Kentucky Hauntings

by Roberta Simpson Brown

  One night she was in the patch near the woods when she heard something crashing through the bushes coming toward her, grunting and panting heavily. She ran to the house as fast as she could and told her husband. He went to the patch, but he only heard the usual night sounds of crickets, frogs, and insects. He thought his wife might have been frightened enough by this experience to discontinue her searches at night, but he was wrong.

  The next night, Mrs. Gammon was more determined than ever to look for her child.

  “I know she's alive!” she kept saying. “We would have found her body if she were dead!”

  “You have to accept that she's gone,” Mr. Gammon told his wife. “She's beyond our help now.”

  “I think someone captured her and is holding her prisoner,” said Mrs. Gammon. “We can't give up! Please help me look for her!”

  When her husband refused to go, she left home alone and went to the berry patch.

  Mr. Gammon knew it was impossible to stop her. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat at the kitchen table to wait. Several minutes passed. Then he heard Mrs. Gammon's scream cut through the night.

  He grabbed his flashlight and raced from the house to her rescue, but she wasn't there! There was nothing in the berry patch. He walked toward the woods, shining his light on the ground. Signs on the ground showed once again that a body had been dragged from the berry patch into the woods. Mr. Gammon called out to his wife, but all he heard was grunting and heavy breathing from something he couldn't see.

  He knew it was dangerous to search alone, so he returned quickly to the house and called the sheriff. Again the sheriff brought men with him, and the search began for Mrs. Gammon. The trail led to the edge of the cliff, and that's where they found her. The sight was one they would never be able to put out of their minds for as long as they lived. It would haunt their waking hours and their dreams. They wondered what happened, but Mrs. Gammon could tell them nothing. When they found her, she was clawed to shreds and half eaten.

  Residents of the area refused to go into the blackberry patch after that. Dogs kept barking at something unseen in the woods, but they wouldn't enter either. Stories began to circulate that the monster of the blackberry patch was real. Juicy blackberries grew in the patch, but those who were tempted to go near them heard the grunting and heavy breathing, and ran for their lives.

  Many people in the neighborhood swore that they saw the ghost of Mrs. Gammon, walking through the blackberry patch at the edge of the woods, looking for her lost daughter. As a ghost, she appeared to be whole.

  Because the mystery was never solved, some believe that the horrible unseen thing still stalks the patch for victims. If they get a longing for blackberry cobbler or jam, they head for their favorite market or bakery.

  Joy's Incredible Journey

  We saved this story for last because it is a tribute to a very dear friend of ours, Joy Pennington. It is hard for us to tell, but because we lived through it ourselves, we know it to be true. Joy died on March 23, 2011, but her dying doesn't mean this is a sad story. She wouldn't have allowed that. Joy's incredible journey to meet death was a beautiful experience for her and all who knew and loved her because she made it so.

  Joy and Roberta met in the fall of 1958 when they both entered Berea College. Joy's husband, Lee, entered Berea at the beginning of 1959. Lonnie met Joy and Lee after he and Roberta married in 1977, and they moved across the street from the Penningtons in 1985. The four were all good friends and did many things together, but as with most friendships, their good times were too often taken for granted. After all, there would always be time to do things together!

  Joy and Lee were teachers and founders of the Corn Island Storytelling Festival, but they also traveled the world and made documentaries. Joy always seemed blessed with good health, so none of us had any idea anything was wrong until she cracked a bone in her hip. After a while, when the bone didn't heal properly, the doctor ordered X-rays, which showed suspicious spots. The doctor then ordered Joy in for extensive tests.

  It was a late October afternoon when Roberta's phone rang. She was surprised to hear Joy's voice because Lee and Joy were supposed to be at the doctor's office getting Joy's test results. Roberta looked at the clock and realized they were probably home by now. That wasn't the case. Actually, they were on their way home.

  “Roberta, I need a favor,” Joy said.

  “Sure,” said Roberta. “What do you need?”

  There was a tone in Joy's voice that Roberta had not heard before. But she didn't dream of what she was about to hear.

