between the magnolias

The Alabama meteor that wasn't.

Glynn Wilson made me giggle and curtsey all over myself today:

This may come as a surprise to some, but the so-called meteorite near the No. 8 green at Audubon Park is a chunk of iron ore from Alabama, most likely Birmingham’s Red Mountain. It didn’t drop in from space. It was dropped there by a fool public relations man, and sat there too heavy to move after the World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition ended in 1885.

Full moon names and their meanings.

Trying to hunt down the meaning of a "sugar moon" was like pulling metal teeth. But I learned a bit about moon names in the process. Here is what The Farmer's Almanac has to say about full moon names and their meanings:

Full Moon names date back to Native Americans, of what is now the northern and eastern United States. The tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full Moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred. There was some variation in the Moon names, but in general, the same ones were current throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England to Lake Superior. European settlers followed that custom and created some of their own names. Since the lunar month is only 29 days long on the average, the full Moon dates shift from year to year. Here is the Farmers Almanac’s list of the full Moon names.

• Full Wolf Moon – January Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January’s full Moon. Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon, or the Moon After Yule. Some called it the Full Snow Moon, but most tribes applied that name to the next Moon.
• Full Snow Moon – February Since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month, native tribes of the north and east most often called February’s full Moon the Full Snow Moon. Some tribes also referred to this Moon as the Full Hunger Moon, since harsh weather conditions in their areas made hunting very difficult.
• Full Worm Moon – March As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.
• Full Pink Moon – April This name came from the herb moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names for this month’s celestial body include the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and among coastal tribes the Full Fish Moon, because this was the time that the shad swam upstream to spawn.
• Full Flower Moon – May In most areas, flowers are abundant everywhere during this time. Thus, the name of this Moon. Other names include the Full Corn Planting Moon, or the Milk Moon.
• Full Strawberry Moon – June This name was universal to every Algonquin tribe. However, in Europe they called it the Rose Moon. Also because the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June . . . so the full Moon that occurs during that month was christened for the strawberry!
• The Full Buck Moon – July July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for this month’s Moon was the Full Hay Moon.
• Full Sturgeon Moon – August The fishing tribes are given credit for the naming of this Moon, since sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because, as the Moon rises, it appears reddish through any sultry haze. It was also called the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.
• Full Corn Moon – September This full moon’s name is attributed to Native Americans because it marked when corn was supposed to be harvested. Most often, the September full moon is actually the Harvest Moon.
• Full Harvest Moon – October This is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox. In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in September, but in some years it occurs in October. At the peak of harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of this Moon. Usually the full Moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the Moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice the chief Indian staples are now ready for gathering.
• Full Beaver Moon – November This was the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Full Beaver Moon comes from the fact that the beavers are now actively preparing for winter. It is sometimes also referred to as the Frosty Moon.
• The Full Cold Moon; or the Full Long Nights Moon – December During this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. It is also sometimes called the Moon before Yule. The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long, and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun.

Rick Bragg, pinto beans, daddylonglegs, and raising the boy.

Rick Bragg makes the South familiar to Southerners. Childhood memories are ripe for the picking. And so it is with The Prince of Frogtown, which Bragg wrote to shine a light on his father and illuminate his own venture as a later-in-life stepfather to a lovable character whom he calls "the boy". 

I turned forty-six in the summer of 2005 and became the closest thing to a father I will ever be, because I loved a woman with a child. I guess it happens all the time.

But a man who chases a woman with a child is like a dog that chases a car and wins. How many times since then have I stared at the boy in dumb wonder and muttered: "Son, if your momma had just been homely, think how much easier my life would have been."

The idea of having a boy had always nibbled at me. I could imagine us in a boat in the deep blue, casting into lucky water, talking about life. But the idea of a boy is one thing, while the reality is you spend your last spry years at the Sonic, stabbing at a big red button, then watching him baste the interior of your truck in root beer and barbeque sauce as he squeals, whines, pouts, and punches every button on the radio till all you can get is static and satanic howls.

