23C4TS
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/small-town-haunts-and-legends-of-tennessee-freeman-sims/1147401897?ean=9798349333255
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223627397-small-town-haunts-and-legends-of-tennessee
Host Eric Freeman Sims and the show on the interwebs
https://www.facebook.com/TheKnightHouseKY
https://www.theknighthouseky.com/
https://www.facebook.com/eric.freeman.1048
https://www.instagram.com/theunseenparanormalpodcast/
https://twitter.com/TheUnseenPara
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Nm2o2t_a1TlqDgqlpxxUg
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-unseen-paranormal-podcast--5862293/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Join us as we dive into the history, hauntings, and
high strangers of the world to try to better understand
the paranormal. I will be your guide. I am paranormal
researcher and investigator Eric Freeman Simms. Welcome to the Unseen
Paranormal Podcast. If you are a fan of the paranormal,
(00:33):
then you've heard stories about well known haunts and legends
of Tennessee. From the haunting of Tutsi's Orchid Lounge in Nashville,
Elvis's Goes to Graceland, the Belwich and Adams, or the
very Civil War spirits the Room Chattanooga, among many others.
Numerous books have been written, and information is easily found
in many of these places by a simple search on
the Internet. As a native of Tennessee and I grew
up hearing these stories and more. But what has always
(00:55):
fascinated me is the stories that most people have never heard.
A lot of small towns have a rich history, and
the stories keep that history alive the subjects of community.
These legends and haunts could have been forgotten, but their
stories living on through folklore and even personal encounters. Hey, everybody,
welcome back to the Unseen paranorm Well, this is the
return of the Unseen Paranoial Podcast. I am your host
(01:15):
of jujital Eric Freeman Simms. I'm so happy to be back.
And I know I said the show is gonna return
on November twelfth, but I thought we had an opportunity
this week for Halloween Week to put out some special episodes.
So over the next five days lead to Halloween and
including Halloween Night, we are going to tell you some
(01:36):
ghost stories. So these stories are from my book Small
Town Hants and Legends of Tennessee, and we'll see how
you like it. And also on Friday, for the special
Halloween Spooky Day, we are going to do and special
excerpt out of my upcoming book Small Town hantson Legends
of Kentucky. Our first story comes from Lebanon, Tennessee, out
(01:58):
in Wilson County, and it is a story of a
Bigfoot type creature. So enjoy the Monster of sugar Fly's Road.
In the late nineteen eighties, a weird incident happened in Lebanon,
Tennessee on Sugarfly Road. It was known locally as Lovers Lane.
Back then. Some version of this story said that the
(02:19):
men and woman in the story were cheating on their
spouses anyway. A couple of traveling down and secluded was
cunning road in the middle of the night. Suddenly something
ran into the road. The driver's unable to avoid the creature,
striking it at full speed. The couple felt it tumble
under the vehicle as the driver slammed on the brakes.
After coming to a full stop, they climbed out to
see what they'd run over and to check the vehicle's damage.
(02:40):
They saw what appeared to be blood and hair on
the grill and hood. The man ran to the river
truck and saw what he first thought was a deer.
As he shined his flashlight, he realized it's not a
deer at all, but a creature resembling a medium sized man.
The thing was covered head to toe in white fur.
Only the face, hands, and feet were bare with pale
grayish colored skin. With the initial shock wearing off and
(03:01):
fear creeping in, the man told the lady to get
back in the truck. He quickly dragged the body to
the side of the road and covered it with brush
and debris to hide it from sight. He drove his
date home in silence. After he got home, He tried
to sleep, but could not stop thinking about the thing
he had hidden killed. He decided to grab a shovel
and returned to the site to bury the man like
animal on the side of the road. He quickly found
(03:22):
the body and loaded it into the bed of his truck.
He drove down the road to a small abandoned building
and parked in the tree line out of sight. He
inspected the creature more closely, trying to figure out just
what it was. After he had seen enough, he started
to dig a hole to bury it so he could
forget that this night ever happened. But as he dug
the grave, he thought he should keep some proof, since
otherwise no one would believe him. Once the hole was finished,
(03:45):
he put the beast's body in the ground and used
a shovel to cut off its head. He would have
the head taxidermy to keep as a trophy. When the
head was preserved, he brought it home to hang on
the wall. His displeased wife told him, either the head
goes or she goes where we got rid of the head.
