Sunday, October 30, 2011

Haint Misbehaving by Hailey Edwards

I live in the Deep South, in an area rich in both history and tragedy and, because of those things, it comes as no surprise the area is also rich in ghosts. There is one ghost in particular who fascinates me: the ghost of Jesse James. Now, Jesse wasn’t from around here, so his choice of haunting sites is peculiar. Unless…you believe a ghost resides where he was most content during his life.



On the banks of the Alabama River, the St. James hotel stands watch over the city of Selma, Alabama. It’s an antebellum riverfront hotel, the only one left in Selma, and was built back in 1837.

Another interesting tidbit is that Benjamin S. Tower, the first African American Congressman, owned the establishment.



Anyway, Frank and Jesse James made the hotel their headquarters for some time. After the war, the area fell into hard times and was closed for over one hundred years.



Then, sometime in the late 1990’s, it was completely renovated and reopened for business. Much to the surprise of the new owners, there were a couple of unexpected guests still in residence.



Jesse James himself is rumored to walk the halls wearing his 1880’s cowboy-best. He prowls through rooms 214, 314, and 315. I wonder what significance those numbers hold to him?  He’s also rumored to occupy a corner table at the downstairs bar.



His girlfriend, Lucinda, is also a resident spook. As is his dog.



I think the best part of this story was when a team of paranormal investigators set up a tape recorder in the Brantley Ballroom, hoping for Electronic Voice Phenomenon. They asked, “Is anyone here?” Later, when they replayed the tape, a gruff voice had replied, “Well, that’s a stupid question.”



How about y’all? Have you ever seen a ghost or been somewhere you just know is haunted? Are there any legendary spooks in your neck of the woods?

 Hailey Edwards is a memeber of Paranormal Romantics and has donated towards the grand prize. Leave a comment for an additional entry.


15 comments:

Pretty Eyes said...

Thanks for the insights! Here in Nova Scotia where I live they tell of a fiery ghost ship off the coast...luckily I have never seen it, or I would be scared to death.

prettyeyes(at)gmail(dot)com

elaing8 said...

Great post.
Here in Ottawa there are supposed to be a lot of Haunted places.I've watched a show on them and its pretty incredible.
I haven't seen any ghosts or been somewhere where there was.
elaing8(at)netscape(dot)net

Annie Nicholas said...

I had to laugh at his dog haunting the hotel.

*yadkny* said...

There is a bit of a tale connected to the old barn on our property. I don't know how true it is since the story seems to stem from a long long time ago, but this time of the year that barn usually does give me the creeps. I haven't been anywhere to have seen a ghost and I can't say that I would really want to unless it was in the daytime with a bunch of people with me:)

yadkny@hotmail.com

The Brunette Librarian said...

Wow! Love the Jesse James story :) I live near his home in Missouri...and Missourians LOVE a good ghost story.

We have an antique store near where I live...they have two ghosts. They even had a ghost hunter group come in and do a reading..."supposedly confirming" the ghosts. I've never seen 'em but I like going in just in case they decide to say hi :)

rachie2004 AT yah00 *d8t* c-m

Happy Halloween!!!

Lyric James said...

Love that story! No...no ghost sightings for me. That might be a cool place to visit though.

Kristi kaiser said...

No I have never seen ghosts and if I did I would probably pee myself.

Shonna said...

I have never seen a ghost and don't know if I ever want to.

Shonna said...

Although I have never seen a ghost I know people that swear they have and it was scary for them

Jennifer Mathis said...

i love the answer of a stupid question . no famous ghost here

meandi09@Yahoo.com

mnjcarter said...

Never had an encounter with a spook. I live in MN and the Glensheen Mansion is in Duluth, been there once, nothing weird ever happened to me when I was there, but people that tour have run out of there screaming!!!!

mnjcarter@charter.net

Arianne said...

I've never seen a ghost. But I strongly believed that my nanny visited us just a day or two after she died. Creepy much coz the dogs were howling and in our culture, dogs howling means they see supernaturals - ghosts.
email: cruz042 at csusm dot edu

Unknown said...

My then-boyfriend and I were in bed when we heard a knock at the door. We figured it was one of the kids and told them to come in. No one came in. When I went to look, no one was there and all the kids were sound asleep.
My husband is haunted.

Eva's Flowers said...

I can't say I've ever experienced anything ghostly, but I do remember hearing my grandma tell stories of things that had happened to her, really spooked me to hear them too :)

Eva
evitap67(at)gmail(dot)com

June M. said...

I have never seen any ghosts myself but here in Kentucky, there is a supposedly haunted old sanitarium in Louisville.
June M.
manning_j2004 at yahoo dot com