Haunted Hannah House

“The House that reeks of death . . .”

Hannah House

This old house is located on the southern part of Madison Avenue in Indianapolis, Indiana. Witnesses state the home’s history has left it haunted.

Alexander Hannah built this grand 24-room house in 1858.

Hannah was born a Quaker and the son of the president of the Indiana Central Railroad first trained as a harness maker. He left this business to seek his fortune as a prospector in the Californian gold fields. He earned enough money to become part owner of a ranch.

He returned to Indianapolis in 1850. He worked for his father, Samuel Hannah and bought 240 acres south of the city where he began construction on his dream home at the age of 37.

The Hannah House is a 2-story redbrick structure designed in the fashionable Italianate style with Greek revival influences.

Hannah became a progressive farmer who used all the latest scientific techniques. His community involvement included: being a sheriff, postmaster, and a member of the Indiana General Assembly.

In 1872, Hannah a confirmed bachelor for many years married Elizabeth Jackson. 

Upstairs bedroom.

Alexander and Elizabeth sadly were unable to have children. At one point Elizabeth miscarried. This baby is buried near the couple at their family plot. One legend states this stillborn baby haunts an upstairs room in the Hannah House where she was born.

Despite this tragedy the Hannah’s often entertained and kept busy with public events. He and his wife are believed to haunt their home.

One legend states Alexander Hannah’s most passionate activity was one he had to keep secret. He used Hannah house and its surrounding acreage as a stop on the Underground Railroad before the Civil War.

Records of this activity were obviously not kept but in more recent years partially collapsed tunnels have been discovered on the Hannah property—these could have been used to help escaping southern slaves made their way to Canada.

One story passed down through the family involved a rainy evening when a group of slaves were hidden in the home’s cellar. One of these slaves accidentally tripped over an oil land and set the room ablaze.

These slaves, unable to flee succumbed to the smoke and flames. Hannah’s servants buried their bodies in the dirt of the cellar floor so it would not be discovered the house was used as a “stop.”

Cellar's dirt floor.

Years later, many witnesses reported smelling burning flesh and decomposing bodies in the Hannah House.

Hannah Family marker.

Alexander Hannah died in 1895, and after Elizabeth died in 1888, the house lay empty for 4 years. A German immigrant, Roman Oehler, a jeweler, purchased the home along with 21 acres in 1899. His daughter’s family--named Elder-- lived in the house until 1962. The home still is owned by this family today.

During their time in the house, Mr. Elder heard a shelf containing canned fruit jars in the cellar crash down--till this day he cannot explain what caused the rack to fall.

For the next thirty years, the property lay mostly unused. A family by the name O’Brien rented the property in 1972 and ran an antique business for 10 years. They lived in the house upstairs for one year--but were then driven out by the activity--even though they kept the store open.

This family claimed to have experienced a variety of paranormal activity. They reported feeling cold spots and seeing fleeting apparitions.

They smelled foul smells including rotting corpses--in the bedroom upstairs where the Hannah baby was born. Despite attempts to clean this room the smell always returned.

The witnesses saw doors, and wall hangings move on their own. They saw a spoon fly off a coffee tray and hit the wall. These witnesses also stated they heard disembodied voices—which included whispering.

In 1978, the Hannah House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

In 1980, the Southport Jaycees used the old house as a Haunted House for several years. Members of this group were often stumped by the fact that one chandelier downstairs would sway without any explainable reason. 

Several members stated that one afternoon before the Haunted attraction opened their sound system with their spooky music turned on, and then they heard footsteps enter the house, but no one was there.

One woman who drives into Indianapolis on her way to work passes the Hannah House--she states that she often sees an old man in period clothing standing on the lawn by the house waving at her.

Today Hannah House can be rented for special events--this is to raise funds to preserve it.

Paranormal groups and psychics that have investigated the home state having similar experiences to those listed above as well as hearing unexplained scratching sounds.

The Black Hope Haunting

The two stories below reflect an ongoing theme I have presented on Seeks Ghosts--which is when graves are disturbed or desecrated bad things can happen.

