WHITE BLUFF, TENNESSEE AREA LEGENDS, LIES AND GHOST STORIES

WHITE BLUFF LEGENDS
&
TALES FROM THE CAMPFIRE

From White Bluff, TN and Area

Please feel free to send in your stories of area tales..this does not have to be all based in fact, unlike the high standards of the message board, haha. Don't worry over the accuracy or if its not the way you have heard the storys. Thats not the point. Let me know if you don't want your name included or I will use the one on your email. I hope this will be fun, I can't get enough of these stories myself. Oh Yeah BOO!
Just send your stories or comments to the guestbook. The stories will be posted just as soon as I can get to it.
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Hang On Tight Here We Go With The Tales!!!

Here is an 2009 entry from the Blufwatch Message Board. Kinda makes you wanna be real careful who you offer a ride to on cold dark winter evenings in White Bluff.
Don't lose your head on Joslin Branch
Me and my friend were coming up the hill on Joslin Branch a week ago and it was just after dark and cold. We seen a hunched over woman in a old timie dress walking so we pulled over to see if she needed help or a ride. You ain't going to believe this but she did not have no head on her shoulders but had her head under her arm and it looked right at us and grinned like a possum and then it talked and said GET OUT! We hauled you know what all the way back to highway 70. We rode back a few times but ain't seen nothing. Has anyones else heard about this?
Posted by "Bumfuzzled"

This was sent in anonymously. It was originally posted on The Real Haunted Houses Webpage. Seems the story of the White Screamer is widely known.
On the origin of the White Screamer
In the small town of White Bluff there's a famous hollow where the White Screamer dwells. No one knows exactly what it is or its origin. It's said to be a white misty form that wails and cries and screams enough to make any person go insane, thus gaining its title of "The White Screamer". It has also been noted that if one ventures to the spot where they might've seen the White Screamer, the grass will be burned away. Alledgedly, around the 1920's a young man built his family of a wife and seven children a home and farm down in the hollow, and every single night they'd wake up to the sound of this awful crying and screaming. So, finally, after this young man has had enough, he grabs his shotgun and runs out into the night off to find whatever beast is making this awful noise. He climbs to the top of one of the surrounding hills to see if he can spot it, and then hears the sound of screaming... only it's the voices of his family and children. By the time he can climb down this hill and get back to his house, he finds his whole family dead.. and pieces of their body thrown around on the ground and the floors of the house. You can still drive down into the hollow and see the foundation of the house and graves of the members.
Posted by Anonymous

This one was sent in to the messageboard and personally I have never heard a ghost story of this sort before. But then again those are the best kind.
Don't touch that dial!
I was told about the ghost storys on here by a friend. I never thought about if storys are true until something happened last week to me and my friend. I don't want to use real names because of people makin fun of us but this is all true. Me and Larry was cruising around about 1 in the morning and he told me a story he said he heard once from his uncle Ed. It went like this if you go past a cemetary in white bluff, i won't say which one out of respect to the people there and famiilies, but it is one of the best knowed ones. But if you tune your car radio on AM to almost one end of the dial, he said you would hear noises when you go by the cemetary. Its gotta be after midnight and before sunup. I know you will laugh or say its B.S. because thats what I said but we tried it and it happens! It was not moaning or crying but like people talking and laughing. and no it was not a radio station. When we gots to the end of the graveyard it quit. When we rode back by we heard it again. It sure gives you goosebumps. We were not drinking neither. But we needed one after that. We tried it somemore and it did not work ever time but it does most of the time. I think we did not have the radio tuned in right when it did not. We tried it some other cemetarys and it did not work. But it don't matter what car you are in or radio you used because it worked in different cars. But the thing that scared us most and made us not go back the last few days is the last time we heard a real deep voice in the background of the talking voices and it sounded like it was calling our names. We ain't told no one we know about this so I am telling it hear. Thank you and I know its all true because it happened to me.
Posted by Radioman on Blufwatch MessageBoard

