WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.830 --> 00:00:03.390
If you love a good southern ghost story, you know
2
00:00:03.430 --> 00:00:05.990
that the best haunting tales aren't just about what lurks
3
00:00:06.030 --> 00:00:09.699
in the dark. They're about the history, the mood, and
4
00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:12.460
the things left behind. If you're looking to bring a
5
00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:14.980
piece of that dark romantic magic into your own life,
6
00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:18.719
you need to know about Haunted. Located right in the
7
00:00:18.780 --> 00:00:22.829
heart of downtown Tullahoma, Tennessee, at 125 West Lincoln Street,
8
00:00:23.250 --> 00:00:27.469
Haunted is your brick-and-mortar sanctuary for all things spooky, Victorian,
9
00:00:27.850 --> 00:00:34.570
and alternative. We're talking eerie home decor, dark academia apparel, oddities,
10
00:00:34.909 --> 00:00:38.450
graphic tees, and curated self-care for souls who prefer the
11
00:00:38.490 --> 00:00:41.969
shadow side of life. Can't make the trip to Tullahoma
12
00:00:41.990 --> 00:00:45.149
just yet? No problem. You can wander their digital aisles
13
00:00:45.329 --> 00:00:49.789
anytime from the comfort of your own couch at hauntedstore.net. Plus,
14
00:00:49.829 --> 00:00:53.829
for all our fellow dark holiday lovers, Haunted is proud
15
00:00:53.869 --> 00:00:57.950
to sponsor the upcoming Yuletide Shadows Holiday Market. It's Saturday,
16
00:00:58.030 --> 00:01:01.600
November 28th. Mark your calendars for an unforgettable day of
17
00:01:01.700 --> 00:01:05.609
alternative vendors, Michael, Jason, and Freddy photo ops, and holiday
18
00:01:05.670 --> 00:01:09.609
horror fun. Visit them at 125 West Lincoln Street in Tullahoma,
19
00:01:10.010 --> 00:01:21.620
or shop online right now at hauntedstore.net. Welcome back to
20
00:01:21.659 --> 00:01:26.519
Southern Ghost Stories. I'm the American Hauntstorian, Alan Searcy. So hey,
21
00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:28.480
I just found out something really cool that you guys
22
00:01:28.519 --> 00:01:30.939
may appreciate. So you guys know all my books are
23
00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:34.560
on Kindle Unlimited. Well, Kindle Unlimited is now becoming Kindle Plus.
24
00:01:35.180 --> 00:01:38.359
And with Kindle Plus, you can download all the books
25
00:01:38.420 --> 00:01:40.269
on Audible for free. So if you want to have
26
00:01:40.280 --> 00:01:43.310
someone read to you, you can check out Southern Ghost Stories,
27
00:01:43.329 --> 00:01:45.349
Downtown Nashville, you can check out The Sausage King, you
28
00:01:45.370 --> 00:01:48.430
can check out Jules Wallace, the great life reader. All
29
00:01:48.469 --> 00:01:51.390
my books are on there, and now they're available on
30
00:01:51.469 --> 00:01:53.730
Audible for free if you have Kindle Plus. So anyway,
31
00:01:53.750 --> 00:01:55.140
I just found that out. Thought you guys would like
32
00:01:55.159 --> 00:01:58.459
to know. So, man, October is winding down, man. It's
33
00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:02.590
been a It's gone by really fast. So for Tennessee
34
00:02:02.609 --> 00:02:04.709
Tales Tuesday, I want to do the Hell in the
35
00:02:04.730 --> 00:02:07.709
Woods story. And this is just wild. So you guys ready?
36
00:02:08.250 --> 00:02:11.870
Buckle up. Let's go. The Cumberland Plateau is always held
37
00:02:11.909 --> 00:02:15.610
onto its secrets. The mountains of East Tennessee are beautiful
38
00:02:15.669 --> 00:02:19.590
from a distance. Long ridges roll across the horizon like
39
00:02:19.669 --> 00:02:23.919
frozen waves, covered in hardwood forests that burst into brilliant
40
00:02:23.979 --> 00:02:29.569
color each autumn, before settling into the gray stillness of winter. Today,
41
00:02:29.629 --> 00:02:33.169
the roads that wind through Scott County are quiet. Small
42
00:02:33.210 --> 00:02:37.889
churches sit beside narrow highways. Old railroad grades disappear into
43
00:02:37.909 --> 00:02:42.669
the trees. To most travelers, Helenwood is simply another small
44
00:02:42.750 --> 00:02:46.729
Appalachian community they pass without a second thought. But there
45
00:02:46.770 --> 00:02:50.250
was a time when people across America knew the name Helenwood.
46
00:02:51.330 --> 00:02:57.050
Not from prosperity. Not because of coal. but because newspapers
47
00:02:57.110 --> 00:02:59.659
called it one of the bloodiest little towns in Tennessee.
48
00:03:01.009 --> 00:03:03.780
This is the story of a place where murders became commonplace,
49
00:03:04.500 --> 00:03:07.840
where shootouts erupted in broad daylight, where a judge became
50
00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:11.979
a killer, where people believed the devil himself lived beneath
51
00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:16.080
the mountains. And it all began with one Christmas murder.
52
00:03:17.639 --> 00:03:21.370
Helen Wood was established in 1859, dug deep within the
53
00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:25.259
rugged hills of Scott County. For years, it remained little
54
00:03:25.300 --> 00:03:27.909
more than a scattering of cabins and farms surrounded by
55
00:03:27.969 --> 00:03:32.610
dense forests. Life was difficult. The land was rocky. Farming
56
00:03:32.629 --> 00:03:38.330
was poor. And families survived however they could. Everything changed
57
00:03:38.370 --> 00:03:42.509
during the 1880s. Rich seams of coal were discovered beneath
58
00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:48.280
the surrounding mountains. Mining companies rushed into the area. Almost overnight,
59
00:03:48.340 --> 00:03:53.139
Helenwood transformed into a booming company town. Railroads pushed into
60
00:03:53.159 --> 00:03:58.689
the valley. carrying coal out, and bringing workers in. Families
61
00:03:58.770 --> 00:04:01.949
arrived from across Tennessee and Kentucky, hoping to build better
62
00:04:01.990 --> 00:04:05.750
lives underground. Mining, however, was one of the most dangerous
63
00:04:05.789 --> 00:04:09.469
jobs in America. Every descent to the earth carried the
64
00:04:09.530 --> 00:04:15.849
possibility that a man might never come back out. Explosions, cave-ins,
65
00:04:16.629 --> 00:04:21.629
runaway mine carts, poisonous gases. One mistake could bury dozens
66
00:04:21.670 --> 00:04:25.920
of miners beneath thousands of tons of rock. Among those
67
00:04:25.980 --> 00:04:29.250
miners was a young man named Mike King. King was
68
00:04:29.290 --> 00:04:32.829
only 22 years old. Like countless young men before him,
69
00:04:33.509 --> 00:04:35.829
he had entered the mines believing hard work had brought
70
00:04:35.870 --> 00:04:40.100
a future. Instead, the mines took nearly everything from him.
71
00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:45.060
During one shift, disaster struck. Accounts differ on exactly how
72
00:04:45.100 --> 00:04:47.560
the accident happened, but what is certain is that a
73
00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:51.230
collapsed crush King's left arm so badly, doctors had no
74
00:04:51.329 --> 00:04:54.930
choice but to amputate it. In the 19th century, losing
75
00:04:54.990 --> 00:04:58.610
a limb often meant losing your livelihood. Coal companies had
76
00:04:58.649 --> 00:05:02.819
little use for one-armed miners. There was no disability checks,
77
00:05:03.620 --> 00:05:08.839
no workers' compensation, no rehabilitation programs. One day King had
78
00:05:08.860 --> 00:05:11.819
been a healthy young laborer. The next he was unemployed,
79
00:05:11.939 --> 00:05:17.410
permanently disabled, and facing an uncertain future. Yet sometimes tragedy
80
00:05:17.509 --> 00:05:21.579
opens unexpected doors. For Mike King, the door arrived in
81
00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:25.500
the form of an older businessman named Aaron Beck. Beck
82
00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:27.899
lived across the state line of Russell County, Kentucky, but
83
00:05:28.250 --> 00:05:32.389
traveled frequently throughout the region on business. Somewhere during those visits,
84
00:05:32.410 --> 00:05:36.470
he met the young miner. Nobody knows exactly why Beck
85
00:05:36.509 --> 00:05:39.149
took such interest in King. Perhaps he pitied the young
86
00:05:39.189 --> 00:05:42.490
man with one arm. Perhaps he admired his determination. Or
87
00:05:43.310 --> 00:05:47.550
perhaps he simply believed everyone deserved a second chance. Whatever
88
00:05:47.589 --> 00:05:50.389
the reason, Beck became something far more than an acquaintance.
89
00:05:51.629 --> 00:05:56.850
He became King's benefactor. Whenever King found himself struggling, Beck
90
00:05:56.889 --> 00:06:02.129
loaned him some money. He offered advice, encouragement, and perhaps
91
00:06:02.170 --> 00:06:06.790
most importantly, he urged King to abandon mining altogether. Instead
92
00:06:06.810 --> 00:06:09.209
of trying to return to dangerous manual labor with only
93
00:06:09.329 --> 00:06:13.500
one arm, Beck encouraged him to pursue education. It was
94
00:06:13.540 --> 00:06:17.100
remarkable advice for its time. and eventually Mike King became
95
00:06:17.139 --> 00:06:21.360
a schoolteacher. His new profession wasn't glamorous, but it offered stability,
96
00:06:22.100 --> 00:06:26.100
something few former miners ever achieved. To the outside world,
97
00:06:26.139 --> 00:06:30.250
it appeared King had rebuilt his life. He married, established
98
00:06:30.290 --> 00:06:34.829
a home, he earned respectable work. But appearances can be deceiving.
