Haunted Houses and Family Ghosts of Kentucky

by William Lynwood Montell

  Within a few months of “Tan Man’s coming out,” my neighbor Sue told me about some crazy things going on in her house. Her daughter’s toy piano would play notes by itself. Her volume would go up and down on her television set (so would mine, plus the stereo). She was ironing one day and something kept punching her in the rear. She thought it was her daughter at first and fussed at her, told her to stop, then the child walked in from another room.

  One night while making a trip to bathroom, Sue ran into the Tan Man. She said she went on to relieve herself, then called for her husband, and he saw him, too. From that night on, they both went together to the bathroom until they moved out of the house.

  My youngest daughter had an old upright piano in her room. She told me many times she could hear a key hit and it would not strike clear but would go “hum, hum, hum.” This daughter had a motor bike. She and a friend would ride around Harmons Branch often. One day they were riding and saw a man in tan clothing standing by a tree on the branch road. It startled them so much that they looked back, and he had disappeared. From that time on, when scary things happened we knew it was the Tan Man. He was dressed in tan working clothes.

  He came and went. Sometimes he stayed for long spells. There were times when we had no sense of any presence. He seemed to like the spring months best, but I know now that he was just visiting around.

  The most scared I ever was with Tan Man was in bed. My husband and I had just begun to drift off when our bed began to shake just like someone was at the end of it pushing back and forth. I called to my youngest son to quit and go back to bed and leave us alone, but he answered from his room.

  I have also seen lights on the wall spinning in a circle. I often prayed to the Lord when I got scared, and for some reason the “happenings” would cease. My husband literally saw the Tan Man. He has also felt Tan Man, who would wake him up by stroking his arm with an icy cold hand.

  Tan Man became a part of our life. I would tell him to watch the house if I had to leave. Once I lost my keys to an outside shed and told him to find them. It didn’t happen right away but in 2-3 days the keys were lying on the dryer.

  I lived there for twenty-three years and my son still lives there alone. He is thirty-one now and is the only one in the family who has had no encounters with Tan Man. However, he did have a friend up once who claimed that the Tan Man woke him up. It scared him so bad he hasn’t been back.

  Our neighbor in the middle house also had a “happening.” She was tending to her baby in her kitchen when she heard the screen door open and heavy footsteps in her living room. She thought it was our other neighbors son, who was retarded and very large, coming in and she called to him. When he didn’t answer, she looked for him but no one was there. Later she heard the steps again and the door slam and she ran to see, but no one was there. She said she had her screen locked. She admitted strange things happened but would never talk about them. She would just shake her head. They moved shortly after this, never wanting to talk about the strange things we were all dealing with.

  Many, many uncanny things happened on this hilltop in Harmons Branch. The only thing I can say is if these are ghosts, they are good ones. I have felt Tan Man’s presence many times but I don’t think his intent was ever bad. I never believed in ghosts, but I lived with one for twenty-three years. When you witness and walk in my shoes and live at Harmons Branch where Tan Man lives, you’ll believe “something” is going on.

  5. “Ghostly Memories of the Tan Man”

  Pike County

  When I was a young girl growing up at Harmons Branch in Pike County, there were many unusual occurrences at our house. Too, it seems as if the two other houses beside us were also included in these weird episodes. I may have, in fact, been the first person to ever see the Tan Man, as he became known.

  When I was about thirteen years old, a girlfriend and I were motoring home on my Honda 70 trail bike one evening about dusk. As we were starting up the dirt road that led to my house, we saw a man standing beside the road. It struck us unusual because we lived in a rural area and strangers gave rise to curiosity.

  I looked over my shoulder as we rode by and there was no one there. I asked my friend if she saw the man, and she said that she had. Needless to say, we went home as fast as the little motorcycle would go. The man we saw was of average height and weight, with khaki or tan work clothes—the Tan Man.