Bragg's reluctance is strangely comforting, mostly because his complaints and groanings are stocked with wonder and a hefty serving of awe of "the boy". The book offers a grizzly-love approach to the reconciliation required by new parents-- a reconciliation with their own childhoods, their parents, and the reality of a life we live as imperfect human beings charged with grace.

As usual, Bragg brings local folklore to the table with pinto beans and the requisite drunkards. I can't think of another living writer who does such a wonderful job sharing the stories, legends, and lores that sustain rural Alabama culture. A meaty excerpt makes this abundant:

With the books of science and logic closed to them, they believed in things, in signs and warnings that had no foundation in the wider world. They planned their days in the morning, "turning the cup", when they would empty the coffee grounds into a saucer and examine the patterns on the porcelain. A teardrop shape meant sorrow. A streak represented a road, and meant that you would travel, or that someone would travel to you. A series of specks meant rain. They divined more of the future in cards. A jack of clubs meant a brown-eyed, handsome man would come to your door. A king of hearts meant a wise, older man, of fair complexion, would affect your life. The ace of spades meant death. They believed that a swarm of gnats heralded violent storms, that they could cure a sty in their eye if they stood in the middle of a darkened crossroads and chanted:

Sty, sty

Leave my eye

Catch the next

Who passes by

The believed it was an invitation to murder to bring an ax into a house, and the only way to undo it was to turn around three times and back out the door. They believed that a snapping turtle, if it bit their finger, would not let go until it thundered, that a coach whip snake could form itself into a circle, like a wheel, and roll down the trails after them until it caught them, and whip them to death. They believed if they killed a dove they would be punished by God, because the dove had been a sign of hope in a world drowned for its sins. They believed that the granddaddy longlegs, a delicate spider that moved on legs thinner than the finest wire, was good luck, and they would chant....

Granddaddy, Granddaddy,

Which way is your cow?

.....until the spider would lift one threadlike leg, and point.

It is such a pleasure to know this man lives in Tuscaloosa and that you can run into him at Manna Grocery and discuss how your baby son was "walked" around the house by an old black man named Arthur who knows everything about plants and heaven. Bragg's latest book deserves a read, especially by stepfathers and men who are raising children as foreign objects fully deserving of love, worry, sleepless nights, and redemption.

If you'd prefer to ramble on:

• A lengthy excerpt from the book is available at NPR. 
• Bragg discusses his book at a reading in this video.
• Bookslut's review of the book.
• NYT review.
• Blogcritic's review.
• Blogging for a Good Book's review.
• Swampland review.

The Leonid meteor shower of 1833: When Stars Fell on Alabama.

"The night the stars fell" - memories of a slave named Amanda Young about the meteor shower.

In 1934, "Stars Fell on Alabama" as sung by Guy Lombardo was the number 1 song on the billboards.

"Abe Lincoln and the Leonids", a good Yankee's perspective on the shower.

Kathryn Tucker Windham describes the lingering impact of that night on Alabama history:

Many of Alabama’s finest stories used to begin with a reference to “the night the stars fell,” and even now there is an inclination among some residents to divide local history into two segments: before the stars fell and after the stars fell. That would make November 13, 1833, the dividing line.

Thousands of Alabamians, thinking the end of the world was at hand when they saw the heavenly spectacle, fell to their knees to plead for mercy and forgiveness. Others promised eternal renunciation of sin (card playing, dancing, whiskey drinking, cursing, and associated vices) if they were spared whatever catastrophes were in the offing. Still others jumped upon horses and tried to outrace the fearful menace they believed was pursuing them.

That night, the night the stars fell, may have branded Alabama as a strange land, her people forever set apart by a horoscope of enchantment and turmoil. Some historians, sociologists, romanticisms, astrologists, and conjure women say so. Maybe it did. It was quite a night.

Storytelling spots aren’t all on front porches: they’re any place where storytellers gather. But the best stories are a family’s very own tales, stories whose humor and pathos provide nostalgic links with kinfolk who were here awhile ago.

The Leonids via wikipedia. 

Carl Carmer: Haunted Man in a Haunted Land

Sometimes it seems difficult to tell which came first-- Carmer's haunting, or Alabama's. For those who love ghosts as much as they savor folk-say, a detour through Carmer's life and doings is worthwhile.