99
00:06:35.610 --> 00:06:39.949
Money was still tight. Teachers in rural Tennessee earned very little,
100
00:06:39.990 --> 00:06:42.449
and despite his new career, King often depended on Beck's
101
00:06:42.490 --> 00:06:47.889
generosity to make ends meet. and that dependence would prove deadly.
102
00:06:49.430 --> 00:06:56.550
December 23rd, 1896. Only two days before Christmas. Snow lingered
103
00:06:56.589 --> 00:06:59.589
across the Cumberland Plateau, and the bitter mountain air cut
104
00:06:59.610 --> 00:07:02.149
through heavy coats as Mike King made his way to
105
00:07:02.189 --> 00:07:07.500
visit Aaron Beck. King needed some money. Nothing unusual about that.
106
00:07:08.769 --> 00:07:12.699
He explained his situation, and Beck listened patiently. The older
107
00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:14.899
man wasn't wealthy enough to hand out large sums of money,
108
00:07:14.980 --> 00:07:16.949
but He reached into his pocket and gave King what
109
00:07:16.970 --> 00:07:21.170
he could spare, and King was grateful. As thanks, he
110
00:07:21.189 --> 00:07:23.339
invited Beck to spend the evening at his home for supper.
111
00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:27.899
It was a small gesture. Neighbors frequently shared meals in
112
00:07:27.939 --> 00:07:32.720
small Appalachian communities. Traveling after dark over rough mountain roads
113
00:07:32.740 --> 00:07:35.990
weren't always practical, so spending the night with friends was
114
00:07:36.189 --> 00:07:41.149
equally common. Beck accepted. The two men walked together through
115
00:07:41.170 --> 00:07:46.500
the cold toward King's modest home. When they arrived, Beck
116
00:07:46.540 --> 00:07:52.139
immediately noticed something strange. King's wife wasn't there. King casually
117
00:07:52.189 --> 00:07:56.509
explained she had unexpectedly left town. Nothing suspicious about that.
118
00:07:57.709 --> 00:08:02.649
Life often demanded sudden trips to visit family or handle emergencies. Still,
119
00:08:02.670 --> 00:08:05.189
Beck found himself spending the evening alone with Mike King.
120
00:08:06.540 --> 00:08:09.939
King apologized for not having his wife's cooking and insisted
121
00:08:09.980 --> 00:08:14.050
he make supper himself. Before beginning the meal, he stepped
122
00:08:14.089 --> 00:08:17.529
outside carrying a hatchet. The December cold had settled over
123
00:08:17.550 --> 00:08:21.949
the mountains, and the fireplace needed fresh wood. King split
124
00:08:21.970 --> 00:08:24.589
enough firewood to last through the night before returning inside.
125
00:08:25.649 --> 00:08:30.959
He built a roaring fire. Prepared a modest supper. The
126
00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:34.580
two men ate together quietly. Perhaps they talked about Christmas.
127
00:08:35.899 --> 00:08:39.460
Perhaps they discussed school. Maybe they talked about the mines.
128
00:08:40.659 --> 00:08:42.980
What we do know is after supper, they retired for
129
00:08:43.019 --> 00:08:46.720
the evening. King's house was small. There wasn't a guest bedroom.
130
00:08:47.779 --> 00:08:50.710
Sharing a bed wasn't unusual in 19th century rural America.
131
00:08:50.730 --> 00:08:56.190
It was practical. The fire slowly died. The oil lamp
132
00:08:56.230 --> 00:09:02.070
was extinguished. Darkness settled over that tiny cabin. Outside, the
133
00:09:02.110 --> 00:09:07.240
winter wind whispered through bare trees. Inside, Aaron Beck drifted
134
00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:12.320
peacefully off to sleep. But Mike King did not. Around
135
00:09:12.360 --> 00:09:16.179
ten o'clock that night, King opened his eyes. The room
136
00:09:16.220 --> 00:09:20.450
was silent except for Beck's slow breathing. Carefully, King reached
137
00:09:20.490 --> 00:09:24.350
toward the bedside table. His fingers found an oil lamp.
138
00:09:25.490 --> 00:09:30.509
A match struck. The wick caught fire. Suddenly, soft yellow
139
00:09:30.570 --> 00:09:35.629
light filled the room. Beck never woke. King reached beneath
140
00:09:35.649 --> 00:09:41.509
the nightstand. Not for another blanket. Not for water. He
141
00:09:41.529 --> 00:09:46.750
withdrew a. 38 caliber revolver. Then he stood. For several
142
00:09:46.789 --> 00:09:50.350
long moments, he simply stared at the sleeping man. There
143
00:09:50.389 --> 00:09:55.429
was no argument. No fight. Everything suggested King had planned
144
00:09:55.450 --> 00:09:58.750
exactly what was about to happen. He slowly raised the
145
00:09:58.769 --> 00:10:03.289
revolver over Aaron Beck. head. He pulled the trigger. The
146
00:10:03.330 --> 00:10:07.610
explosion shattered the silence. The bullet struck Beck in the head.
147
00:10:09.529 --> 00:10:12.639
Blood sprayed across the walls, the bedding, and King's clothing.
148
00:10:13.419 --> 00:10:18.539
But Beck wasn't dead. The old man suddenly lurched awake, dazed, bleeding,
149
00:10:18.700 --> 00:10:22.850
blinded by pain. He instinctively reached toward the only other
150
00:10:22.909 --> 00:10:27.389
person in the room, Mike King. His fingernails clawed across
151
00:10:27.429 --> 00:10:30.230
King's arm, drawing blood as he desperately struggled to understand
152
00:10:30.250 --> 00:10:35.029
what was going on. No one knows what happened next,
153
00:10:35.049 --> 00:10:38.600
but King panicked. The pistol hadn't finished the job. He
154
00:10:38.659 --> 00:10:42.200
needed something else. Only inches away rested the very hatchet
155
00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:45.700
he'd used earlier that evening to split the firewood. King
156
00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:48.379
grabbed it, raised it high, and brought it crashing down
157
00:10:49.179 --> 00:10:53.909
onto Beck's skull. One blow. The blade split his head open.
158
00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:59.100
The struggle ended instantly. The room fell silent once again.
159
00:11:00.539 --> 00:11:04.820
Only now, Aaron Beck was dead. Blood pooled across the
160
00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:09.940
wooden floor. Smoke drifted lazily from the fireplace. Mike King
161
00:11:09.960 --> 00:11:11.980
had just murdered the man who had helped save his life.
162
00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:16.320
For several long seconds, Mike King simply stood over the bed.
163
00:11:16.379 --> 00:11:18.840
The only sound inside the little cabin was his own breathing.
164
00:11:20.610 --> 00:11:22.590
Blood dripped from the edges of the hatchet onto the
165
00:11:22.629 --> 00:11:26.610
wooden floor. The oil lamp flickered, casting moving shadows across
166
00:11:26.669 --> 00:11:29.700
the walls as if the house itself had witnessed the killing.
167
00:11:29.720 --> 00:11:33.980
Aaron Beck, the man who had loaned him money, encouraged
168
00:11:34.019 --> 00:11:36.580
him after losing his arm and helped him become a
169
00:11:36.620 --> 00:11:41.159
schoolteacher lay motionless beneath the blankets. The murder was over.
170
00:11:42.269 --> 00:11:47.710
Now came the harder part. Getting away with it. King
171
00:11:47.730 --> 00:11:51.519
knew daylight would expose everything. The bedroom looked like a slaughterhouse.
172
00:11:52.379 --> 00:11:54.919
Blood covered the mattress, the floorboards, and parts of the wall.
173
00:11:55.399 --> 00:11:58.720
His own clothes were stained crimson. He couldn't leave Beck
174
00:11:58.740 --> 00:12:02.299
where he was. Working with only one arm, King wrapped
175
00:12:02.330 --> 00:12:05.539
the body tightly inside a bed sheet. It was an
176
00:12:05.590 --> 00:12:09.169
exhausting task. Beck was a full-grown man, and every pound
177
00:12:09.190 --> 00:12:11.230
had to be dragged across the rough floor by someone
178
00:12:11.269 --> 00:12:17.129
with only one good arm. Slowly, inch by inch, King
179
00:12:17.210 --> 00:12:20.830
wrestled the corpse outside into the freezing December night. The
180
00:12:20.850 --> 00:12:25.289
woods surrounding Helenwood were pitch black. Few lanterns burned outside
181
00:12:25.330 --> 00:12:28.169
the scattered homes, and once King disappeared beyond the edge
182
00:12:28.190 --> 00:12:33.389
of his property, darkness swallowed him completely. Nearby was a
183
00:12:33.450 --> 00:12:36.000
large depression where an old tree had been uprooted during
184
00:12:36.029 --> 00:12:39.519
a storm years earlier. The exposed roots had left behind
185
00:12:39.559 --> 00:12:42.919
a deep pit. To King, it looked like the perfect grave.
186
00:12:44.299 --> 00:12:47.600
He struggled to maneuver Beck's body down the hillside. More
187
00:12:47.620 --> 00:12:51.110
than once, he nearly lost his footing in the frozen earth. Finally,
188
00:12:51.149 --> 00:12:53.269
after what must have felt like an eternity, he managed
189
00:12:53.289 --> 00:12:57.059
to slide the body into the hole. He gathered loose stones,
190
00:12:57.139 --> 00:13:00.799
old clothing, whatever debris he could find. One by one,
191
00:13:00.820 --> 00:13:04.059
he piled them over the body until Beck disappeared beneath
192
00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:08.090
the makeshift grave. It wasn't a careful burial. It was
193
00:13:08.129 --> 00:13:10.929
simply the best a desperate killer with one arm could manage.