The following stories happened in the same neighborhood.

Black Hope Cemetery

In the early 1980s, Sam and Judith Haney purchased a new home in a Newport subdivision in Houston, Texas.

When Sam decided to put a swimming pool in their backyard, an elderly black man, Jasper Norton, showed up at his door. Norton told him he was about to disturb two graves. He then showed Sam, where these graves were located.

Norton knew about these graves because years before, he had dug them. The sub-division where the Heney’s new home was located on was an old 19^th century African America slave cemetery called, Black Hope.

According to Norton, there were at least 60 pauper graves in the area. The last burial had been in 1939. These graves had just been left and covered up by the developers of the sub-division.

Sam now curious brought in a backhoe and had the area dug up. Right, where Norton had shown him, he found two old pine boxes. The county coroner officially exhumed the bodies.

Two wedding rings were found, and it was determined the two deceased were Betty and Charles Thomas. They were slaves that were freed after the Civil War.

Judith Haney uncomfortable that their graves had been desecrated, insisted they rebury the two former slaves in their backyard--she then planted flowers over them.

New Graves

After these two graves were disturbed strange activity started to happen in the Heney home.

A clock in their bedroom was seen eerily glowing and sparking--it was unplugged. Judith heard the distinct sounds of someone enter their home through their sliding glass doors, she heard a voice she thought was Sam's state, "What you doing?"  Only to find no one was there.

Judith Haney

A pair of her favorite shoes disappeared out of her closet. Later she and Sam found them sitting on top of Betty’s grave. They discovered that it was Betty’s birthday that day, and they felt that Charles, her husband placed them there.

The activity became so frightening that the Haney’s wanted to move out of their home--but they could not afford to. They sued the developers for not informing them about the cemetery.

They eventually lost this case. They had to declare bankruptcy, for they owed $50,000 in court costs.

They moved.

A dozen other neighbors reported lights, televisions, and water faucets turning on and off. They also heard disembodied voices. Several reported seeing apparitions.

Ben and Jean Williams reported that near their flowerbeds sinkholes appeared in the shape of coffins. They would fill them only to have them reappear a few days later.

Sinkhole

Jean stated that the flowers she planted in this area all died.

The couple saw shadows move along the walls in their home accompanied by whispers and a putrid smell.

Their granddaughter, Carli, lived with them. She felt intense cold spots in the home during the hot summer months.

She and her grandmother got the uneasy feeling someone was watching them. The toilets flushed on their own, and Carli states as the water would go down, she could hear murmuring voices.

Ben, late one night, after returning from work, saw two apparitions appear in the kitchen. He watched as they entered the den and then disappeared in the hall leading to the master bedroom.

The Williams also took legal action. They were informed by the developers without bodies, they had no proof.

Frustrated, Jean started to dig in the backyard. When she became ill, Tina, her 29-year-old daughter, took over. But after a half-hour she became sick.

Tina was rushed to the hospital, where she died of a heart attack. Jean believed that her death was a direct result of the paranormal activity they had been experiencing.

The Williams lost their entire life savings when they moved. They have since written a book about their encounters entitled Grave Secrets.

Sub-division

Nothing unusual has happened in their old neighborhood since--probably because many of the old graves were eventually moved. 

The Haney and William’s stories were shared on Unsolved Mysteries in July of 2002. 

A Beloved Teacher

This story took place over 150 years ago on St. Simons Island off the coast of Georgia. *

In the 1800s the owners of the rice plantations on St. Simons Island decided to hire a teacher to teach their children. They found a young teacher that lived in Ohio that was willing to move south.

Margaret was wise beyond her years. She had traveled extensively in both America and Europe and had attended some of the finest schools.

St. Simons Island

She settled happily into her new assignment. She spent her days at the little schoolhouse on the island teaching the plantation owner’s children. Then at night, she would teach the slave children at her home.

Many of the plantation owners objected to her teaching their slaves, but Margaret was strong-willed, so she prevailed in this endeavor.

