Forty-five years ago a writer for the Selma Times-Journal named Kathryn Tucker Windham published a book of old ghost stories entitled 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey. This book spawned six additional volumes of ghost stories which have served to inspire the curiosity, and perhaps haunt the dreams, of schoolchildren in the South for decades. This series of nightcaches is inspired by the 13 Alabama Ghosts.
Grancer Harrison was born in the old Ninety-Six District, Edgefield County, South Carolina circa 1789. He came to Coffee County, Alabama sometime in the 1830s and established a large plantation near the junction of Cripple Creek and Pea River in an area just outside of what is now Kinston, Alabama. The Harrisons' plantation was built on a high bank overlooking Pea River.
Grancer was a successful cotton planter and is said to have owned the largest number of slaves in the county. He hosted barbecues, dances, and horse races every Saturday possible. He loved these things so much that he had his slaves build a large dance hall just for the parties he sponsored. Grancer had a pair of clogs, or dancing shoes, that he wore just for the parties he loved so well.
The years passed and Harrison was faced with the fact that he would not live forever, so he began to prepare for his final arrangements. Slaves were forced to travel to the brick kiln in Milton, Florida, a trip of more than 90 miles, and return with loads of brick. Work began on the large above ground tomb he intended to be buried in. The brick tomb was covered by a large wood-frame grave shelter, and the burial site was within earshot of his beloved dance hall so that he could still be a part of it in some way.
The end for Harrison finally came in 1860 and his burial orders were followed exactly - he was buried in the tomb with his dancing clothes on, wearing his clogs, and lying in his own feather bed. The Saturday night dances continued for a while after his death, but without Harrison it just wasn't the same and the dance hall soon fell into ruin.
Before long, people began to tell tales of passing the Harrison Cemetery late on a Saturday night and hearing the eerie sounds of fiddling and dancing coming from the cemetery. Other passers-by reported hearing the deep booming voice of a man calling out square dances and being accompanied by a fiddle.
Some claimed that Harrison had a large sum of gold buried with him, while other rumors placed his hidden treasure near the old dance hall. In 1964, more than 100 years after his death, vandals blew open Harrison's tomb with dynamite in a futile attempt to find these lost riches, destroying it and scattering Harrison's remains. The tomb has since been rebuilt, minus the wood-frame shelter, and from time to time the sounds of ghostly music may still be heard from the remote graveyard.
Now a few words of caution, remember you are in a forest. The terrain may be uneven at times. This trail is only accessible by foot. It will take an hour or more to hike the entire trail. Bring water, bring batteries for your torch of choice (and maybe your GPS), and please bring a buddy or two. Oh, and be sure to try and keep that imagination in check as you journey down our little trail.