On the outskirts of downtown Knoxville, a historic mansion rests near the banks of the Tennessee River. For centuries, the old homestead housed Tennessee’s first governor, William Blount, along with many notable guests, such as Andrew Jackson and Louis Phillipe, the King of France.
However, the mansion has housed more than just historical figures since its construction — and those creepy tales, myths and mysterious happenings are what mansion officials plan to entertain guests with during the mansion’s “The Mysterious Past of Blount Mansion Legends, Customs and Myths” Halloween-inspired tour this week.
According to Megan Stromer, a fifth-year in history and psychology and current lead docent at the mansion, the tour will include history on William Blount, his family and the many deaths that took place in the mansion. But the tour will also reveal lesser-known stories about the house’s mysterious past as well.
“We’re exploring more of the history of the mansion that we don’t tell all the time,” Stromer said. “Some of the stuff that actually went on while the Blount’s were living here and how some of that stuff can have a lingering effect today.”
Those still lingering at the historic site will be featured along with a bit of colonial Halloween history and a few Native American myths to set the scene for the haunted evenings.
David Hernes, assistant to the director at Blount Mansion, shared with The Daily Beacon the tour’s storylines and focuses throughout the event.
“We’re also going to be telling some of the Cherokee ghost stories like the Raven Mocker, which was an evil spirit who would steal your spirit while you’re dying, or Spearfinger, who takes the form of an old lady and will cut out children’s livers,” Hernes said.
To set the scene for these myths, the tour will take guests through the main house and the Craighead-Jackson House.
“Neither house has electric lights, so just going into the house alone in the dark is enough to be really creepy,” Hernes said.
Though Hernes and Stromer said both houses are filled with history, the Craighead-Jackson House, which will be open to guests for the first time in years, embodies an even more appropriate vibe for the upcoming tours.
“…next door, to me, is a much more legitimately creepy house than the main house,” Hernes said. “I personally don’t particularly like working in there by myself. I haven’t found anyone (who works there) that’s like, ‘Oh yeah, this is great!’”
And the mansion’s workers have plenty of chilling tales about the old house.
“We had a maintenance man working in there…,” Stromer said. “He had the lock on the door in the Craighead-Jackson disassembled so there’s no way that it should have been able to lock him in and he got locked in. He was stuck in there.”
Though the mansion’s maintenance man’s story serves as proof of the historic site’s creepy stories, other stories will make a debut on the tour. Stories such as the one about the slave girl whose dress caught fire in the Craighead-Jackson House (which contributed to her death), to the death of Native Americans and multiple Blount family members will also play into the tours. However, Hernes said to remember that most of these stories are based on legend.
“Most of what we’re working from is legends,” Hernes said. “The thing with legends is, there may be a grain of truth to it, but it’s these stories that have grown up in Knoxville over the years and everything, so that’s why we’re calling it ‘ghosts and legends.’”
But these mysterious tales and legends will be paired with a bit of history to give guests the full effect on these mystery-filled October nights.
“We’re also going to be talking about the history of Halloween and Halloween traditions, or All Hallow’s traditions, from the colonial period,” Hernes said. “Sort of set the stage here with that and then go over and take the tour. We’ll plant those seeds and then take them over and scare them.”
Tours are on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 per person. Reserve a spot online at squareup.com.