• "The Strange Country", an article by Howell Raines about Carl Carmer's notable book and characters. Raines served as editor of the New York Times and acted as a mentor to Carmer.
• Carl Carmer at This Goodly Land, a website devoted to Alabama literature.
• Carmer later got involved in the environmental movement, as observed in this transcript for a documentary film titled, "An Enduring Storm".
• Carmer's small role in the controversy over "Follow the Drinking Gourd".
• Carmer on Hudson River sloops.
• The Octagon House in New York, where Carmer resided when he passed.
• Carmer and Norman Studer, New York folklorists.
• Carmer's relation to The Cavalcade of America and a few lost episodes.
• How Carmer's work inspired the making of an opera.
• Carmer later served on the board of the ACLU; one of his primary interests was the rights of Native Americans. His exchange with the Chief of the Seneca tribes is an interesting footnote.
• Carmer's relationship to buckwheat cakes.
• Carmer in the collections of the Auburn University Digital Library.
• Carmer's suggestions for best of New Orleans.
• "The Climber", a poem published by Carmer in 1932.
• A commonplace book which mentions Carmer.
• Carl Carmer's correspondences held in the archives at Syracuse.
• "Night Rider", a monologue for female performers by Carl Carmer. 

Alabama is the only state where a woman is known to have been struck by a meteorite, specifically, the Hodges meteor. Kathryn Tucker Windham tells the story best-- "When Stars Fell on Mrs. Hodges".

Teacher's Guide to lesson on "The Wetumpka Crater".

Documents to view at the Hoole Special Collections Library.

The truth is just a little dusty, but can be viewed by those who wish to pursue it.

Daniel Pinckney Christenberry commonplace book, 1883-1911, .4 linear feet A list of citations, evidently documenting Christianberry's reading, on various topics, mostly historical and literary. They are arranged alphabetically, by topic. Some clippings are attached.

"The Cowel Letter", circa 1800s, 1 page, front and back This collection contains a handwritten poem by an unknown author about a young woman's feelings after her lover has left her for another woman. The poem is dedicated to "M.E.C.," possibly the lover of the young woman.>

Charity Sophia Rutland Brett commonplace book, 1851-1856, 1 item Mid nineteenth-century cookbook and extracts from scrapbook of Mrs. Alexander (Charity Sophia) Brett. Includes a "Cure for Cancer," a "New broth for the sick," a "remedy for cholera," etc

Creek Indian Land Sales Collection, 1833-1841

C.T. Conn slave pass, 1857 January 31, 1 slave pass A slave pass written by C. T. Conn, requesting that his slave Nelson be allowed to visit his wife, 31 January 1857.

W. S. Adkins bill of sale, 1860 February 16, 1 item Bill of sale and warrantee for a slave named Zeke, sold by W. S. Adkins of Lowndes County, Alabama, for $1600. The buyer's name is illegible.

Alabama Citizen's Council oral history, 1979, .2 linear feet A collection of audiotapes and typed transcripts of interviews conducted with former members of the Alabama Citizen's Council from Tuscaloosa, Centerville, Birmingham, and other chapters across Alabama, by students in Dr. Culpepper Clark's SCT 536 class, spring 1979. Interviewees included both men and women and they were asked about the membership and motivations of the organization, reactions to Autherine Lucy's enrollment at the University of Alabama, the role of their chapters during the Civil Rights movement in Alabama, and related topics.

Martha Jane Coleman Banks cookbook and scrapbook, 1854-1860, 2 items, 2 pieces Cookbook and note/scrapbook with typewritten recipes. Also contains original scrapbook/diary, with miscellaneous writings, and newspaper clippings, poems, etc.

Archive of American Minority Culture records, 1979-1985, 2.2 linear feet A unique collection of non-print holdings including videotapes, audiotapes, phonograph records, slides, and photographs related to this grant project. It also contains manuscripts, curriculum guides, unpublished theses and dissertations, bibliographies, and other printed materials. Subject matter includes black history and culture, southern women's literature, oral history, political activism, folk religion, tradition arts, crafts, architecture and other topics relating to Southern history and culture.

Mary Allen receipt, 1853 January 3, 1 receipt One receipt from Mary Allen, acknowledging full payment from William Allen for the work done by her slave Bill.