I found this story a few years ago, it had been originally printed in the Columbia, TN Herald on 8 December, 1893. So it must have been a well known legend over 100 years ago in Tennessee. It involves the stretch of railroad between Burns and White Bluff. Closer to Burns, but close enough to the Bluff to claim as an area legend.
A Ghost by Daylight
Residents around the Burns Post Office in the county of Dickson are wrought up over the apperance in broad daylight of a mysterious visitor or apparition. The following is a statement by a Mr Terrell, who saw the strange spector and is reliably vouched for:
" I have visited the haunted spot and seen the ghost. It is most frequently seen in a sag just beyond the noted McNairys Cut a mile or so east of the Burns Station on the Nashville, Chattanooga & St Louis Railroad. It was in the forenoon when I approached the spot. I had not long to wait as until the apparition made its debut to my vison, I was not the least bit excited(sure sure) when I saw the ghost moving along the tracks about 200 yards distant. It did not seem to make any progress in its travel, yet seemed to be moving all the time. It was in the form of a large chuffy man and it was plainly visable that the man had no head, aside from this it appeared a perfect man. Taking my tourist glasses out the headless monster was brought within 10 feet of me, as I beheld it moving aimlessly, a man without a head. The bleeding neck appeared as if it had been severed by a sword, while all the arteries and veins constantly blubberd and spurted blood stained foam.. I turned then to flee, hesitated and then decided to go for it." " As I neared it neither came forward or retreated, it vanished completely. Then I returned to my original spot and saw it as before. Several men then walked up and I heard there story, unmixed with my own, and they correponded. They had seen the object as I had. " I do not believe this can be explained. But, McNairy Cut has been haunted for years. During the late war(civil war) McNairy a noted raider committed many bloody deeds. Col. McNairy of Nashville was considered a terror to the Federals, he and his company of independant scouts operated on the tracks between White Bluff and Sneedsville(now Dickson). It was here they attacked and killed many Union railroad workers and soldiers" "Also there had been a head on crash of two trains a few years ago where the engineer, a Mr Johnson was trapped between the engines and his upper parts were seperated from his torso." Are these reasons for the ghosts seen here? Mr. Terrell states " I confess I do not really believe in ghosts, but it may be deep down in the depths of nature where mortality ceases and and immortality begins there is a power that reflects back to mother earth the image of misdeeds that have angered and defied the just-loving God(s) of the Universe"
Posted by Nicky

A classic story sent in involving the most famous legend in White Bluff, or at least the one that made me shiver the most as a child, the dreaded WHITE SCREAMER aka WHITE THING.
The White Screamer
There was a man who lived on Taylor Town Road He had gone deer hunting earlier in the day and had killed a nice buck. He had gutted him and had him hanging high from a large tree in the back of his home. The guts had been placed in a wash tub and was sitting out near the woods to be disposed of later. That night was rather cool and the man was restless; he grabbed his guitar and was sitting out on his front porch strumming quietly. He was known in the area for having some excellent coon dogs. He had them penned up behind his home as well. As he sat quietly playing the guitar, an uneasy feeling came over him. Something was wrong, but he couldn't place what it was. He stopped playing and just sat listening. He realized there was no sound other than his breathing. The crickets and frogs and all the night creatures had stopped moving. There was dead silence. Suddenly, the dogs came running from around the back of the house. This was strange because he knew they were locked up tight. There was no way they could have gotten out. He laid his guitar down beside him, and started to get up. Upon further inspection he saw that his hunting dogs had their tails tucked under their bodies. They went straight to the opening that leads under the house. He looked in the direction from which they had come and suddenly their appeared the most horrible thing he had ever seen. The street light illuminated a creature that was nearly as tall as the basketball goal. It had long white stringy hair. No sooner had he seen it than it let out a cry like a baby that grew in intensity. The hair on the back of his neck was standing on end. The scream was now a high pitch. The thing was after his dogs and was headed straight for him. He was frozen in fear. He tried to move but his body was as if he were paralyzed. The white creature was moving toward him slowly at first. Then his greatest fear was realized, the creature stopped and looked straight at him. At this point he knew if he didn't move this thing would be on him in a matter of seconds. He found his feet and made a dash for the door. As he moved he could hear the creature as it leaped for the porch. It apparently hit the railing and stumbled, giving him time to get to the door. He pushed the door open and rushed inside. He could hear the hoofs strapping the wooden boards of the porch, as the creature scrambled to get up. He was trying to close the door but realized the rug was in the door keeping it from closing. He kept pushing, the muscles in his body were trembling from the force he was using. All the while, the noise outside the door was getting closer. He took his foot and started pulling on the rug as he lessened the pressure he was putting on the door. The door finally closed and he clicked the lock. He no more than turned the lock than the creatures claws started scraping across the wood. There was a small window in the top of the door. He looked to see the creature was looking back at him. The screams he heard were rattling the glass in every window. The creature was trying to get in. All night long it paced back and forth across the porch stopping at windows slashing the screens with its claws. The white creature had hooves on its hind legs and stood upright and walked around, it could also walk on all fours using its almost human looking hands with razor sharp claws. The eyes he noticed were red. His family was upstairs sleeping soundly. He didn't know why they didn't hear the screams and come to investigate. He sat in the front room all night holding his rifle waiting for the creature to find a way to get in. As the sun started to come up, he realized he didn't hear anything. All was quiet. He waited until the sun was up and went out with his rifle in hand to investigate. On the porch he found pieces of the screens that had been ripped from his windows. His guitar was found unharmed, but had a slimy substance on it as if the creature had picked it up and laid it aside. Upon further investigation he saw hoof prints where the creature had entered his yard. The hoof prints lead up to the deer that had once been hanging from the tree. The carcass was missing and not a trace of it could be found. The wash tub was later found deep in the woods licked clean. The pen where his dogs had been kept had been ripped apart from the top. He found where the animals had dug under on the opposite side barely making their escape from certain death. He feels the smell of the deer and the tub of guts may have led the creature to his home. The dogs must have sensed the danger as they saw it come up and take the deer. They began their dig and barely reached safety before it reached them. The creature might have made more of an effort to reach the man and animals had it not already eaten the deer. The man still lives in his home, his children are grown and have since left. Although that night always stays in his mind, he has not seen the creature now known as the white screamer again.
Posted by Karen

