The following is a guest post from Crystal C.:First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Crystal, I'm 27 years old, and I have resided in the surrounding area for the length of my life. I am a natural clairsentient and working on becoming a certified medium. I have a Christian background and am college educated. The reason for my giving details of myself as well as my background is so you may see that I am a "mentally normal" individual who has dedicated a great deal of time to the paranormal. What I am about to tell you my have you question the truth of what I say, but I will tell you the absolute truth; in whole.
I have always been fascinated with the paranormal since as far back as I can remember. Thus, the reason for my certifications. Being extremely interested in the paranormal, I have come across many stories and investigated many possible hauntings, but the one that stands out is about Edward Payne. I was taken to Payne Road when I was a young adult. The company with me was not aware of the fact that I am clairsentient, and I had no idea where we were going. I thought we were just driving around. Let me state here - at this time, I did not know of the Payne Road incident. I turned on a desolate road and was 1/4 down, when I felt like there was a shortage of air. I immediately felt like I was punched in the stomach and was instantly nauseated. I burst into tears. I felt an over abundance of outward sadness, and asked my friends exactly where in the world had they taken me. They then said that we had to get out of there. Once we reached their home, they proceeded to inform me of the history that had taken place there.
My dear friend, who is now 39 years old, told me what had happened there to cause what is now going on. For her privacy, I will call her Dee. When Dee was 14 years old, she and her boyfriend - who is now her husband, and another couple went there one night. At this time, the house was still standing. They parked the car in front of the house, and the girls dared the guys to go in and take a look. While the girls were in the car, they heard children in the woods singing the popular childrens' song, "Ring Arounds the Rosies." When the "children" sang the part "...and they all fall down," a shot rang out, and the guys ran out off the house. To this day, Dee's husband will not discuss what happened in the house and what he saw. As the drove away, Dee and her friend saw oil lamps lit in the upstairs windows. The next morning, Dee informed her step mother what had happened. Her step mother felt the need to prove to Dee that there is no real hauntings and then proceeded to drive to the house with Dee. They got out of the car and went in the house. Dee states that there were empty beer bottles all over the floors and graffiti on all the walls. The strangest part of this day-trip was the Dee saw that the staircase had been haphazardly built to run directly into the ceiling, not allowing access the the upstairs rooms. How was it then that the night before, she had seen oil lamps burning in the upstairs rooms if there wasn't a way to gain access to the rooms? She had taken pictures; therefore, I know that this was the case. As her step mother rummaged through the rooms, Dee opened a closet in the hallway. The noticed that a small square "door" was located near the floor inside the closet. One would assume that it may serve as a crawl space. There was a rusted old master type lock guarding the little door. Dee went to the car outside and removed a crowbar from the trunk. The busted the latch off of the door. The door opened up into a large room under the staircase. She called for her step mother. Dee found a makeshift alter that contained many books about Black Arts, bones from animals, and what seemed to be a cow skull. She had also spotted Edward Payne's diary. She pocketed the diary and her step mother called her to come out of there. She did not tell her step mother what she had taken. Dee still has the diary in her possession to this day. Let me tell you that this diary is very twisted and odd. I tell you that the first several pages were handwritten, detailing the growth of the crops on his farm and the weather, as well as the patients he treated. Dee stated to me the Mr. Payne was some sort of a doctor, whether veterinarian or medical doctor, I do not know. Another page has his thoughts of his father. Edward Payne used several curse words describing his father. The next page was filled with little circles lining the page. The next and final page has little reddish brown splatters on the page. Dee has never returned there again. Now, she even refuses to talk about the subject. She simply states, "that place is of the devil."
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| You can see the culverts on the sides of the road. |
I've never heard of slave murders. I know that those shacks you refer to were NOT in fact slave shacks. They are and always have been tobacco barns. I have always heard that Edward Payne murdered his family and then committed suicide. He supposedly studied the Black Arts and used his family as a sacrifice. (This is not to be confused with the Lawson murders that took place on December 25, 1929. If you would like more information regarding the Lawson subject, I recommend that you read, "White Christmas, Bloody Christmas." This is now a rare book to locate; however, I own a copy handed down to me by my grandmother. I have also seen it one time long ago for sale on E-Bay.)
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| A close-up of the bridge location. |
Back to the "legend" of Payne Road. The house burned down in 1992. I am not sure what caused the fire. I DO know that once the ashes cooled, the locals surrounded the property with salt, a method that Christians used in the 1600's to purify an "evil" area. Since then, new houses have been constructed around the area, but no house will be built on the actual location that the Payne house once stood.
As for the bridge...you do not have to whistle "Dixie." You simply have to own a car that was made before 1990. Cars made after 1990 have plastic starters in them. Cars prior to that year have metal starters. I believe that there is a natural magnetic energy in the earth under or close to the bridge, thus, causing older cars the inability to start.
This is where I conclude my information. I do have personal incidents that I have had while venturing there in my latter years. If you are interested in hearing of those, I will be more than happy to inform you of those. They include a four wheeler incident, a Jeep incident, a man I met at a restaurant near the area and a friend in college.
I investigate reportedly paranormal areas, so I try to keep abreast of news that surfaces.
Let me know if you have questions.
Respectfully,
Crystal C.