One young slave boy, Joshua, became Margaret’s best pupil. Joshua loved the stories and poems Margaret read, and he often stayed late to hear more. 

He was lucky for his master was a kinder man than most of the plantation owners. He told his teacher that he felt learning would help him to gain his freedom in the future.

Unfortunately, Joshua never attained his dream. A slave uprising occurred on the plantation adjacent to his masters. The plantation owner was killed in this struggle, and a mob of angry men gathered that night to seek revenge.

This mob attacked several plantation slave quarters, including ones that had not been involved in the uprising. They came to Joshua’s family cabin, ripped down the door and started to beat his parents. Joshua jumped in to defend his mother and was clubbed on the head, he died instantly.

Margaret grief-stricken started to isolate herself from the rest of the community. It is said she only spoke now to the children that she taught. She was often seen wandering aimlessly through the island’s backwoods.

One day as she sat in the school preparing the next day’s lessons, she spotted a black raven that sat on one windowsill. This raven would fly above her as she walked home every day.

Isolated and lonely, Margaret began to read poems to this raven, as he sat near her in the afternoons. Two plantation children returned one day after school to find an item they had left behind. They quietly observed their teacher reading to this blackbird.

They ran home and announced to their parents that their teacher was “a witch.” Their parents ignored this, but rumors started to fly. Many people at the time had a fear of “black magic.” They began to wonder if this silent teacher could be a witch.

Others, not liking the fact that she taught the slave children started to add fuel to the fire. Hysteria took over, and an angry mob went to her home one night. They dragged her out, accused her of being a witch, and then killed her.

After this, the community refused to allow her body to be buried in the local churchyard. Joshua’s master, who was a kind man buried her alongside one road. He placed a stone marker on her grave. On it, he carved, “A Beloved Teacher.”

Soon after he buried her, people started to observe that all the vegetation in the area began to die. Even today, 150 years later, nothing grows in this area--no trees or moss or even grass.

* This story is a good example of how folklore often reflects people’s superstitions.

Jack Purnell’s Lantern Part ll

I shared the story of Patty Cannon and her gang of slave kidnappers in my previous post entitled, The Wickedest Woman in American, Part l. 

One of her associates was a free black man, named Jack Purnell, who also lived in Reliance, Delaware. Purnell like Cannon kidnapped dozens of free blacks and sold them for profit.

He kept his captives on a small island on the Nanticoke River. This island was in an isolated spot and concealed by brush, so it was ideal for his purpose. Purnell would tie his victims and then row them out to the island. He would shackle them to trees and then leave them there for safekeeping.

Purnell then would round up buyers and take them to this island to seal the deal. One hot summer, he returned after an absence of two days to discover two of his three captives had died from “heat exhaustion.” The third was just barely alive. 

As night descended quickly, Parnell took his lantern and dumped the bodies into the river.

This island which some call “Shackle Island” does not exist today. Like others, it has been lost to time and nature. The river’s changing flow most likely took it at some point. All that remains is a hill with three large Cypress trees.

The following is a first-person account told by a young man from Delaware named Tyler. He recounts an eerie experience he had near Phillip’s Landing on the Nanticoke River.

One November, Tyler and a friend were hunting. It was late on their first day when they decided they best establish a camp. They wanted to build a fire to dry out, so Tyler’s friend dug a fire pit and set up their tent. 

Tyler went in search of some stones to place around the pit as a “draft wall.”

He had walked further than he realized from the camp when darkness overtook him. He looked to see if he could spot the camp’s fire, but he saw nothing. He was lost. 

Staying calm he remembered he had his two-way radio with him. He radioed his friend, and they both used their compasses to determine where he was.

They concluded he must be about thirty yards from the river, so their plan was for him to reach the river and then head south. Tyler’s friend stated that he would use his whistle and flashlight to lead him back to camp. Tyler set out with confidence now he could find his way.

