Carnton Ghost
Reader Brianna writes concerning the Carnton Mansion in Franklin:
It has only been in the last few years that I decided that there were ghosts. I don't know why because I have had encounters--15 to 16 not counting the dreams I have had. I always just blew them off. Anyway, below is one of my experiences.
My daughter was on a field trip to Carnton Plantation, an antebellum home that was in the midst of the Battle of Franklin during the Civil War. Anyway, I arrived late and they had already gone into the home so I sat in my car waiting for them to come outside. While I waited I saw a Confederate General dressed in period piece with his jacket unbuttoned standing on the balcony. He had his saber on and his hat. I was too far away to see his face, but he did have a sweeping moustache. I just assumed it was a tour guide that had taken a break. Later when I had caught up with the group I asked my daughter if she had seen the "General". She replied that she hadn't. When we were on the porch I said something about the General to several people that worked there and no one seemed to know anything about him. Some women were dressed in period costumes but most were in street clothes. They said that no one ever goes on the balcony. I didn't think anything about it. Since most were volunteers I assumed they may not know for sure.
About a year later I was reading a book about hauntings in TN and came across a story of a Confederate General that some have seen at Carnton. I realized that I had seen a ghost. Shortly, thereafter, I returned to Carnton and asked the tour guide if anyone dressed in uniforms when they gave tours and he said no...the only time was when they had enactors doing the battle. Then I asked if the home was haunted and was told that was a bunch of crap. That no one that worked there had ever seen a ghost. Well, I did!
posted by John Norris Brown at 12:01 AM
16 Comments:
My son (13 at the time) saw the same ghost - said he had a hat on with a shamrock on it. During our 'ghost tour' in March 2005, my son and daughter (9) saw multiple ghosts, both outside on the porch and in the house. And when we returned home, my digital pics had unwittingly documented quite a few spirits appearing in the windows on the back of the house. A friend in Hawaii published the pic of one on the web (I believe it's one of Carrie McGavock's daughers) at http://ilind.net/images_2005/girl-ghost-1.html. There are others as well in the picture (including a giant soldier/general's face), but harder to discern.
People do go on that balcony. i myself have been on that balcony. I was married there a few years ago. I even have my picture taken on the balcony.
How in the world could the tour guide say that the hauntings were "crap" when they give ghost tours?! The hauntings are Carnton Plantation are world renowned!
I myself experienced the paranormal during a visit to Carnton one summer afternoon a few years back (believe it was 2001). I was standing in one of the rooms upstairs, the one that had the piano. The rest of the tour group had moved on into the next room. I stayed behind for a moment just to spend a few more moments in that room. I had a video camera at my side in my right hand. All of the sudden out of nowhere something pushed my arm in an upward motion. At first I thought it might have been a child who stayed behind and maybe trying to get around me. It felt very strange to say the least. I mentioned what happened to one of the tour guides who was not surprised. He stated that that particular room was where Carrie McGavok kept her children during the battle and played piano to try to drown out the agonies that were taken place around the house during the battle. Wasnt till later that I noticed that there was also a portrait of Carries daughters on the wall also in that very room. Makes me wonder if it was one of them.
I live in Franklin, and I can assure you that the house is haunted...
visited Carnton with family, Summer 2006, had a weird experience while visiting the log cabin down by the creek, it's located down the hill just on the east side of the home. It felt very suffocating. Just weird.
Then while touring the main residence as 20 or so of us were standing in a room downstairs just off the back porch (someone/something) give me a push while the guide was speaking. I almost fell down in front of the entire group. I was a little embarrassed. I was a little dizzy for the remainder of the tour.
