A STATE OF HAUNTING
As we travel throughout the country and have a chance to visit haunted locations we will share them here with you. Check back often to see where we will go next.

The Sexton House, Russellville, Kentucky

I grew up in Logan County Kentucky hearing the story of the woman in the window. The story of The Sexton House has been passed down for generations. The story I heard many times as a child was about a young woman who was getting ready to go out on a date and it started to storm. She became angry that it was raining and while standing in front of a window she was using vile language and was cursing at God which resulted in her being stuck by lightning, killing her and etching her figure in the glass of the window. To this day it is said you can still see her figure in the window during a thunder storm.

While doing research on the house there are number of variations on the story but the result is still the same, the young woman is struck by lightening resulting in her death and her figure can still be seen in the window.

The *Sexton House was built in 1870 in the corner of the Maple Grove Cemetery in Russellville, Kentucky. While in the area on vacation during the week last week of September we drove to The Sexton House. They were preparing for a funeral that day and the "Sexton" or cemetery caretaker was standing behind the house. We asked him if we could take some photos and shoot some video. He give us permission to take photos and also gave us a tour of the house. He had lived in the house at one time, but said he had not had any personal experience. We asked if we could go upstairs to see the windows from the inside, and he informed us that there was no upstairs. The house not having an upstairs does not support the theory that the young girl was struck by lightening while getting dressed in her upstairs bedroom. Hmm!!!

Great story, but the house is missing two critical elements needed to support the story, an upstairs and easy access to the window area. The approximate size of the inside area of the window area is approximately 5' x 5'. It is obviously nothing more than an added agricultural feature of the house.

The care taker did tell us the he believes that the actual event took place somewhere on 6th Street in Russellville, but that the legend became attached to The Sexton House because it is located next to the cemetery.

Carter House / Carnton Plantation House, Franklin, Tennessee

Civil War battle fields are said to be haunted. The tragic suffering and death still imprinted on the ground where so many died. While down south we took a trip to Franklin, Tennessee to see and walk the ground of the Carter House and the Carnton Plantation. The Carter House was the site of the bloodiest five hours of the Civil War. Approximately 19,000 Confederate and 19,000 Union soldiers met in battle on December 1, 1863. The battle began at approximately 4 p.m. and ended around 9 p.m. that evening. During that five hours 10,000 men were wounded, died, were listed as missing or were captured.

Twelve homes in the area were turned into field hospitals. Among them was the Carnton Plantation house. Hundreds of wounded and dying Confederate soldiers were taken to the plantation house. The surgeons attended to the wounded operating next to open windows and under the trees in front of the house. Blood stains can still be seen on some of the wooden floors. The amputated legs and arms were stacked as high as the smoke house roof. The suffering and death that occurred in and around the Carnton Plantation has given it the reputation as being the most haunted house in Tennessee.

A short distance from the house is a cemetery where the bodies of 1,400 plus Confederate soldiers lie. Many of the headstones simply read unknown.