194
00:13:12.269 --> 00:13:15.850
King climbed back toward the house, exhausted, but he wasn't
195
00:13:15.950 --> 00:13:20.279
finished yet. Inside the cabin, he searched Aaron Beck's pockets.
196
00:13:21.090 --> 00:13:25.889
This was the reason for the murder. Not revenge. Not anger. Money.
197
00:13:26.809 --> 00:13:30.860
Inside Beck's clothing, King found $ 54. Today, that doesn't sound
198
00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:35.279
like very much, but in 1896, $ 54 represented several months'
199
00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:39.419
wages for many men. Adjusted for inflation, it would equal
200
00:13:39.500 --> 00:13:44.299
well over $ 2, 000 today. King stuffed the money in his pocket.
201
00:13:45.080 --> 00:13:47.450
Then he began destroying the evidence. He burned Beck's pants
202
00:13:47.490 --> 00:13:52.460
in the fireplace. Next, He examined the bedroom. The blood
203
00:13:52.500 --> 00:13:55.639
had soaked deep into the wooden floor. No amount of
204
00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:59.820
scrubbing would hide it. So King chose another solution. He
205
00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:01.960
began cutting sections of the floor out of his home.
206
00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:06.159
Board after board disappeared. Then he turned to the bed.
207
00:14:06.820 --> 00:14:09.620
The mattress was ruined. The wooden frame was covered with blood.
208
00:14:10.539 --> 00:14:13.960
He dismantled it piece by piece, feeding it to the fireplace,
209
00:14:14.899 --> 00:14:19.879
until almost nothing remained. By the time dawn approached, The
210
00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:25.389
bedroom had been transformed. Not cleaned. Altered. Almost as though
211
00:14:25.450 --> 00:14:28.990
the murder had never happened. The following morning, King's wife
212
00:14:29.029 --> 00:14:33.429
returned home. She immediately noticed something strange. The bed was gone.
213
00:14:34.549 --> 00:14:37.850
Entire sections of flooring had disappeared. Of course she asked
214
00:14:37.870 --> 00:14:41.789
what happened. But King didn't tell her about Aaron Beck. Instead,
215
00:14:41.809 --> 00:14:45.289
he offered one of the strangest explanations imaginable. He claimed
216
00:14:45.309 --> 00:14:48.639
the house was haunted. According to King, something evil had
217
00:14:48.740 --> 00:14:53.539
entered the home during the night. The only solution, he insisted,
218
00:14:53.590 --> 00:14:57.649
was to move immediately. No one really knows what his
219
00:14:57.690 --> 00:15:00.870
wife said, but that afternoon they packed their belongings and
220
00:15:00.970 --> 00:15:04.730
relocated to another nearby house. King had left the crime scene.
221
00:15:05.690 --> 00:15:08.129
He probably believed he had erased every trace of that murder.
222
00:15:09.230 --> 00:15:13.330
But he had overlooked one simple problem. Aaron Beck was gone.
223
00:15:13.429 --> 00:15:17.009
He had vanished. And people were going to start asking questions.
224
00:15:18.629 --> 00:15:20.490
With the stolen money in his pocket, Mike King did
225
00:15:20.509 --> 00:15:24.950
something that would later appear incredibly suspicious. Instead of lying low,
226
00:15:25.009 --> 00:15:28.720
he left town. King purchased a train ticket to Nashville.
227
00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:31.919
And there, according to later reports, he spent several days
228
00:15:32.019 --> 00:15:36.340
gambling and visiting houses of ill fame. Perhaps he believed
229
00:15:36.360 --> 00:15:39.860
he'd earned a fresh start. Perhaps he was celebrating. Or
230
00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:41.980
perhaps he simply wanted to get as far away from
231
00:15:42.019 --> 00:15:45.750
Helen Wood as possible. Everyone wondered. where Aaron Beck had gone.
232
00:15:47.330 --> 00:15:51.519
Whatever his reason, his sudden disappearance only deepened the suspicion. Meanwhile,
233
00:15:51.559 --> 00:15:54.200
back in Scott County, someone was about to make a
234
00:15:54.259 --> 00:16:00.879
gruesome discovery. January 1, 1897, nine days after the murder,
235
00:16:01.889 --> 00:16:04.269
a local hunter named Hannibal Ross was walking through the
236
00:16:04.309 --> 00:16:06.909
woods when he noticed something unusual near an uprooted tree.
237
00:16:08.570 --> 00:16:11.629
As he approached, he saw what appeared to be clothing
238
00:16:11.950 --> 00:16:15.200
protruding from beneath a pile of rocks. He pulled back
239
00:16:15.220 --> 00:16:19.720
the covering. Looking up at him was Aaron Beck. The
240
00:16:19.779 --> 00:16:24.740
freezing winter temperatures had preserved the body remarkably well. There
241
00:16:24.779 --> 00:16:28.620
was little doubt about the victim's identity. News spread throughout
242
00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:31.679
Helenwood almost immediately. In a town of only a few
243
00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:36.100
hundred people, everyone knew everyone's business. And as everyone knew,
244
00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:40.590
Aaron Beck had last been seen with Mike King. Scott
245
00:16:40.610 --> 00:16:44.309
County Sheriff John Good quickly began piecing together the timelines
246
00:16:45.169 --> 00:16:49.149
Aaron Beck had visited King. King had suddenly moved. King
247
00:16:49.190 --> 00:16:51.870
had abruptly left for Nashville. None of it looked good.
248
00:16:53.289 --> 00:16:55.549
The sheriff gathered a deputy and traveled to King's new home.
249
00:16:56.549 --> 00:17:00.019
When confronted, King did not everything. He insisted he knew
250
00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:05.380
nothing about Beck's disappearance. But the sheriff wasn't convinced. Instead
251
00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:10.160
of arguing, he decided on something unexpected, something psychological. He
252
00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:12.339
ordered King to accompany him back to the place where
253
00:17:12.380 --> 00:17:16.559
Beck's body had been found. The frozen corpse was lifted
254
00:17:16.660 --> 00:17:20.019
onto a rough wooden plank. Then the sheriff gave King
255
00:17:20.059 --> 00:17:24.339
an order. Help carry him. It was a remarkable decision.
256
00:17:25.500 --> 00:17:28.180
King only had one arm. The body was stiff with
257
00:17:28.200 --> 00:17:32.359
winter cold. The weight was tremendous. Yet the sheriff forced
258
00:17:32.380 --> 00:17:36.039
him to shoulder the burden. Perhaps good hope the physical
259
00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:39.779
exhaustion would weaken King's resolve. Perhaps he believed making the
260
00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:42.700
killer carry his own victim would break him. If that
261
00:17:42.740 --> 00:17:47.079
was the plan, it worked. King managed only about 30 yards,
262
00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:50.119
and then he collapsed. Breathing heavily, he admitted he couldn't
263
00:17:50.140 --> 00:17:53.609
carry the body any further. The sheriff and deputy finished
264
00:17:53.650 --> 00:17:57.369
the journey themselves. When they walked back to King's home,
265
00:17:57.410 --> 00:18:01.430
they carried Aaron Beck's body inside. King's wife saw the corpse.
266
00:18:01.970 --> 00:18:06.700
She screamed. She demanded to know what happened. Why was
267
00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:09.539
Aaron Beck dead? Why had the sheriff brought him there?
268
00:18:10.619 --> 00:18:14.279
King remained silent. Moments later, he was placed under arrest.
269
00:18:15.319 --> 00:18:18.519
While sitting in jail, King wasn't ready to admit guilt. Instead,
270
00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:23.420
he invented another story. According to King, a mysterious stranger
271
00:18:23.460 --> 00:18:26.970
named John Banks had committed the murder. Banks, he claimed,
272
00:18:26.990 --> 00:18:31.269
had shot Aaron Beck. King insisted the hatchet wound came afterward.
273
00:18:31.750 --> 00:18:34.869
He told investigators Beck had been suffering terribly after the gunshot,
274
00:18:35.670 --> 00:18:38.849
and he merely ended his misery with a hatchet. It
275
00:18:38.869 --> 00:18:42.589
was a desperate attempt to reduce murder to mercy. But
276
00:18:42.750 --> 00:18:46.460
nothing about the story made sense. No evidence supported the
277
00:18:46.500 --> 00:18:50.799
existence of John Banks. No witnesses had ever seen him.
278
00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:56.170
No motive could be established. Investigators quickly dismantled the tale.
279
00:18:57.529 --> 00:19:01.410
And outside the jail, meanwhile, another danger was growing. An
280
00:19:01.769 --> 00:19:06.769
angry mob. Word of Beck's murder had spread across the county,
281
00:19:07.690 --> 00:19:12.170
and many believed justice should come immediately. Lynching was a
282
00:19:12.269 --> 00:19:17.130
very real possibility. Recognizing the danger, Sheriff Goode secretly transferred
283
00:19:17.170 --> 00:19:19.920
King to the jail in neighboring Morgan County, where he
284
00:19:19.940 --> 00:19:22.859
would be beyond the reach of the crowd, safe behind
285
00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:27.779
stronger walls. And Mike King finally broke. He confessed. There
286
00:19:27.799 --> 00:19:30.039
had never been a John Banks. He alone had shot
287
00:19:30.099 --> 00:19:33.599
Aaron Beck. He alone had finished him off with a hatchet.
288
00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:38.230
And he alone had stolen the money. The trial moved quickly.
289
00:19:38.809 --> 00:19:42.849
There was little doubt about King's guilt. There was a cover-up.