  “I have to go on full oxygen,” Joy said in that same tone. “They are on their way to our house to set it up now, but Lee and I are stuck in traffic. They may get to the house before we do, so could you watch for them and let them in with your key if they get there first?”

  “Absolutely,” Roberta said. “But why do you need oxygen?”

  “I have stage four cancer,” Joy said in a steady voice. “It's in my bones, lungs, brain, sinus cavity—just everywhere.”

  “Joy, it must be a mistake,” said Roberta, not really believing what she had just heard. “You are never sick!”

  “It's not a mistake,” she said in that same steady voice. “I've seen the X-rays and all the results. They give me two months to live.”

  Roberta wanted to scream and cry, but she knew what that tone in Joy's voice meant. No crying and no pity. Roberta's heart was crying, though, and she was thinking that Joy's time couldn't possibly be that short. She wanted much more time with her friend.

  Joy said that she and Lee were going to discuss how to proceed, but she ultimately decided that she would stay at home and refused chemo and radiation. She agreed to take pain medication, but only enough to make the pain bearable. She wanted to be alert and functioning until the end.

  Joy's first rule was that no teary people were allowed to come and visit. That eliminated a lot of friends, because most of them broke down and cried. Of course, she had to limit visitors because she got tired easily, too. Hospice (or Hosparus, as it is now called in Louisville) came to provide care to Joy and to help Lee. Lee considered it an honor to be Joy's main caregiver, and he made sure that Joy got everything she wanted. No caregiver ever did a better job than Lee did for Joy!

  Lee and Joy had no family in Louisville. Hosparus was a great help, but there were times when their volunteers weren't available and Lee had to run errands. Lonnie and Roberta cleared their calendars and made themselves available any time day or night if Lee needed someone to sit with Joy. It wasn't a noble gesture or sacrifice on their part. They saw it as a second chance to pay all those visits they had meant to have but had put off until another time. Now time was running out.

  The first time Lee called, Roberta was happy to go over, but she knew if she wanted time with Joy, she would have to do things Joy's way. As she walked across the street, she kept telling herself that she could not cry! She thought that being with her dying friend would be so sad and heartbreaking that she would have to go home and bawl her eyes out. But Roberta was wrong.

  This visit and the ones to follow turned out to be the most uplifting times of Roberta's life. Lonnie felt the same about the times he went to spend time with Joy. Amazingly, these visits felt completely natural. The friends talked and laughed and remembered things they had shared.

  Even though she had no need to economize, Joy still clipped coupons and sent Lee to get dinner for themselves and Lonnie and Roberta. She had her hairdresser and her manicurist come to the house and fix her hair and nails, and she sent Lee shopping for makeup.

  She looked so healthy that at one point Roberta said, “Joy, you look so good—do you think they could have made a mistake?”

  She said, “No, Roberta. It's going to happen.”

  Joy was never in denial and sometimes wanted to talk about her cancer. These talks, however, were never morbid. Once Joy wondered aloud what the cancer was doing inside of her.

  “Can you feel it?”
Roberta asked.

  “No,” said Joy. “I don't feel anything.”

  She never asked that her life be extended for her own sake. And when her predicted time to die came in December, she felt fine.

  Joy said to Roberta, “I hope I can live long enough to show Lee how to do the taxes.”

  She read, made lists of favorite things and places, and gave Lee cooking lessons. She and Lee watched the documentaries they had made and relived the wonderful moments of their life together. Joy said she'd had a wonderful life, that she had seen most of the world, and that she had no regrets.

  As Christmas approached Joy sent out special Christmas cards with a picture of Lee and her taken the year before at Death Valley. People had to smile at her sense of humor. Christmas came and went, and December ended. Her two months were up, but Joy was very much alive!

  In January, Joy invited six of her and Lee's closest friends (Ben and Sonia, Tami and Andy, and Roberta and Lonnie) to celebrate their forty-ninth wedding anniversary. By then, Joy was getting tired easily, so she put a possible time limit on the visit. It was a happy occasion, with no shadow of death spoiling the party.

