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| The grave of Grancer Harrison near Kinston, Ala. |
The story of Grancer Harrison, aka “The Dancing Ghost,” is
one of the most iconic ghost stories in Alabama history, and many Alabama
residents have become familiar with his spooky story through Kathryn Tucker
Windham’s classic book, “13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey.” Windham devoted an
entire chapter in her book to the tale of Grancer Harrison and also included
photos of his grave in the Harrison Cemetery near Kinston.
I’ve read the tale of Grancer Harrison many times over the
years, and I’ve always wanted to see Harrison’s grave for myself, which is why
I put a trip to his grave on my bucket list several years ago. Yesterday, I
found myself with a few hours to kill, so my son and I made the short drive to
Kinston and got an up close look at Harrison’s tomb.
For those of you unfamiliar with the story of Grancer
Harrison, he was a large plantation owner who moved to Alabama from South
Carolina in the 1830s. Harrison loved to have a good time, and he was known far
and wide for his barbecues, horse races and dances. Harrison loved to party so much that he eventually had a
large dance hall constructed near his farm.
Time passed, and as the time of Harrison’s death approached,
he had his slaves prepare his tomb a short distance from his large dance hall.
The story goes that, even in death, Harrison wanted to be close to the dances and parties yet to come, and he was buried there (complete with his dancing shoes) when he
passed away in the 1860s. Sadly, with Harrison now dead, the local dances and
parties faded in popularity and soon came to an end. It just wasn’t the same
without fun-loving Grancer around.
It was around that time that things took a turn for the spooky. According to
Windham’s book, people began to hear “the eerie sounds of fiddling and dancing
coming from the cemetery” where Harrison was buried. Other witnesses claimed
that they could hear the voice of a man calling out square dances and music coming from the cemetery.
My son and I visited the Harrison Cemetery on Sunday
afternoon, and even in the bright sunshine of a crisp February afternoon, the
cemetery still put off a strong, creepy vibe. Although Harrison’s grave isn’t
marked with his name, we knew what it looked like and where it was located thanks to pictures of it in
Windham’s book and photos of it we found online. We checked out Harrison's grave closely and also placed a couple of quarters atop the grave along with all the
other items visitors have placed there over the years.
During our time there, we didn’t experience anything out of
the ordinary. We didn’t hear any unusual music or ghostly voices, but who’s to
say what we would have experienced had we stayed longer. In all, we probably
spent about 20 minutes in the cemetery, and we left more than a little pleased to have
scratched this ghostly field trip off our list of places to see for ourselves.
In the end, how many of you have visited the grave of
Grancer Harrison? What did you think about it? When did you visit this location,
and who were you with? Did anything out of the ordinary happen? Let us know in
the comments section below.
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