Collective Protection Documents, 1940s, 0.1 linear feet Documents on Collective Protection probably produced by authorizes in Birmingham, Alabama and Montgomery, Alabama shortly after the United States entered World War II. They cover all areas of collective protection such as home protection, lighting restrictions, espionage and sabotage, war gases and shelters.

James S. P. Beck collection, 1924-1947, 12 items A miscellany of materials relating to Dr. James S. P. Beck, University of Alabama graduate (1924), including two co-authored articles about radiation burns among survivors of the Nagasaki atomic bomb blast and three photos of burn victims.

Alabama Writers' Conclave records, 1923-1995, 8 linear feet ; photographs This collection contains signed copies of seven Alabama authors' and poets' published works, two volumes of the Alabama Poet Society’s journal The Sampler, and framed photographs of conclave presidents from 1923 to 1961.

For information about how locals responded to the Leonid meteor shower of 1833:

Allen Family papers, II, 1833-1944, 2604 items More business and personal papers of John G. Allen (1810- 1891) and his son Charles Edward (1860-1943), planters of Marengo County, Alabama. The collection contains a variety of materials, including family letters, tenant farmer contracts, mortgages and indentures, bills and receipts, insurance policies, and other items.

Joe W. Burleson deposition, 1977 February 3, 1 item, 135 pieces; photocopy Tuscaloosa, Alabama Circuit Court deposition dated 3 February 1977, of plaintiff in civil action no. 7984, Joe W. Burleson vs. National Broadcasting Co., et al. The deposition concerns his role in the trial of the Scottsboro Boys and the portrayal of the incident in a television movie.

James Boykin papers, 1833-1967, .8 linear foot Papers of an important Dallas County, Alabama planter family, including correspondence, household and plantation records, domestic and business expenditures, records of cotton sales, sales receipts for slaves, foodstuffs, tools and other hardware, papers regarding James Boykin’s cavalry unit during the Civil War, and papers of Boykin's descendants down to the mid twentieth century.

Iveson L. Brooks papers, 1811-1911, 4.6 linear feet + 2 volumes A large collection of letters to and from this Baptist clergyman, planter and southern sectionalist, including defenses of the South, Brooks's business transactions, and family matters.

Carl Lamson Carmer letter, 1972 August 9, 1 item Letter written by this acclaimed writer of Stars Fell on Alabama to Mrs. Raymond McClain, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, discussing Mrs. McLain's association with Ruby Pickens Tartt, who Carmer praises for her value to the state of Alabama and her work to raise awareness of the folk traditions of Alabama.

Nelson Clayton papers, 1808-1868, 1 linear foot Papers reflecting the activities of a cotton planter in Lee County, Alabama, 1808-68.

A brief yet multifaceted survey of Alabama literary history.

That old Southern affinity for history never escapes the literary endeavors of its inhabitants. From the haunted characters of William Faulkner to the chivalric legacies of Samuel Minturn Peck, history seduces the Southern author. So Maiben Beard's interview with Professor Emeritus Bert Hitchcock from Auburn University on the topic of the historical novels resonates for many who love the literature of the South. (To download mp3 audio files, right click and "save as"....). After listening to the interview, you can peruse the Transcript or have a look at the Reading List.

Historical Southern Memoirs and Southern Literature available for free online:

Clay-Clopton, Virginia. A Belle of the Fifties: Memoirs of Mrs. Clay, of Alabama, Covering Social and Political Life in Washington and the South, 1853-66. New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1905, c1904.

Clemens, Jeremiah. Mustang Gray: A Romance. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1858.

Clemens, Jeremiah. Tobias Wilson: A Tale of the Great Rebellion. Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1865.

Crumpton, Hezekiah Jones and Washington Bryan Crumpton. The Adventures of Two Alabama Boys. Montgomery: Paragon Press, 1912.

Davis, Rebecca Harding. Bits of Gossip. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, & Co., 1904.    

Edwards, William James. Twenty-Five Years in the Black Belt. Boston: The Cornhill Company, 1918.

Jacobs, Harriet Ann. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Boston: Published for Author, 1860.

