In honor of Halloween, here is a spooky story! This is a true story about real people who lived in Montgomery County, Tennessee in the 1800s. Hope you enjoy it!
It was in May of 1864 when Mrs. Settle was sent from Clarksville, TN to the Western Lunatic Aylum in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The building had been burned down three years prior but was now built back with rambling staggered wings to let all of the patients receive sunlight, privacy, and whatever comfort they could find in their disturbed state. Mrs. Settle had been deemed one of the disturbed and had been sent to the asylum in hopes that whatever demon plagued her mind would be sent out. She was brought home sometime in late June, though she had by no means been healed of whatever insanities plagued her. She had only been back home for a single day when she went out for a walk and determined not to return. She made her way down to a pond and walked right in until her head was under water and her lungs began to fill. A soldier was passing by at just the right moment to see the woman struggling in the pond. He, being the hero that he was, went into the pond after her and pulled her out. They both came out soaking wet and none too worse for the ordeal. Though the soldier was shocked to learn that it had not been an accident that Mrs. Settle was in over her head. He surely saw her back to her house to ensure that there were no other incidents that day.
Realizing that it wasn't safe to leave her alone, Mrs. Settle's family enlisted the aid of a nurse, named Mrs. Simpson, to watch over her when no one else could. It was a day that had seemed like any other, only that today, Mrs. Settle was more unsettled than she had been before. She became a raving maniac and attacked the poor nurse who could hardly defend against the blows that were rained down upon her. Mrs. Settle fought tooth and nail against the woman until she had beaten her almost to death. Mrs. Simpson, shaken and afraid, was taken to the doctor to treat the wounds that Mrs. Settle had inflicted. It was almost a fortnight before Mrs. Simpson was better and each day that passed saw Mrs. Settle's mind growing worse and worse.
Without a nurse to keep constant vigil, Mrs. Settle's family took it in shifts and turns to stay at her side. They would sit with her during the day, and sleep in the same room at night – ever watching for signs of another mad spell to come over her. One night, late in August, it was Mollie Settle's turn to stay with her mother through the night. She had her friend Mary Bayliss with her to help in keeping watch. Things had been fairly calm since the outburst that her mother had had with her nurse, though they were always warry and watchful. As the moon began to descend back down from the sky and the night grew ever darker, Mollie and Mary slept soundly. Mrs. Settle, however, was fighting. She laid in bed and considered her options. She knew that whatever actions she took had to be now in the dark of night so that none of her family would be able to stay her hand. Her family had taken care about what they left in the room so there wasn't much around for her to grab ahold of. She clutched her bedsheets tightly as she thought. Then it all became clear to her and she slipped silently to her feet. She glanced at the girls sleeping soundly nearby, but only for the briefest of moments before tugging the sheets off of her bed.
Mary awoke to Mollie's screams of horror. At first, Mary was unsure of what had taken place as she looked around the room for some sign. Then, her eyes focused on the most horrific sight that she would see. Her dear friend's mother, Mrs. Settle, hung stiffly from the door. Her bedsheet wound tightly about her neck, her eyes staring at the ground, and her body slowly swayed ever so slightly. Mrs. Settle had hung herself and died in the very room where her daughter had slept leaving the girls completely unaware until the next morning when they had to face what had become of her before even being able to leave the room.
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