“Although certainly not everything written here is true, one can be assured that most old tales still told about ‘Grancer’ Harrison have some basis in fact, and many are true in their entirety.””
Dance, dance, dance, while you may…
For decades, folks traveling along a long, lonely stretch of country road, just east of Kinston, Alabama have claimed to hear the faint sounds of a fiddle playing, or the tap tap tap of dancing feet emanating from an old, empty country cemetery. It’s said that those who hear this phantom music and dancing steps have had an encounter with one of Alabama’s most well-known spirits, the dancing ghost of ‘Grancer’ Harrison.
William ‘Grancer’ Harrison established a successful 2,500-acre cotton plantation on land just outside what is now Kinston. Though a planter, it was said that Harrison enjoyed nothing more than the company of his friends, so much so that several times a month he’d throw parties, barbecues, or horse races for all to enjoy.
It was said that not long after the parties finally stopped, spectral sounds of fiddle music and disembodied dancing began to emanate from the cemetery on Saturday nights. The parties may be over, but Grancer Harrison ain’t done just yet.
Additional Links From This Episode:
Sources:
Brown, Alan. The Haunting of Alabama. Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing, 2017.
Boutwell, Josh. “The haunted history of Kinston’s dancing, fiddling, Grancer Harrison.” October 21, 2020. The Southeast Sun. https://www.southeastsun.com/news.
Burgess, John A. “‘Grancer’ Still Dances 100 Years After.” The Montgomery Advertiser and Alabama Journal, February 23, 1969. Newspapers.com.
Duncan, Andy. Alabama Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff. Guildford, CT: Globe Pequot, 2009.
“Grancer’s Ghost.” William G. Pomeroy Foundation. Accessed October 12, 2022. https://www.wgpfoundation.org/historic-markers/grancers-ghost/.
Hauck, Dennis William. Haunted Places: The National Directory. New York: Penguin Books, 2002. Guildford, CT: Globe Pequot, 2018.
Ogden, Tom. Haunted Cemeteries: Creepy Crypts, Spine-Tingling Spirits, And Midnight Mayhem. Guildford, CT: Globe Pequot, 2010.
The Opp News (Opp, AL). “Grave Robbers Use Dynamite To Blast Open 100 Year Old Tomb.” June 6, 1963. Newspapers.com
Weeks, Paige. “Weeks of Terror: The Dancing Ghost of Coffee County (Grancer Harrison).” WDHN. October 18, 2019. https://www.wdhn.com/news.
Windham, Kathryn Tucker and Margaret Gillis Figh. Thirteen Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2014.
In the city of Cleveland,Tennessee is a legendary mausoleum haunted by the spirit of young girl killed in a tragic accident at a railroad crossing. Legend says if you circle the tomb seven times and then approach it's entrance, the metal door will swing open and invite you in. Yet this legend isn’t what made the ornate marble mausoleum the basis of one of the most infamous ghost stories in East Tennessee— it’s that the marble tomb seems to bleed.
