Ghost Hunting In Macon

Tim and I have been hanging out with the ghosts of the Allman Brothers, the Mississippians, and the families of Judge Asa Holt and William Butler Johnston.  At one time all resided in Macon, GA.  Investigating the locations significant to their lives has been an interesting way to see this town of 90,000 residents.

The Big House

One can hardly visit Macon without hearing of the Allman Brothers, the Southern rock group formed in 1969 by Duane and Gregg Allman whose unique blend of blues, jazz, rock and country music drew fans from around the globe.  The brothers, along with other members of the band--their roadies, friends and families--lived in the Big House, a residence on Vineville Avenue and now a museum, as their music took off.

Hanging above our heads is a photo of the Allman Brothers eating at the cafe.

Prior to their fame, the struggling musicians were regular customers at the H & H Cafe, sitting up at the counter to devour the soul food cooking of Inez Hill ("Mama Hill") and "Mama Louise" Hudson.  Ron, a fellow volunteer at our Habitat for Humanity build in Macon, directed Tim and I to the cafe's downtown location where we, too, ordered biscuits, eggs and sausage for breakfast.

Rose Hill Cemetery

Another hangout for the band was Rose Hill Cemetery which inspired one of the band's most famous instrumental songs, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.  According to the web site SongFacts which I quote here: Allmans' guitarist Dickey Betts wrote this song for a girl, but not the one in the title.  Elizabeth Reed Napier (b. November 9, 1845) is buried at the Rose Hill Cemetery where Betts would often write.  He used the name from her headstone as the title because he did not want to reveal who the song was really about: a girl he had an affair with who was Boz Scaggs' girlfriend.

The Allman Brothers' first album

Photos for the Allman Brothers' album covers were taken at various locations around Macon including their first album's cover of the white-columned building that is now home to the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University.

Graves of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley

Sadly, Duane Allman and the band's bass guitarist Berry Oakley were killed in separate motorcycle accidents, Duane on Oct. 29, 1971 and Berry Nov. 11, 1972.  The crash sites are a block over and a block up from one another in Macon.  Both are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery and so is Gregg Allman who died in 2017.

The entrance to Earthlodge

But enough about the Allman Brothers.  There are much older haunts to probe.  Over a period of 10,000 years, Ice Age hunters to Creek Indians lived along the banks of the Ocmulgee River.

The Great Temple Mound

Basketful by basketful, these people collectively called the Mississippians, carted dirt up from the riverbed to make a series of earth mounds important to their societies and religions.  The mounds they created are now preserved at Ocmulgee National Monument, a property of the National Park Service, located on the outskirts of Macon.  But that doesn't mean that Americans have always seen their worth.

Troops dug trench works heedlessly across the area during the Civil War and 19th-century industrialists financed the railroad that cuts through the center of the park.  Still, what does remain--Earthlodge, Cornfield Mound, Funeral Mound and the Great Temple Mound--are well worth a visit.

The Cannonball House

Next in line on our list of Macon must-sees was the Cannonball House, built by Judge Asa Holt in 1853.  The home was struck by a cannon ball from Union General George H. Stoneman's guns during the Battle of Dunlap's Hill on July 30, 1864, when the Union army tried unsuccessfully to take Macon.  The iron ball crashed through one of the home's columns and passed through a parlor before landing in the entrance hallway.  Lucky for Judge Holt's family, it did not explode and no one was injured by its passage.

Hay House

Just up Mulberry Street from the Cannonball House is the Johnston-Felton-Hay House located at the top of Coleman Hill.  William Butler Johnston and his wife Anne Tracy Johnston built and furnished this Palace of the South as it is nicknamed, from 1855-1859 for an astronomical sum that exceeded $200,000.  Mr. Johnston made his fortune as a jeweler in New York and subsequently diversified his money into banking and railroads.  He married Anne who was 20 years his junior in 1851 and the couple took a 3-year honeymoon to Europe.

The dining room is just one of the opulent rooms of the Hay House.

There they purchased many of the home's furnishings which they had shipped back to Macon.  Returning home, they built the 18,000 square foot, 24 rooms home with four levels and three-story cupola, incorporating many technological advances including central heat, an intercom system, hot and cold running water and a French lift similar to an elevator.  The Johnstons' daughter Mary Ellen Felton and her husband lived in the home following the deaths of her parents before selling the property to Parks Lee Hay and his wife Maude. Upon their deaths, the home was turned into a museum and finally transferred to the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.

Easter morning's moonset

Finally, we were in Macon in time to celebrate Easter.  We attended an Easter Sunrise Service at Coleman Hill Park where the sponsoring church had set up a lighted cross.

Easter morning's sunrise

As we watched the full-moon give way to dawn, I meditated upon the great sacrifice of Christ who willingly chose to die on a cross in payment for all my wrongdoings.  Unlike the people I've mentioned above, He rose again that first Easter Sunday so I could claim His promise of eternal life and the gift of His Holy Spirit.