The Reluctant Famulus # 87 May/June 2012 Thomas D. Sadler, Editor/Publisher, etc. 305 Gill Branch Road, Owenton, KY 40359 Phone: 502-484-3766 E-mail: [email protected] Contents Introduction, Editor 1 Rat Stew, Gene Stewart 6 Attempts at Utopia 9 Visitation, G. T. Doubrley 11 Hand in Animation 14 Bluegrass Beginnings, Al Byrd 15 Time . ., Sheryl Birkhead 22 Letters of Comment 24 Alabama Facts 43 Artwork Kurt Erichsen Front cover Sheryl Birkhead 13 Al Byrd 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 Brad Foster 30, 36, 42 Alexis Gilliland 8, 28, 34, 40, 42 David Hand Productions 15 Alan Hunter (reprint) 23 Internet 14, 43 Spore & Toetoe Hodges 10, 26, 32, 38 Editor Back cover* * Yeah. I know. Pitiful, ain’t it? The Reluctant Famulus is a product of Strange Dwarf Publications. Many of the comments expressed herein are solely those of the Editor/Publisher and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts of any sane, rational persons who know what they are doing and have carefully thought out beforehand what they wanted to say. Material not written or produced by the Editor/Publisher is printed by permission of the various writers and artists and is copyright by them and remains their sole property. Permission is granted to any persons who wish to reprint material presented herein, provided proper and due credit is given both to the author/artist who produced the material and to the origi- nal publication in which it appeared. TRF maybe obtained for The Usual but especially in return for written materi- al and artwork, postage costs, The Meaning of Life, , and Editorial Whim. TTThThhheeee RRReReeelllluuuuccccttttaaaannnntttt FFFaFaaammmmuuuulllluuuussss Introduction: From Beyond the Grave A fair number of people are prone to sion were etched into the windowpane by the believing in the strangest, oddest, often most bolt and no amount of effort, scrubbing, or improbable things which usually have little solvents have been able to remove it from the or no solid supporting evidence for their exis- glass. According to local legend, when thun- tence or, at best, ambiguous proof; events or derstorms roll through Carrollton, you can entities which border on wild fantasy rather see the ghost of Henry Wells staring out from than reality. For example: vampires, were- the window. wolves, UFOs, Yeti, Sasquatch, and— well I think you get the idea. One of the most com- Decatur, Morgan County mon of those beliefs is that of the existence of ghosts and hauntings, which appear or In 1934, Lonnie Stephens was falsely occur all over. I imagine every state in Ameri- accused of killing his girlfriend. He was ca has its share of such accounts and places found guilty of the crime and sentenced. One involving that aspect of the supernatural. day, while working on a chain gang, he man- That being so, I feel certain my birth state is aged to escape, with unfortunate results. In typical in that respect. For your entertain- attempting to catch a ride hitchhiking, ment and enlightenment, here, in no particu- Stephens was struck and killed by a passing lar order, are some of Alabama’s more note- car. The real murderer was discovered a num- worthy, interesting, and probably unusual, ber of years later, but of course by then haunted places. Stephens was dead and buried. It is said Lon- nie’s ghost is still on Highway 11, trying to Carrollton, Pickens County get flag down cars. His ghost is most often seen in the middle of the northbound lanes, In 1876, Henry Wells, an African-Ameri- arms out before him, pleading for help can man who lived alone outside the town between Decatur and Huntsville. limits was blamed for the November 16 fire that burned down the Carrollton Courthouse. Demopolis, Marengo County He was quickly arrested and jailed in the attic of the building which was to be the new Car- General Nathan Whitfield built this rollton Courthouse. On a February afternoon impressive and imposing mansion, Gaines- in 1878 a lynch mob gathered, demanding wood, in 1842. Sometime after, while living Wells be surrendered for their brand of jus- at Gaineswood, Evelyn Carter, his sister-in- tice. In the meantime a thunderstorm began law by his second wife, died of an unknown to gather over Carrollton. As the mob bick- disease. But because she died in the middle ered with the sheriff, Wells peered out of the of winter, she was unable to be buried proper- window of a room at the top of the building. ly until the ground thawed in the spring. She At that moment, a lightning bolt struck the was placed in a pine box and stored under the building where Wells stood, killing him stairs in the cellar until it was warm enough instantly. It