  I guess there were things going on before this, however. As children, we were terrified of the ghost. As we grew into adults, it was more like wary acceptance. Occasionally, my mother would mention seeing a misty figure, or hear my flute playing musical scales when I wasn’t playing it. I guess the Tan Man was quite musical, because I remember being awakened at night by a single note being played on the piano in my room. When I would become fully awake, I could still hear the fading vibration of the musical note. I hid under the covers, not daring to peek out.

  I remember the smell of roses, very strongly, in the entranceway from the living room to the kitchen. The smell was always in the entrance only, never beyond. This occurred quite often.

  I also recall getting a weird feeling from my parents’ room, like maybe the air was a little cooler or “heavier” in there. My parents had no problem keeping me out of their bedroom. In certain areas of the house it wasn’t unusual to feel a cool pocket of air caressing my face and neck.

  When I married, I moved just across the yard from our house, as I married the boy next door. My husband, Jim, had heard the Tan Man stories, but had never noticed anything unusual at his house. But his friends had. Jim’s parents’ house was the hangout for our friends, and if Jim was still at work they would usually wait around the house, playing basketball or listening to the stereo until Jim got home.

  One day Jack [pseudonym] was waiting for Jim. He was sitting on the couch watching TV when the front door opened, and the sound of footsteps were heard coming into the room. The steps proceeded across the room and on into the kitchen; they exited through the backdoor. Whatever it was, opened and closed that door.

  Jack told me that he just sat there and watched, because there wasn’t really anything that he could do about it. It’s funny, as Jack was a Harley-riding biker, and you tend to think of bikers as a tough lot. But, now, Jack was sort of scared. I know how he felt, because smelling roses, seeing, and hearing something like that tends to hold you frozen in place with eyes wide open, and all senses trained on detecting the slightest movement or sound, touch, or smell.

  Our other friend, Ben [pseudonym], used to get “touched.” One day he told me that he believed in the Tan Man. He was at our house that day after work and before we got home. He said that he was sitting in a chair reading a magazine when all of a sudden a cool hand stroked his neck. Aggravated, he swiped at the air around him, but the cool pocket of air continued to swirl and dance across his face and neck like cold fingers gently caressing him. He stated that this had happened more than once. A lot of our friends believed in our friendly ghost and were always looking for anything peculiar to happen.

  As I said above, not much happened at Jim’s as far as ghostly activities were concerned, but some things did happen. I noticed it when I quit working and was home more at that point in time.

  Mom and Dad had moved to Louisa, Kentucky, an hour or so away. I wasn’t afraid of the Tan man as I had been as a little girl. After all, we had known him for many years now. He had never hurt anybody, except to scare the heck out of them. Many nonbelievers in this sort of thing were converted at Harmons Branch. Thus, I found it comforting in a strange way when I noticed things happening every now and then.

  One of these things was the phantom car. I don’t know how many times I’d gone to the door and looked to see who was driving by, only to find no one there. This happened almost weekly, it seems.

  Another common occurrence was that of seeing the figure of the Tan Man outside the house, always out of the corner of my eye. So sure was I that someone was outside the house that I would so
metimes go outside and walk around the house, never finding anyone. I was chagrined because the Tan Man had pulled the wool over my eyes again.

  The last common happening that I recall is about the light bulbs. I could never keep light bulbs in the bathroom or kitchen. It seems that they never lasted like the ones in the other rooms; they would often go out within a short time of each other.

  We moved to Paintsville a few years ago and bought an old house and remodeled the downstairs. I had said goodbye to Tan Man and Harmons Branch. The granddaughter of the woman from whom we bought our house in Paintsville told me that we had a ghost in it. I thought, no there’s no ghost here. My light bulbs last too long; there are no cool breezes; there is no feeling of someone being in the same room with you, or of being watched. There’s no music in the night, and no one touches you. And, I want you to know, that’s okay with me.

