[Granville-Hough] 21 Jul 2009 - Merry Hell

[Trustees for Granville W. Hough]

Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:58:08 -0700
From: Granville W Hough <gwhough at oakapple.net>
Subject: MerryHell2 - 21 July 2009

For Bonny, David, 
and Dorothy's benefit, I did start Meals on Wheels today. The first day 
was ok.
 Love to all, Grampa.


How the Yankees Got Lost in Merry Hell!

GWH: Many years ago I got the references on GriersonÆs Raid through 
Mississippi (during the Siege of Vicksburg) and published one or more 
articles in the Smith County Reformer. I do remember one of the stories 
of one column of Yankee soldiers which took a road from Raleigh in a 
southwest direction. It was to pass over Oakohay and Okatomy Creeks, 
burn the bridges and move on through Simpson County and join the other 
column at Pearl River, thence southward to Baton Rouge. The road, or 
trail, they were following turned back east through SullivanÆs Hollow 
and they wanted to go on west to Pearl River. They captured a local man, 
not named, who said he would guide them to the nearest road in Simpson 
county. They then followed a trail west into an area of fallen, 
interlocked longleaf pine trees, with heavy underbrush. This was the 
site of a terrible tornado which had passed through some years earlier, 
creating a log jam with fallen trees. Briars and undergrowth has sprung 
up to make it impassable, but it was a good place to hunt around as its 
browsing opportunity attracted deer, and all other types of wildlife. 
The place was called Merry Hell, and it was along McLauren Creek close 
to the Smith-Simpson County line. Night was falling, and the guide lost 
his way. He was terrorized by the Yankees to the point he was 
incoherent. He was no help at all. The exhausted men fell asleep, but 
took turns trying to probe their way among the logs and brush. Towards 
morning someone got to the other side and at daylight they located the 
path they had missed the night before. They turned to get their guide, 
but he was long gone. They got their column through Merry Hell, and by 
next evening had crossed Simpson County and Pearl River just as their 
main column was ready to set fire to the Pearl River Bridge.
When I got the article published in the Smith County Reformer, I pointed 
out that GriersonÆs Raiders did not name the guide, but someone must 
descend from him who had heard the story. I got no response. Either the 
person did not feel safe to admit he was guiding the Yankees, or he 
himself could have been so lost he never got home. Certainly he died 
before anyone could document his version of the events.
Later, in my time, Merry Hell was a favored place for moonshiners to set 
up operations. It seemed to me that they favored the Simpson County 
side, between Merry Hell and Saratoga (Okatomy Creek), but I never had a 
count. Maybe the Simpson County sheriffs just made more raids and gained 
more publicity. One might also note that several Simpson County sheriffs 
were Sullivan descendants who had grown up in or close to Merry Hell. 
They never got lost there.