He continued to talk to his friend as he walked. But within minutes a large rotting boat “that was 15 feet long” blocked his path. It was partially buried in mud with a broken paddle near it. 

Tyler wondered why a boat was in the middle of the woods instead of being near the water.

He radioed his friend to tell him about his discovery, but all he heard was quick bursts of static. He tried several more times, but his radio seemed to be malfunctioning. 

He was distracted when he spotted a light. Feeling this must be one of their camp’s Coleman lanterns he concluded he must be closer to camp then they had previously thought.

He shouted as he “raced” toward the light. He became frustrated when his friend didn’t respond, he shouted once more. His radio started to make deafening, strange noises, so he turned the volume down. 

He continued to chase the light but was surprised when he found himself right back near the old boat. The light went out, and he was surrounded by darkness once more.

Tyler turned and saw a hill behind him. He climbed to the top, hoping to spot the camp’s fire. Once there he noticed three very tall Cypress trees nearby but he saw no light. 

He did spot something shiny below him, so he walked over. Under the brush, he saw what appeared to be a chain and a wrist shackle. The light appeared once more near the old boat, so Tyler quickly descended the hill.

He looked again for his friend, convinced he must be holding one of the camp’s lanterns. But when he reached the boat, the light had moved to the river’s edge. 

Following it, he was stunned to see the light go right over the water. Feeling “spooked” for the first time, he heard his friend call his name faintly over his radio. He turned the volume back up.

As he made his way south down the river’s edge, the light stayed over the water but followed him. He finally spotted the fire, he covered the ten yards quickly back to the camp. 

Tyler told his friend what had happened and then insisted they pack up and leave. He didn’t know the history of Shackle Island before their hunting trip, but he read about it afterward. He states he will never return.

Tyler’s story was first shared on www.CastleofSpirits.com

The Ghost of Mathias

This story is elusive--the names, several of the places etc. cannot be traced. But it is interesting so I place it here...

In the fall of 1958 a black freeman by the name of Mathias presented a letter from an abolitionist group to a Quaker minister, Reilly Daniels who lived in Rochester, New York. This letter informed Reilly that Mathias could be trusted. He gave Mathias a place to stay and made him the church handyman. 

The two men worked together for the next two years helping escaped slaves from the south travel to Canada on the Underground Railroad.

Not much is know about Mathias before he approached Reilly--there is no written history or photograph of him. The information that is known today about this unusual man is because for years after these two men worked together his story was passed down from one generation to the next in Rochester. 

The fact that Mathias and Daniels even worked together is surprising because Daniels was a Christian and Mathias was known to practice hoodoo.

From the 1830’s on, every southern plantation had at least one slave who practiced hoodoo--which had been passed down. Hoodoo rituals evolved from a mixture of West African, Native American and European spiritual rituals. 

A misconception is that hoodoo is the worship of Satan--this is not true. People who practice hoodoo are sometimes called conjurers because the practice involves casting spells and curses or as they are called “tricks”--with fetish rituals such as mojo bags filled with herbs and dried bones. 

On the flip side a Hoodoo doctor, which Mathias was, also called upon supernatural or spiritual powers in order to help people.*

Because of this difference in beliefs it is said that Mathias clashed with Daniels on more than one occasion. In March of 1860, Mathias left Rochester to continue his work in the south. 

His plan was to pass himself off as a slave on a Savannah, Georgia plantation so that he could help slaves escape and then lead them north to the Underground Railroad. 

Another Abolitionist, Abigail Potterson encountered Mathias as he made his way south. She arranged a safe cellar for Mathias to stay in for the day while she found a carriage that could take him to the next underground “station”.

Here is what Potterson wrote in her dairy in March of 1860-- it is paraphrased to shorten her entry:

“When I brought him lunch he was sitting on the cellar’s dirt floor. His back was to me as I approached him. He was tossing something that looked like white twigs on the ground before him and I heard him muttering something in a low tone. I walked up to him and tapped him on his shoulder. He turned and looked at me with hatred in his eyes. I felt dizzy and faint.

