The Tragic End of the Steamboat Sultana

““It is with rgret i rit the folling sad noos wee was on our way to Camp Chase, got this fare on the evning of the 26th an left here on the moning aft the 27th at haff past 2 o’clock, proseded up the river 8 mils when the billers burst tore the boat all to peses sot her on fier, and burnd her to the water. tha was 1975 Solders on bord of which about 1200 were drowned. i must Con fess tha to the best of mi noledg [knowledge] brother William [Pvt. William Cowan Pickens, Co. B, 3rd TN Cav.] is A mong the lost. i hav not hurd of him Sens the explosion took plase an i hav no hop [hope] of ever hering of him eney more.” ”

— Letter from Samuel Pickens to Cynthia and Mary Pickens, April 28, 1865

The Titanic of the Mississippi River​​

On April 27, 1865, tragedy struck the Steamboat Sultana, causing the worst maritime disaster in United States history.

Overcrowded with former United States prisoners of war finally returning home after surviving the Civil War and time in notorious Confederate prisons, the Sultana would never complete the journey north.

On their way home, the ship's boiler suddenly exploded, unleashing a catastrophic inferno that threatened the lives of everyone on board. Despite the magnitude of this disaster, it was overshadowed at the time by the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln just days prior.

Join us as we delve into the heartbreaking story of the Steamboat Sultana and the lives forever impacted by this forgotten tragedy.

Additional Links for this Episode:

• Read the stories of Sultana survivors here.

Sources:

Berry, Chester D. Loss of the Sultana and Reminiscences of Survivors. Lansing, MI: Darius D. Thorp, 1892. GoogleBooks. 

“The Disaster.” The Sultana Association. Accessed February 24, 2023. https://www.thesultanaassociation.com/the-disaster. 

Elliott, Joseph Taylor. “The Sultana Disaster.” Indiana Historical Society Publications 7, no. 3 (1913). https://hdl.handle.net/2027/inu.30000132231808 

Hamilton, Jon. “The Shipwreck That Led Confederate Veterans to Risk All for Union Lives.” NPR. April 27, 2015. https://www.npr.org/2015/04/27/402515205. 

Huffman, Alan. Sultana: Surviving the Civil War, Prison, and the Worst Maritime Disaster in American History. New York: HarperCollins, 2009.

Potter, Jerry. The Sultana Tragedy: America’s Greatest Maritime Disaster. Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing, 1997. 

Salecker, Gene Erik. Disaster on the Mississippi: The Sultana Explosion, April 27, 1865. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1996.

“Stories from the Sultana.” The Sultana Disaster Museum. Accessed February 24, 2023. https://www.sultanadisastermuseum.com/stories-from-the-sultana. 

“The Sultana Disaster.” American Battlefield Trust. Accessed February 24, 2023. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/sultana-disaster. 

Trudeau, Noah Andre. “Death on the River.” Naval History Magazine 23, no. 4 (August 2009): https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2009/august/death-river 

The Clouston Bride

Clouston Hall was built in 1821 by Edward G. Clouston, but according to local lore his family experienced an awful tragedy there that continues to haunt the two century old building.

This episode of Southern Gothic is part of our Campfire Tales , a series of daily podcasts released during Halloween 2022!

The Legends of Reelfoot Lake

“Suddenly the beat of the drums was drowned out by a roar louder than any noise Reelfoot had ever heard. The earth vibrated from the sound waves, and then it heaved in mighty spasms that splintered giant trees and sent them crashing down into newly formed crevices. Then came a rushing wall of water that swallowed up the village, covered the whole countryside, and formed a great lake.””

— Kathryn Tucker Windham, "Thirteen Tennessee Ghosts and Jeffrey"

“it has been discovered that a lake was formed…”

Along the northwestern edge of Tennessee sits Reelfoot Lake. The only natural lake in the state, it's a flooded cypress forest that has more in common with the bayous of the deep south than other more open and expansive lakes of the surrounding area.

Yet this lake dates back only two centuries and owes its creation to the massive New Madrid earthquakes that rocked the area in 1811-1812 and caused the Mississippi River to temporarily flow backward. Yet according to local legend the cause of those earthly upheavals was more than simply nature. Legend says that the origins of Reelfoot Lake can be traced back to the actions of a Chief of the Chickasaw people who once inhabited the now submerged land.

