Headless Outlaw of Tennessee, Part l

In the early part of the 1800s southern parents warned their children to stay on the righteous side of the law or John Murrell would eat them . . .

John Andrews Murrell

John A Murrell once was known as the most dangerous outlaw in the South. As a young boy he lived with his mother Zilpah Murrell at her tavern in Columbus, Tennessee. Some sources state she ran a brothel.

Murrell’s father was an itinerant preacher who encouraged him to be honest but it was his mother who had the greater influence upon him. Zilpah taught him to steal at an early age she also instilled in him a hate for anyone she perceived as being of the quality class—especially the religious.

By age 12, John was an accomplished thief. By age 16, he was a notorious robber who plagued travelers along the roads and trails in Williamson County—specifically along the Natchez Trace, which I write about here.

Murrell often cornered his victims by posing as a gentleman himself. His first brush with the law was when he was caught after he stole a fine mare from a widow.

He was branded in court on his thumb with the letters H.T. this stood for Horse Thief. He then was whipped, all without a noticeable flinch from him. He served a year in prison.

After this he hated people even more. He went from bad to worse.

Murrell was an accomplished con man. His appearance helped in this deception. He was tall, moved with grace and had fine boned features. His auburn curly hair attracted more than one fine lady. Murrell was a womanizer.

He was well spoken and often accepted without question into the finest homes. In contrast, he was fearless and had icy blue eyes. He also was a killer.

He often took on the guise of his father’s profession—a preacher. As he preached fire and brimstone in various churches his men where outside taking the congregations’ horses.

Murrell stealing a slave.

Good source material. 

For a while he had a lucrative business where he stole slaves. He would lure them away with a promise of freedom and then kill them. At first he would resale them, then he would steal them back but once he thought they might be recognized he killed them.

One source states he did this to 100 slaves.

He victimized people across the South from Arkansas to Louisiana. Here are two good sources about John Murrell that separate facts from fiction.

This sorted tale continues in Part ll of Headless Outlaw of Tennessee.

Headless Outlaw of Tennessee, Part ll

Portrait of Murrell
done while he
was in prison.

In the early 1800s John Andrews Murrell was the South's most notorious thief and murderer.

Despite  Murrell’s crimes he was able to maintain a respectable home in New Orleans with a wife and children. Some state his wife was actually a shady lady and just a business partner.

It was Murrell’s vanity that eventually brought him down. Virgil Stewart befriended him and played off Murrell’s self-importance. He pumped Murrell for the location of his hideouts etc. He then led the law to the outlaw in Tennessee.

In 1824, Murrell was captured. His elderly father paid his bail. He fled to Alabama where he was recaptured and returned to Tennessee for trial.

Stewart testified against him. He described Murrell as a cold-blooded killer who robbed and then killed his victims. In other instances, he stated Murrell killed people just to keep them quiet.

He testified that Murrell’s attitude was one of “all such fools should die as soon as possible.”

Murrell admitted to robbing people but stated he was not a killer. People where he lived viewed him as a sort of hero and believed him. They viewed Stewart with distaste and felt he was just trying to make money from his association with Murrell.

Stewart did write a book, entitled, The Great Western Land Pirate using the name Augusta Q. Walton, which sensationalized the facts.

Stewart's book

Despite the evidence Murrell was not hanged instead he was convicted of stealing slaves. He was sentenced to prison hard labor.

Murrell entered the penitentiary in 1834. His wife immediately divorced him. Life in prison was not easy. During an attempt to escape, he broke his leg as he jumped from a brick wall.

After this, he contracted tuberculosis. In poor health, he was pardoned after serving ten years in 1844. He was considered an old man at the age of 40. He was encouraged to move to the mountains, an environment that would help his health.

He became a respected blacksmith in Bledsoe County north of Pikeville, Tennessee. His work was greatly admired. He now was a believer and attended church on a regular basis where his bass singing voice was enjoyed by all.

But within the year his TB worsened and he died in November of 1844. Near his death he confessed to most of his crimes. He stated, “He had never killed anyone that didn’t need killing.”

But his dealings with slaves point out he was a ruthless killer. The slaves he and his men killed were disemboweled and then rocks where put in their bellies so they would sink in the swamps and rivers where their bodies were disposed of.

The locals buried him in an unmarked grave. Soon after, however, a Nashville paper noted his death and mentioned where he was buried.

Two doctors got it into their heads they wanted to study him. They dug up his body and cut off his head. They also took his thumb with the brand. Later, a young lady out picking berries discovered his body, minus his head laid out across his coffin.

These two doctors fell out and others who had a mind to make money took his head to Jasper where they charged ten cents apiece for a peep at it. The once admired outlaw now was a sideshow freak.

His head was eventually taken to Nashville and then on to Philadelphia where it was reburied in an unknown location.