For many years, the creature's head resided in Cousins' antique
center on the town square in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was
(04:06):
featured on several national television shows, including Hard Copy and
Strange Universe. In twenty thirteen, Cousins Antique Center closed it
stores for good. Amy Petula, paranormal author and owner of
Chattanoogh Ghost Tours, acquired the head on lease for a
period and then returned it. As of twenty twenty one,
the head of the Monster of Sugar Flat Road was
on display in the Lebanum Museum and History Center in
Wilson County, Tennessee, but has now reportedly been returned to
(04:28):
the antique shop owner. Our next excerpt comes from Shallow
National Military Park. The word Shiloh means peace in Hebrew. However,
the Battle Shallow would up end this peaceful community on
April sixth, eighteen sixty two, when the Confederates attacked the
Union at Pittsburgh Landing. The battle would last two days
and then Union victory, which costs over twenty thousand lives
(04:50):
on both sides. All this death would leave its mark
on the land for years to come. Most of us
in the paranormal field believe that the more trauma and
death there are, the more likely playces to be haunted.
If that is the case, battlefields like Shallow are among
the most haunted places in the world, with over twenty
thousand deaths and forty eight hours, it would be hard
to think that much suffering and anguish would not leave
(05:11):
the lasting mark on the bloodsoak land. The supernatural claims
resemble a checklist of phenomena per Pedal investigators. The most
numerous reports from visitors and witnesses are phantom sounds of battle.
Many people have claimed to hear gunfire and cannon shots
as if the soldiers were still fighting on the battlefield.
Many of these events are from the area known as
the Horn's Nest. This spot is a popular tourist stop
(05:33):
as believed to be where the heaviest part of the
fighting occurred. Also, many people have heard footsteps throughout the park,
the eerie sound of someone walking through the woods are
coming up behind them, but they find themselves alone without
any explanation. Some suspect that these sounds are the soldiers
still marching into battle to their untimely deaths. Creepy as
the sad of sounds heard are those of moaning and screaming.
(05:54):
Many of the soldiers who were shot, stabbed, or wounded,
never received medical attention, and slowly died where they fell
on the battlefield, spending their last moments crying out in
pain and for help. The sound of drums beating is
also a common claim. Legend says that this is the
ghost of an eleven year old drummer boy who was
killed during the battle. The story goes that a Union
officer ordered the boy to drum the sound to retreat,
(06:14):
but instead he sounded an attack, resulting in the Union
driving the Confederates back and turning the course of the battle.
After the fighting ended, the officer went to find the
drummer boy to thank him, but found his lifeless body
still holding his drum. The legend continued in the nineteen
forties when a road crew was working on the new
road and they dug up a skeleton of a child
with the remnants of a drum buried with him. The
(06:36):
drummer boy can still be heard beating his drum throughout
the battlefield. One of the more interesting legends are Shallow
is that of the Bloody Pond. On the battlefield, there
is a small pond where soldiers would go to get
a drink and wash their wounds. Many men and horses
died at the edge of the water due to their
injuries and exhaustion. During the hottest months of the summer,
the pond turns red. Some people claim that this is
(06:56):
the blood of those soldiers, but park rangers state that
the red coloring is called by algae. A few buildings
remaining within the boundaries of the park and have many
paranormal stories. What are these structures is over one hundred
years old. The rangers headquarters, built soon after the park
was founded on site. Park rangers live in these buildings
and have experienced unexplainable over the years. Their main claim
(07:17):
is cabinets, windows and doors opening and closing on their own.
Another building with activity is a primitive cabin. Visitors have
seen a young, barefoot boy with gray and white clothing.
He climbs down the ladder from the cabin's lothts, runs
outside and disappears. No one knows who the boy is,
but the scene has been witnessed many times. In the
old Shallow church, ghosts will make themselves known by appearing
(07:38):
in pictures. Blurry white images and shapes have appeared in
many visitor photographs taken us oude of the church. These
white images were not present when the photos were taken,
and there's no explanation for the phenomena. Finally, there are
many full bodied apparitions that are seen on the battlefield.
