The Dish Towel

The Dish Towel

by Tom Woodard

Shortly after we realized we couldn't afford to restore the Stewart-Hill-Foster House in Carrollton, Alabama (see "The Most Haunted House"), we purchased the home of my former wife's grandmother, Mrs. Virgie Findley, in Stansel, Alabama, which lies between Carrollton and Reform, about three or four miles South of Reform. This house had been built in 1890 and had been occupied by the Findley family since around 1935. It was in need of a total restoration, which we set out to do. From start to finish, it took us three years, with most of the work being done by me and my father-in-law, Fred Findley, who had grown up in the house. The last occupant was his mother, Mrs. Findley, who had recently passed away.

In order to do a thorough restoration, and to bring the house, as much as possible, back to its original state, we tore out all the plumbing, electrical wiring, and "modernizations" that had been added through the years, revealing the original 1 X 4 tongue and groove planking on floors, walls and ceilings. We then set about to scrape and re-paint the ceilings, among many other things. One day I was standing in the center hall, working in the house alone, when I glanced into the second bedroom on the left side of the hall, and there stood a man, slight of build, and dressed in denim overalls and a long-sleeve white shirt (as was the custom in the rural South in days gone by). My instant first thought was that it was Fred, but I almost immediately realized it wasn't him. As I looked at him, he slowly faded away, and I knew then I had seen a ghost.

Later that day, I shared this experience with my family, including Fred, describing the man in detail, and Fred immediately said "You saw my Grandfather Holliman." Turns out that Mr. Holliman had lived with his daughter and her husband in this house in the last years of his life. And perhaps he never left, although we never saw him again in all the years we lived there. I had never met Mr. Holliman in life, but when I described him, Fred had no doubt who I had seen that day!

Now, about that dish towel. Part of my routine when we lived in Stansel was to get up early, go out to the barn and feed the horses, and then come back in to the kitchen and make the coffee, all before anyone else arose. One morning, following my usual routine, I went out and fed the horses, then returned to the kitchen and washed my hands before making the coffee. After I washed them, I grabbed a dish towel, dried my hands, and threw the towel on the counter to my left, next to the sink. When I started to make the coffee, the coffee pot being to the left of the sink, my eyes came to rest on that kitchen towel and, boy, did I get a shock! That towel, carelessly cast on the counter, was neatly and perfectly folded, not once, not twice, but three times! I immediately went to the master bedroom and, sure enough, my wife was still in bed. So were our two daughters. None of them was awake. Only me and the spirit who folded that towel! This was, I believe, the most powerful, and the strangest encounter I ever had with a ghost, at least from the perspective of the effect it had on me!

There was one more encounter with a ghost at the Stansel house. One evening, just about dusk, my younger daughter headed out the back door to the barn to feed the horses. She didn't get far before she saw a woman, dressed in a long, flowing white dress or gown, walking - almost floating -directly across her path. As she watched the woman pass by in front of her, the apparition just disappeared! Never having encountered a ghost before, my daughter was quite shaken by this experience, and she still shudders when she mentions it, even though it occurred well over ten years ago.

During the restoration of the house at Stansel, I discovered evidence that the house had been built on the site of an earlier house and, Pickens County having been settled in the 1820's, people could have been living there for around 180 years. When a place is occupied that long, many tragedies and other traumatic events occur there. Until the 1950's , most people, especially in rural communities, died at home, and three generations often lived together in the same house. Elderly folks sometimes became senile and disoriented. Other family members could have died untimely deaths from accidents on the farm, or in other sudden death situations. All of these things sometimes leave people bewildered or confused at the time of death, and this, apparently, is what leads these souls to remain where they were when they were among the living. What brought about these hauntings at the old Findley house? This is beyond me to know.

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