Historic Huntsville location keeps a ghostly secret
Along with cooler weather and falling leaves, autumn brings thoughts of cozy hearths and spooky tales told by the fire.
Today, Huntsville is known for its role in space exploration and the many science and technology-based businesses that call it home.
You might think, therefore, that it has nothing to offer in the way of ghost stories and haunted tales. But think again.
In her book Where Spirits Linger, Huntsville author Jacquelyn Procter Reeves tells of two people who reported an uneasy, haunted encounter while walking past the W. L. Halsey Cash and Carry in downtown Huntsville.
Located on Jefferson Street, the store is part of Halsey Food Service, in operation since 1879. The red brick building, now painted, became the headquarters for the family business in 1904.
On a clear day, most passersby would think nothing strange about this older building. It is still in operation, serving customers from churches to daycares to event hosts with quality bulk foods and supplies.
But for those who enjoy a good tale of the paranormal, there is reason to believe the walls of the Halsey Cash and Carry hold secrets they can never yield.
May 7, 1909, was coming to a close. It had been a warm spring day, with the high in the low-80s. By late afternoon it was cooler and dry.
Robert Jones, of the insurance firm Jones and Roser, set off to present his long-time acquaintance William Halsey with a bill.
He mentioned to a co-worker in passing that he was dreading the visit.
According to local and regional papers that ran the details of what was soon to transpire, William Halsey had been mentally unwell for some time. He was even seeing a psychiatrist in New York, a professional specialty still referred to at the turn of the last century as an “alienist”.
The two middle-aged businessmen met upstairs briefly in Halsey’s office. Witnesses could not hear what was said as they then walked together toward the front of the store.
Then a customer opened the front door.
Without warning, Halsey pulled a gun, turned, and shot Jones. Twice. Either wound could have been the fatal one.
The customer wisely ran away. Halsey’s adult son, who had witnessed the entire thing, approached his father to secure the gun. The shipping clerk, Augustus “Gus” McDowell, rushed to call for help.
Halsey’s next move was just as irrational and seemingly unmotivated as the murder of Jones. Gus went over to help with Halsey at his son’s request.
Halsey, still clutching the gun, turned toward Gus, aimed, and fired.
Mortally wounded, Gus staggered out to the front of the building and collapsed outside. He would die in agony two days later.
Halsey, meanwhile, calmly retreated to his office as if nothing had happened.
Halsey was judged insane and committed to a mental institution in Tuscaloosa. Years later he passed away at home in New Orleans.
Halsey’s motives, if he had any, were never uncovered.
Over 100 years later, two people walking by the Halsey Cash and Carry were overcome with disturbing impressions. One felt a sudden sharp pain in his shoulder.
The first bullet to hit Jones had gone through his shoulder.
Next came visions of a man in constant pain wandering through the building. His pain medication made him hallucinate. His grip on reality was loosening.
Were these visions of Halsey? Or perhaps the hapless shipping clerk, Gus, whom Halsey was said to treat as a son?
Only those old brick walls know for sure. And they aren’t talking.
Thank you to Jacquelyn Proctor Reeves, an expert on Huntsville’s supernatural mysteries, for her input on this story.
