Thursday, May 30, 2013

The Catacombs Of Water Valley


Growing up, the legend was that bodies were buried on the grounds of the old hospital and I would never have believed it, if my brother Paul had not bought the big old house at 110 Panola Street in Water Valley this past year. The old house is beautiful and was originally the first hospital in Water Valley before being renovated into a private home. Even renovated, the old house had a few problems and they have led to a hair raising and intriguing mystery.
The phone call came the morning Paul was trying to find the cutoff valve for the gas into the fireplace at his house and he asked me to come help him. It wasn’t long until we found ourselves in the narrow space that led down into the cellar. With our flashlights we looked around the dusty walls and Paul noticed a new crack in the old brick walls. He said “Damn, I just bought this house and it’s falling apart “ and gave a push on the wall. The bricks seemed to cave in on themselves and when the dust cleared, we were looking into what seemed a narrow tunnel. Excitedly, we tried to see inside, but there was too much dust and ancient spider webs. I found a broom and started opening up the space and we soon realized it was not a secret tunnel but a crypt. The catacombs ran back about 60 feet deep ending in a “T”, but each side had niches in the walls filled with human bones. Dust covered skulls grinned at us and in many places shed snakeskins wound through the rib cages though we saw no snakes. It felt like no one had stepped into the catacombs for a hundred years. Shining our lights and being very careful not to touch anything we played our lights over the piles of bones and moved deeper into the crypt. At the “T” we went right and it ended in a brick wall. We reversed ourselves back to the left and after a short distance found ourselves in a small chamber looking at an old oak table on which sat a dust covered green mason jar. Paul carefully picked it up and we could see the bubbles in the glass as he wiped away the dust. Inside was a rolled up piece of parchment and a large brass key.

Paul worked the wiring to remove the glass top and pulled out the paper first. Very carefully we held it and in faded ink was a brief note stating that 47 men were buried in the vault. They had been the last picket of men from the Union army that had retreated from Water Valley after the battle along the railroad at Coffeeville. Left alone after the retreat, the men had fallen upon the people of the town like beasts.  It stated that the cruelty, looting and assault upon the women of the town had called for retribution and the menfolk had met in secret to plot revenge and not one of the despicable soldiers escaped. The townspeople had killed them, not the Confederate Army and the bodies had been hidden in case the Yankees returned.A plea at the end stated that if the men who hid the bodies were unable to return that the finder should take the key and return the Courthouse deeds and records along with the contents of the safe deposit boxes from the Citizens Bank after the War. Paul and I looked at each other and he turned the jar sideways and let the brass key fall into his hand.  It looked like an old railroad key for opening locks with stamping that said VJ-238.
We took the note, key and mason jar, and then covered the hole in Paul’s  cellar.  Right now we have to think about what to do and if the things mentioned in the note can be found. Will let you know.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Paul McCartney Visits Thunderhoof

Denise and I were invited to the Paul McCartney concert as he and Thunderhoof are old friends. The Beatles used to visit the Christmas Place at least once a year and stayed there to visit when they did their Memphis concert. Elvis was another frequent visitor. Scratched in the wall by my bed is a heart with an arrow through it and inside it says Elvis 1960. The corner beds are named John, Paul, George and Ringo.
McCartney played for almost three hours and it was the best concert I have ever been to. He played hit after hit and really made the crowd feel part of it. He is a superb showman.
The only problem was that that stupid deer's antlers were in front of me all night. Next time he has to sit behind us. We left at almost midnight but Thunderhoof was going over to see Jerry Lee Lewis and we headed home. A great night and a lot of fun on Beale Street.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Look Out Rebels!

Two more of our illustrious gentlemen are graduating from high school and plan to disrupt the fabric of the University of Mississippi. This could be trouble for everyone. Spencer on the right is my son (Heaven help him) and Michael is the only son of the great Satan, Paul (I don't think there is any help for him).These two are planning to take Ole Miss by storm. Congratulations and Good Luck to both of them. PS (Word of Warning-Do not mention Paul or my name to your professors.)

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Graduations Gone Wild

This month everyone is graduating. Our first genius is Drew Stewart, graduating from Ole Miss and they are very happy to be rid of him. They gave him an Accounting degree and rushed him through
the line. He has taken a job in Memphis and surprisingly it is not on the back of a garbage truck. As his father the MailRider says "Welcome to the Party, Pal"
Our second Ole Miss graduate is none other than Haley Howell, you know, the Great Satan's Daughter. She is supposedly retiring from college with a degree in Event Planning and has partied very hard through her years at school to know how to do this. She is headed to Nashville to work  and we hope that it all turns out great for her. Once again "Welcome to the Real World"

Monday, May 06, 2013

Rain, Rain, Rain


Ahh, if you guessed, it rained almost all weekend. The Crappie Festival seemed to make it through but the rain reappeared soon after. Cooler weather and nothing to do, kept me. Denise, and Camo housebound most of the time. During the small break in the weather, we did manage to go over to Batesville and check out this wonderful Victorian home.

The rain followed us back to Water Valley.

Thursday, May 02, 2013

Crappie On My Mind

This weekend is the big Crappie Festival. Nothing like coming
 to Water Valley for a few days and pulling in those 10-12
 pound crappie from Enid Lake.

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Walls Are For Ghosts

The home that my evil brother Paul bought is encircled by a brick wall about 4 to 5 feet high. It is old and falling apart and has needed some work for some time. It is also causing a problem for the whole town of Water Valley as the people that understand a little bit about the supernatural know that walls around cemeteries or places where people have been buried are there not to keep people out but to keep the ghosts in. Most of the time they can not cross the boundaries unless a gate is open or the walls fall down, and everyone knows that more people are buried in Paul's yard from the time it was a hospital than anywhere in the country.(we forgot to tell him that part) The wall around the old home is falling apart and the houses along Panola St are having all kinds of problems with spooks roaming through peoples bedrooms in the middle of the night and raising all kinds of hell. A petition was signed by the mayor and a letter was sent to Paul to fix the wall or else. This is a pic of the wall being repaired.