Renowned storyteller and writer Kathryn Tucker Windham died at her home in Selma today, the Montgomery Advertiser reports. Windham, who was 93, had been ill for some time, the newspaper said. She earned praise for her stories of the South and was especially noted for the "Jeffrey" series of ghost stories.
On January 30, 1878, as storm clouds grew and rain began to pour, Henry Wells was looking down from the garret roof of the Pickens County Courthouse at a mob bent on lynching him. In a flash, a bolt of lightning struck a nearby tree and arched across to the Courthouse where Wells was standing. His anguished features are still visible in the glass of that garret room today.The legend surrounding Henry Wells and the 1876 burning of the Pickens County courthouse has been local folklore for years. The details remain clouded, but there are a few things we know for sure from court records and news articles that were preserved from this time period. In 1876, Pickens County’s newly erected courthouse burned to the ground, just as the original structure had done 12 years earlier at the hands of Union soldiers under the command of General John T. Croxton - as they passed through Carrollton on their way from Tuscaloosa after burning the University of Alabama. Circuit Court minutes show that Henry Wells, a freed slave living in Carrollton (Providence Beat), was accused and convicted of the act. Two years after the courthouse burned, Wells was apprehended in Fairfield, Alabama (South of Aliceville) and died soon after his arrest from gunshot wounds sustained while attempting to flee authorities. And finally, we know that for 130 years since his death, individuals looking up at the courthouse have witnessed an eerie image peering out from the structure’s upper window. Even today it remains a ghostly reminder of Wells’ supposed threat in protest to his arrest — that being, to haunt his accusers for the rest of their lives.
Think she's hanging out with Jeffrey?
Looking back, it was obvious that it was because we had opened a window at the other end of the hall to get in.....but at the time....
Whatever you need to tell yourself.
I went to one of her book signings in MGMY when I was in grade school. What an amazing storyteller - not just writer - STORYTELLER. She was captivating. A few of her stories can still give me chills to this day. I have deliberately tracked down a few of the locations of her stories about Alabama ghosts - the face in the courthouse window still freaks me the hell out...Here's the story from the website, not the story as she wrote it...
We were practicing baseball at Huntingdon College one afternoon and a bunch of us climbed up the fire escape to get to the floor where the "Red Lady's" room was. It was summer and no one was in the dorm. We made it to her room and just as we got there, a door at the end of the hall slammed. Looking back, it was obvious that it was because we had opened a window at the other end of the hall to get in.....but at the time.... 4-5 guys screaming like little girls and diving out a window on to a fire escape must have looked fairly amusing.
Was probably cruel to Tucker. I never had occasion to see her until I was probably 25 or older so she made no impression on me. Firmly believe there are "things" that can't be explained. Ghosts? I dunno. But I've seen stuff that doesn't fit in the rational world.
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