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| George Buster Singleton |
(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator
George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere
in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Ghostly figure guards grave
marker in cemetery,” was originally published in the Oct. 29, 1992 edition of
The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)
For many years, the old church sat back under the huge
ancient oak trees. On moonlit nights, the shadows played back and forth as the
huge limbs of the trees swayed in the night breezes.
Only once in a while would there be enough people to get
together for services at the old church. Since there were no means to heat or
light the old building, only during the most ideal weather did a few local
people gather for the short services held on the first Sunday of each month. On
an average, there were only about five or six worship services held in the
small, one-room building in a year.
Only a short distance from the church building was the
cemetery. Several tall grave markers on nights of the full moon cast their
shadows at crazy angles across the smaller tombs as though trying to cover or
hide those that weren’t as large or as noticeable as those that stood so boldly
in the pale moonlight.
The cemetery dates back to the very early 1800s. Many tales
were told and re-told about some of those who were buried there. There were
tales about some of the deceased and about their cruelty to their farm animals
and their farm workers.
Cruel old man
One tale was about a certain old farmer who would hire farm
workers, and after these people had worked hard all day, he would scream and
curse, refusing to pay them for their day’s work. He would tell them that their
work had not been satisfactory; then he would order them off his property.
As a young boy who grew up in the area, I have seen the
large tombstone of this old man many, many times. On the very top of the large
grave marker is a small granite vase about the size of a small drinking glass.
Many tales were told about how no one dared go in the
cemetery during the hours around midnight to remove this granite vase from the
old man’s tomb. The story is that anyone who tries to carry the small vase from
the cemetery is turned back by some unknown force before they reached the old
iron gate that leads out of the cemetery.
In the early years of the old church, the members traveled
to and from worship services by wagon or buggy or horseback. Shortly after the
death of Mr. Sol, the old man mentioned earlier, it was almost impossible to
have night services without the horses being frightened by a ghostly figure of
a man that appeared out of the cemetery.
The horses would break away from their hitching posts and
charge away into the darkness, sometimes causing damage to the wagons and
buggies and scattering family belongings over the churchyard and nearby field.
The story is that the church would appoint two men each night during worship
services to sit outside and watch the horses and keep them quiet.
Many stories were told of a ghostly figure slowly appear
from behind the large tombstone of Mr. Sol to make its way toward the area
where the horses were tied to the hitching posts. Upon seeing this ghostly
figure coming toward them, the animals would panic and race off into the night.
If the ghostly figure of the old man was seen soon enough, the two men who had
been posted outside would rush toward the ghostly figure and wave their arms.
The ghost of the old man would then turn and go back to the huge grave marker
that marked his final resting place; there he would disappear. The spirit of
the old man would not appear again that night to frighten or bother the
animals.
During late October, in the year 1918, the youth of the
farming community had gotten together for a night of frolicking and to have a country
candy pulling. As always, the challenge went out to those present. Was anyone
there brave enough to go up to the cemetery and remove the small vase from the
tombstone of Mr. Sol?
A young lady from another county, who was visiting her
cousin in the community, accepted the challenge. Against the advice of her
cousin, the group accompanied her to within a short distance of the old church
and cemetery.
Large grave marker
No one in the group believed that she would go through with
the challenge. But slowly she made her way up to the old cast-iron gate that
led to the cemetery, while the others waited at the outer edge of the church
yard. After hearing the old iron gate open, she could be seen in the pale
moonlight, climbing up on the side of the large grave marker and taking down
the small granite vase that sat on top.
As the shadows from the clouds overhead crept across the old
church yard, the group that awaited a short distance from the old cemetery
heard the old iron gate close shut. Knowing that their friend would soon
appear, the group awaited in breathtaking quietness.
Only the flutter of the falling oak leaves broke the night
silence. Minutes passed as all looked toward the old cemetery, hoping to see
their friend coming across the church yard with the small granite vase. But no
sign of their friend could be seen in the faint moonlight.
Then, one of the group pointed, toward the tall granite
tombstone of Mr. Sol. From behind the large marker emerged a shadowy, ghostly
figure of a man. The ghostly figure moved at a rapid pace toward the old iron
gate at the front of the cemetery. As it reached the iron gate, the shadowy
figure appeared to bend down and pick up something from the ground. Then it
returned to the tall burial marker and disappeared behind it.
Fearing that something had happened to their friend, the
group of young people rushed across the church yard toward the cemetery gate.
As they reached it, there on the ground lay their friend; a small portion of
her dress was caught in the latch of the iron gate. The young girl was dead. It
appeared that when her dress caught in the latch, and she started to walk away,
she must have thought someone was holding her; she apparently had died from
extreme fright.
Two days later, a group of the menfolk within the community
went to the old cemetery to try and solve the mystery that surrounded the young
girl’s death. In the red clay near the old gate, they found the imprint of the
small granite vase that sat atop the large grave marker. The young girl must
have dropped the small, heavy vase when her dress became caught in the latch of
the old gate.
A close examination of the granite vase that now rested atop
the large tombstone revealed traces of the same red clay that was in abundance
around the old cemetery gate and in the church yard. Who had returned the vase
back to its place atop of the huge grave marker?
Those of the group who saw the ghostly figure hurry toward
the old gate that fateful night say that the ghost of Mr. Sol, the cruel old
man buried there, was re-claiming that which belonged to him. In death, as in
life, he still wanted it all; all that was his, and all that wasn’t.
(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and
Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime
resident of Monroeville, he was born on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County and
served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from 1964 to
1987. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all
of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm
records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns
are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part
of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)
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