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The Supernatural

"         host stories... tell us about things that lie hidden within all of us, and which lurk outside all around us."

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- Susan Hill

As you drive through Chatham, you’ll find that the county is littered with physical relics of its centuries-long past: old farm houses and churches, repurposed factory buildings, historic sites and memorial plaques, all physical landmarks which testify to the county’s history. But for some, the past in Chatham reveals itself in far more intimate, immediate ways.

A bottle tree, outside of the North Carolina Museum of History. Originating in Gullah-Gechee culture, bottle trees are believed to trap unkind spirits, which are attracted by the haint blue color of the bottles. 

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Below, you will hear residents’ stories recounting their encounters with the supernatural. Some recall benign experiences with spirits, or haints*; others describe more malignant or frightful encounters. Still others describe how they deal with the physical and spiritual ghosts of Chatham's past, particularly its more shameful chapters of enslavement and racism. In any event, these ghost stories are often more than just a collection of trivial folktales; they instead reveal the ways in which the past is made present and how residents' reckon with the its haunting legacy.

*A "haint" is a term which originated from Gullah-Geechee culture referring to a spirit or ghost. Likely derived from the word haunt, this term is still used by many in the Southeast, predominantly among African American communities, to refer to supernatural figures and happenings. 

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Aspen Hall, a former plantation in Chatham. This plantation, was originally owned by the Alstons, a prominent planting family in the county before the Civil War. Today, Alston remains a common last name among both white and Black residents in Chatham, a haunting reminder of enslavement's legacy in Chatham

Listen to the Recordings

Annie McCrimmon

Haints

Description:

McCrimmon describes what a haint is

Transcript:

"Growing up, I always used to hear my mother and my grandmother, those two generations, talk about "haints." And they didn't say "seeing spirits" they were just plain "haints" they didn't call them "ghosts" they called them "haints." Haints were these spirits or apparitions that they saw if they were out walking at night. They say them sometimes in the evening. They always rented these old two-story houses back off the road and they were houses that had been abandoned by white families and so Black families rented those places typically. And usually there would be a pasture where the owner of that house would keep their livestock. But anyway, there was--so there was lots of walking. There might be a car in the family, but it wouldn't be the best car. So they got used to walking. Kids walked at night, you know, you might be three miles from your buddy's house, and if they stayed till after dark, but grownups tried to get them--discourage them from doing that. And they would tell them, "You know, there's some haints out there by the cemetery. You'll have to pass the cemetery. If you're not careful, you're going to see some haints" or "You'll see some haints coming in by the road by the pasture"
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Annie McCrimmon

Seeing a Haint

Description:

McCrimmon tells the story of childhood haint encounter her sister experienced

Transcript:

"My sister actually saw a haint when we had spent the weekend with grandma Edna and grandpa EP. There were 12 of those children, that was my mom's family, my mom's siblings. There were 12 of those children and the momma and the daddy. So sleeping was always tight, there was--nobody grew up sleeping in a bed alone, unless you were an only child. You shared a bedroom usually. But my sister and I were in grandma Edna's, in the room where we were sleeping, usually pallets they would put just blankets on the floor and a pillow. And the next morning, my sister woke up and she--I didn't hear this and didn't see this thank God, but she told me, she said, "I saw grandma come in the room in this long robe" and she said, "I said, 'Good morning, grandma!'" and she said, "she didn't say anything so I said, 'Good morning, grandma!'" and she says, "she didn't say anything so she says, "Grandma! Grandma! Good morning!" She says, "And then I realized it was not grandma." They were living in what was called the Old Mary Clark place in Chatham County. Mary Clark had been dead for many, many years. But that had been her old homeplace. And she said then she covered up her head because she realized she had seen a haint. So when we did get up later on she told grandma what had happened. And grandma started laughing right away when she first said, "I said, 'Good morning, grandma' and you didn't say anything." Grandma started laughing and said, "You saw Miss Mary Clark." So, evidently, she had seen her regularly. Haints didn't seem to frighten them, I never heard them call them ghosts, haints didn't seen to frighten them, it was something they had grown accustomed to."
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