The Telltale Lilac Bush by Ruth Ann Musick

Author:Ruth Ann Musick [Musick, Ruth Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Body; Mind & Spirit, Supernatural (Incl. Ghosts), Social Science, Folklore & Mythology, History, United States, State & Local, South (AL; AR; FL; GA; KY; LA; MS; NC; SC; TN; VA; WV)
ISBN: 9780813128276
Google: beYEPP9Q9jAC
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Published: 2010-09-12T05:30:41+00:00

60. How Kettle Run Was Named

ABOUT A HALF mile above the Benton’s Ferry Bridge, at the foot of Vinegar Hill, stands an old log house called “The Log.” A deep gully named Kettle Run reaches from Route 250 to the Tygart Valley River. At this point is another gully on the north side of the river, directly across from “The Log,” called Copper Hollow.

Now, I have been told that on a still, dark night, from a window overlooking the river, one could see pairs of small, bright lights marching down Copper Hollow to the river, where they would cross over and disappear up Kettle Run. All the while there would be heard a mournful chanting.

It is said that during the Civil War, the Yankees brought slaves down the gully, hid them in “The Log,” and crossed the river there instead of at the old ferry. Then the slaves would follow Copper Hollow north to freedom.

One night while a dozen or more slaves were waiting for safe passage down Kettle Run, a band of raiders found them. After killing them, the raiders cut off their heads, put them in a large, copper kettle, and carried them to the river bank. There they left them while they went back for the bodies.

The family living at “The Log” took the kettle of heads across the river and up Copper Hollow to the old Linn Cemetery and buried them in a long, narrow grave. Since that time the heads have been trying to find their bodies, and it is the eyes of the murdered slaves that can be seen coming down the hollow and crossing the river. But only people living in “The Log” could see the lights, and only from the small window overlooking the river.

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