More details provided about 'haunted' Harriss-Jones House

Harriss-Jones House as it looked in the 1970s.

A couple of weeks ago in this space, I wrote about the old Harris Hill Cemetery, north of Oak Hill, and mentioned a “haunted house” not far from that historic graveyard. Since then, more than a few readers have e-mailed me about this old house, and this week I wanted to pass on what I’ve come to learn about this spooky residence.

For those of you who missed it, the story goes that an old house on the Allenton Road, on land adjacent to the Harris Hill Cemetery property, was once occupied by Laurie “Laurel” Bondurant Jones. Sources say that when he died there were offers of free ownership to anyone who could spend an entire night in his old house. However, the place was so creepy that no one could pull it off, or so the story goes.

Old time residents of the community also said that they remembered hearing people tell tales of seeing an unoccupied rocking chair on the front porch of the house that would begin rocking inexplicably at sunset. This spooky phenomenon was said to have been witnessed by many, giving the house an eerie reputation in the community. Those traveling on foot to night services and functions at nearby Mount Zion Baptist Church would run past the house on their way to and from the church, they said.

According to some readers, this old house was formally called the Harriss-Jones House and was located on County Road 24, just past the road leading to the old cemetery. Sources say that this was one of the oldest houses in the area and had been occupied by many different people over the years, including Mr. and Mrs. Francis Harriss Sr., Mr. and Mrs. Francis Harriss Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Edward Carter, Mr. and Mrs. James Harvey Jones, Grace Harris Jones and others. Sources say there were two families in that area who went by the last name Harris, one spelling it with one “s” and another spelling it with two.

Old Allenton Tavern on Wilcox County Road 24.

The last person said to have lived in the old house was Laurie Bondurant Jones, who apparently went by the nickname “Laurel.” Born on Nov. 18, 1903 to James and Grace Jones, Laurie lived alone in the house for many years after the death of his parents. In his old age, he eventually moved to a nursing home in Greensboro and passed away at the age of 85 on Nov. 6, 1989. He was buried in the Bethel Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church Cemetery at Oak Hill, just a short drive from his old family home.

Others in the reading audience wondered if this old house might be the old Allenton Tavern, which was also located on County Road 24. This old tavern was photographed by Alex Bush in the 1930s during the federal government’s Historic American Buildings Survey. I don’t know if this old tavern still stands today, but photographs of it as it looked during the Great Depression are on file at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

In the end, I’d like to hear from anyone in the reading audience with more information about the old Harriss-Jones House and the spooky tales about it. Are they just old folk tales or is there something more to this house’s unusual reputation? Also, please let me know if you know anything more about the old Allenton Tavern, and I’ll be happy to pass that information on to readers at a later date.