Please restrict your search to the grounds of the Gower House, noted with a historic marker next to the road. Explore all you like outside and on the porches before 10 p.m. Feel free to peek inside, but do not enter any doors you may find unlocked. Because of liability issues, the property owner is restricting access while the building is being renovated. Caching after 10 p.m. is not permitted because of noise and lights disturbing nearby residents.
History
The Gower House is named after former caretaker and eventual owner Stanley P. Gower. It was built as an inn for river travelers sometime between 1780 and 1830, depending upon which local historian you believe. At times it was also known as Bell Tavern.
Visitors may have included: U.S. presidents James K. Polk, Zachary Taylor, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant; Vice President Aaron Burr; Revolutionary War generals Lafayette and Benedict Arnold; American Red Cross founder Clara Barton; “Great Compromiser” Henry Clay; authors Charles Dickens, Lew Wallace (Ben-Hur) and Ned Buntline (father of the dimestore novel); opera singer Jenny Lind; and naturalist John James Audubon. Historical papers document Buntline’s stay. The others have not been authenticated, although some apparently visited the town during the time the inn was open.
Folklore
Local legend suggests the house is haunted by a myriad of spirits. Modern day evidence has included strange recordings made in the house, one of which appears to be a voice shouting “Get out!” The owner’s eldest son also said he heard laughter and was tapped on the shoulder while trimming the lawn one day. He looked around to find ... no one.
Who are these haunts? There are several possibilities.
The Gower House was used as a headquarters and hospital during the Civil War, when Union troops occupied Smithland. Civil War uniform buttons are among the archaological evidence unearthed here. Some of the sick were put in “the dark rooms,” small downstairs rooms without windows. They may have died there in the darkness. Could they be there still?
• Ned Buntline supposedly brought his beautiful young Cuban bride, Seberina, with him to the Gower House after being run out of Nashville, Tenn., for his political views. He still had business in Nashville, so visited from time to time. On one trip, he was accused of having an affair with the wife of his friend and business partner, Robert Porterfield. Buntline and Porterfield dueled with pistols, and Buntline killed Porterfield. An angry mob of Porterfield supporters dragged Buntline to the public square and hanged him, but he had friends in the crowd who cut him down and smuggled him away.
Legend says Buntline never returned to the Gower House to claim his bride and that she, perhaps learning of his betrayal, died of a broken heart. Years later, grave-diggers supposedly dug into her unmarked grave by mistake while preparing for a burial. They knew it was her because of her long, dark hair. Time was limited because the funeral procession was due at any time, so the men quickly closed the coffin, shoveled a little dirt on top, packed it down and waited for the other casket to arrive. It was buried on top of her. Some say that now she walks from the town cemetery to Gower House, checking to see if her husband has returned for her.
• Some believe the house is inhabited by Mary Zanone, whose family purchased the Gower House in 1860. The family came from Genoa, Italy, where they had owned vineyards and become wealthy. Supposedly one of Mary’s silk dresses caught fire from sparks from an open fireplace. She ran out onto the second floor of the porch, where she fell to her death.
• Dr. John Brown is said to have entered the inn’s dining room drunk and abusive. The clerk asked him to leave, but Brown refused. They got into a fight involving fists, knives and pistols. Brown died in the street outside. The clerk died in the doorway.
• The circuit judge often held court across the road from the Gower House under the shade of a large elm tree called the Judge Elm. From there he provided speedy justice. Convicted criminals were immediately hanged from one of the branches. Perhaps one of the condemned haunts the Gower House?
• Joe Brown, said to be the richest man in the city, was stabbed to death at the Gower House in the early 1800s. The local folk lore is that the blood stain left upon the floor could not be removed.
• These days, there is no first floor. A previous owner believed the rumors that Civil War gold had been buried underneath it. No trace of the treasure has ever been found. Could a ghost be looking for the lost loot?
Perhaps you can find a geocache treasure box of your own instead. Just remember, if you take something, leave something. You never know who (or what) might be watching.