290
00:19:43.109 --> 00:19:48.160
A murderer. and the jury returned a guilty verdict. The
291
00:19:48.180 --> 00:19:52.279
judge sentenced Mike King to die. by hanging. Execution day
292
00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:57.059
was May 17, 1897. The gallows stood waiting in nearby Huntsville.
293
00:19:57.859 --> 00:20:02.079
Long before sunrise, people began arriving. Public executions remained major
294
00:20:02.119 --> 00:20:05.799
events during the 19th century, drawing spectators from neighboring counties.
295
00:20:06.200 --> 00:20:10.220
Farmers left their fields. Merchants closed their shops. Families traveled
296
00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:14.220
for miles simply to witness justice being carried out. Among
297
00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:16.660
those gathered that morning were two people whose presence must
298
00:20:16.700 --> 00:20:22.190
have weighed heavily on King. His wife and their eight-month-old daughter.
299
00:20:23.349 --> 00:20:25.349
Whether he looked toward them as he climbed the scaffold,
300
00:20:25.410 --> 00:20:28.009
no one really knows. Whether they met his eyes before
301
00:20:28.029 --> 00:20:30.690
the hood was placed over his head, history doesn't say.
302
00:20:31.769 --> 00:20:35.230
The sheriff read the death warrant aloud. The noose was adjusted.
303
00:20:35.849 --> 00:20:39.069
The trap was prepared. Mike had spent months believing he
304
00:20:39.089 --> 00:20:42.650
could outsmart everyone around him. He had murdered the very
305
00:20:42.710 --> 00:20:45.779
man who had shown him kindness. He had hidden the body,
306
00:20:46.460 --> 00:20:50.279
destroyed his bedroom, invented a ghost story, and blamed an
307
00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:54.119
imaginary killer. He tried to flee to Nashville, believing he
308
00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:57.890
had escaped justice. Now there was nowhere left to run.
309
00:20:58.950 --> 00:21:02.690
The trapdoor opened beneath his feet. Within moments, Mike King
310
00:21:02.710 --> 00:21:06.390
was dead. Most towns would have spent years talking about
311
00:21:06.410 --> 00:21:10.089
a crime like that. Not Helen Wood, because only days
312
00:21:10.130 --> 00:21:13.039
after Aaron Beck's murder, the streets ran red with blood again.
313
00:21:13.059 --> 00:21:15.779
And before the year was over, the tiny mining town
314
00:21:15.819 --> 00:21:19.519
of barely 200 people would experience an almost unimaginable level
315
00:21:19.559 --> 00:21:26.980
of violence. Shootouts. Public killings. Lawmen exchanging gunfire with drunken citizens.
316
00:21:27.799 --> 00:21:30.599
By the end of 1897, an astonishing 47 people had
317
00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:33.680
been shot in Helen Wood. The Christmas murder of Aaron
318
00:21:33.740 --> 00:21:36.279
Beck wasn't the end of the story. It was only
319
00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:39.730
the beginning. of a new chapter in the legend of
320
00:21:39.769 --> 00:21:43.309
a place that many would call Hell in the Woods.
321
00:21:45.009 --> 00:21:46.730
So if you want to learn more about the Helen
322
00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:50.900
Wood story, check out Southern Ghost Stories Tennessee Tales 2.
323
00:21:50.900 --> 00:21:53.700
Right out deep into the history and the hauntings all
324
00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:57.019
over the Volunteer State. So I also have a new book.
325
00:21:57.059 --> 00:22:01.910
I mentioned earlier Kindle Plus, Amazon. It's Arsenic Anna. Check
326
00:22:01.930 --> 00:22:05.789
out Arsenic Anna. It's a crazy story about another killer
327
00:22:05.930 --> 00:22:08.339
in Cincinnati. It's during the Great Depression. She took care
328
00:22:08.359 --> 00:22:11.039
of older men, and one by one, she was poisoning
329
00:22:11.059 --> 00:22:12.980
them and taking their money. It's crazy. She was the
330
00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:16.240
first lady ever executed in the state of Ohio. So
331
00:22:16.279 --> 00:22:18.660
as I mentioned, Arson Canada is free to read on
332
00:22:18.700 --> 00:22:21.680
Kindle Plus. So all my books are. Southern Ghost Stories,
333
00:22:21.700 --> 00:22:25.170
South Nashville, The Resurrection, Knox Martin, The Sausage King, Old
334
00:22:25.210 --> 00:22:28.150
Man Dead. So please leave a review wherever you found
335
00:22:28.190 --> 00:22:30.890
the show. Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Those are really important. It
336
00:22:30.930 --> 00:22:34.809
helps others find the show. And Ghosts of Gallatin Haunted Tour,
337
00:22:34.849 --> 00:22:39.319
Winding Down Things for October. We have tours in Friday, Saturday,
338
00:22:39.339 --> 00:22:41.299
and Sunday this week. So it's going to be the
339
00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:44.960
last weekend for public tours. We do private tours year-round. But, yeah,
340
00:22:44.980 --> 00:22:46.819
come take a walk with me around Gallatin, one of
341
00:22:46.839 --> 00:22:49.880
the most haunted squares in Tennessee. GhostofGallatin.com, or you can
342
00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:53.400
find us on Facebook, Ghost of Gallatin Haunted Tour on Facebook.
343
00:22:53.980 --> 00:22:56.549
Have you guys been to Monster City Madhouse yet? The
344
00:22:56.569 --> 00:23:00.210
new shirt man's a whole lot of fun. Gravestone, featuring
345
00:23:00.250 --> 00:23:03.299
a matchup of Tombstone and the Universal Monsters. This Monster
346
00:23:03.319 --> 00:23:06.160
City Madhouse exclusive shirt is made from a comfortable 60-40-ester
347
00:23:06.549 --> 00:23:10.470
polyester cotton blend. With quotes like, I'm your huckleberry, and
348
00:23:10.529 --> 00:23:13.849
hell's coming with me, you'll be ready to unleash monster justice.
349
00:23:14.529 --> 00:23:18.130
So when you go to MonsterCityMadhouse.com, use promo code SAVE10.
350
00:23:18.549 --> 00:23:22.549
That's right, MonsterCityMadhouse.com, promo code SAVE10 gets you 10% right
351
00:23:22.569 --> 00:23:24.869
off the top. So be sure you like Southern Ghost
352
00:23:24.890 --> 00:23:27.390
Stories on Facebook and Instagram, and send your questions for
353
00:23:27.430 --> 00:23:28.549
a Q & A that's coming here in a couple
354
00:23:28.630 --> 00:23:32.049
weeks to southernghoststories at gmail.com. I do a Q &
355
00:23:31.630 --> 00:23:33.710
A roughly every two months, and I've got one coming
356
00:23:34.190 --> 00:23:37.880
here in a few weeks. So southernghoststories.gmail.com if you want
357
00:23:37.900 --> 00:23:39.960
to ask a question. So thanks for listening to Southern
358
00:23:39.980 --> 00:23:43.279
Ghost Stories. I'm Alan Searcy, the American historian, and I'll
359
00:23:43.319 --> 00:23:53.710
see you guys back tomorrow for another new show.
360
00:23:53.710 --> 00:23:56.549
200 years ago, Louisville, Kentucky was known as the Graveyard
361
00:23:56.569 --> 00:23:59.490
of the West. Yellow fever hit the town so hard,
362
00:23:59.750 --> 00:24:03.490
gravediggers stacked bodies in mass unmarked graves, their names lost
363
00:24:03.509 --> 00:24:06.900
to time. A century later, the Ohio River rose and
364
00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:09.539
swallowed the city whole. The bodies it pulled from the
365
00:24:09.579 --> 00:24:12.940
ground floated up against the cast iron storefronts, bumping against
366
00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:16.660
the glass like they wanted back inside. This fall, Old
367
00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:20.349
Fashioned Express invites you to climb aboard the haunted trolley
368
00:24:20.390 --> 00:24:23.089
tour and take a trip back in time through Louisville's
369
00:24:23.190 --> 00:24:27.299
grim history. Ride a vintage trolley through the gaslit streets
370
00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:31.799
of Old Louisville, the Highlands, and downtown. And, if you dare,
371
00:24:32.220 --> 00:24:35.240
abandon the safety of your trolley to walk the darkened
372
00:24:35.319 --> 00:24:41.890
streets where terrible tragedies occurred. Reserve your seat now at OldFashionedExpress.com
373
00:24:42.430 --> 00:24:46.809
and use the code PODCAST10 for 10% off. We're waiting
374
00:24:46.910 --> 00:24:47.450
for you.
375
00:24:50.490 --> 00:24:54.170
Looking for the perfect family fall adventure? Shuckle's Corn Maze
376
00:24:54.210 --> 00:24:56.849
and Pumpkin Patch at Fiddle Dee Farms in Greenbrier, just
377
00:24:56.910 --> 00:25:00.549
outside of Nashville, is open every Saturday and Sunday through Halloween.
378
00:25:01.029 --> 00:25:04.849
Bring the whole family for an 8-acre corn maze, hay rides, pumpkins,
379
00:25:05.170 --> 00:25:08.250
magic shows, the animal corral, the super-duper pumpkin jump pillow,
380
00:25:08.349 --> 00:25:11.549
and tons more fall fun. And Southern Ghost Stories listeners
381
00:25:11.589 --> 00:25:14.829
can save. Get $ 2 off each ticket when you buy
382
00:25:14.930 --> 00:25:19.450
online using promo code HAUNT26. That's right, $ 2 off each
383
00:25:19.490 --> 00:25:23.839
ticket with promo code HAUNT26. Make some memories this fall
384
00:25:23.880 --> 00:25:25.710
at Shuggle's Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch.
