In March, 2001, WJTV-TV reporter Rick Garner traveled from Jackson to Raymond, Mississippi, to search out the ghosts in the quaint old town. According to the town's official Web site,"Established in 1828 as the Seat of Justice of Hinds County, Raymond has a rich and colorful history. As a stop along the Natchez Trace, the town quickly became a bustling trade center, complete with lawyers and physicians. It even boasted of its own mineral spa. The magnificent courthouse, built in 1859 before the outbreak of the Civil War, is one of the finest examples of Southern architecture. Raymond was the site of a decisive battle in the Siege of Vicksburg. Some of its many antebellum homes and churches were used as hospitals and headquarters by Grant's advancing army." One of the town's water supplies, Fourteenmile Creek, saw heavy fighting on its banks between the 7th Texas and the 20th Ohio. One soldier who died on there on May 12, 1863, was Pvt. John Yetter of Company H, 20th Illinois, shot through the heart and later buried on the battlefield with fallen comrades who also passed as violently. A local historian stated as part of the news item that when dredged, the creek had yielded buttons, buckles, bayonets, and human skeletal remains.

This image was taken during an evening investigation at Fourteenmile Creek with an Olympus 3030 digital camera on slow flash and SQ2 image setting by a member of the WJTV news team. The original image is at the top. Beneath it, in descending order, are the image as brightness and contrast was adjusted. What is revealed is the image of a man, perhaps a Civil War soldier, watching warily from the creek bank.

To date, the news team has no explanation for the image and considers it paranormal. For more on the photo, visit the station's Web site.

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Ghosts