The downstairs has more of a welcoming feeling, it certainly doesn't prepare you for the feeling of doom the rooms upstairs have. So much death and sorrow there. Melancholy
Adding to my first comment... my daughter saw a girl playing the piano. My son saw the guy with the shamrock on his hat - he was pacing on the porch and just walked away. My sister said the smell of blood upstairs in the former surgery was overwhelming. And all of us were really freaked out and did not want to stay in the front bedroom (in front of the surgery). It was NOT friendly in there. Big sense of heaviness upstairs. Both of the kids say that seeing a ghost is more like 'feeling a ghost with your eyes'. Hard to describe, but that's what they say - and their senses are different/ more pronounced than adults.
I think it is the 12 year old daughter.
I went to the Carnton mansion on the 13 of July and in certain parts of the building i kept smelling sweet perfume! And my daddy was standing on the porch for a picture when out of nowhere came a man's face and it looked like he was yelling at my daddy!
Whoever was talking about visiting the plantation in 2001, the piano is downstairs in the living room of the plantation where the big dining table is (the second door on the right), and the portrait of Carrie's daughters is hanging in the master bedroom upstairs which is the first door on the left when you reach the top of the stairs. They hung the portrait up in the master bedroom so that when they woke up in the morning, their faces were the first thing you saw.
Somewhere in there you aren't getting your facts straight.
The previous comment was made on Tuesday, November 13, 2007, for the record.
I'm looking forward to visiting Carnton.
I've been to Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, LA twice, and have not experienced anything.Actually, I had been told by other B&B owners in the area that everything there is made up, and even the "historical" stories have no historical basis.
My daughter and I visited Carnton about 20 years ago sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. During the previous Halloween, a TV special about Tennesee ghosts had been shown and Carnton was one of the locations. The story was that a group of Girl Scouts had taken a tour and one of them had snapped a few photos while there. When they were developed, her mother contacted a friend of hers who was also the lead tour guide at Carnton. A picture taken in the front parlor distinctly showed the form of a woman standing in the doorway to the entrance hall. This was shown during the TV special.
When we visited, I asked the tour guide (in front of about 15 tourists) about the photograph. She said that it was true, that there was a photo that existed and that it was locked up in the office safe. She then went on to tell of a story about a man who was doing some painting in an upstairs bedroom a few months prior. She asked "isn't it time for you to go?". He turned back around and she was gone. He began to clean up and put his tools away for the next day and went down stairs, where he met one of the tour guides who asked if he was leaving for the day. He told her about the young lady upstairs. The tour guide told him that there was no one else in the house except the two of them. She said he left and did not return the next day, but sent another employee instead.
Do I believe the stories are true? Yes.
April 10, 2008
19 years ago this week, a friend of mine and I went to Nashville and toured Carnton. We were going to tour the Carter House first, but when we got there, there were police cars around the house, so we drove off to Carnton. As we were touring the house, we told the guide that we also wanted to see the Carter House, but the police were there and we had no clue what was going on. She called the Carter House and they told her that a burglar alarm had gone off so the police were there, but everything was fine, send us over.
The guide at Carnton told us that we should hurry over to the Carter House, as they closed within about an hour, but if we wanted to come back and wander in the cemetery later, we were welcome to do so. When we got done at the Carter House, we did return to Carnton, and although the house was closed and locked, we spent a lot of time wantering in the cemetery. However, I found myself glancing up at the house all the time and I had the very strong feeling that we were being watched by "someone." I never saw anything, but the feeling was really creepy and has stayed with me to this day.
My family and I visited the plantation last year. My son and I were fine until we went into the dining room. I became very dizzy and sick. Then all I could do was stare at the table. I held onto the wall and my son so I wouldn't fall down. The guide said the soldiers had been operated on and limbs amputated on the table. Just as I thought I was going to have to leave the room, I looked up at the guide and we were taken out of the room. My son later said he felt the same thing, but not as severe as I did. My only wish is that they allowed video and pics to be taken inside the house. I contacted the Carter House and they have the same rule. Does anyone know why?
I have a framed print of the Carnton Mansion hanging in my front bedroom. When I bought it I had no information about it. I was just drawn to it. I have since read a few articles about it. I have enjoyed reading these posts.
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