Ghostly soldiers are seen throughout the park. Most of these
specters are described as residual haunts, like the replay of
(08:00):
a movie. They make no sound and continue their path
without any recognition of anyone present. The other type of
haunting is the intelligent spirit. These spirits can interact and
communicate with a living One intelligent ghost that's often seen
as a woman in white. She is helpful to women
and children who get lost in the park. The lady
will appear to them and try to help until another
living person walks up and she suddenly vanishes. Shallow saw
(08:24):
some many deaths in such a brief time. I would
be more surprised if it were not haunted. Whether the
spirits are residual or intelligent, the energy of the trauma
and death remain at Shallow National Military Park. Our last
selection comes from Sumner County, Tennessee, and a house known
as Cragfaunt. After the American Revolution, brothers James and George
(08:45):
Winchester traveled from Maryland to the frontier land of what
would become Tennessee. Seeking a new way of life and
financial opportunities, they settled on a piece of property a
few miles from Bloodshoe Station, and in seventeen eighty five
they constructed Fort Tuckahoe on the land where crackfaunt sayste today.
James Winchester brought architects and artisans from his home state
of Maryland to craft the Georgian style mansion. Construction on
(09:08):
the Crackfont began in seventeen ninety eight and was completed
in eighteen oh two, with much of the actual home
building believed to have been completed by enslaved people. Crackfont
would become a large cotton and tobacco plantation, with many
slaves responsible for the wealth of the Winchesters. James Winchester
went on to serve in the War of eighteen twelve
and helped found the city of Memphis with John Overton
and Andrew Jackson. Winchester died at Cragfont in eighteen twenty six,
(09:32):
but the house and property stayed in the family until
the Civil War. In eighteen sixty three, there was occupied
by Union troops who freed all the Winchester slaves and
then vandalized and pillaged the house without the help of
over one hundred slaves on the massive plantation. The family
sold the property in eighteen sixty seven. Cragfont would change
ten several times until nineteen fifty nine, when the Tennessee
(09:52):
Historical Commission bought it and turned into a museum that
opened in nineteen sixty one. Cragfont is one of the
oldest homes in the region and has been called the
most haunted house in Tennessee. The mansion and property have
seen their fair share of death, with suicides, murders, scalpings, hangings,
and other tragedy in the land's history. Over the years,
many visitors and employees have experienced and reported various supernatural phenomena.
(10:15):
Unlike most hauntings reported in this book, Crackfont spirits seemed
more mischievous and even downright evil in some stories. Male
caretaker's employees seemed to experience the worst of the activity,
with several reporting being pushed and hit by an unseen hand.
One gentleman on the grounds crew was mowing one day
when a strong wind blew his hat off. He chased
the hat across the lawn until it landed next to
(10:35):
the house. When he reached down to pick it up,
the hat burst into flames without any explanation. Lowell, the
museum curator and caretaker for over forty years, has said
it in many interviews. The spirits of the house have
injured or even tried to kill him on numerous occasions,
and one of these incidents was caught on video. Lowell
said he heard what sounded like a bird upstairs on
the second floor and went to investigate, did not find
(10:56):
the creature. As a caretaker descended the steps, he felt
something hit his left shoulder, and, thinking it was the
bird he was looking for, he turned and saw a
piece of rope on his shoulder. When he realized this
was a noose around his neck, he began dragging him
up the stairs, wholled by an unknown and unseen force.
Lowell was finally able to get himself free and still
has a rope to this day. Another incident involved a
(11:18):
grandfather clock that sits on the stairs landing. Lowell was
going downstairs when the glass door fell and smashed him,
causing a small blending wound on his forehead. The activity
surrounding him does not stop there. He claims to have
had to replace his prescription glasses ten to twelve times,
saying the glasses have been knocked off his face on
numerous occasions and scratches have appeared out of nowhere on
the lenses. He also reports that he sets a pair
(11:40):
down anywhere in the house who returned to find them
twisted and mangled beyond use. The attic was rumored to
be the most haunted area of the house, with staff
reports of hearing cries from the little girl coming from
the attic when no children were on sight. Visitors have
claimed to feel like they were being watched, and some
say they had been chased out of the attic and
down the stairs by an unseen force. One story that
may explain these occur Branches has become local legend of folklore.
