The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-01-19
DOzIER'S HAUNTED WELL.
.euosT STORY FROM THE TENNEs
SEE MOUNTAINS.


remington, Tenn, Jan. AT the high
.--raint on the dividing ridge between the
-s-ressee and Mississippi rivers, in Hen
-. county. Tennessee, is the Oldest set
..-,ant in the county. A log house, with
--s-rarner fallen down, the debris of two
..5ps thimneys. two or three decayed.
IN white oak logs, a part of the stables.
-,e or two worm eaten peach trees, that
Rave never failed to bear, and four white
az posts around an old well. mark the
snot. The settlement was made long be-
f,-s the public road was laid out. and
,hs latter runs around the ruins The well
u ON the line where the yard fence once
ran and an old trough, rotten at one
md and cracked its full length. tells
where the owner and traveller watered
treIr horses three-quarters of a century
s-o There was no other house within
rye miles Of it. owing to the character of
The soil and topography of the country.
In the early settlement of the county.
when the tide of emigration was flowing
into the Mississippi valley from South
western kentucky. the route was from
Hopkinsville. KY, to Dover, Paris, and
Jackson, Tenn. above, below and east of
Memphis. The first good water that the
traveller got after crossing the Tennessee
river was at the well above referrd to. Its
reputation extended far and wide. The
place was settled by an old bachelor nam
al Carter, a noted hunter who died in
$40. His heirs in North Carolina sold the
place there were about eight acres of till
able land surrounding iD to man named
DOzier, who came from the northern por-
ZION of Christian county, kentucky.
He appeared to have plenty of money,
and the citizens of the county wondered
why man of his means would bury him
self in this out-Of-the-Way place. He sue
ceeded in having it made a stage stand,
purchased forage and hauled it a long dis
lance, and entertained the travelling pub
lie. His business became profitable, and he
added to his possessions in a short while
TWO likely negroes. 1t was oberVed by
those who passed along the public road
and enjoyed his acquaintance that he had
visitors who remained with him several
DAYS at a time, something that never oc-
Cured during Carriers occupancy. They
did not appear to be ordinary travellers,
who merely stopped to rest 1t was also
noted that Dozier made frequent trips to
kentucky, generally in the company of
some of these men. He was a church men,
Der and not infreQuently attended ser
vices at Paris, twenty miles distant
With all this there was a suspicion in the
minds Of many that he was not what he
protested to be. There were whispers here
and there that he had left Kentucky for
her good. This was about the time when
it became known that there was some one
circulating counterfeit money in the coun-
try; when organized bands of thieves had
stations from Kentucky to Louisiana, and
were stealing horses and negroes and run
ming them OFF: when Murrell had been ar
rested and sent to the state prison to die;
when Pennington, and one of his lieuten-
ants, a neighbor of Doziers when he lived
I'm Kentucky, had been indicted captured
by DR.. Bowling in the Indian Territory,
returned to HOpkinsville, and executed.
stonecutter named Streator had re-
moved from Hopkinsville to Paris, and to
some of his newly formed acquaintances
had impaired confidentially the fact that
Dozier was not as good as he professed to
De. This uncertainty in regard to his char
acter was becoming painful, when all of
a sudden he disappeared. His wife, TAX
ing one Of the negro men, had gone to Pa
RS to purchase some supplies, leaving DO
Zier at home with two strangers from Mis-
sissippi. Upon her return she found note
signed by Dozier, telling her that he was
called suddenly to Kentucky and advis-
ing her to follow Immediately. The negro
man she had left at home, together with
two saddle horses and her husband, were
gone Probably knowing all about his past
life, she followed without unloading her
wagon. A month after his disappearance
a lawyer in Paris received letter from
her asking him to rent the place, and sell
the furniture, hogs, and cattle that had
been left, saying further that her husband
had not returned. A tenant was found,
hut he declined to remain, because he could
not use the water, having made an exam
inaton Of the well, but not discovering any
cause for the offensive smell.
A year elapsed before another could be
found, when he left abruptly, giving as
his reason that the place was haunted
and that he and his wife had upon two
or three occasions seen ghost ABOUT me
premises, which on each occasion disap-
peared at or near the well shed. A free
negro named Sneed was next secured, who
remained probably three months, when
he abandoned the little crop of corn he
had planted. His reason was the same
as that of his predecessors.
Returning from Paris one evening af-
nh1nHf dressed
white, at the well, he thought, drinking
W hen he approached, en- route to the
stable lot, and reacher within twenty
PAGES, 1t suddenly disappeared into the
Vel. He hastily dismOunted, called his
VIE, and let candle down by means of
lhe bucket, but could discover no object
below. The next morning he procured
glab hooks and satisfied himself that
There was nothing in the well. Upon eX-
plalnlng the circumstance to a neighbor
re was apprised Of the fact that others
Iad witnessed the same mysterious sight.
ne thought it time for him to be getting
away from there.
The next tenant was a man named
NaShburne, from Dundas, who was fond
OF hunting and did not believe in ghosts.
ne mad not been domiciled but a few
weeks before he became aware there was
something wrong about the pace. His
IlOIses would snort and hogs rush out
from their leafy beds at the dead hour
a. % night, in evident fright, while his
oogs would go valiantly to their rescue
ollly TO return with their tails between
e1elr legs in evident alarm. He conclud-
eu mat 1t was a bear prowling around
ana determined to kill it. A couple of
%1eehs elapsed before there was another
otaIIn. He seized his gun and slipped out
o os we pack door and around to the rear
0I; me horse lot just in time to see an
TTaoIIect dressed in a long white flowing
~ come out of the stable and move
% 1oI9ss the lot in the direction of the
4Heu. lie was not twenty PAGES distant.
IL ordered it to halt, but it moved on.
Il it9 took deliberate aim and fired just as
Tn ,edehed the fence on the opposite side.
a any shot produced no perceptible effect 1t
fbpeedred he declared, to float through
aug lIence. 1t had no more substance than
he Oi sd' AS he got around to the corner
for saW II pause moment over the CEN
tn VI tne we'll and sink slowly into it,
e s1T next day by II o'clock the house was
tbaP{ ana the agent at Paris notified
Wa ~ u was for rent again. Washburne
fersdS l! t last tenant, and the place was suf-
Ia - - 20 to decay. People still stopped
OAK IA me clear, cold water, until the
the Ducket succumbed to i'll usage and
Dtiripe was taken away.
h1eIri.4ls the war bands of guerrillas and
uua i,M hackers would make it their head
ropa rs 10 Tor day or two, improvising
groee ana Id bucket during their stay Ne
6oJeo ana children Stunned it as a pest
tbeire ana stout-hearted white men felt
paeS puIse throb a little faster as they
tbart II after dark Hunters declared