It is Halloween once again, and between all the costumes and parties, creepy crawlers and spooks, there are stories and legends floating around throughout Tennessee.
Taking a look at history and chatting with a couple of storytellers creates a path of seemingly endless ghost stories and legends that are local to Memphis and Tennessee.
Most of the stories have a common thread in them, which has sustained the years of retelling, putting them into the category of legend.
From Victorian Village to Adams Tennessee and beyond, ghost stories abound.
The most prominent legend in Memphis is about the ghost at the Orpheum Theatre. Her name is Mary and the legend states she was a 12-year-old girl who was fatally injured in a trolley accident. She was carried into the Orpheum where she died. Some say her spirit lives on in the theatre.
She is purported to usually be seen in seat C-5 Box 5 in the Mezzanine. She wears a white dress and has pigtails. Different people have claimed to have heard footsteps all over the theatre and have seen her in that seat.
From an article in Memphis Magazine in October 1979, Vincent Astor, a retired Orpheum organist, Mary is a prevalent presence.
Astor said it was important not to summon Mary or make fun of her because she is known for retaliation.
It was reported that Mary spooked Yul Brynner when he saw her during a rehearsal of the King and I in 1982.
There are countless stories from employees and construction workers that have experienced the Mary phenomenon. Tales are told of flickering lights, flushing commodes, doors swinging open and shutting loudly, as well as smells and dramatic temperature changes.
Professional storyteller Luna Kelondra has been recently collecting ghost stories to add to her repertoire. She has worked with the Memphis library system for eight years and has been a professional storyteller since the late ’80s. She said there are enough ghost stories around Tennessee to write a book.
“All the houses in Victorian Village have ghosts,” Kelondra said.
According to legend, the ghost of Molly Woodruff, who once resided there, haunts the Woodruff-Fontaine House in Victorian Village. It has been said that she wanders the house, making indentions in the bedclothes of her old bed and sometimes there are cold areas.
“I went through the village when I was a girl scout, and the residents would tell us about the ghosts,” Kelondra added.
Kelondra also mentioned the Bell Witch, a name that conjures up dread in many people.
The farm of the Bell family is located in what is now known as Adams, Tennessee. John Bell moved his family to Tennessee in the early 1800s.
Legend has it that in 1817 Bell came across a strange-looking animal. The animal changes with each retelling of the story, but it has been purported that Bell shot at the animal to no avail, and then it vanished. After that, strange things began to happen at the Bell home.
Reportedly there was banging outside the house, scratching sounds, blankets being pulled off beds and the family heard voices. The entity became physically violent with the little 12-year-old girl, Betsy Bell, slapping and pinching her. The entity mostly targeted Betsy and John Bell and was said to be protective of Mrs. Bell. No one knew why the witch hated John Bell.
Many people came to know about the Bell Witch and the entity was not shy to show itself to the townspeople. The witch often followed Betsy Bell and even sabotaged her engagement to Joshua Gardner. It has been said that the witch tormented the couple so much that Betsy broke off the engagement.
There is also a famous tale of Andrew Jackson visiting the Bell family before he was president. A force suddenly stopped his carriage, driven by soldiers, and was unable to move any farther. Jackson was spooked and never returned to the area. He wrote about the occurrence, making it the only witch mentioned in a presidential memoir.
John Bell’s death was blamed on the witch.
The witch vowed to return to the direct descendant of John Bell 107 years later, but so far the witch has not returned.
The legend of the Bell Witch is now a tourist attraction for the town of Adams. There is a Bell Witch museum, and, of course, there is the famous graveyard and the cave, which many college students frequent for a Halloween thrill. People say the old Bell Farm is still a paranormal hotspot.
Kelondra said many of the people are afraid to even utter the witch’s name for fear that she may come after them.
“I don’t know a single storyteller who will tell that story,” Kelondra said. “I won’t tell it because I don’t want her to come visit me!”
Another well-known ghost story is the Lady of the Lake. There is a legend of a ghost who frequents Rainbow Lake at Overton Park. Several witnesses claimed to have seen a woman in a light blue dress at night who asked for help with an outstretched arm and, when approached, she vanished. Reportedly the body of a lady in a light blue dress was found near the lake. She had been raped and stabbed, but a connection is not known.
There is a family graveyard on Epperson Mill Rd. in Millington that was once home to the Crying Angel statue. The cemetery is not easily accessible. The legend states that during the Civil War, a 17-year-old young man was killed and he was buried in that cemetery. The angel statue above his grave has a curse engraved in it that states “damn the Yankees and the dirty Yankee bullet”. It is rumored that the angel statue can be heard crying and that the statue’s tears are luminescent. The ghost is believed to be the young man’s mother. After her wings and head were broken off, a family member removed the statue from the cemetery, and there have been no further reports of the ghost.
There is even a ghost story attributed to Libertyland. Rumor has it that a man once operated the carousel, at the park, and when a child lost a balloon in the carousel the man offered to retrieve it. Supposedly he forgot to turn off the carousel and was decapitated. It is now said that he haunts the area around this attraction.
Now for a tale right here on campus, let us take a look at the Mynders Hall ghost. As with all legends, stories vary from person to person. Mynders Tower was one of the first buildings built on The University of Memphis campus in 1912.
According to legend, Elizabeth Mynders died at Mynders Hall at age 20. She was the daughter of Seymour A. Mynders, builder of the residence hall. Most agree her death resulted from a disease, and some have said she died in a mental institution. People say the building was built in the shape of an E in her honor at the request of her father.
Associate Dean of Students Danny Armitage said the common stories around Mynders are that Elizabeth is a friendly ghost. There have been reports of sightings in the hallway and rocking chairs rocking with no one in them. There have also been reports of books being moved in dorm rooms or opened to a chapter that a student needed to read.
“She is a friendly ghost,” Armitage said.
According to Armitage, when students aren’t studying properly, Elizabeth will move books in dorm rooms or open a book to a chapter that a student needs to study.
Many people have been spooked by loud banging in the walls at Mynders, thinking it was Elizabeth, but Armitage said it was just the boilers. When the boiler comes on, the water temperature changes, which causes the pipes to bang and jerk.
Meaghan Paulhamus, resident assistant at Mynders, said she has heard stories from girls who think they have seen or felt Elizabeth, but she never has. She said most of the reports have come from the third floor.
“I’ve lived here for three years and have never seen or experienced anything like that,” Paulhamus said.
Ghost stories and urban legends are a part of American culture. They are around every corner if one just takes the time to find them.