(12:03):
During the eighteen hundreds, many well to do families would
hide their physically and mentally disabled family members from public view,
and the Winchester's no different. According to the story, they
had a special needs daughter who they would stow away
in the attic whenever visitors came to the house. James
or his wife would order a servant to take her
to the top level and lock her. In One version
says that enslaved man was caught having relations with the
(12:24):
girl and he was dragged out of the house and
hung on the front lawn. Although I could not find
no historical evidence to back these claims up, some version
of the story can still be true. The apparition of
James Winchester has been seen in the study in the
master bedroom. Other strange things have been witnessed in the
house and on the grounds, including phantom candles floating from
room to room, objects disappearing and reappearing randomly, plus or
(12:46):
typical footsteps, voices and noises. One famous country singer was
even frightened out of the house. Country legend Conway Twitty
was interested in the paranormal and asked the tour of
the Crackfune alone because he heard the ghost stories and
focal were surrounding the plantation. He was not really a believer.
He was shown around the property and then allowed to
wonder the house alone. Within a few minutes, mister Twitty
(13:06):
came rushing out the front door, refusing to set foot
back inside. He claimed objects were throwing him and whatever's
in the home did not want him there. The crack
font state of storka site does not allow private paranormal investigations,
but they offer a few events for spooky season, except
Turner in October. Their normal historical tour runs most of
the year Thursdays through Sundays, and tickets are available on
their website. The three excerpts you just heard are from
(13:28):
my book Small Town Hants and Legends of Tennessee, like
I said, by myself, Eric Frueman Sims, and you can
find them on copies of the book on Amazon, Kendall,
Apple Ebooks, Barnes Andoble dot Com, Goodreads, and anywhere else
find books are sold. And also you can catch me
at a book signing coming up anytime here soon. Just
just go over to the Facebook page and watch it
and come and get your own personalized copy or have
(13:50):
your copy personalized. But thank you all for listening today,
and we'll go back very soon on November twelfth with
brand new episodes of the Unseen Paranormal Podcast. Thank you
so much for listening, Have a good day, stay sail
out there, See you next time. Thank you for listening
to the Unseen Paranormal. Join me next Wednesday with a
brand new guest and please rate, review, share, subscribe on Apple, Spotify,
(14:11):
or wherever you're listening right now. This helps more people
discover the show. You can connect with me over on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
or join us in the Unseen Paranormal Lounge group on Facebook.
Until next time, remember some of the scariest things for
un Seed come when
Join us as we dive into the history, hauntings, and
high strangers of the world to try to better understand
the paranormal. I will be your guide. I am paranormal
researcher and investigator Eric Freeman Simms. Welcome to the Unseen
Paranormal Podcast. If you are a fan of the paranormal,
(00:33):
then you've heard stories about well known haunts and legends
of Tennessee. From the haunting of Tutsi's Orchid Lounge in Nashville,
Elvis's Goes to Graceland, the Belwich and Adams, or the
very Civil War spirits the Room Chattanooga, among many others.
Numerous books have been written, and information is easily found
in many of these places by a simple search on
the Internet. As a native of Tennessee and I grew
up hearing these stories and more. But what has always
(00:55):
fascinated me is the stories that most people have never heard.
A lot of small towns have a rich history, and
the stories keep that history alive the subjects of community.
These legends and haunts could have been forgotten, but their
stories living on through folklore and even personal encounters. Hey, everybody,
welcome back to the Unseen paranorm Well, this is the
return of the Unseen Paranoial Podcast. I am your host
(01:15):
of jujital Eric Freeman Simms. I'm so happy to be back.
And I know I said the show is gonna return
on November twelfth, but I thought we had an opportunity
this week for Halloween Week to put out some special episodes.
So over the next five days lead to Halloween and
including Halloween Night, we are going to tell you some
(01:36):
ghost stories. So these stories are from my book Small
Town Hants and Legends of Tennessee, and we'll see how
you like it. And also on Friday, for the special
Halloween Spooky Day, we are going to do and special
excerpt out of my upcoming book Small Town hantson Legends
of Kentucky. Our first story comes from Lebanon, Tennessee, out
(01:58):
in Wilson County, and it is a story of a
Bigfoot type creature. So enjoy the Monster of sugar Fly's Road.
