THE FANCY HORSE
Ann S. Brown c 2025
My Great Uncle Noah was a young man when he joined the Confederate Army in 1862. Noah and his fellow soldiers fought those Yankees all over the South trying to drive them back. Some battles they won and some battles they lost. Many young men died on those battlefields dreaming of home. For others their wounds were just too much to bear. Uncle Noah was strong (and lucky) and fought to the end.
After the war was over he came back to his home in the mountains riding a fancy, high-stepping horse. The horse’s name was Shadow and it’s coat was dapple gray. Uncle Noah said his commanding officer gave him the young horse. It was a reward for bravery on the battlefield and for saving the general’s life. General Lee had two favorite horses. He kept the one he liked the best and that horse’s name was Traveller. They were American Saddle Bred horses. These were often used as war horses during the Civil War. They were strong and quick with long legs and a mild temperament. After a couple of years of freedom, Uncle Noah settled down. He married a young woman whose name was Jayne. Their life was good on the mountain. Over the years they were blessed with eight children – three girls and five boys.
It was the fourth Sunday in July and time for the big meeting to be held at the Baptist Church on Helton Creek. There would be all day preaching and dinner on the grounds with lots of people, good food and fellowship. My Grandparents lived up Fees Branch – not far from the church. Their house set just below the road. It was hot that morning. Grandma had been working in the kitchen preparing food for the big dinner. She came out to the front porch to rest and cool off a little bit before walking on down to meeting. There came Uncle Noah prancing down the road on his fancy, high-stepping horse. He turned to her and waved as he went by. Next, there came the Kilby family in their surrey. It was pulled by a shiny black horse. The fringe around the top of the surrey danced in rhythm with the horses trot. Then five young men on horseback came down the road. They were laughing and talking – enjoying the beautiful morning. Soon after that, a horse drawn wagon came by carrying a family to church.
Then two young boys went running down the road as fast as they could go. Very soon Uncle Noah, riding Shadow, came rushing back up the road and went out of sight. The boys were running behind. Grandma knew something was wrong. After going on down to church, she heard the bad news. Some folks standing outside told her that when Uncle Noah’s sons came to get him they were very upset. The boys said that when they started to cross Fees Branch their Mother fell down on the ground and they could not wake her. When Noah reached the place where his wife lay, he found that she was dead. The children were gathered around her.
Later, a woman who lived a half mile on up Fees Branch Rd. told Grandma on that Sunday morning Aunt Jayne and the children stopped at her spring house to get a cold drink of water. The older boys were struggling to carry a large woven willow basket filled with the dinner their mother had fixed. Aunt Jayne seemed worn out after walking down off the mountain in the July heat. After resting awhile they went on down the road to church. The doctor told Uncle Noah that Aunt Jayne’s heart just gave out. There was much crying and mourning among the children as their mother was laid to rest.
Three months later Uncle Noah married again. She was a young woman and a local school teacher. The older children held resentment for a long while, but that didn’t bother Uncle Noah. He had found a new mother for his children. The older boys could manage most of the farm work. So, as often as he could, Uncle Noah rode his fancy horse down off the mountain. He went to church and to the general store and anyplace else where folks gathered. Noah loved for them to admire his fancy horse and they never seemed to tire of the war stories he told.
As time passed, folks began talking about seeing Aunt Jayne’s ghost. A woman in white would appear as you crossed the Fees Branch and follow you for a short ways with her arms outstretched, as if she needed help and then disappear. An older man claimed that as he was crossing the branch the lady in white appeared at the very spot where Aunt Jayne fell dead. She had spooked his horse so badly that it almost threw him off. Do you think Uncle Noah’s fancy high stepping horse shied away when he had to cross the place in the creek where the missus died? I doubt it. After all, Shadow was a war horse. He had smelled death before. No doubt Shadow had seen many spirits and specters rising from the bodies of the dead soldiers that were scattered across the battlefield. Life took it’s toll on both the man and his horse. They died and were buried on their mountain. Do you think Uncle Noah’s stories about the battles that he was in and who gave him the fancy high stepping horse were true? Or was he a teller of tall tales? I guess we will never know.
Folks don’t go walking down the Fees Branch Rd at night anymore. Everyone has cars, trucks and all terrain vehicles. The last sighting of my Great Aunt Jayne’s ghost was in the 1960’s when a teenage girl told of a woman in a long white dress walking behind her for always only to disappear.