Additional Links From This Episode:

• Purchase the Feminine Macabre, Vol. 3.

Sources:

Center for Earthquake Research and Information. “New Madrid Compendium Eyewitness Accounts.” University of Memphis. Accessed September 9, 2022. https://www.memphis.edu/ceri/compendium/eyewitness.php.  

Eastwood, Vera. “The Legend of Reelfoot Lake.” The Taylor-Trotwood Magazine, XII, no. 1 (November 1910): 155-159. GoogleBooks. 

Jillson, Willard Rouse. “The Discovery of Kentucky.” Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, 20, no. 59 (May 1922): 117-129. GoogleBooks. 

Nelson, Wilbur A. “Reelfoot - An Earthquake Lake.” The National Geographic Magazine, 43, no. 1 (January 1923): 94-114. Accessed September 9, 2022.

“Notes & Comments.” The Bulletin: A Monthly Journal Devoted to the Interests of Hoo-Hoo XV, no. 157 (November 1908): 3-6. GoogleBooks.

“The Legend of Chief Reelfoot.” Reelfoot Outdoors. Accessed September 9, 2022. https://www.reelfoot.com/legend_1.htm. 

“The Murderous Night Riders.” Collier’s The National Weekly, November 14, 1908. GoogleBooks. 

Vanderwood, Paul. Night Riders of Reelfoot Lake. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2003.

Walker, Emma. “The Fascinating Story Behind Reelfoot Lake.” RootsRated. December 12, 2016. https://rootsrated.com/stories/the-fascinating-story-behind-reelfoot-lake. 

Windham, Kathryn Tucker. Thirteen Tennessee Ghosts and Jeffrey. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2016.

Wright, George C. Racial Violence in Kentucky, 1865-1940: Lynchings, Mob Rule, and “Legal Lynchings.” Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1990.

John Murrell’s Mystic Clan

The Great Western Land-Pirate

Legend says John Murrell’s father was a preacher and his mother took pride in teaching him how to steal, but that is just the first of many claims made about this infamous highwaymen who was once accused of being the mastermind of a criminal organization known as the Mystic Clan.

This minisode is a companion to the episode, McRaven House’s Haunted History.

Additional Links From This Episode:

• Purchase the Feminine Macabre, Vol. 3.

Sources:

Phillips, Betsy. “The Strange Story Behind the State’s Thumb.” Nashville Scene. October 28, 2015. https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/pithinthewind. 

“A History of the Detection, Conviction, Life and Designs of John A. Murel, The Great Western Land Pirate.” Walker Library, Middle Tennessee State University. 2020. https://library.mtsu.edu/specialcollections/spotlight/2020murrell. 

“John Andrews Murrell (1806-1844).” Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Updated September 29, 2021. https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/john-andrews-murrell-3566/. 

Penick, James Lal. “John A. Murrell: A Legend of the Old Southwest.” Tennessee Historical Quarterly 48, no. 3 (1989): 174–83. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42626808.

The Restless Spirits of Rotherwood

“Ghosts bridge the past to the present; they speak across the seemingly insurmountable barriers of death and time, connecting us to what we thought was lost. They give us hope for a life beyond death and because of this help us to cope with loss and grief. Their presence is the promise that we don’t have to say goodbye to our loved ones right away.””

— Colin Dickey, "Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places"

One Home, Two Very different Spirits…

On the west side of Kingsport, Tennessee is Rotherwood, an old antebellum mansion overlooking the spot where the two forks of the Holston river come together. Today this red brick structure is privately owned, but according to local lore, it is home to more than just the living.

For the last half a century, stories have placed at least two spirits on the ground of Rotherwood Mansion. First is the beautiful “Lady in White,” Rowena Ross who is forever searching for her lost love who died before they had a chance to marry. Second is the notorious Joshua Phipps who is said to have delighted in the torture of his enslaved workforce and ultimately died a horrifying death. But what is the truth behind the legends of Rotherwood, we may never know.

Additional Links From This Episode:

• Purchase the Feminine Macabre, Vol. 3.

