The Tennessee Wraith Chasers of Travel Channel’s ‘Haunted Live’ Explore the Historic Athenaeum Rectory in Columbia, Tennessee, Patrolled by the Ghosts of Civil War Soldiers
Haunted Live “11-2-18” – Premieres Friday, November 2nd at 10 p.m. ET/PT
The Tennessee Wraith Chasers head to the Historic Athenaeum Rectory in Columbia, Tennessee. Built in 1835, the Athenaeum served as the rectory for two all-girls academies that operated nearby. Rev. Franklin Gillette Smith, his wife Sarah, and their children moved there to lead the schools, but tragically, six of the twelve kids died. The family was further shaken by the onset of the Civil War. The town of Columbia violently changed hands six times, with both Union and Confederate troops occupying the house and other buildings on the property. The building next to the Athenaeum was used as a war hospital and the bodies of troops from both sides were buried in the rectory’s garden. When developers removed the graves, they were paid by the body, but not the whole body. To double their profit, they cut many of the bodies in half, which may suggest why there is a heavy ghostly presence here. Visitors report experiences with the spirits of the headmaster’s children, who seem to be trapped by a dark, unknown energy.