Johnston, Mary. Prisoners of Hope, A Tale of Colonial Virginia. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1898.

Matthews, Brander. The Historical Novel and Other Essays. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1901.

Monroe, Jabez Lamar. The South in the Olden Time. Harrisburg: Harrisburg Publishing Company, 1901.

Moore, John Trotwood. The Bishop of Cottontown: A Story of the Southern Cotton Mills. Philadelphia: The J. C. Winston Company, 1906

Following in the footsteps of Alabama ghosts.

In Wilcox County, it's known as "The Billie Hole," where in antebellum times a female slave jumped into a wooded pool because she didn't want to be sold.

The pool got its name after her death. Stories abound that on nights of the full moon, Billie can be seen to rise up out of the hole wearing a long white dress.

"One night a man saw her as he was walking through the woods," said Linda Vice of the Southwest Alabama Regional Tourism and Film Office. "When he got to a neighbor's house, all out of breath, he was all cut up. He had run through four strands of barbed wire to get away from her. Now you might not believe in ghosts, but that poor man saw something that scared him so badly he ran through a barbed wire fence to get away."

It's that history of things that may or may not go bump in the night that Alabama's Black Belt region is looking to cash in on.

The tourism and film office is working to establish a ghost trail stretching through the 18 or so counties that make a swath through the middle of the state, starting this summer. Named for its rich black prairie soil, the Black Belt was where King Cotton ruled before and after the Civil War.

"The Black Belt is rich in the history and culture of the Scots-Irish settlers and the African-Americans who toiled as slaves," Vice said. "Both cultures valued storytelling as a way to preserve their history, and both cultures understood the concept of second sight and a spirit world. So we have plenty of stories of ghosts and 'haints' to choose from for our trail."

The Black Belt is among the most economically depressed areas of the state, and tourism is big business in Alabama. In 2008 it generated an economic impact of $9.6 billion, according to Edith Parten, communications director for the Alabama Tourism Department. Last year, there were about 22 million people who visited the state, she said.

While there are no national statistics on the subject, paranormal tourism is becoming increasingly popular and communities across the country are taking advantage of haunting pieces of folklore and legend to bring in business.

Mansfield, Ohio, a city of about 50,000, has been at it for nearly a decade at the Ohio State Reformatory. The 19th-century prison is closed now, but its castlelike walls and imposing stone construction hearken back to another time. The prison should look familiar to movie buffs -- it's where "The Shawshank Redemption" was filmed.

Lee Tasseff, president of the Mansfield-Richland County Conventions and Visitors Bureau, estimates that the tours bring in 1,600 to 1,700 visitors a season.

"They have had to add more tours through the years because the demand is so high," he said. "We have had visitors from 25 states and Canada come to Mansfield to take part in the tours and walks. We estimate that since the tours started, they have brought in about 17,000 visitors. Some of those people may just drive over for a day and then go home.

"But many of them will spend a night in the city, buy gas and eat in our restaurants. So the tours have been very good for our tourism industry."

Other communities travel the specter trail as well:

 Richmond, Va.: Demand from visitors was so high this year another tour was added to the May through October Haunts of Richmond schedule. The company began the ghost tour in 2004, said Sandi Bergman, who started the company with her husband, Scott. Aside from being a historic city, Richmond is the hometown of Edgar Allan Poe, so stories of the spirit world abound.

 Cape Fear area of North Carolina: The city of Wilmington has nightly ghost walks that travel through the 275-year-old alleys and streets of the port city. This year two additional routes were added to the ghost walks. The ghost walk started with eight or nine stories and through the years expanded to 24 stories, with four more now in the works, said Connie Nelson, communications and public relations director for the Wilmington/Cape Fear Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau.

 Long Beach Island, N.J.: Lantern-lit ghost walking tours will return this summer to the Town of Beach Haven, said Maggie M. O'Neill, who started the tours as a way to inform visitors of the town's history. The tours began last year. In Princeton, N.J., The Princeton Tour Co. began ghost tours in July 2008, said Adam Perle, vice president of the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce. Guides dress in period costumes to lead the tours. There is also a Friendly Ghost Flashlight Tour for children in pre-kindergarten through second grade.