Here is another good one from the author of the previous White Screamer Story.
The White Screamer Lives On
Back in 1983, I used to go fishing every evening. My husband and I would load up with a bucket of minnow and crawdads and head off to Turn Bull. We would park in a pasture and walk down to the water. We would always start at the same spot and if the fish weren't biting we would move on down. We were rather inpatient, so we would always find ourselves walking farther and farther down the creek. One evening we had gone farther than we had ever gone before. We didn't realize how far we had gone and it was starting to get dark. I told him we should dump the minnows and head back. He said to hold on he was getting a bite. I sat down and waited. He was getting a bite all right. The fish bit and ran with the hook, tangling the line in a tree that was hidden under the water. He decided to go in and see if he could untangle the line. I was getting restless, the dark was moving in on us. He told me to relax; we can just follow the water back to the truck. My husband is an excellent swimmer so I didn't worry about him going into the water. He could hold his breath longer than anyone I had ever known. I sat and watched as he went under to find his line. He came up for air and went under again. This time he didn't come back up. I was starting to panic. As I got up to see if I could see him, he grabbed me from behind. He had swam under the water to a bend in the creek and had climbed out and snuck around behind me. I screamed and told him that wasn't funny. While laughing he said lets head back now. He dumped the bait and we gathered up our poles and the fish and started walking. It was really getting dark now. I could barely see and stumbled and twisted my ankle. He agreed we should have started back sooner. He ended up with all the gear and I was hobbling along behind him. I told him I needed to sit down. My ankle was hurting and I needed to rest. As I sat down, I thought I heard something. He said it was probably a deer. We sat there for a couple of minutes and I told him I thought I could make it now. We got up and started for the truck again. As we started walking the noise got louder. I told him whatever it is, it's getting closer. He said that deer normally stay away from people. We were upwind and it should have smelled us. He was starting to get concerned. He asked me if I thought I could walk any faster. I told him, I would try. The faster we walked the closer the noise became. He dropped the fish and told me to hurry, he would help me. He led me down to the water. I asked him what he was doing. He said to trust him. He hid the poles near the waters edge and eased into the water. He held his arms up to me and I leaned into his arms and he lowered me into the water as well. He said in hushed tones that we were going to hide and see what it is that is following us. I shook my head in agreement, my eyes wide with fear. It wasn't long before the creature stood over the fish. I couldn't breath. What I saw was hideous. It stood nearly nine feet tall with white hair. It was walking on its hind feet. It stopped and dropped to all fours and started eating the fish. The front legs had the hands of a human with long sharp claws. I was in the water up to my neck and was standing behind a fallen tree. I was shaking so hard, I just knew the creature was going to hear me. The creature finished the fish and was now wondering around, like it had lost something. It was at that time, I knew it was looking for us. It went down to the waters edge and it soon had our fishing equipment. It picked it up and was studying it. I sat amazed at how gentle it was. I was afraid to stop looking at it. I was afraid if I closed my eyes and opened them it would be standing there looking at me next. Suddenly, my husband tapped me on the shoulder and motioned for me to go under the water. I did as I was told trying not to make the water move. Once under he pulled me under the bank to an air pocket. We came up in total darkness. He then told me he was going to leave me there and try and lure the creature away. I was like, I don't think so. You are not going to leave me here. He said he had no choice. I was hurt and we could never get away. He said he had never seen anything like this thing. Suddenly we heard the creature screaming. It sounded like a woman with a very high pitch. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I grabbed my husband and buried my face into his chest. I could hear his heart beating as fast as mine. He told me not to move he would be back for me. He then went back under the water and swam away. I had no idea how he was going to lead the thing away or how he thought he could find me again. It felt like time stood still.Another thought crossed my mind, I wondered if there might be snakes around. I didn't want to be here. If I could get to the truck, I promised I would never come here again. I have no idea how long he was gone, but I was getting impatient. I couldn't wait there all night. I decided to go up and take a look. I took a big breath and swam to the surface. The stars and moon were shining bright. I looked and didn't see anything. I decided to head to the truck. There was a second set of keys hidden under the truck, I knew if he came back and didn't find me he would go to the truck. I stayed in the water thinking it safer than the land. I had a hard time since I was going against the current. I didn't think I would ever get back to the familiar area where we always start fishing. As I started around a bend, something grabbed my leg and pulled me under before I had a chance to scream. Water filled my nose and mouth. A large hand clamped over it. I started to fight and realized it was my husband. He released his hand from my mouth and allowed me to get air. I went up and sucked in air and he pulled me down again. He pulled me back down stream and we resurfaced. He told me the White Thing was sitting on the bank close to our truck. He had tried repeatedly to draw it away but it must have known what he was trying to do. He said he had one more idea. He helped me from the water. He remembered seeing a small farm house up on the hill. He said it is risky but we are going to try and get to that house. Traveling by water my ankle hadn't bothered me, but putting my weight back on it when I climbed out of the water was now more difficult. He had to literally pick me up and carry me on his back. He wanted to get us as far away from the White Screamer as possible. I kept looking behind us as we went. My heart was racing. I realized I was holding my breath. I heard in a distance the creature screaming and I heard the sound of crashing and limbs breaking. I knew the thing was after us again. It had managed to get down wind of us. I knew I was slowing him down. I told him to put me down. I held onto his arm and we ran as fast as we could towards the old farm house. As we cleared the woods and crossed the yard, I heard the creature scream. I knew it was closing in on us. I was so terrified. My husband took the steps two at a time dragging me behind him. He pushed open the door and slammed it shut behind us. This house was an old abandoned farm house. I didn't know how secure it would be against this creature. I was trying to look around the dark room. We were both wet and exhausted. I sat with my back pressed against the door. I heard the creature as it circled the old house, screaming a blood curdling scream. I wanted to look outside to see what it was doing. This screaming went on all night. Then a silence fell. My husband got up and walked over to one on the boarded up windows and peeked through a crack. The sun was starting to come up. We agreed to stay inside until we were certain it had gone. He suggested he go get the truck and come back and get me. I refused to be left behind again. We slowly opened the door and looked around. We carefully went down the steps and headed for the truck. When we finally reached the truck he opened the door for me. As he went around to the other side, he stepped on something. He looked down and there were our fishing poles. He picked them up and put them into the back of the truck and got in and we went home. It has been a long time since I have been fishing on Turn Bull Creek. I don't know what the White Screamer would have done had it caught up with us that night. I think it may have been just as curious about us as we were about it. I wonder how long it had been following us that night, or if we disturbed it in its home. I know one thing, I don't want to meet up with it again to find out.
Posted By Karen