In the late nineteen eighties, a weird incident happened in Lebanon,
Tennessee on Sugarfly Road. It was known locally as Lovers Lane.
Back then. Some version of this story said that the
(02:19):
men and woman in the story were cheating on their
spouses anyway. A couple of traveling down and secluded was
cunning road in the middle of the night. Suddenly something
ran into the road. The driver's unable to avoid the creature,
striking it at full speed. The couple felt it tumble
under the vehicle as the driver slammed on the brakes.
After coming to a full stop, they climbed out to
see what they'd run over and to check the vehicle's damage.
(02:40):
They saw what appeared to be blood and hair on
the grill and hood. The man ran to the river
truck and saw what he first thought was a deer.
As he shined his flashlight, he realized it's not a
deer at all, but a creature resembling a medium sized man.
The thing was covered head to toe in white fur.
Only the face, hands, and feet were bare with pale
grayish colored skin. With the initial shock wearing off and
(03:01):
fear creeping in, the man told the lady to get
back in the truck. He quickly dragged the body to
the side of the road and covered it with brush
and debris to hide it from sight. He drove his
date home in silence. After he got home, He tried
to sleep, but could not stop thinking about the thing
he had hidden killed. He decided to grab a shovel
and returned to the site to bury the man like
animal on the side of the road. He quickly found
(03:22):
the body and loaded it into the bed of his truck.
He drove down the road to a small abandoned building
and parked in the tree line out of sight. He
inspected the creature more closely, trying to figure out just
what it was. After he had seen enough, he started
to dig a hole to bury it so he could
forget that this night ever happened. But as he dug
the grave, he thought he should keep some proof, since
otherwise no one would believe him. Once the hole was finished,
(03:45):
he put the beast's body in the ground and used
a shovel to cut off its head. He would have
the head taxidermy to keep as a trophy. When the
head was preserved, he brought it home to hang on
the wall. His displeased wife told him, either the head
goes or she goes where we got rid of the head.
For many years, the creature's head resided in Cousins' antique
center on the town square in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was
(04:06):
featured on several national television shows, including Hard Copy and
Strange Universe. In twenty thirteen, Cousins Antique Center closed it
stores for good. Amy Petula, paranormal author and owner of
Chattanoogh Ghost Tours, acquired the head on lease for a
period and then returned it. As of twenty twenty one,
the head of the Monster of Sugar Flat Road was
on display in the Lebanum Museum and History Center in
Wilson County, Tennessee, but has now reportedly been returned to
(04:28):
the antique shop owner. Our next excerpt comes from Shallow
National Military Park. The word Shiloh means peace in Hebrew. However,
the Battle Shallow would up end this peaceful community on
April sixth, eighteen sixty two, when the Confederates attacked the
Union at Pittsburgh Landing. The battle would last two days
and then Union victory, which costs over twenty thousand lives
(04:50):
on both sides. All this death would leave its mark
on the land for years to come. Most of us
in the paranormal field believe that the more trauma and
death there are, the more likely playces to be haunted.
If that is the case, battlefields like Shallow are among
the most haunted places in the world, with over twenty
thousand deaths and forty eight hours, it would be hard
to think that much suffering and anguish would not leave
(05:11):
the lasting mark on the bloodsoak land. The supernatural claims
resemble a checklist of phenomena per Pedal investigators. The most
numerous reports from visitors and witnesses are phantom sounds of battle.
Many people have claimed to hear gunfire and cannon shots
as if the soldiers were still fighting on the battlefield.
Many of these events are from the area known as
the Horn's Nest. This spot is a popular tourist stop
(05:33):
as believed to be where the heaviest part of the
fighting occurred. Also, many people have heard footsteps throughout the park,
the eerie sound of someone walking through the woods are
coming up behind them, but they find themselves alone without
any explanation. Some suspect that these sounds are the soldiers
still marching into battle to their untimely deaths. Creepy as
the sad of sounds heard are those of moaning and screaming.
(05:54):
Many of the soldiers who were shot, stabbed, or wounded,
never received medical attention, and slowly died where they fell
on the battlefield, spending their last moments crying out in
pain and for help. The sound of drums beating is
also a common claim. Legend says that this is the
ghost of an eleven year old drummer boy who was
killed during the battle. The story goes that a Union
officer ordered the boy to drum the sound to retreat,
(06:14):
but instead he sounded an attack, resulting in the Union
driving the Confederates back and turning the course of the battle.