Murrell's thumb

Today, his thumb is located at the Tennessee State Museum where it is taken out and put on display once a year.

The rest of John Murrell’s body was placed back in his grave at Smyrna Cemetery. After this the citizens of Bledsoe County began to believe Murrell’s soul was uneasy.

Stories circulated that after sundown a dark headless apparition was seen wandering aimlessly among the tombstones. It was thought it was Murrell looking for his head.

By the 1950s and 60s locals took up a collection—one dollar at a time—at the local drugstore. A simple marker with Murrell’s name was placed over his grave.

This act appears to have settled down this haunting.

Read more about this twisted tale in Part l, Headless Outlaw of Tennessee.

Woodruff Fontaine House

Woodruff Fontaine House

This old mansion is a museum that offers tours today. It was originally built in 1870.

Amos Woodruff came to Memphis, Tennessee in 1845. He was a carriage maker that made his fortune fast. He then delved into a variety of other enterprises.

All were successful. He ran two banks, a railroad, and a hotel. He had a hand in construction and the lumber and cotton industries.

A leading member of Memphis society he ran for mayor twice. He had a fancy mansion built for his family in 1870. It was in the French Victorian style with Mansard roofs, arched windows and stately columns on the porch.

A carriage house, courtyard fountain, elaborate gardens and a sweeping front lawn surrounded his new mansion.

In 1871, his daughter Mollie married in the home. She became Mollie Fontaine Henning and inherited the property when her father died. None of her children lived to adulthood. She lived in the mansion until she died.

Her ghost is one of three that haunt the home to this day.

Another successful family by the name of Fontaine moved into the mansion. Noland Fontaine was a cotton baron.

In 1929 the mansion became an antique shop and then in 1959 an art school moved in. By 1961, the once grand mansion was in desperate need of repairs.

A local Memphis preservation society (APTA) came to the rescue. They restored the mansion and opened the Woodruff Fontaine Museum in 1964.

Mollie Woodruff Henning

Rose Room named after patterned
wallpaper in room.

It was around this time that Mollie Woodruff Henning’s ghost became more active. She often hangs out in her old bedroom, known as the Rose Room, on the 2^nd floor.

She is known to sit on the bed leaving dents so people know she was there. Since the Rose Room is roped off to tours no one is allowed close to this bed.

Visitors have seen the rocking chair move in this room and the bed covers rustle. It is here where people note drastic changes in the temperature.

Indent in bed in Rose Room.

Lights go on and off in this room as well as the rest of the mansion without explanation.

Mollie’s ghost startled a museum docent one day when she appeared in the Rose Room. She informed this lady that she preferred the furniture in the room be placed back in its original arrangement.

Her ghost wanders throughout the mansion. She likes to follow people that are doing something different or interesting. One paranormal team investigating the mansion went down into the basement.

Evidently Mollie followed them for they captured her voice on one recorder. She told them that she rarely went into the basement.

Unlike Mollie, who is a friendly ghost, another entity in the mansion is an angry male. He ripped off the necklace from a staff member one day and his negative spirit is sensed on both the 1^st and 3^rd floors.

A paranormal team caught his gruff voice during one EVP session. He answered “no” to their questions. His ghost has not been connected to anyone who once lived in the home.

Yet another male ghost in the home is believed to be the Fontaine’s son. Another docent who works for the preservation society saw his ghost one Sunday afternoon when she was the only one in the mansion.

Elliot Fontaine

As she made her way up to the 3^rd floor she spotted a man sitting at the foot of the stairs that lead to the 4^th floor tower room. He was so lifelike she at first thought he must be a man that found himself locked in the mansion after a tour.

But when she looked closer she realized he looked just like a photograph she had seen of the Fontaine son, Elliot. Frightened she backed down the stairs and closed her eyes. When she looked once more he was gone.

Blood Stained Crypt

St. Luke's and
Craigmile's crypt.

Behind St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland, Tennessee, sits the Craigmiles family mausoleum.

This crypt is known because mysterious red streaks appear on its white Italian marble surface.

These stains have often been cleaned, but they continue to appear. This has attracted quite a bit of attention over the years.

John Henderson Craigmiles made his fortune in the shipping business—he sold food and other materials to both sides during the Civil War.

In 1860, he married Adelia Thompson, the daughter of a local doctor. In August of 1864, the couple’s first daughter, Nina, was born.

Nina was a beloved child, spoiled by all. She was Dr. Thompson’s favorite grandchild. The two were often seen rapidly traveling around in the doctor’s buggy as he did his medical rounds.

The doctor even let the seven-year-old Nina sometimes take the reins—they both liked to whip the horse to go faster.

Tragically, on St. Luke’s Day-August 18, 1871-the doctor steered his buggy in front of an oncoming train. He was thrown clear, but little Nina was killed.