This next tale is not really a ghost story or scary, but it is a very strange occurence It was related to me by a relative of the family involved, on condition of anonymity. The family is quite religous and are almost embarresed by what happened, as it is unexplainable, or at least it is by what we know of as reality.
A Short Trip To Town
It was an fall day, early in October, just a few years ago. A White Bluff family who at the time lived on Charlotte highway between Ashland City Road and County House Road. They were and are still regular attendees of church services here in "downtown" White Bluff. On this Sunday morning they awoke early for breakfast and to prepare for sunday school. With a 8 year old daughter and 5 year old son to get bathed and dressed, they were running a little later that they liked. It was about 8:45 when they walked out to the family car, services did not start until 9:00 and the drive to town was no more than 5 to 10 minutes the very most. It appeared to be very overcast out as no sunshine could be seen. They soon realized, as they pulled down their drive that the reason for the darkness was a very dense fog that had settled in, making the nearby highway almost impossible to see. The father had his headlights on, still it was almost like looking at a wall as the fog was so deep and thick. After a short distance, when they had traveled about far enough to be at the market near the White Bluff city limits, he could barely make out what he thought was the glow of the neon lights at the market. His wife remarked that she was unable to see anything and wondered if they should pull over til the fog lifted a bit. The husband replyed no, they were fine and he could drive slow enough to be safe and still not be late for church. He did not tell her that he could barely see the hood of the car, and was looking out the window on his side of the car to watch the center line. This was the only way he could make sure he did not cross out of his driving lane. He popped in a cassette tape, John Andersons "Just A Swinging" was playing. All who know this highway are aware its a straight shot to Highway 70 and White Bluff, you make no turns and it stops there by the CeeBee store. From the spot he put the tape in and Highway 70 is maybe 3 miles. The boy and girl in the backseat were more restless than usual, both commenting they needed to use the bathroom and were hungry. The mom and dad both shushed them, as they had just eaten breakfast and they were always made to go to the bathroom before they left for church. He was still stuggling to see the road, as the fog was still so heavy he could see nothing on the sides of the road. Finally, as the song was ending he could see the lights up ahead of what he thought was the CeeBee store parking lot. The fog was lifting, and they would not be late for church after all. When he neared the lights he had seen in the distance, he felt his body chill all over, he was not in White Bluff, he was on Highway 100 in Hickman County, it was the Pattons Park market, near Lyles TN, he had seen in the distance. In the strange fog, in the time it took to play one song on his tape player, he had traveled over 25 miles, through at least 2 towns and several turns and stoplights and signs. His wife of course noticed where they were and she still shakes and trembles when she thinks of what happened and how can it be explained. The children of course were really not aware of what happened, other than being very hungry and needed to use the bathroom. This was understandable as well, for when they were driving back home, in bright sunshine I might add, they passed a bank sign with time and temp displayed. It was 11:45. The 25 mile trip had taken 3 hours in real time, while maybe 5 minutes elapsed in the car and in the fog. The family still lives in White Bluff, though in another part of town, nothing like this has happened to them again, but I am told still try not to drive in foggy weather.
Posted By Nicky