1
00:00:00.830 --> 00:00:03.390
If you love a good southern ghost story, you know
2
00:00:03.430 --> 00:00:05.990
that the best haunting tales aren't just about what lurks
3
00:00:06.030 --> 00:00:09.699
in the dark. They're about the history, the mood, and
4
00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:12.460
the things left behind. If you're looking to bring a
5
00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:14.980
piece of that dark romantic magic into your own life,
6
00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:18.719
you need to know about Haunted. Located right in the
7
00:00:18.780 --> 00:00:22.829
heart of downtown Tullahoma, Tennessee, at 125 West Lincoln Street,
8
00:00:23.250 --> 00:00:27.469
Haunted is your brick-and-mortar sanctuary for all things spooky, Victorian,
9
00:00:27.850 --> 00:00:34.570
and alternative. We're talking eerie home decor, dark academia apparel, oddities,
10
00:00:34.909 --> 00:00:38.450
graphic tees, and curated self-care for souls who prefer the
11
00:00:38.490 --> 00:00:41.969
shadow side of life. Can't make the trip to Tullahoma
12
00:00:41.990 --> 00:00:45.149
just yet? No problem. You can wander their digital aisles
13
00:00:45.329 --> 00:00:49.789
anytime from the comfort of your own couch at hauntedstore.net. Plus,
14
00:00:49.829 --> 00:00:53.829
for all our fellow dark holiday lovers, Haunted is proud
15
00:00:53.869 --> 00:00:57.950
to sponsor the upcoming Yuletide Shadows Holiday Market. It's Saturday,
16
00:00:58.030 --> 00:01:01.600
November 28th. Mark your calendars for an unforgettable day of
17
00:01:01.700 --> 00:01:05.609
alternative vendors, Michael, Jason, and Freddy photo ops, and holiday
18
00:01:05.670 --> 00:01:09.609
horror fun. Visit them at 125 West Lincoln Street in Tullahoma,
19
00:01:10.010 --> 00:01:21.620
or shop online right now at hauntedstore.net. Welcome back to
20
00:01:21.659 --> 00:01:26.519
Southern Ghost Stories. I'm the American Hauntstorian, Alan Searcy. So hey,
21
00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:28.480
I just found out something really cool that you guys
22
00:01:28.519 --> 00:01:30.939
may appreciate. So you guys know all my books are
23
00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:34.560
on Kindle Unlimited. Well, Kindle Unlimited is now becoming Kindle Plus.
24
00:01:35.180 --> 00:01:38.359
And with Kindle Plus, you can download all the books
25
00:01:38.420 --> 00:01:40.269
on Audible for free. So if you want to have
26
00:01:40.280 --> 00:01:43.310
someone read to you, you can check out Southern Ghost Stories,
27
00:01:43.329 --> 00:01:45.349
Downtown Nashville, you can check out The Sausage King, you
28
00:01:45.370 --> 00:01:48.430
can check out Jules Wallace, the great life reader. All
29
00:01:48.469 --> 00:01:51.390
my books are on there, and now they're available on
30
00:01:51.469 --> 00:01:53.730
Audible for free if you have Kindle Plus. So anyway,
31
00:01:53.750 --> 00:01:55.140
I just found that out. Thought you guys would like
32
00:01:55.159 --> 00:01:58.459
to know. So, man, October is winding down, man. It's
33
00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:02.590
been a It's gone by really fast. So for Tennessee
34
00:02:02.609 --> 00:02:04.709
Tales Tuesday, I want to do the Hell in the
35
00:02:04.730 --> 00:02:07.709
Woods story. And this is just wild. So you guys ready?
36
00:02:08.250 --> 00:02:11.870
Buckle up. Let's go. The Cumberland Plateau is always held
37
00:02:11.909 --> 00:02:15.610
onto its secrets. The mountains of East Tennessee are beautiful
38
00:02:15.669 --> 00:02:19.590
from a distance. Long ridges roll across the horizon like
39
00:02:19.669 --> 00:02:23.919
frozen waves, covered in hardwood forests that burst into brilliant
40
00:02:23.979 --> 00:02:29.569
color each autumn, before settling into the gray stillness of winter. Today,
41
00:02:29.629 --> 00:02:33.169
the roads that wind through Scott County are quiet. Small
42
00:02:33.210 --> 00:02:37.889
churches sit beside narrow highways. Old railroad grades disappear into
43
00:02:37.909 --> 00:02:42.669
the trees. To most travelers, Helenwood is simply another small
44
00:02:42.750 --> 00:02:46.729
Appalachian community they pass without a second thought. But there
45
00:02:46.770 --> 00:02:50.250
was a time when people across America knew the name Helenwood.
46
00:02:51.330 --> 00:02:57.050
Not from prosperity. Not because of coal. but because newspapers
47
00:02:57.110 --> 00:02:59.659
called it one of the bloodiest little towns in Tennessee.
48
00:03:01.009 --> 00:03:03.780
This is the story of a place where murders became commonplace,
49
00:03:04.500 --> 00:03:07.840
where shootouts erupted in broad daylight, where a judge became
50
00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:11.979
a killer, where people believed the devil himself lived beneath
51
00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:16.080
the mountains. And it all began with one Christmas murder.
52
00:03:17.639 --> 00:03:21.370
Helen Wood was established in 1859, dug deep within the
53
00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:25.259
rugged hills of Scott County. For years, it remained little
54
00:03:25.300 --> 00:03:27.909
more than a scattering of cabins and farms surrounded by
55
00:03:27.969 --> 00:03:32.610
dense forests. Life was difficult. The land was rocky. Farming
56
00:03:32.629 --> 00:03:38.330
was poor. And families survived however they could. Everything changed
57
00:03:38.370 --> 00:03:42.509
during the 1880s. Rich seams of coal were discovered beneath
58
00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:48.280
the surrounding mountains. Mining companies rushed into the area. Almost overnight,
59
00:03:48.340 --> 00:03:53.139
Helenwood transformed into a booming company town. Railroads pushed into
60
00:03:53.159 --> 00:03:58.689
the valley. carrying coal out, and bringing workers in. Families
61
00:03:58.770 --> 00:04:01.949
arrived from across Tennessee and Kentucky, hoping to build better
62
00:04:01.990 --> 00:04:05.750
lives underground. Mining, however, was one of the most dangerous
63
00:04:05.789 --> 00:04:09.469
jobs in America. Every descent to the earth carried the
64
00:04:09.530 --> 00:04:15.849
possibility that a man might never come back out. Explosions, cave-ins,
65
00:04:16.629 --> 00:04:21.629
runaway mine carts, poisonous gases. One mistake could bury dozens
66
00:04:21.670 --> 00:04:25.920
of miners beneath thousands of tons of rock. Among those
67
00:04:25.980 --> 00:04:29.250
miners was a young man named Mike King. King was
68
00:04:29.290 --> 00:04:32.829
only 22 years old. Like countless young men before him,
69
00:04:33.509 --> 00:04:35.829
he had entered the mines believing hard work had brought
70
00:04:35.870 --> 00:04:40.100
a future. Instead, the mines took nearly everything from him.
71
00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:45.060
During one shift, disaster struck. Accounts differ on exactly how
72
00:04:45.100 --> 00:04:47.560
the accident happened, but what is certain is that a
73
00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:51.230
collapsed crush King's left arm so badly, doctors had no
74
00:04:51.329 --> 00:04:54.930
choice but to amputate it. In the 19th century, losing
75
00:04:54.990 --> 00:04:58.610
a limb often meant losing your livelihood. Coal companies had
76
00:04:58.649 --> 00:05:02.819
little use for one-armed miners. There was no disability checks,
77
00:05:03.620 --> 00:05:08.839
no workers' compensation, no rehabilitation programs. One day King had
78
00:05:08.860 --> 00:05:11.819
been a healthy young laborer. The next he was unemployed,
79
00:05:11.939 --> 00:05:17.410
permanently disabled, and facing an uncertain future. Yet sometimes tragedy
80
00:05:17.509 --> 00:05:21.579
opens unexpected doors. For Mike King, the door arrived in
81
00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:25.500
the form of an older businessman named Aaron Beck. Beck
82
00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:27.899
lived across the state line of Russell County, Kentucky, but
83
00:05:28.250 --> 00:05:32.389
traveled frequently throughout the region on business. Somewhere during those visits,
84
00:05:32.410 --> 00:05:36.470
he met the young miner. Nobody knows exactly why Beck
85
00:05:36.509 --> 00:05:39.149
took such interest in King. Perhaps he pitied the young
86
00:05:39.189 --> 00:05:42.490
man with one arm. Perhaps he admired his determination. Or
87
00:05:43.310 --> 00:05:47.550
perhaps he simply believed everyone deserved a second chance. Whatever
88
00:05:47.589 --> 00:05:50.389
the reason, Beck became something far more than an acquaintance.
89
00:05:51.629 --> 00:05:56.850
He became King's benefactor. Whenever King found himself struggling, Beck
90
00:05:56.889 --> 00:06:02.129
loaned him some money. He offered advice, encouragement, and perhaps
91
00:06:02.170 --> 00:06:06.790
most importantly, he urged King to abandon mining altogether. Instead
92
00:06:06.810 --> 00:06:09.209
of trying to return to dangerous manual labor with only
93
00:06:09.329 --> 00:06:13.500
one arm, Beck encouraged him to pursue education. It was
94
00:06:13.540 --> 00:06:17.100
remarkable advice for its time. and eventually Mike King became
95
00:06:17.139 --> 00:06:21.360
a schoolteacher. His new profession wasn't glamorous, but it offered stability,
96
00:06:22.100 --> 00:06:26.100
something few former miners ever achieved. To the outside world,
97
00:06:26.139 --> 00:06:30.250
it appeared King had rebuilt his life. He married, established
98
00:06:30.290 --> 00:06:34.829
a home, he earned respectable work. But appearances can be deceiving.