The family still grief-stricken by their loss-- 3 years later had St. Luke’s church built downtown to honor Nina’s memory—this building was completed on the anniversary of her death.

The family then had a beautiful white Italian marble mausoleum built behind this church.

This crypt has four feet thick walls and a spire that is topped by a cross that is thirty-seven feet off the ground. Nina’s remains were moved to a marble sarcophagus in the center. Six shelves were built along the walls to await other deceased family members.

Soon after Nina was placed in this crypt the bloodstains first appeared.

John and Adelia experienced another loss—their newborn infant son died. He was placed in the family crypt. The stain darkened in color.

Nina's sarcophagus.

Soon after, in 1899, John died of blood poisoning—a euphemism for a bad infection that enters the blood—after he fell on an icy street. The stain on the arch darkened once more.

In 1928, while crossing Cleveland Street Adelia was struck by a car and killed. Locals by now had washed off these stains on the mausoleum wall repeatedly, but they appeared again—even darker.

It has been determined that vandalism is not the cause for these stains. A more recent chemical analysis—defied the experts--it did not show what these stains are or why they appear—so they remain an intriguing mystery.

Bloodstains on the crypt.
Click to enlarge,

A legend states they appear because Nina is “crying tears of blood over the deaths of those she loves.”

The Craigmiles family also commissioned a sculpted bust of Nina out of white Italian marble. They intended to place this bust in an alcove in St. Luke’s called Nina’s Niche.

But the sculptor shipped this bust on the HMS Titanic so this alcove is traditionally filled with flowers instead.

This church also has a connection to Tennessee Williams. His grandfather was a rector at St. Luke’s, and the playwright spend his childhood summers there.

The town of Cleveland is located in southeastern Tennessee. It is just north of Chattanooga.

Elvis Presley: The Ghost of Heartbreak Hotel

Elvis Presley’s first number one million-selling hit single Heartbreak Hotel was inspired by a suicide note.

Steel guitarist and session musician Tommy Durden read a newspaper article about a man who killed himself. In the note, he left behind were these haunting words: “ I walk a lonely street.”

Durden shared this article with his friend and cowriter Mae Boren Axton a high school English teacher who moonlighted as a journalist and songwriter. Axton had written hit songs for Perry Como and Ernest Tubb.

In 1955, Mae Axton took a part-time job working as a public relations secretary for Elvis Presley’s manager Colonel Tom Parker.

When Axton first met Elvis she told him all he needed to become a star was a hit song.

Axton and Durden then turned the poignant line from the suicide note into a song about a “heartbreak hotel” at the end of a lonely street where “broken-hearted lovers cry away their gloom.”

Eerily, this song in Elvis' later years seemed to reflect his own life.

Presley’s name appeared on the record as a third writer, but this was just a deal Colonel Parker struck with the two writers for Elvis so that he would cut the song.

Elvis upon hearing Heartbreak Hotel immediately loved it and started to perform it on the road. But it was different than any other song he had recorded at Sun Records, in Memphis. The label record boss at the time--Sam Phillips hated it and called it a “morbid mess.”

At RCA’s headquarters in New York, they agreed with Phillips, they told Elvis to re-record it. But Presley stood his ground and the rest is history. Heartbreak Hotel is still a part of pop culture today.

The old RCA recording studio where Elvis recorded Heartbreak Hotel, in 1956. is located in Nashville, Tennessee.

Studio B recording Heartbreak Hotel

Today these rooms are used for televisions productions, and it is here where Elvis’ ghost acts out the most.

Stagehands that work on productions, state that all one has to do is mention Elvis’s name and these rooms become active.

Old RCA recording studio

Lights blow out, ladders fall over, and mysterious noises are heard coming from the sound system. Several workers have observed Elvis ghost--he is described as wearing a white jumpsuit decorated with sequins.

It appears Elvis even in death believes “the show must go on.”

Other locations that lay claim to Elvis’ ghost include:

The Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood. where Elvis stayed while making his 40+ films. It is said Room 1016 is always unseasonably cold.

At Elvis’ home Graceland in Memphis. Witnesses state they have felt him most often in the mansion’s kitchen. One famous photo taken is believed to have captured Elvis peering through the curtains at one window.

Another town that claims his ghostly presence is Las Vegas. He is seen at various locations at the Las Vegas Hilton, near the strip. It was here in 1976, where he gave his last performance.

He is seen in the penthouse suite where he stayed, in the basement where he would hang out, with members of his band before and after shows, and in a freight elevator where he hid to avoid mobbing fans.

Wishful fans also report seeing Elvis’s ghost wearing a jumpsuit, and driving a red Cadillac around the strip.

Here is Elvis performing Heartbreak Hotel on his network television debut in 1956.