After the fighting ended, the officer went to find the
drummer boy to thank him, but found his lifeless body
still holding his drum. The legend continued in the nineteen
forties when a road crew was working on the new
road and they dug up a skeleton of a child
with the remnants of a drum buried with him. The
(06:36):
drummer boy can still be heard beating his drum throughout
the battlefield. One of the more interesting legends are Shallow
is that of the Bloody Pond. On the battlefield, there
is a small pond where soldiers would go to get
a drink and wash their wounds. Many men and horses
died at the edge of the water due to their
injuries and exhaustion. During the hottest months of the summer,
the pond turns red. Some people claim that this is
(06:56):
the blood of those soldiers, but park rangers state that
the red coloring is called by algae. A few buildings
remaining within the boundaries of the park and have many
paranormal stories. What are these structures is over one hundred
years old. The rangers headquarters, built soon after the park
was founded on site. Park rangers live in these buildings
and have experienced unexplainable over the years. Their main claim
(07:17):
is cabinets, windows and doors opening and closing on their own.
Another building with activity is a primitive cabin. Visitors have
seen a young, barefoot boy with gray and white clothing.
He climbs down the ladder from the cabin's lothts, runs
outside and disappears. No one knows who the boy is,
but the scene has been witnessed many times. In the
old Shallow church, ghosts will make themselves known by appearing
(07:38):
in pictures. Blurry white images and shapes have appeared in
many visitor photographs taken us oude of the church. These
white images were not present when the photos were taken,
and there's no explanation for the phenomena. Finally, there are
many full bodied apparitions that are seen on the battlefield.
Ghostly soldiers are seen throughout the park. Most of these
specters are described as residual haunts, like the replay of
(08:00):
a movie. They make no sound and continue their path
without any recognition of anyone present. The other type of
haunting is the intelligent spirit. These spirits can interact and
communicate with a living One intelligent ghost that's often seen
as a woman in white. She is helpful to women
and children who get lost in the park. The lady
will appear to them and try to help until another
living person walks up and she suddenly vanishes. Shallow saw
(08:24):
some many deaths in such a brief time. I would
be more surprised if it were not haunted. Whether the
spirits are residual or intelligent, the energy of the trauma
and death remain at Shallow National Military Park. Our last
selection comes from Sumner County, Tennessee, and a house known
as Cragfaunt. After the American Revolution, brothers James and George
(08:45):
Winchester traveled from Maryland to the frontier land of what
would become Tennessee. Seeking a new way of life and
financial opportunities, they settled on a piece of property a
few miles from Bloodshoe Station, and in seventeen eighty five
they constructed Fort Tuckahoe on the land where crackfaunt sayste today.
James Winchester brought architects and artisans from his home state
of Maryland to craft the Georgian style mansion. Construction on
(09:08):
the Crackfont began in seventeen ninety eight and was completed
in eighteen oh two, with much of the actual home
building believed to have been completed by enslaved people. Crackfont
would become a large cotton and tobacco plantation, with many
slaves responsible for the wealth of the Winchesters. James Winchester
went on to serve in the War of eighteen twelve
and helped found the city of Memphis with John Overton
and Andrew Jackson. Winchester died at Cragfont in eighteen twenty six,
(09:32):
but the house and property stayed in the family until
the Civil War. In eighteen sixty three, there was occupied
by Union troops who freed all the Winchester slaves and
then vandalized and pillaged the house without the help of
over one hundred slaves on the massive plantation. The family
sold the property in eighteen sixty seven. Cragfont would change
ten several times until nineteen fifty nine, when the Tennessee
(09:52):
Historical Commission bought it and turned into a museum that
opened in nineteen sixty one. Cragfont is one of the
oldest homes in the region and has been called the
most haunted house in Tennessee. The mansion and property have
seen their fair share of death, with suicides, murders, scalpings, hangings,
and other tragedy in the land's history. Over the years,
many visitors and employees have experienced and reported various supernatural phenomena.