• Listen to Brandon’s Interview on the Me & My Friends Podcast

• Watch current owner Dr. Lenita Thibault discuss the history of Rotherwood (2016)

Sources:

Barton, Steve. “Cold Spots: Rotherwood Mansion.”Dread Central. July 15, 2019. https://www.dreadcentral.com/cold-spots/12474/cold-spots-rotherwood-mansion/.

Brown, Alan. Haunted Tennessee: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Volunteer State. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2009. 

Dickey, Colin. Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places. New York: Viking, 2016.

Dugan, Nick. “Haunted Tri-Cities: Tales from Kingsport’s Rotherwood Mansion.” WJHL News. October 29, 2021. https://www.wjhl.com/haunted-tri-cities/haunted-tri-cities-tales-from-kingsports-rotherwood-mansion/ 

Dykes, Pete. Haunted Kingsport: Ghosts of Tri-City Tennessee. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing Inc., 2008. 

Hendricks, Nancy. Haunted Histories in America: True Stories Behind the Nations Most Feared Places. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2020.

Leonard, Austin. “The Legends of Rotherwood Mansion.” The Kayseean. March 11, 2021. https://thekayseean.com/life-and-culture/the-legends-of-rotherwood-mansion/. 

Ross, Rev. Frederick Augustus. The Story of Rotherwood from the Autobiography of Rev. Frederick A. Ross., D.D. Edited by Charles C. Ross. Knoxville, TN: Bean, Warters & Co., 1923. Google Books. https://books.google.com  

Rotary Club of Kingsport, Tennessee. Kingsport: The Planned Industrial City. Kingsport, TN: Kingsport Press, Inc. 1946. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/kingsportplanned00rotarich/.

Scoggins, Katherine. “History on display at Rotherwood’s bicentennial celebration.” Kingsport Times News. September 16, 2018. Updated July 6, 2020. https://www.timesnews.net/.

Simmons, Shane. A. Legends and Lore of East Tennessee. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing Inc., 2016. 

“Will of Joshua Phipps.” Hawkins County Genealogy & History. Updated March 10, 2014.  https://tngenweb.org/hawkins/phipps-joshua-will/

The Mysterious Death of Meriwether Lewis

American Explorer’s Unsolved Death

On May 14, 1804 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out on what would become a two year expedition across the western half of the United States.

Yet for all the successes of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, there lies a shadow over the legacy of the famed Meriwether Lewis-- for as this daring explorer was able to survive the treacherous journey into the vast wilderness of North America, his life came to an end not long after his return-- a tragedy with mysterious circumstances that over two centuries later remains unsolved.

The Franklin Masonic Hall

One of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War took place in the small town of Franklin, Tennessee.  However, the rich history of this southern community is far deeper than what occurred on November 30, 1865, and no structure in this historic town exemplifies that past more than the Historic Franklin Masonic Hall-- a three story brick building that has stood for almost two centuries.

Stay tuned after this episode for a brief interview with Rachael Finch, the Executive Director of the Historic Franklin Masonic Hall Foundation.

Ghost of Fiddler's Rock

On a precipice near the top of Stone Mountain in Johnson County, Tennessee is a flat outcropping of sandstone called Fiddler's Rock. The mysterious landmark is covered in carvings of images, names and dates; however, what makes Fiddler's Rock so infamous are the purported sounds of a ghostly fiddle playing in the distance.

Legend of the Bell Witch

The Red River runs for over a hundred miles through South-central Kentucky and Middle Tennessee.  A tributary to the Cumberland river, it’s named after the river’s unique watercolor, caused by clay and silt deposits containing iron oxides.  In 1778, Thomas Kilgore built a fort on the banks of the Red River near present day Cross Plains, but native hostility was so great he abandoned it in less than a year, a scenario that played out over and over for the next decade till unfair treaties and American coercion pressed the Native tribes west.

But it’s also during this era, in the early nineteenth century, that one of the most well documented hauntings in American History occurred, right here in Robertson County on the Red River.

A legend so infamous, it purportedly caught the attention of a future President; gripping a small Tennessee community for years, and terrorizing a family for generations.

A legend known as the Bell Witch.

The Seer of Shelbyville

On March 22, 1957, Simon Warner, a self-described "crime doctor," was murdered at is home in Shelbyville, Tennessee for allegedly placing a Voodoo hex on a man who had come to him for help; and while Warner was certainly not a Voodoo practitioner, many believed he held supernatural powers.