The next thing I knew I woke up next to him lying on the dirt floor. He apologized for scaring the soul away from my body. He explained he had meant no harm. She then saw on the ground one of the white twigs he had forgotten to pick up. It wasn’t a twig, though, but an animal bone.”

After this Mathias made it as far as Earl Lander’s plantation near Savannah. He planned to help 12 slaves escape. Samantha Devon shared the following account of this escape in a book entitled, Unchaining Freedom. Her grandfather was one of the slaves that escaped with Mathias’ help. Again, her account is paraphrased in order to shorten it:

“The man who helped my grandpa was a Hoodoo doctor. My grandpa could tell he was because who else could show up out of nowhere in a Georgia slave cabin and announce he was from New York and was there to help everyone get free. They were all actually afraid of him--knowing what he was. Grandpa Toby said that one night he gathered everyone in one cabin and told them it was time. He gave them all mojo bags to wear under their clothing and said it would make them invisible to the white people.

One boy, Silias refused to go along with it and instead went to tell the foreman what was going on. Grandpa said Mathias killed Silias even before he was halfway across the yard. But the dogs must have smelled something because they started howling and everybody had to get out quick. The Hoodoo man stayed behind and made a spell to stop the men from chasing after but something happened and he got caught.

Grandpa saw his freedom because of that man. He was grateful but he never wanted to see him again. Said if he wasn’t the devil then he was a close cousin.”

What happened next was published in a local Savannah newspaper under the April 3rd headline, COLORED RASCAL CAUGHT, SLAVES ESCAPE.

“The farm of Earl Landers was the scene of an escape last night. Mr. Landers shot and caught an unknown negroe that is suspected of being a northern abolitionist agitator but 12 negroes are still missing. Mr. Landers' brother, Andrew Landers was killed when his horse fell upon him during the chase. Following is a list of the escaped slaves and their particulars…”

After Mathias was captured he was taken to the county Courthouse by Sheriff Gil Smithson and placed in a cell. No medical attention was provided for his wound and the official record at the time mentions that Mathias died while trying to escape that same day.

In 190l the truth came out when former Deputy Sheriff Wayne Haskins admitted that he watched as Earl Landers and the sheriff hung the captured man in his jail cell. 

Haskins stated that these two men were surprised when the prisoner stopped struggling and instead used his last breathe of life to snatch a black flannel bag underneath his belt. He then sprinkled the contents on the sheriff and Landers. 

Locals say it was this “trick” by Mathias that caused both men to be cursed with very bad luck up until they were both killed in the bloody Civil War battle of Bull Run.

As long as this courthouse stood it seems Mathias’ ghost haunted the cell where he was hanged. 

As the years passed and more courthouse workers heard the story of the murder-- they became convinced that the unusual things they were seeing and hearing were caused by Mathias’ ghost. 

Several prisoners that were kept in the same cell over the years stated it was always unnaturally cold. Workers reported smelling herbs in the area. 

There also were reports that people actually heard the sound of Mathias rasping breath as the noose tightened around his neck.

By the time the courthouse was torn down in 1948 most had forgotten about this murder. But in 1973 a local man, Terrance Mallory discovered an old photograph at an estate sale. 

It shows a woman holding a baby in a turn of the century dress standing in front of the window that once was Mathias’ cell. By the 1900s this cell was being used as a supply room. Malloy feels the blurry image on the windowpane is actually the ghost of Mathias.

*  Hoodoo is practiced not only by blacks but by some Anglos. It was considered by many during the Civil War to be a kind of folk magic. It was a country cousin to the Voodoo that was practiced in the Caribbean and New Orleans. Although it consisted of mostly benign folk medicine, many practitioners seemed to have other powers, such as, psychic ability. 

The Haunted Roman Coliseum

This imposing structure was first known as “The Flavius amphitheater.” Emperor Vespasian of the Flavian family built it. It was completed and opened under his son Titus’ rule in 80A.D. 

