I've now stayed in a haunted house. . . .seriously

I've mentioned in recent posts about our family trip to Vicksburg last weekend. I am part of a group show currently showing at the Attic Gallery and my entire immediate family came for Friday night's opening. My parents, my wife, 2 sisters, 1 brother, and 7 neices and nephews. As well as my mother-in-law, step-father-in-law, 3 brothers-in-law, sister-in-law, and several good friends. We spent a great weekend at Cedar Grove Mansion--all 25 or so of us.

What we didn't realize until we were checking out on Sunday, is that Cedar Grove is a very well known haunted mansion. Well to to everyone but us, apparently. I got a kick out of it. My wife was a little freaked out, the nieces and nephews really loved it.

My mother is a syndicated columnist for several small-town papers throughout the southeast. So rather than fumble through my own words trying to describe the experience to you, I figured I'd post her column which tells things in a much more entertaining way than I ever could. The link to her website is in the column on the right-- USA Deepsouth. It's an eclectic collection of musings from writers all over the world. Check it out.

Here is her most recent column, just in time for Halloween:

Living and Dying in Dixie . . .


"With Halloween close by, I’m thinking this is the ideal time to write about my latest adventure. I don’t have many adventures, really, so I grab them when I can.

Last weekend our entire immediate family – 17 of us – traveled to Vicksburg for a reception at the Attic Gallery, a well-known gallery with a fabulous eclectic collection of art. Our son, Will Jacks, is one of 7 artists whose work is being featured this month. (His New Orleans photography images are “powerful and stunning,” according to Lesley Silver, owner of the gallery. Of course, his mom agrees.)

Our accommodations for the weekend were at Cedar Grove B&B, a lovely antebellum home with grounds and gardens aplenty, providing lots of running and ball-playing space for the 7 grandchildren. The October weather was perfect; the staff was friendly and accommodating; the Cedar Grove restaurant was excellent.

G-Man and I were assigned the “General Lee Suite” (all the rooms are called suites) which was located with one other room down a flight of narrow stairs. The only windows in the room were two sets of small French doors that opened onto a tiny, dusty patio. The room looked as if it might have been two rooms at one time – very, very large, but very, very dark, with a red satin bedspread and half-dozen red satin throw pillows. Heavily accoutered, my elegant Uncle Bill would have described the decor.

There was one small problem with our room – the sound of footsteps on the stairs as we tried to get to sleep each night. The only other room on our hall was not occupied, so we were curious about the comings and goings, but we eventually tuned out the noise and snoozed.

The weekend was one to remember. The reception at the Attic Gallery, packed with appreciative viewers, went smashingly. Side trips with the children were made to the Mississippi River, the Vicksburg Battlefield, and to other spots of interest. We were sorry to see our family time draw to an end.

But on Sunday morning, as the adults packed, the children engaged one of the Cedar Grove attendants in a serious discussion about ghosts on the premises.

The genial attendant told them about the “Bonnie Blue Suite” upstairs, a beautiful room with a history. Seems there is a handprint on the wall in that room that refuses to be hidden with paint. The workers paint the room . . . and the handprint reappears. Yes. The children went to see and the print is there. The story is that a Union soldier died in that room, and as he expired he grabbed the wall. His ghost, the attendant said, still roams the mansion.

And why was a Union soldier dying in this Old South mansion?

Alas, or maybe not, the owner of the house, John Klein, was married to a Northerner who was kin to General William T. Sherman. After the siege of Vicksburg, General Sherman sent word that Cedar Grove was not to be destroyed. Instead, he instructed that the huge home should be used as a hospital for Union soldiers. Quite a few soldiers actually died there, and a number of their ghosts walk through the house, the attendant said . . . and they go up and down the staircase.

“Wow!” said the children. “And what other rooms are haunted by ghosts?”

“Well, definitely Suite 23,” he said, “because that was the morgue.”

What? Number 23 is “General Lee’s Suite” – the room where G-Man and I laid our heads each night and listened to the shuffling on the stairs!

The attendant’s eyes were wide as he told the kids. “Your grandparents probably didn’t notice anything since they’re older people, but you children would have been able to detect something different down there.”

I was not overjoyed at this news, but the kids thought that having Bebe and Pop sleep in the morgue was quite a joke.

And in spite of those blasted ghosts tromping up and down the stairs, I slept well.

Happy Halloween!"

~Beth Boswell Jacks