page_title: Grancer Harrison
section_title: The Ghost Story
hierarchical_section_title: Grancer Harrison / The Ghost Story
caption_attribution_description: English: Overview
context_page_description: William "Grancer" Harrison, aka The Dancing Ghost of Grancer Harrison, is the subject of several ghost stories about his alleged spirit seen dancing at his grave-site near Kinston, Alabama. The story was featured in the book 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey and is the subject of a song by country band Granville Automatic. Originally covered by a large wood-frame grave shelter, the tomb has been vandalized and rebuilt several times in the last 50 years, with the most recent vandalism at the cemetery in 2010. The tomb itself was last reconstructed in 2005.
context_section_description: 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 Thursday 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, and return with loads of brick.  Work began on the large above ground tomb he intended to be buried in. In a last act of excess, Harrison was to be buried in the tomb with his dancing clothes and his clogs on, lying on his feather bed. 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. The Thursday night dances continued for a while but without Harrison it just wasn't the same and the dance hall soon fell into ruin.
  Then people began to tell tales of passing the Harrison Cemetery late on a Thursday night and hearing the eerie sounds of fiddling and dancing coming from the cemetery. Other stories had passers-by reported hearing the deep booming voice of a man calling out square dances and being accompanied by a fiddle.
caption: Harrison Cemetery; November 2011.
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