  6. “The Stockton House in Richmond”

  Madison County

  There is a house here in Richmond owned by attorney David M. Jones. This large, three-story white house is on Lancaster Avenue. It was built about 1880 by the Stockton family.

  Jones stated that on the first night he and his wife stayed in the house, a picture in the parlor fell from the wall and broke during the middle of the night. And the lamp in the hallway would come on and off while no one was around it.

  Jones claimed that back in 1983, he woke up in the middle of the night and raised up in bed and saw the ghostly form of a woman dressed in many layers of clothing—just floating around in the room. The apparition spoke to Jones, mentioning the words “picture” and “funeral.”

  Shortly thereafter, Jones was going through a large collection of papers and artifacts in a small attic-like room on the third floor. When he got ready to leave the room, he bent over to crawl through the small doorway. And there he again saw the face of the ghostly woman! In February 1984 he glanced into the gigantic gold-framed mirror in the front hallway and saw her sitting in a chair in the parlor. Jones’ subsequent research indicates that it was the spirit of Mary Katherine Stockton. Although his wife has never seen the spirit, Jones himself has experienced several sightings, the last reported time being in 1993 or ‘94 while decorating the house for Christmas. He saw her reflection in a mirror.

  The following Memorial Day, Attorney and Mrs. Jones passed by the Stockton burial grounds in the Richmond Cemetery and noticed that the stone of Matthew Stockton had fallen over.

  The lights in the Jones’ house had not dimmed in a strange manner for more than two years. However, the next morning after visiting the cemetery, a lamp in the dining room flashed off and on several times. Jones entered the room and said, “All right, Mrs. Stockton, I’m going to call the cemetery caretaker and have them put Matthew’s tombstone back up.”

  After having the stone restored to its upright position, the light has not flickered since, and the ghost of Mary Catherine Stockton has not been seen.

  7. “Mysterious Knocks on the Door”

  Breckinridge County

  An experience that happened to me took place when I was about thirteen years old. We were living in a house that belonged to Mrs. Willie Edith Allen in Brandenburg. It was a gray brick-siding house that was situated right across the old state road from the Brandenburg High School. Later on, we was told that at one time there was a tree on the other side of our driveway, and a black man—this was back in 1910 or 1911—was accused of raping a white woman. They took him and hung him there on that tree. He proclaimed his innocence, that he didn’t have anything to do with it, but they wouldn’t listen to him and hung him.

  Come to find out later on, he was innocent. I think the man who really did rape her was caught and he admitted to it. Well, this tree had been cut down. Wasn’t anything there but a stump when we lived there in that house. The house had an upstairs to it, but we didn’t use it very often as no one could sleep up there, because every time you’d try to sleep up there, you’d hear somebody walking up and down the steps, but you’d never see anybody.

  That house had a bath and running water; also a living room, and off that room was Mom and Dad’s room. Then there was a kitchen, and Granddad’s room that was off of the kitchen. Then there was a room where the steps went upstairs, and there was a back porch.

  I had a little miniature beagle dog at the time, and I had named him Krypto, after Superboy’s dog. I was into superheroes and all that stuff back then. Well, everywhere I was at, Krypto was with me. One day there wasn’t anybody at home but me, Mom, Granddad, and Krypto. I guess this was on a Saturday, as I wasn’t in school. I was in there laying on Granddad’s bed, and had the door shut. I was reading a book. Mom and Granddad were in the kitchen.

  As I was laying there, I heard somebody knock on the door. My dog was snoozing, but he raised his head up and his ears perked up. Course, I said, “Come in.”

  Well, nobody came in and nobody said anything; nobody done anything. I went back to reading my book again. Well, it wasn’t very long until I heard knocks again on the door. I laid my book down; the dog was looking at the door with his head kindly cocked to one side. His ears perked up. I said, “Come in if you want to.”