  On Valentine's Day, she had the same six people over. She loved planning these get-togethers, and she saw to it that everybody had a great choice of Valentine desserts to eat.

  On Lonnie's birthday on February 28, Joy again invited the same six people to a party. Her rules this time were that the men had to wear suits and the women had to wear dresses. Joy wore a party dress and jewelry and looked better than anybody! It was a birthday Lonnie will never forget.

  Joy was doing so well that she began to plan a St. Patrick's Day party for March 17. All these celebrations were held with the understanding that the guests would leave if Joy got tired.

  Joy had always eaten healthy foods, but she suddenly surprised everybody by beginning to crave fast food, like Quarter Pounders, or sausage, biscuits, gravy, and eggs.

  Since Lee couldn't leave Joy alone to go to the fast food restaurants, Lonnie happily became her banker and delivery man. Joy gave Lonnie money to keep so he could go get her whatever she wanted whenever she called. Joy would gobble the food and say, “Lonnie, this stuff won't hurt you, especially if you're dying anyway!”

  March brought early flowers. Joy looked out the window and saw the first crocus of spring blooming in her yard. Lee picked it and put it in a vase for her. At first, it turned to the window for sunlight like all flowers do, but Lee turned it back toward Joy and it never turned away again.

  Joy's St. Patrick's Day party was not to be. The cancer began to make noticeable changes. She was no longer strong enough to have people come around to visit.

  The day of Roberta's last visit to Joy was a little different from the others. As Roberta started to leave, Joy took her hand and smiled.

  “I want to thank you for all you have done for me,” she said.

  “I was happy to do what I could,” Roberta told her. “I love you!”

  “I love you, too,” she said.

  “I'll see you later,” Roberta said to Joy, but as she left, she knew she had seen her friend for the last time.

  Joy died peacefully on March 23, 2011, with just Lee by her side. It was five months later than the two months the doctors had predicted Joy would live from the time the cancer was diagnosed. If Death had been lurking around to see Joy's spirit break, he was sorely disappointed.

  The day Joy died had been filled with severe storm warnings. But they were lifted, and at the exact moment of her death, a friend snapped a picture of the sky. It was filled with a bright light like a sunburst! It was as if the heavens had opened to welcome her in.

  When the hearse came to take Joy away, Roberta stood in her driveway to say a silent good-bye to her friend. Suddenly, thunder shook the whole street, and lightning, in the most vivid shades of pink, purple, and gold, danced above Lee and Joy's house. The rain came down gently. As the undertakers carried Joy out of the house, the rain stopped and the sky was calm.

  Joy's service was exactly as she wanted it to be. She and Lee had made a DVD together celebrating her life. It said what she wanted to say.

  Later, when Lee took Joy's ashes to be scattered at sea as she had requested, small-craft warnings were posted along the coast. The captain and first mate of the boat Lee had hired told Lee they couldn't go out very far because of the choppy water. But at the moment Lee scattered Joy's ashes, the sea became calm. It remained calm all the way back to shore.

  Several odd things have happened since Joy's passing that make Lee, Roberta, and Lonnie think that Joy may be coming back now and then to visit. Lee has written his own experiences, but there was one that the three of us shared.

  On July 4 of the year Joy died, Lee came across the street for a short visit with Roberta and Lonnie. The three of them were sitting in the living room, talking, when all of them heard the kitchen door open and close. They heard footsteps crossing the room. Lonnie went to the kitchen and checked the door, but it was still closed and locked. No one was there. He came back and sat down, but then they all heard the footsteps again.

  Together they said, “Come in, Joy!”

  It would have been logical for Joy to join them since the four friends often did things together.

  Joy's death left those who loved her with an uplifting feeling instead of a feeling of sadness. Death was not something that came to end her life. It was merely a vehicle to take her to the next place in eternity where she was meant to be.

  May we all be so lucky when our time comes.

  Thank you, Joy, for letting us be close to you in life and death! We miss you, but we will see you again someday.

