Nashville Haunted Handbook. Jeff Morris
interesting story, those stories are left for the ghosts to tell.
ghost story
Most of the ghosts of this cemetery show themselves when people are either driving by on the adjacent road or when people park their cars on the adjacent road and look into the cemetery. People who park their cars on the road will often hear a car approaching. As they wait for the car to arrive, the sound slowly fades away. There are no places where this ghostly car could have turned off the road.
People also will often see shadowy figures walking through the cemetery at night. When these figures are investigated, there is never any sign of them anywhere in the cemetery. The gate to the cemetery is secure, and there is no place where the figures could have left.
The most famous ghost of this cemetery, however, is that of a small girl who walks the cemetery at night. This girl will appear as a white glowing apparition that is either sitting on a small bench within the cemetery near a small statue of a girl or walking around near the same bench. When the girl is spotted, she will suddenly look up at the frightened witness and vanish.
visiting
Even though the cemetery is off limits at night, you can still experience these ghosts after the sun sets. The cemetery is quite small and its entirety is visible from a small parking area alongside the adjacent road. You can park your car there in the middle of the night and watch the cemetery for shadowy figures even though the cemetery itself is closed. As long as you don’t walk onto the property of the abutting houses or cross the fence into the cemetery itself, you are not trespassing, and you can watch the haunted cemetery for apparitions to your heart’s content.
CEDAR GROVE CEMETERY
609 South Maple St., Lebanon, TN 37087
directions
Take I-40 East for 28 miles to Exit 238, US 231 South toward Lebanon. Turn left onto US 231 South. Follow this road for a mile before turning left onto West Adams Avenue. Turn left onto South Maple Street. Cedar Grove will be the cemetery on your left. The cemetery on your right is another one called Memorial Cemetery that is not reputed to be haunted.
history
Even though Cedar Grove Cemetery has been the city cemetery of Lebanon, Tennessee, since 1823, it wasn’t at its current location until it was moved from the churchyard of the College Street Church of Christ in 1846. Many of the important men from the area are buried here in this cemetery, including a Confederate general, a Tennessee governor, and a Supreme Court chief justice.
The cemetery itself also contains more than 130 Confederate soldiers who died during the war or were veterans who died later. The cemetery remains in use and is still growing. The cemetery land encompasses 34.6 acres, but at this point only 23 acres are being used for burials.
ghost story
There is only one ghost story reported here at Cedar Grove, but this story is repeated quite often. At night, when gazing into the cemetery from outside its gates, people will often see strange lights moving throughout the cemetery. Many times these lights will be purple and white and will float among the headstones quickly.
Oftentimes people will see these lights out of the corner of their eyes and then will look closer to find that the lights have vanished. Other times, people will see the lights clearly and they will slowly float throughout the cemetery. These lights will look almost like distant lanterns being carried by some unseen spirits.
visiting
It is difficult to describe the rules for visiting this cemetery. First of all, the ghosts here are lights, so the only time that you can experience these ghosts is after dark. Many of the sightings have been made by people who are on the adjacent street. These witnesses will see the lights from the public road and will watch them in fascination until they vanish.
Watching the lights from the street is probably the best way to experience these ghosts, but there is another way. This cemetery does not close. The cemetery staff would prefer that everyone stay out of the cemetery after dark, but officially, the cemetery is open throughout the night. We believe that it is just as easy to experience these ghosts from outside the cemetery gates as it is within, but if you see something strange inside and want to take a closer look, it is not illegal to enter the cemetery.
There is also a candlelight tour of the cemetery every October. The tour does not tell any ghost stories or encourage ghosts in any way, but it is a guided tour of the cemetery after dark that does focus on the more famous grave sites.
DYER CEMETERY
8538 Dyer Rd., Rockvale, TN 37153
directions
Take I-24 East for about 23 miles to Exit 74A, TN 840 West toward Franklin. Follow this road for a little more than 2 miles to Exit 50 toward Beesley Road, and then turn left at the end of the exit ramp onto Veterans Parkway. After another 2 miles, turn right onto Franklin Road. Take your second left onto Kingwood Lane. Follow Kingwood for another 2.5 miles before turning right onto Windrow Road. Follow Windrow for 3 miles before angling right onto South Windrow Road. After another mile, turn right onto Dyer Road. The cemetery is near the end of Dyer Road.
history
When they needed a place to bury their loved ones, a family in this remote area with the last name of Dyer established the Dyer Cemetery in the early 1800s. Since this property was somewhat remote, it made sense for them to create their family’s cemetery on the grounds. Eventually the cemetery fell into the care of the Leathers family who lived nearby. The Leathers family cares for the cemetery today.
A strange story circulates about the cemetery. The story takes place in the 1800s, but it is unclear whether the events occurred before or after the Dyer family started using the land as their own. What happened was that three women in a nearby town were accused of being witches and of conspiring with Satan. They fled the town but were followed by a lynch mob to what was or what would become the Dyers’ property. Eventually the witches were cornered, and the mob hung the witches from a tree and then burned their bodies. Their charred remains were buried where the cemetery is today.
ghost story
Victims of the ghosts here are most often initially approached at the front gate. Due to the terrain and the condition of the gate itself, it is difficult to push open in order to enter the cemetery. Many times, though, people who are struggling to open the gate will have it suddenly fling open for no apparent reason.
Once inside the gate, there is no lack of ghostly activity. Visitors will encounter shadowy figures that approach quickly and maliciously and then vanish. Footsteps will approach people in the dark of the cemetery, but no one will be there. Most of this activity will occur near the rear of the cemetery.
In the front of the cemetery, a cedar tree is rumored to have been the tree where the witches were hung. Near this tree, people will feel a hand grab an arm or shoulder but then turn around and find no one there. Others will feel scratches that resemble either fingernails or straw running down an arm. Sometimes, balls of fire will appear near the tree and will slowly ascend the tree and then disappear. If the story of the witches is actually true, the ghosts seem to be quite upset.
visiting
Unfortunately, in order to see the ghosts here you will have to go at night. The strange behavior of the front gate, the shadowy figures, the balls of fire, and the sounds have been exclusively reported after nightfall. From what we can tell, it seems that the cemetery is open after dark. If you do go there at night, make certain that you search for any signs along the road or at the front gate that