(10:15):
Unlike most hauntings reported in this book, Crackfont spirits seemed
more mischievous and even downright evil in some stories. Male
caretaker's employees seemed to experience the worst of the activity,
with several reporting being pushed and hit by an unseen hand.
One gentleman on the grounds crew was mowing one day
when a strong wind blew his hat off. He chased
the hat across the lawn until it landed next to
(10:35):
the house. When he reached down to pick it up,
the hat burst into flames without any explanation. Lowell, the
museum curator and caretaker for over forty years, has said
it in many interviews. The spirits of the house have
injured or even tried to kill him on numerous occasions,
and one of these incidents was caught on video. Lowell
said he heard what sounded like a bird upstairs on
the second floor and went to investigate, did not find
(10:56):
the creature. As a caretaker descended the steps, he felt
something hit his left shoulder, and, thinking it was the
bird he was looking for, he turned and saw a
piece of rope on his shoulder. When he realized this
was a noose around his neck, he began dragging him
up the stairs, wholled by an unknown and unseen force.
Lowell was finally able to get himself free and still
has a rope to this day. Another incident involved a
(11:18):
grandfather clock that sits on the stairs landing. Lowell was
going downstairs when the glass door fell and smashed him,
causing a small blending wound on his forehead. The activity
surrounding him does not stop there. He claims to have
had to replace his prescription glasses ten to twelve times,
saying the glasses have been knocked off his face on
numerous occasions and scratches have appeared out of nowhere on
the lenses. He also reports that he sets a pair
(11:40):
down anywhere in the house who returned to find them
twisted and mangled beyond use. The attic was rumored to
be the most haunted area of the house, with staff
reports of hearing cries from the little girl coming from
the attic when no children were on sight. Visitors have
claimed to feel like they were being watched, and some
say they had been chased out of the attic and
down the stairs by an unseen force. One story that
may explain these occur Branches has become local legend of folklore.
(12:03):
During the eighteen hundreds, many well to do families would
hide their physically and mentally disabled family members from public view,
and the Winchester's no different. According to the story, they
had a special needs daughter who they would stow away
in the attic whenever visitors came to the house. James
or his wife would order a servant to take her
to the top level and lock her. In One version
says that enslaved man was caught having relations with the
(12:24):
girl and he was dragged out of the house and
hung on the front lawn. Although I could not find
no historical evidence to back these claims up, some version
of the story can still be true. The apparition of
James Winchester has been seen in the study in the
master bedroom. Other strange things have been witnessed in the
house and on the grounds, including phantom candles floating from
room to room, objects disappearing and reappearing randomly, plus or
(12:46):
typical footsteps, voices and noises. One famous country singer was
even frightened out of the house. Country legend Conway Twitty
was interested in the paranormal and asked the tour of
the Crackfune alone because he heard the ghost stories and
focal were surrounding the plantation. He was not really a believer.
He was shown around the property and then allowed to
wonder the house alone. Within a few minutes, mister Twitty
(13:06):
came rushing out the front door, refusing to set foot
back inside. He claimed objects were throwing him and whatever's
in the home did not want him there. The crack
font state of storka site does not allow private paranormal investigations,
but they offer a few events for spooky season, except
Turner in October. Their normal historical tour runs most of
the year Thursdays through Sundays, and tickets are available on
their website. The three excerpts you just heard are from
(13:28):
my book Small Town Hants and Legends of Tennessee, like
I said, by myself, Eric Frueman Sims, and you can
find them on copies of the book on Amazon, Kendall,
Apple Ebooks, Barnes Andoble dot Com, Goodreads, and anywhere else
find books are sold. And also you can catch me
at a book signing coming up anytime here soon. Just
just go over to the Facebook page and watch it
and come and get your own personalized copy or have
(13:50):
your copy personalized. But thank you all for listening today,
and we'll go back very soon on November twelfth with
brand new episodes of the Unseen Paranormal Podcast. Thank you
so much for listening, Have a good day, stay sail
out there, See you next time. Thank you for listening
to the Unseen Paranormal. Join me next Wednesday with a
brand new guest and please rate, review, share, subscribe on Apple, Spotify,
(14:11):
or wherever you're listening right now. This helps more people
discover the show. You can connect with me over on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
or join us in the Unseen Paranormal Lounge group on Facebook.
Until next time, remember some of the scariest things for
un Seed come when
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