  Of course, nobody opened the door, or anything. I couldn’t figure it out; just thought it was Mom or Granddad doing something. When I finished that chapter I was reading in that book, I got up and opened the door and walked into the kitchen. Mom was washing dishes, and Granddad was setting there at the table drinking coffee. Dad wasn’t there.

  I said, “What did you all want?”

  Mom said, “What?”

  I said, “What did you all want?”

  Said, “I don t know what you’re talking about.”

  I said, “Well, somebody knocked on that door, and I said, ‘Come in.’ They knocked on it twice and I said, ‘Come in.’”

  Mom said, “I didn’t knock on the door.”

  Granddad said he didn’t knock on the door either. Nobody knocked, according to them. But I heard it, and my dog Krypto heard it, and what that was, was never explained.

  8. “The Owens House”

  Knox County

  The Owens house, once located in Barbourville, was built by John Allen Owens in 1894. Eventually, this historic Queen Anne house deteriorated and was torn down in 1977. Ruth Sanders, who lived in the Owens house in its later years, told fascinating stories about her experiences with the ghosts there in the house. At different times, there were ghostly beings in the dining room making sounds just as if someone were actually sitting at the table and eating a meal. The plates and knives and forks could be seen moving around.

  Coffee was smelled on many occasions, as though it were being brewed in the kitchen; yet no coffee was being made at all.

  Table rappings were rather common. In one instance, the rapping noise got so loud in the upstairs kitchenette that a person who was up there in the room became so scared that she ran out of the room.

  Residents of the Owens House, Barbourville, witnessed numerous, varied ghostly visitations over the years. (Photo provided by Margaret Jean Owens)

  Cats were known to walk around certain areas in the various rooms, but they would never walk across a particular area in the upstairs hallway. There was something ghostly about that spot, and the cats could sense it.

  A rocking chair in the parlor was known to rock and squeak by itself during the night. It was examined, but no clue was given as to why it made these ghostly sounds.

  Another example helps to demonstrate that the Owens house was haunted. It seems that one of the Owens relatives of recent years was spending the night there and was sleeping in an upstairs room. The door to the room typically jammed and was hard to open. During the night when the relative was staying there, the door opened of its own accord on numerous occasions, even though the woman who was there in bed kept getting up to close the door. She finally brought her bulldog into the room to sleep at the foot of her bed, but the dog wouldn’t stay there very long. As soon as the lights were turned
out, the dog commenced a low growl, which meant that it felt threatened. The woman eventually gave up that same night and went downstairs to sleep.

  Not only were strange actions and ghostly noises felt and heard, the ghost of a woman was also seen on numerous occasions. In earlier years, Margaret Jean Owens’ aunts, Ruth and Dorothy, were sharing the house, when one night they heard something making a great deal of noise in the bedroom next to theirs. They were both so frightened that they locked themselves in the room and sat up all night listening to the strange sounds.

  They claimed that it sounded like someone was throwing furniture around and breaking things, but the next morning when they got up and mustered up enough courage to look, nothing was even out of place.

  Along about that same time, the Shadles, who owned Shadle Funeral Home across the street, saw a woman’s ghost in the Owens house several times before they ever told anyone. “I suppose they didn’t want to frighten my aunt Ruth Sanders, who was living there at that time,” Margaret Owens stated. Owens then went on to comment, “At another time, one of my cousins was there with her daughter, and the little girl asked her mother who was on the stairs. ‘Mama, who is that?’ she wanted to know. When the mother looked, she got just a glimpse of a gray skirt in the stairwell.”

  The ghostly woman that they saw is called the Gray Lady, but is not to be confused with the famous Gray Lady of Liberty Hall in Frankfort. The Gray Lady of the Owens house was frequently seen in a white dress, surrounded by a red glow all around her. She was seen on various occasions standing in front of windows, walking on the stairway, or walking down the hallway toward the kitchen.

  No one is sure who the Gray Lady was, but it is believed that she was a sister of John Owens, who built the house, a sister who died in 1901 at a rather young age.