Singleton writes of William Coombs, Claiborne's 'Broken Hearted Stranger'

William Coombs, the 'Broken Hearted Stranger'

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “The Broken Hearted Stranger” was originally published in the April 1, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

Sleeping beneath the tall pines in the old cemetery lies the remains of Claiborne’s “Broken Hearted Stranger.” Known to only a few, one may pass this tomb many times and not pause long enough to read the tragic lament inscribed on the headstone of William Coombs, who, as a young man, traveled from Portland, Maine, in search of his one love who came with her family south into the wilderness.

Heartsick and weary, Coombs stopped to rest in Claiborne, where he contracted yellow fever. As he lay on his sickbed, knowing that he soon would begin his journey into the Great Beyond, he put together his final epitaph:

Alone and in sorrow

Dark hours roll by

Forsaken and friendless

Why should I not die.

The turf will lie lightly

Above this lone spot

Where the broken hearted stranger

Lies alone and forgot.

Many winters have come and gone since that evening William Coombs was laid to rest by the kind people of Claiborne, many of whom were destined to join him soon, also victims of the dread fever that took its toll in the town by the river. One wonders that maybe somewhere along the way, this weary stranger has found in the spiritual world the lover who caused him to journey this way and lie forgotten beneath a blanket of pine needles on Claiborne’s Hill.

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born during a late-night thunderstorm on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from 1964 to 1987. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)