  Conclusion

  In our early years, we had no radio, TV, or computers to entertain us. All that has changed now, but the stories we heard and shared over the years are more important than ever. They link us to our past and the people who are now gone. Technology will never replace them in our lives. We hope these stories will stir some memories for you.

  We love a good story, so if you have one to share, please send it to us. You can contact us through Roberta's Web site: robertasimpsonbrown.com.

  Places to Visit

  Ashland Paramount Art Center is located at 1300 Winchester Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky, 41101. You might meet up with the permanent friendly ghost, a former worker named Joe. Call 606-324-3175.

  The Brown Hotel (335 West Broadway, 40202—toll free 888-387-0498) and The Seelbach Hotel (500 Fourth Street, 40202—call 502-585-3200) are two of Louisville's finest—and most haunted—hotels. The best way to access these for spooky experiences is to contact Mr. Ghost Walker (Robert Parker) and take his original Louisville ghost walks. In our opinion, these are the best-researched and best-presented tours of downtown Louisville, and they include several other haunted sites besides the hotels. Call 502-689-5117 or check Mr. Parker's Web site, www.LouisvilleGhostWalks.com.

  For tours of Victorian homes in Old Louisville (America's largest Victorian neighborhood), contact David Domine at ghostsofoldLouisville.com. You will enjoy this tour immensely and are likely to encounter a ghost! The tour is well researched and well presented, and it covers a part of Louisville that is not visited in other tours.

  Bardstown, Kentucky, has many haunted sites, but two of the best known are Jailer's Inn (111 West Stephen Foster Avenue, 40004; on the Web at jailersinn.com, or call 502-348-5551) and Old Talbot Inn (107 West Stephen Foster, 40002—call 502-348-3494.) We recommend that you take the Patti Starr tour of downtown Bardstown. We found it very informative and entertaining. Contact Patti at 859-576-5517 for tour information.

  LaGrange, Kentucky, is a unique place where a real train comes right through the middle of town and where ghosts come out to be sighted. The Spirits of LaGrange Tour is conducted by talented tour guides, such as Barbara Edds, in costume and carrying lanterns. You will hear spellbinding accounts of all the ghostly happenings in LaGrange, one of the most haunted places in Kentucky. This tour is very popular, s
o call for reservations at 502-291-1766.

  For spirits you imbibe and for spirits you may encounter from beyond, try Louisville's Phoenix Hill Tavern. Drop in at 644 Baxter Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky, 40204. The phone number is 502-589-4957.

  Mammoth Cave (near Park City in south central Kentucky) was described by an early guide as a “grand, gloomy, and peculiar place.” He could add now that it is also haunted. To book a tour, call 270-758-2181.

  Acknowledgments

  We thank our friend, Dewayne VanderEspt, who always comes to our rescue, especially when we are baffled by computers.

  We thank our neighbor, Salvador Doggie, for visiting us and staying nearby to give his unconditional support while we are writing. His sweet little spirit is always a delight and an inspiration. (Thanks, Jill Baker and Lee Pennington, for sharing him.)

  A special thanks to Lee Pennington for his guidance and support through the years. Without him, we would probably never have written our books.

  We are especially grateful to our manuscript editor, Donna Bouvier; to Ashley Runyon, acquisitions editor; and to all the staff at the University Press of Kentucky, who helped us so much with this book.

  About the Authors

  Roberta Simpson Brown and Lonnie E. Brown were both born in Russell Springs, Kentucky. Roberta had one sister, and Lonnie had three sisters and two younger brothers. Their families, along with other relatives and neighbors, got together often and joined in the Kentucky tradition of storytelling.

  Lonnie first shared stories with the people close to him, who responded with sidesplitting laughter and encouraged him to write the tales he told and experienced. The result was his first book, Stories You Won't Believe. He later coauthored Spooky, Kooky Poems for Kids and Spookiest Stories Ever: Four Seasons of Kentucky Ghosts with his wife, Roberta. An accomplished musician and golfer, Lonnie enjoys nature, reading, and doing paranormal investigations with Roberta and their friends.