99
00:06:35.610 --> 00:06:39.949
Money was still tight. Teachers in rural Tennessee earned very little,
100
00:06:39.990 --> 00:06:42.449
and despite his new career, King often depended on Beck's
101
00:06:42.490 --> 00:06:47.889
generosity to make ends meet. and that dependence would prove deadly.
102
00:06:49.430 --> 00:06:56.550
December 23rd, 1896. Only two days before Christmas. Snow lingered
103
00:06:56.589 --> 00:06:59.589
across the Cumberland Plateau, and the bitter mountain air cut
104
00:06:59.610 --> 00:07:02.149
through heavy coats as Mike King made his way to
105
00:07:02.189 --> 00:07:07.500
visit Aaron Beck. King needed some money. Nothing unusual about that.
106
00:07:08.769 --> 00:07:12.699
He explained his situation, and Beck listened patiently. The older
107
00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:14.899
man wasn't wealthy enough to hand out large sums of money,
108
00:07:14.980 --> 00:07:16.949
but He reached into his pocket and gave King what
109
00:07:16.970 --> 00:07:21.170
he could spare, and King was grateful. As thanks, he
110
00:07:21.189 --> 00:07:23.339
invited Beck to spend the evening at his home for supper.
111
00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:27.899
It was a small gesture. Neighbors frequently shared meals in
112
00:07:27.939 --> 00:07:32.720
small Appalachian communities. Traveling after dark over rough mountain roads
113
00:07:32.740 --> 00:07:35.990
weren't always practical, so spending the night with friends was
114
00:07:36.189 --> 00:07:41.149
equally common. Beck accepted. The two men walked together through
115
00:07:41.170 --> 00:07:46.500
the cold toward King's modest home. When they arrived, Beck
116
00:07:46.540 --> 00:07:52.139
immediately noticed something strange. King's wife wasn't there. King casually
117
00:07:52.189 --> 00:07:56.509
explained she had unexpectedly left town. Nothing suspicious about that.
118
00:07:57.709 --> 00:08:02.649
Life often demanded sudden trips to visit family or handle emergencies. Still,
119
00:08:02.670 --> 00:08:05.189
Beck found himself spending the evening alone with Mike King.
120
00:08:06.540 --> 00:08:09.939
King apologized for not having his wife's cooking and insisted
121
00:08:09.980 --> 00:08:14.050
he make supper himself. Before beginning the meal, he stepped
122
00:08:14.089 --> 00:08:17.529
outside carrying a hatchet. The December cold had settled over
123
00:08:17.550 --> 00:08:21.949
the mountains, and the fireplace needed fresh wood. King split
124
00:08:21.970 --> 00:08:24.589
enough firewood to last through the night before returning inside.
125
00:08:25.649 --> 00:08:30.959
He built a roaring fire. Prepared a modest supper. The
126
00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:34.580
two men ate together quietly. Perhaps they talked about Christmas.
127
00:08:35.899 --> 00:08:39.460
Perhaps they discussed school. Maybe they talked about the mines.
128
00:08:40.659 --> 00:08:42.980
What we do know is after supper, they retired for
129
00:08:43.019 --> 00:08:46.720
the evening. King's house was small. There wasn't a guest bedroom.
130
00:08:47.779 --> 00:08:50.710
Sharing a bed wasn't unusual in 19th century rural America.
131
00:08:50.730 --> 00:08:56.190
It was practical. The fire slowly died. The oil lamp
132
00:08:56.230 --> 00:09:02.070
was extinguished. Darkness settled over that tiny cabin. Outside, the
133
00:09:02.110 --> 00:09:07.240
winter wind whispered through bare trees. Inside, Aaron Beck drifted
134
00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:12.320
peacefully off to sleep. But Mike King did not. Around
135
00:09:12.360 --> 00:09:16.179
ten o'clock that night, King opened his eyes. The room
136
00:09:16.220 --> 00:09:20.450
was silent except for Beck's slow breathing. Carefully, King reached
137
00:09:20.490 --> 00:09:24.350
toward the bedside table. His fingers found an oil lamp.
138
00:09:25.490 --> 00:09:30.509
A match struck. The wick caught fire. Suddenly, soft yellow
139
00:09:30.570 --> 00:09:35.629
light filled the room. Beck never woke. King reached beneath
140
00:09:35.649 --> 00:09:41.509
the nightstand. Not for another blanket. Not for water. He
141
00:09:41.529 --> 00:09:46.750
withdrew a. 38 caliber revolver. Then he stood. For several
142
00:09:46.789 --> 00:09:50.350
long moments, he simply stared at the sleeping man. There
143
00:09:50.389 --> 00:09:55.429
was no argument. No fight. Everything suggested King had planned
144
00:09:55.450 --> 00:09:58.750
exactly what was about to happen. He slowly raised the
145
00:09:58.769 --> 00:10:03.289
revolver over Aaron Beck. head. He pulled the trigger. The
146
00:10:03.330 --> 00:10:07.610
explosion shattered the silence. The bullet struck Beck in the head.
147
00:10:09.529 --> 00:10:12.639
Blood sprayed across the walls, the bedding, and King's clothing.
148
00:10:13.419 --> 00:10:18.539
But Beck wasn't dead. The old man suddenly lurched awake, dazed, bleeding,
149
00:10:18.700 --> 00:10:22.850
blinded by pain. He instinctively reached toward the only other
150
00:10:22.909 --> 00:10:27.389
person in the room, Mike King. His fingernails clawed across
151
00:10:27.429 --> 00:10:30.230
King's arm, drawing blood as he desperately struggled to understand
152
00:10:30.250 --> 00:10:35.029
what was going on. No one knows what happened next,
153
00:10:35.049 --> 00:10:38.600
but King panicked. The pistol hadn't finished the job. He
154
00:10:38.659 --> 00:10:42.200
needed something else. Only inches away rested the very hatchet
155
00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:45.700
he'd used earlier that evening to split the firewood. King
156
00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:48.379
grabbed it, raised it high, and brought it crashing down
157
00:10:49.179 --> 00:10:53.909
onto Beck's skull. One blow. The blade split his head open.
158
00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:59.100
The struggle ended instantly. The room fell silent once again.
159
00:11:00.539 --> 00:11:04.820
Only now, Aaron Beck was dead. Blood pooled across the
160
00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:09.940
wooden floor. Smoke drifted lazily from the fireplace. Mike King
161
00:11:09.960 --> 00:11:11.980
had just murdered the man who had helped save his life.
162
00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:16.320
For several long seconds, Mike King simply stood over the bed.
163
00:11:16.379 --> 00:11:18.840
The only sound inside the little cabin was his own breathing.
164
00:11:20.610 --> 00:11:22.590
Blood dripped from the edges of the hatchet onto the
165
00:11:22.629 --> 00:11:26.610
wooden floor. The oil lamp flickered, casting moving shadows across
166
00:11:26.669 --> 00:11:29.700
the walls as if the house itself had witnessed the killing.
167
00:11:29.720 --> 00:11:33.980
Aaron Beck, the man who had loaned him money, encouraged
168
00:11:34.019 --> 00:11:36.580
him after losing his arm and helped him become a
169
00:11:36.620 --> 00:11:41.159
schoolteacher lay motionless beneath the blankets. The murder was over.
170
00:11:42.269 --> 00:11:47.710
Now came the harder part. Getting away with it. King
171
00:11:47.730 --> 00:11:51.519
knew daylight would expose everything. The bedroom looked like a slaughterhouse.
172
00:11:52.379 --> 00:11:54.919
Blood covered the mattress, the floorboards, and parts of the wall.
173
00:11:55.399 --> 00:11:58.720
His own clothes were stained crimson. He couldn't leave Beck
174
00:11:58.740 --> 00:12:02.299
where he was. Working with only one arm, King wrapped
175
00:12:02.330 --> 00:12:05.539
the body tightly inside a bed sheet. It was an
176
00:12:05.590 --> 00:12:09.169
exhausting task. Beck was a full-grown man, and every pound
177
00:12:09.190 --> 00:12:11.230
had to be dragged across the rough floor by someone
178
00:12:11.269 --> 00:12:17.129
with only one good arm. Slowly, inch by inch, King
179
00:12:17.210 --> 00:12:20.830
wrestled the corpse outside into the freezing December night. The
180
00:12:20.850 --> 00:12:25.289
woods surrounding Helenwood were pitch black. Few lanterns burned outside
181
00:12:25.330 --> 00:12:28.169
the scattered homes, and once King disappeared beyond the edge
182
00:12:28.190 --> 00:12:33.389
of his property, darkness swallowed him completely. Nearby was a
183
00:12:33.450 --> 00:12:36.000
large depression where an old tree had been uprooted during
184
00:12:36.029 --> 00:12:39.519
a storm years earlier. The exposed roots had left behind
185
00:12:39.559 --> 00:12:42.919
a deep pit. To King, it looked like the perfect grave.
186
00:12:44.299 --> 00:12:47.600
He struggled to maneuver Beck's body down the hillside. More
187
00:12:47.620 --> 00:12:51.110
than once, he nearly lost his footing in the frozen earth. Finally,
188
00:12:51.149 --> 00:12:53.269
after what must have felt like an eternity, he managed
189
00:12:53.289 --> 00:12:57.059
to slide the body into the hole. He gathered loose stones,
190
00:12:57.139 --> 00:13:00.799
old clothing, whatever debris he could find. One by one,
191
00:13:00.820 --> 00:13:04.059
he piled them over the body until Beck disappeared beneath
192
00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:08.090
the makeshift grave. It wasn't a careful burial. It was
193
00:13:08.129 --> 00:13:10.929
simply the best a desperate killer with one arm could manage.
