Local Legends...  By Kelly Warman-Stallings                                                                     (Published in THE MILLER COUNTY AUTOGRAM-SENTINEL, in the column, WINDOW TO THE PAST, Nov. 7, 1991)      

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The following article was submitted to me by my daughter, Kelly Stallings, Jefferson City, MO., and it concerns some local legends she has researched. Halloween is just past and perhaps this will bring back some memories of ghost stories you remember being told as a child. (Peggy Smith Hake)

Usually, stories of the supernatural were handed down through the generations. Most tales begin with the infamous words... "This is a true story", then go on to relate bizarre events, strange experiences, or phenomenal occurrences. In any case, I am sure everyone, at one time or another in their life, have heard one family ghost story... the following is an example of these age-old legends:

Cry Baby Hollow... Deep in the backwoods of southern Miller and northern Pulaski counties, lies a valley known as "Cry Baby Hollow". To the passerby it would appear to be just another Tavern Creek hollow, but to the natives of the area, it holds a spooky stor​​y. Actually, it has a history of many different tales. The original stor​​y related the plight of a young Indian maiden trodding through a severe snow storm, a bundled baby held close to her breast. She was apparently separated or lost from her tribe. As she trampled through the deep snow, exhaustion and fierce winds caused her to collapse in the hollow. There alone, she and her baby perished. Another tale told is about a young woman who was attacked by Union soldiers during the Civil War. The rowdy soldiers, full of whiskey, spotted her lone cabin atop a hill from their campsite. They dragged her into the hollow where each attacked her; nine months later a baby was born and, in her grief from the nightmares which tormented her, she took the child back to the hollow and killed both herself and the baby. To this day it​​​​ is said a ghostly blue light appears in this hollow, accompanied by the sound of a crying baby... thus the name "Cry Baby Hollow".

The Walking Ghost of Pleasant Hill... Several people have claimed to have seen this ghostly spectre walking across the countryside of southern Miller County. Its favorite abode seems to have been the Pleasant Hill community near Iberia. Legends are told of a feud that existed between two local families who lived in the area and, in 1886, a fight occurred which took the life of one man and wounded another. Why these families feuded is a mystery today, but probably had something to do with old Civil War hatreds. Many families fought on opposite sides during this war and for years following, old hatreds flared. Whatever the reason, a squabble happened during a church function at Pleasant Hill Church in 1886 and it w​​as brought to a deadly climax. The melee began when one man accused the other of ridiculing a young girl and tempers got out of control. A shot rang out, instantly killing one man and the other was wounded as his opponent was able to get a round off before dying. Perhaps his spirit is still roaming the hillsides around the old church seeking to avenge his "feudal death". For years it has been said that a man in white has been seen in the old churchyard on clear, moonlit nights and has also been seen roaming the hillsides nearby. Whether this is true or not, some folks are convinced this ghost in white exists and can be seen at times "walking the friendly hills of Pleasant Hill".