It was built to entertain and appease Rome’s need for blood, gore, and revenge. Thousands of humans and animals were killed within its arena. With all this violence, it is clear why the Coliseum is haunted.

The humans that died to amuse the Roman citizenry included: gladiators, soldiers, war prisoners, slaves, and Christian martyrs. These people died in bloody hand-to-hand combat by the thousands, or they were, torn apart by animals. 

The animals that died included lions and tigers and other exotic species that literally became extinct--it is estimated at least 5000 animals were killed.

The Roman “Colosseum” or Coliseum is located in the heart of Italy. It is considered one of the world’s best ancient architectural structures.

It could hold up to 70,000 spectators. The seating tiers were designed in a way that everyone, regardless of where they sat, had a perfect view of the oval arena below. 

Admission for everyone was free, but where you sat in the Coliseum denoted your social standing. The ordinary people sat at the top, and the higher status people sat near the arena at the bottom.

Every year thousands of tourists flock to Rome to see the beauty of the Coliseum. Many of these tourists, their guides, and the workers at this ancient structure have reported seeing and hearing paranormal activity. 

Some have heard screaming and moaning in various places. Others have listened to lion and tiger roars. One sight often reported is that of Roman soldiers standing guard at the multiple Coliseum entrances.

Visitors have seen ghostly figures walking up and down the Coliseum’s staircases. Other witnesses have seen what appear to be ghostly figures sitting in various seats watching what is going on in the arena below. Many people have reported hearing the cheers of a crowd.

The vaults located below the Coliseum are very active. This is where the gladiators waited to fight, and the prisoners waited for a gruesome death. 

This area is also where the Romans placed their bets on the outcomes of the various competitions. Here cold spots are felt, and people have reported that they are touched or pushed. Others have said that someone whispered in their ear.

Employees that have worked the night shift over the years have reported hearing crying in the vault area as well as animals growling.  

The Defiant Knight Company

“We stood firm to the union when secession swept like an avalanche over the state. For this course alone we have been treated as savages instead of freemen by the rebel authorities.”

--Newton Knight (petition to Governor William Sharkey, July 15, 1865)

Soon after Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States in November of 1860, Mississippi, led by slave-owning planters, seceded from the Union in January of 1861. 

However, not everyone who lived in Mississippi agreed with this decision. In fact, some Mississippians’ viewed the rebellious Confederate government as the invading body. This is the story of Newton Knight and his opposition to the Civil War.

Newton Knight was born in Jones County, Mississippi in 1837 when the landscape was still dominated by virgin longleaf pines stood, and wolves and panthers still roamed the land. 

In 1858 he married Serena Turner and moved to Jasper County to set up a homestead where they grew corn and sweet potatoes, and raised hogs and cattle. Newt worked hard and tilled the land himself. According to his family, Newt was a loving father who never drank or cursed.

When Mississippi seceded from the union most of the people in Jones County, Mississippi were poor farmers who did not own slaves. They did not care about their states right to maintain the institution of slavery. In fact, Jones County had the smallest number of slaves in the state.

Mississippi swept up in war fever didn’t take kindly to any southerner who opposed the war. Those who did were labeled cowards and traitors. In fact, during this time anyone who refused to join the Confederate Army knew the penalty was death. So many Mississippians joined against their will. 

Newt Knight reluctantly enlisted in the Confederate Army in the fall of 1861 but soon after he was furloughed so he could return home to see his father, who was dying.

In May of 1862, Newt enlisted as a private with his friends and neighbors into Company F of the Seventh Battalion, Mississippi infantry in Jasper County. They joined together so they could avoid a draft that would have sent them to serve with strangers. Years later Newt stated he only agreed to serve as an orderly so he could care for the sick and wounded.

During this time the Confederate Congress passed the infamous “Twenty-Negro Law,” which exempted planters who owned twenty or more slaves from having to fight. This law basically made sure that a rich man’s war was to be fought by poor men. 

Newt hearing that the Confederate cavalry had taken his families’ horses went AWOL in November of 1862. He made the 200-mile journey back to Jones County—managing to avoid capture by the Confederate patrollers who searched the roads for deserters.

