Sally Carter’s Grave?

Stan Chunn

LHS '73

I’m from the future…the class of 1973. I’ve been enjoying the newsletter even though I know none of your classmates and very few of your teachers. The parts on generic Huntsville are interesting.

By the time our class graduated,  they had to split the  school time up into two sessions and then had to build Johnson High to suck up the extraneous student load. We still graduated with close to 600 in our class. Way too big, in my opinion.

This may have already covered this in a past newsletter. I’m still working my way up to 2018.

I am curious  to see if anyone has already covered nocturnal trips your class might have taken to Sally Carter’s grave?

The format seemed the same. Go looking for  the grave that is close to Mayfair Church of Christ , or Sally if you got real lucky,  at night, never finding it, or getting chased off by some mythical owner with a shotgun. Usually something happened along that line.

But, that may have not been a thing in your era. The trips to the grave were dying out, so to speak by the time my middle brother graduated from Lee in 1978.

I do remember hearing the legend in 6th grade at Lakewood  if you chisled off a hunk of her tombstone, and took it home she would come back to your house and reclaim it. Maybe that ’s why it was hard to find….. not enough left.

According to Hauntworld.com, this is the story behind Sally Carter.

Cedarhurst Mansion was established by Stephen Ewing in 1823. Sally Carter, visiting her sister Mary Ewing at the mansion, was struck by a quick and fatal illness and died on November 28, 1837, just three weeks short of her 16th birthday. Young Sally had loved the estate, and that is why, some say, you can still feel her presence there today. 

Sightings of Sally go back to 1919, when a 17 year-old boy from Dothan, Alabama slept outside Sally’s bedroom. That stormy night, he had a dream that Sally visited him, asking him to prop up her tombstone. When he awoke the next morning, he explained the strange dream and told his family that he was going to Sally’s grave. They laughed at him, but when he arrived, her stone had, indeed, fallen over in the storm. This popular local legend ends with the boy going back to his home town of Dothan, never to return to Huntsville again. 

Previous to 1982, Sally’s grave was in the family plot on the estate. She had so many visitors, there was a well-worn path from the road. She did, unfortunately, also have many teenagers vandalize her grave. That is why, in December of 1982, Sally, her sister, and her sister’s three children were relocated to an undisclosed location in the Maple Hill Cemetery. That is… Her casket was relocated. 

Some claim that when her grave was excavated, the casket Sally was supposed to spend eternity in was empty. Besides tombstones falling over and caskets being empty of mortal remains, Sally has also stirred up local folks, being sighted walking the grounds of the estate she loved so much. A past guard at Cedarhurst heard Sally walking upstairs while working one night. After the woman’s shift ended, she realized she had lost some money while doing rounds. After searching the grounds, hearing footsteps following her and the unnerving flickering of her flashlight as if its batteries were ready to die, the guard gave up the money for lost. But once she returned to the guard shack, her flashlight flickered brightly, shining directly on the cash she had given up for gone. It was then she chose to thank Sally, and claims to have heard a young woman’s laugh in return. 

Someone who knew both the Thorton and the Grace families who lived in the house, had a friend who slept in Sally’s room. When asked what it was like, the friend told him about doors opening and closing by themselves, covers getting snatched off the bed and light switches being tripped. The girl thought it was all rather annoying, but after awhile got used to it and ignored the strange goings-on. Many woman claim that their jewelry has been broken in the area, beads on beaded necklaces scattering everywhere.

Cedarhurst Mansion located at what is now the clubhouse of a town home community. Because Cedarhurst is now a gated community, visiting the clubhouse is not all that likely. Some locals have been able to see the place where Sally died, but visitors are strongly discouraged.

Even so, Sally’s bedroom in the mansion has been preserved. If you really want to experience the ghostly Sally, there are always a few condominiums in the local gated community up for sale.

All of a sudden we find ourselves in a three sport week: baseball, football, and now basketball. I had so many games to watch I got a little behind in doing the newletter this week, but I still beat the deadline.

Since this is near Halloween, I thought I might share a story submitted by Stan Chunn. This is a new story for me, for I never heard about this before I moved away from Huntsville in 1964. Perhaps it was already well known back then by some of you, but not anyone in my crowd. I am sure this would have been something we would have had to do, knowing the mindset we shared back then.

Comments on Last Week's Issue

Richard Simmons, LHS ‘64, "I still have a vinyl "Heavenly" LP record.  Beautiful music.  "Play Misty For Me" was a good movie...surprising ending.  I liked all the performers though Clint Eastwood is the most well known."

Janet Holland, LHS '67, "We have a red booth, like England has, half way between Freeland and Greenbank, here on Whidbey Island, WA. It's by one of our well used bus stops, so perhaps it's still there as a "get out of the rain"  convenience. At any rate, it is a funny reminder of times gone by, and I laugh at all the humorous clips on TV/youtube of young people who don't know what they are or how to operate old phones."

Skip Cook, LHS '64, "In cleaning out some old things I found a photo of Mike Chisum (sp?) that says School Days 1959-60, Lee Jr. High.  With last names beginning with "C".  Mike and I were always in the same home room.  Mike and I were never close friends but I remember him well and we had several classes together - especially shop  class with Coach Glen Nunley.  I haven't seen Mike since graduation day in June 1964 and it's highly unlikely that our paths will ever cross again.  The photo has no value to me but I just can't seem to  toss it in the trash can next to my computer.  The photo  serves to remind me of those wonderful memories that were planted in my brain on so long ago. 

Slow Song Selections

You Picked in the Past

Cherish – The Association

"Cherish" is a pop song written by Terry Kirkman and recorded by The Association. Released in 1966, the song reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in September of that year and remained in the top position for three weeks. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 7 song of 1966, and later as No. 2, after a revision of the year-end charts. The single release was edited by speeding up the song and removing one of the two "And I do cherish you" lines near the end. This was done to hold the track to the three-minute mark, as AM radio programmers frowned on songs that went longer than that. However, even with the edit, the song still ran over. Instead of editing further, producer Curt Boettcher intentionally listed "3:00" on the label as the song's running time.

In the lyrics, the protagonist tells his love interest that he "cherishes" her, though he isn't sure if he actually loves her or only wants her. At the same time he's unsure the love interest is interested in him, because she is being courted by "a thousand other guys.""Cherish" has become a staple in wedding ceremonies and slow dances, and is considered the 22nd most played song of the 20th Century by the BMI.