Wait for it.

Currently, it is not Halloween in DeKalb County, Tennessee.  However, after reading this article, one might believe that it is.  Blame it on a newspaper article from years ago in the “Daily American” weekly Tennessee newspaper.

The true story has become legend and involves ghosts, candles, monks, coffins and a terrified small male child.  Luckily, it didn’t involve puddles of blood or blood residue.  The child’s name wasn’t released to protect the innocent!

Return to the 1890s in Smithville, DeKalb County, Tennessee.  According to Matthew, an educator with the Tennessee State Museum, “It was a ghostly encounter that left a young boy running for his life.  The events were not as popular as the Bell Witch story, but it was popular and well-known during the time it occurred.”

The entire story was penned on March 1, 1890 and occurred around 1 a.m. on an overgrown DeKalb County farm.  The young protagonist ventured into the rural area after midnight and became uncontrollably terrified.  The young man was returning home from a dance and in the distance were unpaved roads and non-landscaped lands.  Suddenly, without qualm, the young man became uncontrollably terrified.

He did not have a care in the world, quipped Matthew, while describing the entire evening’s haphazard events.  His walking travel-to-home time was estimated to be around one hour.  After rumbling through the thick and unkept acreage, he suddenly arrived in cleared land.  And, what he saw made his heart stop!

This is when the story gets good. 

Without warning, the young man stumbled upon a “burned down church shell.”  It was reported that this old church resembled a European church in England or Wales.

Suddenly without warning, an unidentified spirit began floating followed by an unidentifiable ghost, which appeared after the spirit and ghost were raised from a large hole in the ground.  They had “grey wispy hair” and “two eye-sockets filled with fire.”

For more than 100 years, the legend is that this area was haunted by a witch.  Regardless, the young boy, more terrified, continued running until he reached the edge of the farm where the grass was green and manicured.

Upon arrival, he heard another scary sound coming from the dilapidated church in the distance.  If possible, the young boy became more frightened.  Within seconds, he heard much activity enumerating from the church.  It wasn’t clear if the noises were internal or external.  Later, he saw a group of chanting monks scattering about and lighted candles surrounding the entire area.  Suddenly, the young man focused on a complete wooden coffin set in the center.  At the foot of the coffin, there was a large cross and sounds and chanting became louder and louder.  Several chains embedded around the coffin began moving in sync with the chants from the monks.

Don’t forget this happened in DeKalb County, so it’s pointless to say nothing ever happens here.

Within the context of the previous activity, a large calming gust of wind landed on the scene and everything turned quiet.  It was then that the young boy ran the one-hour distance to his home.  Following banging on the front door, the boy entered his house and repeated his story to his parents, who almost immediately told the Smithville townspeople, who immediately told their family and friends.

Lastly, a Tennessee Tech professor once said, “You can tell if anyone is a witch by setting them on fire.  If they burn, they’re not a witch; if they don’t burn, they are a witch.”  An example was during the Salem Witch Trials when none of the so-called witches burned. Expressed in Wikipedia.com, “…More than 300 years later, all were finally proclaimed innocent.”

With insurmountable curiosity and nosiness, the people of Smithville and DeKalb County hurriedly visited the area where the previous ghostly events occurred.  Upon arrival, they saw trampled grass and burned candles.  There was no evidence of monks, ghosts, sounds or spirits.  Everything was quiet and peaceful.

In conclusion, Matthew asked if persons thought the story was true.  To which he quickly and firmly answered, “We’ll never know.”

Overall, it was a BOOming good time for all concerned.