Once home, Newt was shocked to find most of the farms in ruin. The war had taken all the local men—so there was no one to tend the crops, etc. The women of Jones, Jasper, and Smith counties were all struggling to feed their children. 

Things were made worse by the “tax-in-kind” system the Confederates had put in place, which allowed tax collectors to take what they wanted for the Confederate armies. Most of the animals and food stores and even the cloth the women used to make clothes for their children had been claimed. This left all these families to suffer.

“If something is not done by the legislature to open the corn cribs that are now closed against the widow and orphan, and the soldier's destitute families I know that we are undone. Men cannot be expected to fight for the Government that permits their wives and children to starve.”

         --A neighboring planter in Smith County warned Governor John J. Pettus

In May of 1863, the Seventh Battalion rushed into the Battle of Vicksburg. When Newt refused to go back into the Confederate Army, he was arrested and imprisoned. The Confederates tortured him and destroyed everything he owned—leaving his family destitute. 

Vicksburg was a six-week siege, which trapped the Confederate soldiers in a nightmare. After the Confederate’s defeat at Vicksburg, in July of 1863, many soldiers deserted. One soldier who walked home to Jones County after this battle found his wife dead. She had given what little food there was to their children and starved to death.

In August of 1863, the Confederates sent Major Amos McLemore to round up the deserters. Newt organized a company of men, approximately 125, from Jones, Jasper, Covington, and Smith counties to defend themselves against the Confederates. 

This group became known as the Knight Company. Newt, a tall, powerful man, who was known for his imposing presence, was elected captain. He was an expert with his double-barreled, muzzle-loading shotgun, and he proved to be a skilled and resourceful guerrilla war captain.

To avoid capture, the Knight men would disappear into swamp hideouts, called “Devil’s Den” and “Panther Creek.” They communicated with each other by blowing signals into hollow cattle horns. Sympathetic locals both white and black aided the Knight Company.  One slave woman by the name of Rachel supplied Newt with food and useful information.

Major Amos McLemore was shot and killed in the home of Amos Deason in Ellisville, Mississippi. Most felt it was Newt Knight who pulled the trigger. 

A storm raged outside as McLemore collapsed, his blood seeped into the pine floor in front of the fireplace, and no matter how much scrubbing was done by Eleanor Deason it would reappear every time it rained, or the wind howled. 

After many years of seeing the blood, descendants of the Deason family finally covered the wooden floor with new flooring. This covered up the bloodstain, but it can still be seen under the house where the blood came through the floor onto the rafters.

Today, the Deason house is said to still be haunted. On the anniversary of the murder each year the front door of the house bursts open without cause. The house was given in 1991 to the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. 

They began restoring the house, so it could be opened to the public—several members of the DAR confessed that they were too uncomfortable to stay in the home alone, day or night.

As for the Knight Company men, their fate was not kind. 

The Confederate authorities embarrassed by the defiance of Knights’ men determined to stamp them out. Most were caught, some were mauled by Confederate hound dogs unleashed to flush them out, others were hung, their bodies left dangling from the trees as a warning to others. In the end, many were returned to their Confederate units. But the authorities never caught Newt Knight.

When the Civil War ended in 1865, Mississippi was occupied by Federal troops. They called Captain Newt Knight into service as commissioner in charge of distributing thousands of pounds of food to the sick and starving people in Jones County. Newt was also sent to rescue several black children who were still being held in slavery in Smith County.

In 1875 Newt returned to his farm in Jasper County, he brought with him his wartime ally, Rachel, now a former slave. His wife Serena left, and he married Rachel. She bore him several children. 

Newton died in 1890, at the age of 85. Under the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 whites and blacks could not be buried in the same cemetery. Defiant to the end Newt requested he be buried in a simple pine box on a high ridge, next to Rachel who had died in 1889, overlooking his old farmstead. 

The inscription on his tombstone reads, “He Lived for Others.”