Ghosts of Brethitt County, Kentucky

 Papas and Mamaw Spencer grew up in Brethitt County, Kentucky. I guess they encountered a few ghosts there. I'm going to try and retell the stories that they told me. I don't want them to be lost. 

If you see a mistake, Uncle Bud, let me know and I'll correct it.

Mamaw said there used to be a log footbridge that crossed a creek. Whenever she would step on the log, a small kitten would jump up on the log and walk across the log in front of her. When they got to the end, the kitten would jump off and disappear. She and others with her, looked for the kitten, but it was gone.

They crossed back to the other side of the creek, but saw no sign of the kitten. However, when they once again crossed the log to continue on to where they were going, the kitten again jumped up on the log. It only crossed the footlog in one direction. Nobody ever figured out what caused the kitten to haunt the footlog.

Mamaw also told another story. A young married couple down the road had a baby. One day while the husband was at work, the wife was working in the kitchen. The baby was sleeping in the bedroom. Nobody else was in the house, but she heard someone in the bedroom, whispering to the baby. She couldn't hear well enough to hear what was being said. 

She rushed into the bedroom and saw what's appeared to be an angel hovering over the baby in the crib. 

She ran in and scooped the baby up and ran down the road until she reached a neighbor's house. She told the older woman what she saw.

When the neighbor heard what happened, she calmed the young mother and walked her home. When they got to the house, the neighbor took the baby, lay it in the crib, walked out and hid behind the door to watch.

After a few minutes she saw the little angel hovering over the crib. She walked in and asked the little angel, "What do you want?"

The angel floated across the room, pointed down at the hearth, the vanished.

They pulled up the hearth stones and dug a little ways down. They found the bones of a small child.

Someone in the community built a small casket for the angel child. They had a funeral and buried it in the graveyard. It never returned to frighten anyone again. It was at rest.

Papaw Spencer told about the Mill Pond Ghost. A young man was out courting his girlfriend one night. He had stayed later than usual and started saying his good nights to her family.

The girl's daddy acted sort of nervous and tried to get the young suitor to spend the rest of the night there and go home in the morning.

Somewhat surprised, the young man said, "No thanks, I have to be up early in the morning to milk. My folks will be expecting me home."

It was a clear night and a full moon was shining brightly, around midnight as the young man was passing by the old mill pond on his way home. He was surprised when he saw a woman coming to meet him, and he figured something was wrong.

"Is something wrong?" he hollered. "Do you need help?" The woman didn't answer, bit just kept going. She passed through a fence and that's when he noticed that she wasn't walking, she was floating.

He couldn't see the woman's face. It was shadowed by a large, old fashioned hat. He noticed she was dressed in clothing of an earlier time. Then she vanished.

He wasn't really frightened. He just figured it was some of his friends playing a joke.

Next time the young beau went courting his girl, her daddy questioned him about his trip home that night. Then he told him an old story.

There was once a man that built a mill over there at that big pond. As it was the only mill around, he became quite well off. He had a pretty daughter that he was very proud of.

The daughter fell in love with a neighbor boy, and they wanted to marry. The young man was poor and her papa said no. He sent the young man away and forbid him to come back. He left and went away, determined to make enough money to go back and marry his sweetheart.

The girl was heartbroken, inconsolable. One morning her parents found her gone. They got up a search party, but the only sign of the girl ever found was her hat. Someone found it floating on the mill pond. Her parents believed she had run away with the young man.

One day, the young man returned, having made a deal of money, to claim his bride. She was gone. Nobody ever found her. Now around midnight on clear nights during the full moon, she can be seen walking by the old mill pond.

Papaw Spencer said that a group of boys and girls were determined to see the ghost for themselves. One clear night, during a full moon, they all gathered by the mill pond and waited for midnight. Papaw said his sister went along and said she was going to talk to her. Some of the boys took their guns along, just in case.

Around midnight, the ghostly lady started walking towards them. Papaw said he caught his sister when she fainted. The boys carrying guns shot the specter. It turned into a big ball of fire, rose up into the air, and disappeared.