Thursday, September 26, 2013

Gossip--Imagine, more and more irresponsible gossip about Mrs. Jeffrey Murrell

This is from Randy Russell and Janet Barnett's THE GRANNY CURSE AND OTHER GHOSTS AND LEGENDS FROM EAST TENNESSEE.

The scurrilous stories about Jeffrey's wife were apparently started by Jonathan Daniels in his THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE. They have been repeated with salacious relish over and over. Russell and Janet have killed off John Andrews Murrell's father, Jeffrey Murrell, the Methodist minister. I'm still working on his being absent as a wandering preacher. Wandering, or just circuit riding? Or staying at home? So many variations can come from one moment of irresponsible high jinks--an author's deciding that he will spice up history with some of his own fantasies. 


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