194
00:13:12.269 --> 00:13:15.850
King climbed back toward the house, exhausted, but he wasn't
195
00:13:15.950 --> 00:13:20.279
finished yet. Inside the cabin, he searched Aaron Beck's pockets.
196
00:13:21.090 --> 00:13:25.889
This was the reason for the murder. Not revenge. Not anger. Money.
197
00:13:26.809 --> 00:13:30.860
Inside Beck's clothing, King found $ 54. Today, that doesn't sound
198
00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:35.279
like very much, but in 1896, $ 54 represented several months'
199
00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:39.419
wages for many men. Adjusted for inflation, it would equal
200
00:13:39.500 --> 00:13:44.299
well over $ 2, 000 today. King stuffed the money in his pocket.
201
00:13:45.080 --> 00:13:47.450
Then he began destroying the evidence. He burned Beck's pants
202
00:13:47.490 --> 00:13:52.460
in the fireplace. Next, He examined the bedroom. The blood
203
00:13:52.500 --> 00:13:55.639
had soaked deep into the wooden floor. No amount of
204
00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:59.820
scrubbing would hide it. So King chose another solution. He
205
00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:01.960
began cutting sections of the floor out of his home.
206
00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:06.159
Board after board disappeared. Then he turned to the bed.
207
00:14:06.820 --> 00:14:09.620
The mattress was ruined. The wooden frame was covered with blood.
208
00:14:10.539 --> 00:14:13.960
He dismantled it piece by piece, feeding it to the fireplace,
209
00:14:14.899 --> 00:14:19.879
until almost nothing remained. By the time dawn approached, The
210
00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:25.389
bedroom had been transformed. Not cleaned. Altered. Almost as though
211
00:14:25.450 --> 00:14:28.990
the murder had never happened. The following morning, King's wife
212
00:14:29.029 --> 00:14:33.429
returned home. She immediately noticed something strange. The bed was gone.
213
00:14:34.549 --> 00:14:37.850
Entire sections of flooring had disappeared. Of course she asked
214
00:14:37.870 --> 00:14:41.789
what happened. But King didn't tell her about Aaron Beck. Instead,
215
00:14:41.809 --> 00:14:45.289
he offered one of the strangest explanations imaginable. He claimed
216
00:14:45.309 --> 00:14:48.639
the house was haunted. According to King, something evil had
217
00:14:48.740 --> 00:14:53.539
entered the home during the night. The only solution, he insisted,
218
00:14:53.590 --> 00:14:57.649
was to move immediately. No one really knows what his
219
00:14:57.690 --> 00:15:00.870
wife said, but that afternoon they packed their belongings and
220
00:15:00.970 --> 00:15:04.730
relocated to another nearby house. King had left the crime scene.
221
00:15:05.690 --> 00:15:08.129
He probably believed he had erased every trace of that murder.
222
00:15:09.230 --> 00:15:13.330
But he had overlooked one simple problem. Aaron Beck was gone.
223
00:15:13.429 --> 00:15:17.009
He had vanished. And people were going to start asking questions.
224
00:15:18.629 --> 00:15:20.490
With the stolen money in his pocket, Mike King did
225
00:15:20.509 --> 00:15:24.950
something that would later appear incredibly suspicious. Instead of lying low,
226
00:15:25.009 --> 00:15:28.720
he left town. King purchased a train ticket to Nashville.
227
00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:31.919
And there, according to later reports, he spent several days
228
00:15:32.019 --> 00:15:36.340
gambling and visiting houses of ill fame. Perhaps he believed
229
00:15:36.360 --> 00:15:39.860
he'd earned a fresh start. Perhaps he was celebrating. Or
230
00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:41.980
perhaps he simply wanted to get as far away from
231
00:15:42.019 --> 00:15:45.750
Helen Wood as possible. Everyone wondered. where Aaron Beck had gone.
232
00:15:47.330 --> 00:15:51.519
Whatever his reason, his sudden disappearance only deepened the suspicion. Meanwhile,
233
00:15:51.559 --> 00:15:54.200
back in Scott County, someone was about to make a
234
00:15:54.259 --> 00:16:00.879
gruesome discovery. January 1, 1897, nine days after the murder,
235
00:16:01.889 --> 00:16:04.269
a local hunter named Hannibal Ross was walking through the
236
00:16:04.309 --> 00:16:06.909
woods when he noticed something unusual near an uprooted tree.
237
00:16:08.570 --> 00:16:11.629
As he approached, he saw what appeared to be clothing
238
00:16:11.950 --> 00:16:15.200
protruding from beneath a pile of rocks. He pulled back
239
00:16:15.220 --> 00:16:19.720
the covering. Looking up at him was Aaron Beck. The
240
00:16:19.779 --> 00:16:24.740
freezing winter temperatures had preserved the body remarkably well. There
241
00:16:24.779 --> 00:16:28.620
was little doubt about the victim's identity. News spread throughout
242
00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:31.679
Helenwood almost immediately. In a town of only a few
243
00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:36.100
hundred people, everyone knew everyone's business. And as everyone knew,
244
00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:40.590
Aaron Beck had last been seen with Mike King. Scott
245
00:16:40.610 --> 00:16:44.309
County Sheriff John Good quickly began piecing together the timelines
246
00:16:45.169 --> 00:16:49.149
Aaron Beck had visited King. King had suddenly moved. King
247
00:16:49.190 --> 00:16:51.870
had abruptly left for Nashville. None of it looked good.
248
00:16:53.289 --> 00:16:55.549
The sheriff gathered a deputy and traveled to King's new home.
249
00:16:56.549 --> 00:17:00.019
When confronted, King did not everything. He insisted he knew
250
00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:05.380
nothing about Beck's disappearance. But the sheriff wasn't convinced. Instead
251
00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:10.160
of arguing, he decided on something unexpected, something psychological. He
252
00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:12.339
ordered King to accompany him back to the place where
253
00:17:12.380 --> 00:17:16.559
Beck's body had been found. The frozen corpse was lifted
254
00:17:16.660 --> 00:17:20.019
onto a rough wooden plank. Then the sheriff gave King
255
00:17:20.059 --> 00:17:24.339
an order. Help carry him. It was a remarkable decision.
256
00:17:25.500 --> 00:17:28.180
King only had one arm. The body was stiff with
257
00:17:28.200 --> 00:17:32.359
winter cold. The weight was tremendous. Yet the sheriff forced
258
00:17:32.380 --> 00:17:36.039
him to shoulder the burden. Perhaps good hope the physical
259
00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:39.779
exhaustion would weaken King's resolve. Perhaps he believed making the
260
00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:42.700
killer carry his own victim would break him. If that
261
00:17:42.740 --> 00:17:47.079
was the plan, it worked. King managed only about 30 yards,
262
00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:50.119
and then he collapsed. Breathing heavily, he admitted he couldn't
263
00:17:50.140 --> 00:17:53.609
carry the body any further. The sheriff and deputy finished
264
00:17:53.650 --> 00:17:57.369
the journey themselves. When they walked back to King's home,
265
00:17:57.410 --> 00:18:01.430
they carried Aaron Beck's body inside. King's wife saw the corpse.
266
00:18:01.970 --> 00:18:06.700
She screamed. She demanded to know what happened. Why was
267
00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:09.539
Aaron Beck dead? Why had the sheriff brought him there?
268
00:18:10.619 --> 00:18:14.279
King remained silent. Moments later, he was placed under arrest.
269
00:18:15.319 --> 00:18:18.519
While sitting in jail, King wasn't ready to admit guilt. Instead,
270
00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:23.420
he invented another story. According to King, a mysterious stranger
271
00:18:23.460 --> 00:18:26.970
named John Banks had committed the murder. Banks, he claimed,
272
00:18:26.990 --> 00:18:31.269
had shot Aaron Beck. King insisted the hatchet wound came afterward.
273
00:18:31.750 --> 00:18:34.869
He told investigators Beck had been suffering terribly after the gunshot,
274
00:18:35.670 --> 00:18:38.849
and he merely ended his misery with a hatchet. It
275
00:18:38.869 --> 00:18:42.589
was a desperate attempt to reduce murder to mercy. But
276
00:18:42.750 --> 00:18:46.460
nothing about the story made sense. No evidence supported the
277
00:18:46.500 --> 00:18:50.799
existence of John Banks. No witnesses had ever seen him.
278
00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:56.170
No motive could be established. Investigators quickly dismantled the tale.
279
00:18:57.529 --> 00:19:01.410
And outside the jail, meanwhile, another danger was growing. An
280
00:19:01.769 --> 00:19:06.769
angry mob. Word of Beck's murder had spread across the county,
281
00:19:07.690 --> 00:19:12.170
and many believed justice should come immediately. Lynching was a
282
00:19:12.269 --> 00:19:17.130
very real possibility. Recognizing the danger, Sheriff Goode secretly transferred
283
00:19:17.170 --> 00:19:19.920
King to the jail in neighboring Morgan County, where he
284
00:19:19.940 --> 00:19:22.859
would be beyond the reach of the crowd, safe behind
285
00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:27.779
stronger walls. And Mike King finally broke. He confessed. There
286
00:19:27.799 --> 00:19:30.039
had never been a John Banks. He alone had shot
287
00:19:30.099 --> 00:19:33.599
Aaron Beck. He alone had finished him off with a hatchet.
288
00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:38.230
And he alone had stolen the money. The trial moved quickly.
289
00:19:38.809 --> 00:19:42.849
There was little doubt about King's guilt. There was a cover-up.