Houston: Discover Houston Tours added cemetery tours this spring, held each Sunday, said Lindsey Brown, director of marketing and public relations for the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau. The company began ghost walk tours in 1999 that are held each October. In 2007 the Broomstick Tours were added, where participants ride a bus to take in the haunted sites instead of walking. Stops include the Jeff Davis Hospital and Crematorium and the Battleship Texas State Historic Site.

So what's the attraction of having the bejabbers scared out of us? For most people it's just natural, said Dr. Allen K. Hess, a psychology professor at Auburn Montgomery.

"If life were all vanilla it wouldn't taste good," he said. "Whether its boredom or curiosity, seeking arousal is part of being human. We are attracted to the unknown and a certain element of danger. We are after the thrill being scared provides.

"In the case of a ghost walk or ghost trail that attraction is safe because it is controlled. We know that we are going to be safe when the tour is over."

The Black Belt trail is planned to be a self-guided driving affair. The ghost stories also will be told on video that will be posted on a Web site. The trail is set to open this summer with stories from Dallas, Perry and Wilcox counties. The effort is gathering stories from each of the counties in the region, which will be added to the tour as work is completed.

The stops include the St. James Hotel on Selma's Water Avenue. Overlooking the muddy waters of the Alabama River, the building's history dates back to 1837. Steamboats tied up near the hotel to offload supplies and load up cotton bales to carry down river to Mobile.

Passers-by often report seeing a white orb floating around the window of Room 301. The room and other parts of the hotel are said to be haunted by the outlaw Jesse James. He and his brother, Frank, visited relatives in the area after the Civil War.

"Jesse stayed in that room several times because it offered good views of the streets around the hotel. He was watching out for the law," said William Ezell, manager of the hotel. "His brother stayed in a separate room in the hotel, so there was always a chance of one of them getting away."

An oil portrait of a woman named Lucinda hangs in the foyer of the hotel. Local legend has it that she was Jesse James' paramour. Guests report seeing her ghostly image in the halls and seeing the specter of a man believed to be Jesse James sitting at a table in the drinking room. James wore spurs on his boots, and staff at the hotel have reported hearing jingling footsteps walking down empty halls.

It's not only the sounds of footsteps that seem to have other-worldly origins. James befriended a dog when he was in Selma, and late at night guests have reported hearing a barking dog in the courtyard, but when they look no animal is there.

Why James might haunt the Selma hotel is unknown. He was gunned down several states away. But Southerners don't let anything as trivial as logic stand in the way of a good tale.

"There have been investigations at the hotel that have shown paranormal activity," said Candace Johnson of the Selma-Dallas County Centre for Commerce. "We may never know why Jesse James is attached to the St. James."

His legend, and the ghost trail, is good for business, Ezell said.

"Anyone traveling the ghost trail is welcome to spend a few nights here," he said. Ezell admits to never seeing any ghost-related activity at the business in his two years as manager. "Anything that brings visitors to the area is good for the economy."

In the Black Belt, it's common for people to be accepting, even welcoming, of spirits seen as benevolent. That's the case with Charles and Jenny Holmes of Marion, a Perry County town about 30 miles northwest of Selma.

In 1978, the Holmeses moved an antebellum home about four miles down the road to their farm. They renovated the home, and in 1980 they moved in. This year, they opened a bed and breakfast in the home. Jenny Holmes said she has seen a mistlike form, wearing a white gown, several times in the front hall.

"I guess when we moved the house, she decided to come along," she said. "I've never felt any fear or have doubted what I had seen. We have three sons, grown and moved away now. Of course my husband and boys wondered about me when I first told them what I had seen. But my oldest son has seen her, too, so we just accept her."

After being in the house for several years, Holmes met a friend in town, whose mother had lived in the home in the early 1900s. The man asked if she had seen the ghost yet.

"I asked him 'What ghost?' and he said his mama had always seen a lady in a white gown near the front hall and kitchen," she said. "She's welcome here. As far as I know she has never done anything aggressive, not to my knowledge."

[Marty Roney, "Alabama ghost trail may scare up tourism dollars", Montgomery Advertiser, 9 July 2009]