Do you believe in ghost?

[spooner]

i've always loved goin looking for ghost it just makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up but anyways back when i was like 12 and 13 me and a friend would stay out in belmont with his dad for a couple weeks and we would always take the 4-wheeler to this broke down house that we were told was haunted and im pretty sure it wasnt but it was good fun and i do still believe in them and i would love to go for them but i dont know any good spots in demopolis other than the "hanging tree" and "sally but if anyone knows any good places around here let me know i would love to go check them out

[mmcd3182]

Hmm... so everyone... if you end up wandering the earth as a spirit... what are you going to do?

[AGRConductor]

im gonna wind up haunting the railroad hahaha

[trbl4u]

Ranger....the railroad tracks some of these posts may be referring to are down the dirt road across Maria. I'm sure others know that story.

Most of the cemetaries close at dusk with the gates locked...don't want those "Spirits" wandering around getting lost...

Several years ago we had VANDALS disturbing the headstones and graves.

[froglvr76]

you will have to forgive me, but i am not from demopolis and don't know the hanging tree story. r u supposed to see something around the tree or what? i also apologize if this is in a previous thread, i did not read all twelve pages.

[mmcd3182]

	Quote:	froglvr76
	you will have to forgive me, but i am not from demopolis and don't know the hanging tree story. r u supposed to see something around the tree or what? i also apologize if this is in a previous thread, i did not read all twelve pages.

I heard it a long time, but don't remember it. You can definately see some used condoms around the tree... if that answers any kind of question... lol

I've been there once... haven't been there since. Usually go riding around different places, this just isn't one of them.

[armywife87]

	Quote:	froglvr76
	you will have to forgive me, but i am not from demopolis and don't know the hanging tree story. r u supposed to see something around the tree or what? i also apologize if this is in a previous thread, i did not read all twelve pages.

Someone has told me you can see a lantern, but as many times as i've been down that way all I've seen is lighting bugs, I've heard some really strange noises down there out in the woods around 1 or 2 in the morn, but they could have been anything.

[armywife87]

Does anyone know anything about the Eliza Battle? I know your suspost to be able to see it burning and hear people screaming and swiming on the day it happened at some time at night, but I dont know anything else about it. Does anyone know the place? Its somewere on the river where a rail road track used to cross the river but nothing is left of the bridge but post.

[mmcd3182]

	Quote:	armywife87
	Does anyone know anything about the Eliza Battle? I know your suspost to be able to see it burning and hear people screaming and swiming on the day it happened at some time at night, but I dont know anything else about it. Does anyone know the place? Its somewere on the river where a rail road track used to cross the river but nothing is left of the bridge but post.

Is that the story about the ship?

You can read about it in Kathryn Tucker Windham's 13 Ghosts of Alabama...

(Not sure if that's the story you're talking about)

I met her a few months ago (my boss was a writer -- he wrote books on folklore and haunted areas in the southeast. He visited haunted houses and stayed in places over night...)

[LPL]

On March 11, 1858, the paddle steamer "Eliza Battle" was returning up the Tombigbee River from Mobile when it was attacked by robbers.
The steamboat was intended for use as a passenger vessel, but on this journery, as on some others, it was also laden with bales of cotton.
In the ensuing confusion, the ship accidently caught fire. The fire burned through the tiller rope and the ship drifted out of control down the river as dozens of helpless passengers jumped into the icy water of the flooded river, attempting the swim to the bank.
As many as fifty people died in the accident, and over a hundered were injured.
Mrs. Rebecca Coleman Pettigrew, who lived near the river, cared for many of the injured survivors of the tragedy.
The accident occurred about 1/4 mile north of Naheola on the Tombigbee River. Rebecca Coleman Pettigrew is listed in the 1860 Choctaw County Census as the sole resident of her household. There are a few genealogical accounts I've found of survivors sending gifts to Mrs. Pettigrew after the accident, in appreciation for her care.
...Now for the folklore surrounding this tragedy:
I have heard rumors of a cemetery near the accident where some of the dead were buried. The Old Tompkinsville Cemetery has been suggested, but I have found no burials from that time there. There may be a site somewhere near the Naheola riverbank, but it has yet to be found.
...And
During the spring floods, late at night during the full moon, it is said the riverboat can be seen rising out of the water and floating up the river with music playing and fires burning on the deck. The fires are presumably so bright, "Eliza Battle" can clearly be made out on the side of the steamer. Local fishermen have said it is a sign of impending doom. This story is featured in the book"13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffery" by Kathryn Tucker Windham.

another link says
144th anniversary of the burning of the Eliza Battle

By: CLAIRE STONE and JEFF CLARK
Daily Times Leader

Monday marks the 144th anniversary of what has been called the most terrible disaster ever to take place on the Tombigbee River. On March 1, 1858, the steamer, Eliza Battle, caught fire and burned in the middle of the night on a freezing, windy, flooding Tombigbee River.

The Eliza Battle carried its crew, about 55 passengers and almost 1,300 bales of cotton. At least 31 people died, most by being frozen while hanging onto tree