290
00:19:43.109 --> 00:19:48.160
A murderer. and the jury returned a guilty verdict. The
291
00:19:48.180 --> 00:19:52.279
judge sentenced Mike King to die. by hanging. Execution day
292
00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:57.059
was May 17, 1897. The gallows stood waiting in nearby Huntsville.
293
00:19:57.859 --> 00:20:02.079
Long before sunrise, people began arriving. Public executions remained major
294
00:20:02.119 --> 00:20:05.799
events during the 19th century, drawing spectators from neighboring counties.
295
00:20:06.200 --> 00:20:10.220
Farmers left their fields. Merchants closed their shops. Families traveled
296
00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:14.220
for miles simply to witness justice being carried out. Among
297
00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:16.660
those gathered that morning were two people whose presence must
298
00:20:16.700 --> 00:20:22.190
have weighed heavily on King. His wife and their eight-month-old daughter.
299
00:20:23.349 --> 00:20:25.349
Whether he looked toward them as he climbed the scaffold,
300
00:20:25.410 --> 00:20:28.009
no one really knows. Whether they met his eyes before
301
00:20:28.029 --> 00:20:30.690
the hood was placed over his head, history doesn't say.
302
00:20:31.769 --> 00:20:35.230
The sheriff read the death warrant aloud. The noose was adjusted.
303
00:20:35.849 --> 00:20:39.069
The trap was prepared. Mike had spent months believing he
304
00:20:39.089 --> 00:20:42.650
could outsmart everyone around him. He had murdered the very
305
00:20:42.710 --> 00:20:45.779
man who had shown him kindness. He had hidden the body,
306
00:20:46.460 --> 00:20:50.279
destroyed his bedroom, invented a ghost story, and blamed an
307
00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:54.119
imaginary killer. He tried to flee to Nashville, believing he
308
00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:57.890
had escaped justice. Now there was nowhere left to run.
309
00:20:58.950 --> 00:21:02.690
The trapdoor opened beneath his feet. Within moments, Mike King
310
00:21:02.710 --> 00:21:06.390
was dead. Most towns would have spent years talking about
311
00:21:06.410 --> 00:21:10.089
a crime like that. Not Helen Wood, because only days
312
00:21:10.130 --> 00:21:13.039
after Aaron Beck's murder, the streets ran red with blood again.
313
00:21:13.059 --> 00:21:15.779
And before the year was over, the tiny mining town
314
00:21:15.819 --> 00:21:19.519
of barely 200 people would experience an almost unimaginable level
315
00:21:19.559 --> 00:21:26.980
of violence. Shootouts. Public killings. Lawmen exchanging gunfire with drunken citizens.
316
00:21:27.799 --> 00:21:30.599
By the end of 1897, an astonishing 47 people had
317
00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:33.680
been shot in Helen Wood. The Christmas murder of Aaron
318
00:21:33.740 --> 00:21:36.279
Beck wasn't the end of the story. It was only
319
00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:39.730
the beginning. of a new chapter in the legend of
320
00:21:39.769 --> 00:21:43.309
a place that many would call Hell in the Woods.
321
00:21:45.009 --> 00:21:46.730
So if you want to learn more about the Helen
322
00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:50.900
Wood story, check out Southern Ghost Stories Tennessee Tales 2.
323
00:21:50.900 --> 00:21:53.700
Right out deep into the history and the hauntings all
324
00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:57.019
over the Volunteer State. So I also have a new book.
325
00:21:57.059 --> 00:22:01.910
I mentioned earlier Kindle Plus, Amazon. It's Arsenic Anna. Check
326
00:22:01.930 --> 00:22:05.789
out Arsenic Anna. It's a crazy story about another killer
327
00:22:05.930 --> 00:22:08.339
in Cincinnati. It's during the Great Depression. She took care
328
00:22:08.359 --> 00:22:11.039
of older men, and one by one, she was poisoning
329
00:22:11.059 --> 00:22:12.980
them and taking their money. It's crazy. She was the
330
00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:16.240
first lady ever executed in the state of Ohio. So
331
00:22:16.279 --> 00:22:18.660
as I mentioned, Arson Canada is free to read on
332
00:22:18.700 --> 00:22:21.680
Kindle Plus. So all my books are. Southern Ghost Stories,
333
00:22:21.700 --> 00:22:25.170
South Nashville, The Resurrection, Knox Martin, The Sausage King, Old
334
00:22:25.210 --> 00:22:28.150
Man Dead. So please leave a review wherever you found
335
00:22:28.190 --> 00:22:30.890
the show. Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Those are really important. It
336
00:22:30.930 --> 00:22:34.809
helps others find the show. And Ghosts of Gallatin Haunted Tour,
337
00:22:34.849 --> 00:22:39.319
Winding Down Things for October. We have tours in Friday, Saturday,
338
00:22:39.339 --> 00:22:41.299
and Sunday this week. So it's going to be the
339
00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:44.960
last weekend for public tours. We do private tours year-round. But, yeah,
340
00:22:44.980 --> 00:22:46.819
come take a walk with me around Gallatin, one of
341
00:22:46.839 --> 00:22:49.880
the most haunted squares in Tennessee. GhostofGallatin.com, or you can
342
00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:53.400
find us on Facebook, Ghost of Gallatin Haunted Tour on Facebook.
343
00:22:53.980 --> 00:22:56.549
Have you guys been to Monster City Madhouse yet? The
344
00:22:56.569 --> 00:23:00.210
new shirt man's a whole lot of fun. Gravestone, featuring
345
00:23:00.250 --> 00:23:03.299
a matchup of Tombstone and the Universal Monsters. This Monster
346
00:23:03.319 --> 00:23:06.160
City Madhouse exclusive shirt is made from a comfortable 60-40-ester
347
00:23:06.549 --> 00:23:10.470
polyester cotton blend. With quotes like, I'm your huckleberry, and
348
00:23:10.529 --> 00:23:13.849
hell's coming with me, you'll be ready to unleash monster justice.
349
00:23:14.529 --> 00:23:18.130
So when you go to MonsterCityMadhouse.com, use promo code SAVE10.
350
00:23:18.549 --> 00:23:22.549
That's right, MonsterCityMadhouse.com, promo code SAVE10 gets you 10% right
351
00:23:22.569 --> 00:23:24.869
off the top. So be sure you like Southern Ghost
352
00:23:24.890 --> 00:23:27.390
Stories on Facebook and Instagram, and send your questions for
353
00:23:27.430 --> 00:23:28.549
a Q & A that's coming here in a couple
354
00:23:28.630 --> 00:23:32.049
weeks to southernghoststories at gmail.com. I do a Q &
355
00:23:31.630 --> 00:23:33.710
A roughly every two months, and I've got one coming
356
00:23:34.190 --> 00:23:37.880
here in a few weeks. So southernghoststories.gmail.com if you want
357
00:23:37.900 --> 00:23:39.960
to ask a question. So thanks for listening to Southern
358
00:23:39.980 --> 00:23:43.279
Ghost Stories. I'm Alan Searcy, the American historian, and I'll
359
00:23:43.319 --> 00:23:53.710
see you guys back tomorrow for another new show.
360
00:23:53.710 --> 00:23:56.549
200 years ago, Louisville, Kentucky was known as the Graveyard
361
00:23:56.569 --> 00:23:59.490
of the West. Yellow fever hit the town so hard,
362
00:23:59.750 --> 00:24:03.490
gravediggers stacked bodies in mass unmarked graves, their names lost
363
00:24:03.509 --> 00:24:06.900
to time. A century later, the Ohio River rose and
364
00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:09.539
swallowed the city whole. The bodies it pulled from the
365
00:24:09.579 --> 00:24:12.940
ground floated up against the cast iron storefronts, bumping against
366
00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:16.660
the glass like they wanted back inside. This fall, Old
367
00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:20.349
Fashioned Express invites you to climb aboard the haunted trolley
368
00:24:20.390 --> 00:24:23.089
tour and take a trip back in time through Louisville's
369
00:24:23.190 --> 00:24:27.299
grim history. Ride a vintage trolley through the gaslit streets
370
00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:31.799
of Old Louisville, the Highlands, and downtown. And, if you dare,
371
00:24:32.220 --> 00:24:35.240
abandon the safety of your trolley to walk the darkened
372
00:24:35.319 --> 00:24:41.890
streets where terrible tragedies occurred. Reserve your seat now at OldFashionedExpress.com
373
00:24:42.430 --> 00:24:46.809
and use the code PODCAST10 for 10% off. We're waiting
374
00:24:46.910 --> 00:24:47.450
for you.
375
00:24:50.490 --> 00:24:54.170
Looking for the perfect family fall adventure? Shuckle's Corn Maze
376
00:24:54.210 --> 00:24:56.849
and Pumpkin Patch at Fiddle Dee Farms in Greenbrier, just
377
00:24:56.910 --> 00:25:00.549
outside of Nashville, is open every Saturday and Sunday through Halloween.
378
00:25:01.029 --> 00:25:04.849
Bring the whole family for an 8-acre corn maze, hay rides, pumpkins,
379
00:25:05.170 --> 00:25:08.250
magic shows, the animal corral, the super-duper pumpkin jump pillow,
380
00:25:08.349 --> 00:25:11.549
and tons more fall fun. And Southern Ghost Stories listeners
381
00:25:11.589 --> 00:25:14.829
can save. Get $ 2 off each ticket when you buy
382
00:25:14.930 --> 00:25:19.450
online using promo code HAUNT26. That's right, $ 2 off each
383
00:25:19.490 --> 00:25:23.839
ticket with promo code HAUNT26. Make some memories this fall
384
00:25:23.880 --> 00:25:25.710
at Shuggle's Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch.
