Singleton tells of ancient Indian burial ground near Old Salem church

George Buster Singleton

(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 “Indian holy ground destroyed” was originally published in the Jan. 8, 1998 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

I first heard of this ancient Indian burial ground shortly after I arrived in Monroe County. Not long after I arrived in the area I was fortunate to meet two fine men who had lived here most of their lives. These men were Raymond Fountain and Tom Snyder. Learning that I was interested in early Indian history, they sought me out and we began to wander around over the area, looking and searching the locations that they knew about. These two men, who later became two of my best friends, seemed to already know where all of the important locations were.

This ancient burial ground of the early Indians was pointed out to me one day as we traveled along the old almost abandoned road that goes by Old Salem church and down across the deep bottom bordering Limestone Creek. “Thiis is the burial known as the Holy Ground,” stated Raymond Fountain. “These burials probably go back almost a thousand years or more. And, this area is supposed to be haunted, so the story goes,” stated Mr. Fountain.

Many times after I was first shown the burial site, I would make my way over to the place called the Holy Grounds. Most times I would go by and pick up my friend Tom Snyder and carry him with me. Uncle Tom lived only a short distance from the burials and he knew in detail the history of the ancient burial grounds.

The Holy Ground covered an area of about five or six acres, there in the bottom near the creek. The burial was covered with quite a number of tall palmetto plants. Atop each grave had been planted one of these plants according to Uncle Tom, so that the spirit of the departed who was buried there could come and go at will through this plant. The legends of the ancient Indians referred to the tall palmetto plants as the plant of the spirits. If this plant wasn’t planted atop the grave, the spirit of the departed could not return to visit their families or walk the area of the hunting grounds where they had wandered prior to their deaths.

Both my friends related stories to me about the Holy Grounds being guarded by those from the spirit world. I asked my friends if they would accompany me one night over to the burials and perhaps we could see some of the happenings that took place there. My friend, Mr. Fountain, stated that he hadn’t lost anything there, so he saw no reason to visit it at night. Uncle Tom stated that he was “getting too darn old to be frightened out of his wits and run into a tree and hurt himself.” But both agreed to come with me any time during daylight hours.

During the years since high school, I have done a great deal of research on the ancient Indians of the South. In the places known as Holy Grounds only the leaders of the tribes and the medicine men, who were known as the Wind Walkers, were allowed to be buried in these sacred places. I had heard the stories about the palmetto plants before coming to this area, but I was delighted to know that my friends knew about it also.

Legend has it that the leaders and medicine men could return again to their tribes after their deaths and advise those in charge about the spirit life that lay ahead and to guide those in charge about situations that were yet to come, that those living didn’t know about. The tough palmetto plant acted as a channel or a path for the spirit of the departed to come and go from the grave at will.

Many times, when my dear wife had to be away overnight because of her job, I would mount my trail bike and make my way down the back past the Old Salem church and into the large bottom near Limestone Creek. I would hide my transportation in the heavy underbrush and walk out in the ancient burial ground and sit down and wait for darkness to creep across the lonely bottom there near the creek.

I don’t profess to be a brave man. Those who knew what I was doing, perhaps thought that I might be a bit stupid for doing such a foolish thing. During the visits to Holy Ground, I have had the living daylights frightened out of me. After some visits I would return home and not be able to close my eyes for the rest of the night. All I could do was to lay awake and think of what I had witnessed earlier. The frightened sounds that I couldn’t identify there among the ancient burials were very disturbing. But, then again, I would go over on a given night and never see or hear anything. My two friends would later relate to me that they too had witnessed some of the unusual happenings that I had told them about.

But, the ancient burials known as the Holy Ground now ceases to exist. A few days aback, for nothing better to do, I mounted my transportation and decided to visit the area. Much to my surprise, the complete area had been destroyed by a logging crew. Nothing remains there now but piles of broken timbers and trash. The large palmetto plants that once marked the burials had been broken and torn down and dragged up into several piles. No timber was left standing there among the ancient burials. Deep holes had been cut in the ground and now rain water that fills the large holes almost covers the area. Deep tracks of heavy logging equipment now crisscross the burial grounds. And, the spirits of those who once slept here are doomed to wander forever, never to return to their final resting places which exists no more.

I am aware that we can’t preserve everything, but I think that we should respect those who have passed from this life and waits for the final day in the times of the unknown.

(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 to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, was bitten at least twice by venomous snakes, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. 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 also helped organize the Monroe County Museum and Historical Society and was also a past president of that organization. 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.)