is claimed his face and expres to properly inter her. However, it would 1 seem that Evelyn has been less than pleased Mobile, Mobile County with the delay, as her ghost immediately began to haunt the Whitfield's mansion short- Site: USS Alabama Battleship, located in ly after her placement under the stairs. Even Mobile Bay. after having been buried, her footsteps could The ship was brought to Mobile in 1964 be heard in the hallways and she can be as a tourist attraction and memorial for veter- heard singing her favorite songs from the cel- ans in Alabama. The Alabama is a South lar. Today Gaineswood is a private residence, Dakota class Battleship that was completed so permission from the current owners must in 1942 for use in the second world war. The be obtained before entering the premises. it is ship saw plenty of action against the still haunted by the ghost of Whitfield's sister- Japanese in the south Pacific and is credited in-law. with shooting down 23 Japanese aircraft. Somehow, the Alabama and her crew man- Limestone County aged to make it out of WWII without casual- ties or damage from enemy fire. The only An Alabamian Robin Hood haunts the deaths on board the ship were 8 people in a railroad tracks of the Louisville and 5“ gun mount that were killed by friendly fire Nashville Railroad and surrounding forests from another gun turret on the ship. Mount 9 near the towns of Piney Grove, Elewy and fired a round into mount 5 which exploded Nymph. He is “Railroad Bill”, a train bandit and killed everyone inside. There were little whose ghost has been seen in the area for fragments of bone and flesh plastered on the nearly a century. He was a tall, broad African- walls inside the turret where the men were American with a toothy smile who was vaporized by the exploding shell. There were famous for providing the poor in the area also two other deaths while the ship was with food and money. Authorities tried under construction at Norfolk Naval Ship- numerous times to catch “Railroad Bill” but yard. A former worker reports that they had each time he managed to evade capture, to stay on the ship overnight alone quite a bit, some say by turning into a dog. so they got their so they got their share of scares. Their first encounter was in the Mobile, Mobile County Marine Compartment where the Marines slept. Footsteps were heard approaching from The house, called Smallwood, where an around the corner when there was nobody on old see captain committed suicide, is haunted board. All around the ship, strange footsteps by his pipe-smoking ghost. When the and voices were heard. Heavy solid steel William Smallwood family moved into the watertight hatches on the superstructure captain's former home, they were often dis- would slam shut with a loud thud for reasons turbed by loud bangs, by sudden thuds and that could not be explained. Late at night what sounded like someone falling down the when the whole ship was very quiet, the bulk- stairs. Then the ghost began to appear in the heads would seemingly come alive with pop- garden behind the home and in the home ping and tapping. itself. Often, the smell of pipe tobacco was too much to stand and eventually the Small- Montgomery, Montgomery County woods moved out. Today, the Smallwood house is a private residence, so permission Pratt Hall, Huntington College, has been from the current owners must be obtained haunted by the “Red Lady” for a number of before entering the premises. years now. A red-obsessed student from New York, this young lady was always dressed in 2 red and had even decorated her room on the of Birmingham) fourth floor in shades of red. Alone and home- sick, the young woman never made any A haunted Steinway piano can be found friends among her classmates and one dayshe in the Old Brower Residence. Its resident: was found in her room, dressed in red, Dr. William Mudd Jordan, a prominent and beneath her red blanket, with her wrists beloved doctor. The doctor had always want- slashed. After her death, red light was seen ed to learn to play the piano he had bought flashing and pulsating from her room and her for his children, but only ever mastered two shade, clothed in red wandered the hallways pieces by the time he died at the age of 78 in and rooms of the fourth floor frightening stu- 1951. The piano was kept in the family, pass- dents. ing eventually to the doctor's great-grandson, Dr. William Jordan Brower. Then, in the ear- Montgomery, Montgomery County ly 1970s, the elder doctor's descendents began to hear the same two tunes being The Lucas Tavern is actual a cluster of plunked out on the old Steinway piano at old historical buildings in Montgomery.