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High Pointers, guests and board members met at the High Point Museum to hear Jackie Hedstrom, supervisor of the Heritage Research Center at the High Point Public Library, share her “Lurid High Point Tales of Murder, Mayhem, and Mystery.”

Hedstrom shared one of the oldest tales first — “The Legend of High Point’s Petrified Indian.” This story began before High Point even became a township.

There was a mill called John Carter’s Mill. A creek ran alongside the mill and it is said Miller Bodenheimer once found a head that felt like stone and half a torso in the creek. A number of Indian artifacts were also found in the creek.

Many old timers say when the creek is dry or the water is at a certain level, you can still look down in the creek and see the face of an Indian maiden.

The story of Laura Wesson took place during the Civil War.

In 1865, Wesson and her father, a wealthy Virginia planter, were passing through High Point to Charleston, S.C., where 20-year-old Wesson was to wed a prominent young man . The Union forces supposedly blew up the train tracks while Wesson and her father were here so they could not leave .

At that time injured Union and Confederate soldiers were treated at the Wayside Hospital. Wesson was horrified at the conditions in the hospital so she volunteered to work there.

A smallpox epidemic occurred at the time Wesson was here and she went to work in what was called “a pest house” that was set up at the rear of the hospital. The medical staff thought that isolating men with smallpox was the best way to protect other patients.

Sadly, Wesson came down with smallpox and died April 25, 1865, at the age of 20. She is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in High Point.
Today, no one is sure where Wesson’s grave is.

A marker is located right outside the Confederate section . At first, the marker was a stick with this note on it: “Fed the hungry, clothed the naked, nursed the sick and wounded.” Later, a stone was put at the entrance to Oakwood Cemetery by the Laura Wesson Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy.

According to news articles studied by Hedstrom, a gunfight took place on Main Street in the early 1900s. At that time, High Point was a village. The gunfight became known as the “Saga of Joe Jackson.”

According to tales of the day, a man named Joe Jackson was known to have quite a temper and had beaten his wife on occasion. Once, he attacked the police chief at the railroad depot and the chief required 55 stitches. Jackson served a short amount of time for the crime.

When Jackson was released , he came back to High Point and threatened the police chief. They met on Main Street and had a gun fight like the one depicted in Gary Cooper’s “High Noon.”

You may have heard the “Ballad of Beulah Allen,” which tells the story of Beulah Allen who died in 1929 and is buried at Springfield Friends Meeting. Allen was a young housekeeper for Frank Allen and his wife. The Allens had no children and enjoyed having Beulah Meredith Allen live and work with them. According to people in the community at that time, she was very beautiful.

Beulah Allen became very ill in 1929. The Allens tried to treat her at home for a few days but her health deteriorated. Finally, they took her to the hospital where surgery was performed but Allen didn’t survive.

Allen’s body was brought back to the Allen home and was dressed in beautiful clothing and jewels. Her casket was open so that members of the community could view her loveliness. Various ladies in the community sat with Allen’s body for three days.
After Beulah Allen’s death, the Allens had other housekeepers but no one stayed long. About seven years after her death, it is said Mr. Allen sat down against some pine trees at the entrance to the road going into the cemetery. His body was found sitting underneath the trees with his rifle fired.

One of the best known stories is one about Lydia, the Jamestown ghost.

Lydia, dressed in evening attire, maybe a prom dress, was picked up on the High Point Jamestown Road late one night. She told the driver of the car that her boyfriend had put her out on the way home and asked the driver to take her home.

When he got to her house, he turned and looked in the backseat but Lydia was not there. He went up and knocked on the door. A lady, who said she was Lydia’s mother, answered the door in tears. Ever since Lydia was killed in an accident, people had been bringing her home.

Today, stories are still told of Lydia being picked up near the old overpass in Jamestown. North Carolina author Nancy Roberts told the story in one of her ghost story collections in the '60s.

Hedstrom said that every year in October, people come to the library asking about Lydia or trying to find out if any deaths have ever taken place in a home they are getting ready to buy. The library may have information in its vertical file, in death certificates or sometimes can even get information from the coroner’s report.

Most people who come to the Heritage Room are searching for genealogical information. The staff is well trained in historical and genealogical research.

A special thank you to Jackie Hedstrom for providing the information for these stories and to John Elder, superintendent at Oakwood Cemetery, for providing information about Laura Wesson.

Readers, I wanted you to be the first to know about this announcement that was made at the historical museum this morning: For the first time, the museum is offering a limited edition pewter Christmas ornament. This year’s ornament is of the Haley House and is $15. For information, call the museum at 885-1859.

If you have news of High Point, contact Kathy Johnson at mjohnson2@triad.rr.com.