Though not a White Bluff Legend, it is one of the most famous in the world and from right here in Tennessee, so with Halloween around the corner and more hoopla re the Blair Witch, which many think was a copy of the Bell Witch here is some tales of the Bells and there family friend!
Bell Witch Stories
The John Bell family moved from Halifax county, in North Carolina, to a small town in Tennessee called Adams. The family prospered well for many years (approx. 12 yrs), and made many friends.
At this point the family was called upon numerous times by the "witch" by means of scratching sounds, beating on the walls, and by pulling the bed covers from the family. It especially liked to bother Mr. John Bell and his daughter Betsy, whom it would physically abuse. The family kept this a secret for about 1 year, and when they could no longer take it they called in the family pastor whom when approached about the subject readily agreed to spend the night with his wife at the Bell home. As soon as the lights were out and everyone was in bed the "witch" went to work on the family as usual, treating the pastor with the same acts. As time went on the Bell family let it be known to the whole community of Adams, because they were all friends, hoping that maybe between some of the people, maybe someone could help.
Too make a long story short, many prominent people in American history have visited the Bells at the home to witness the deeds of the "witch", of which every thing they imagined happened. Including president Andrew Jackson. Several so called witch hunters and witch doctors came and tried, without any luck, to expel the "witch", or prove it to be a fake. It apparently tormented John Bell to his death.
The time period for all these events was from 1812 until the 1870's, with several events occuring into the 1900's. The last known report that I am aware of are from some soldiers from the nearby military base in Clarksville, Tn. in 1973. Three soldiers went to the Bell Witch Cave is now a tourist attraction, and entered with the owner. One of the soldiers, who claimed not to believe in the Bell Witch legend let it be known in the cave for all to hear. Almost immediately the soldier was pushed to the ground by some unknown power and started gasping and calling for help from his friends. They thought he was just joking around at first and refused to help, but it went on so long that they had to help him. Between the two men who were there with him, neither of them could get the soldier up to his feet. When one of the men reached for his comrades collar to jerk him up, he felt a presence keeping him away from his friends neck. Eventually the man was allowed to get up and leave, never to return to the cave, or even the town of Adams.
Many children and others tell the "story" of standing in front of a mirror and turning out the light and saying three times" I don't believe in the Bell Witch" and then turning on the light, only to see her in the mirror. I don't recomend this for faint of heart or pregnant ladies
I don't know if this is a witch or spirit of some kind, and I am normally not especially vulnerable to these kind of stories, but when a whole town, and many prominent men from all over the World, including a President, have witnessed the deeds done by the Bell Witch, it is hard to just pass it off as a mere story or legend.
Posted from a newsgroup by Nicky