During the early part of the 1700's, French settlers began to occupy an
area in the state of Alabama known today as Mount Vernon, which is in
Washington county. One of these early settlers was Luke D'Clue, who later
married the daughter of another settler DeSuer DuCardonie. Luke and Meroline had been
married about two years and gave birth to the first of five
children. Jock's full name as recorded in the family bible was Jock Luke D'Clue, born
1726, presumed to die on or about October, 1741. His body was not recovered, nor has
any evidence been unearthed as to his remains. Only an occasional "sighting" has been
duly noted and recorded.
Thus we begin the legend of Jock Luke D'Clue.
Mount Vernon is somewhat distant from Mobile, Alabama and the ravages
of hurricane season, but the sleepy hollow did not escape the hurricane
of 1741 which struck Mobile with a vengeance. Mobile's water front was
complexly destroyed with the water surge, due to the high tide in Mobile
bay. As the hurricane (winds in excess of 80 miles per hour) moved
inland, tornados and the awesome force of nature reached Mount Vernon
about midnight, October 14, 1741.
The D'Clue like most inland residents, had few warning of the impending
disaster which was about to strike their community. High winds, lightning,
and gusts of heavy rain were the first warnings and awoke Luke who in turn
awoke his family. He quickly made ready the cellar and the family moved
their bed clothing and emergency supplies in the house proper into the cellar.
Here they would try and wait out nature's peril.
Luke and his oldest son Jock Luke gathered saw, hammer, nails and anything which
may be needed for repair and quickly started toward the barn. The cattle, already
spooked by the lightning, had partially knocked down the
wooden fence, which they quickly repaired.
The barn proved to be no sanctuary. Virgin pine trees were being uprooted
by the tornado's which were hitting Mount Vernon, some of which were
literally blown through the roof and walls of the barn. Realizing that
they would be safer in the cellar, father and son quickly left the barn
and began their return to the safety of the cellar.
About half way back to the house the howling of wind suddenly stopped.
Startled and quite afraid Jock Luke asked his father what had happened to
the wind. Before he could answer his son vanished in a blaze of lightning
and fury of the wind. With little time to cry or even wonder where his
son had gone, Luke barely made it to the door of his home, when the full
fury of nature gone wild vested its vengeance. In the flurry of flying trees,
falling large oaks, and blinding lightning, Luke barely made the sanctuary
of the cellar.
As the morning light broke the darkness of night, the community slowly
emerged from their homes, cellars, and other places where shelter had
been sought. The elders quickly sent word among the community for all
to gather at the "common ground." Taking stock of the tragedy, only
Jock Luke was missing and no one else in the community was unaccounted for
nor had any serious injury been sustained.
Search parties were quickly assembled and they began to search for Jock
Luke at about three the afternoon of October 15, 1741. Everyone realized
that night would overtake them before much searching had been completed, so
lanterns, torches, and anything else which would provide light was taken
along. On that, another fateful day in the history of Mount Vernon, eight
good men began their search for Jock Luke along the banks of Cedar Creek.
These were the bravest of the towns people, for bravery was needed for a
night search in this area of Washington county.
Cedar creek and its vicinity were carefully avoided at night by all who had
heard the eerie sounds of women crying, witnessed from afar the wisps of
white smoke like clouds whose luminance at night could be seen great
distances. Of course the Creek Indians who lived close by had given the
settlers ample reason to avoid the area, for they too avoided it. Little Crow,
the son of their chief was considered to be the bravest of the tribe. His
remark still resonates in our mind. "When I approached manhood, the tribe
elders gave me my bravery test, which was to spend four nights in the hollow
of Cedar creek and bring back the woman who cries. I declined because a test
required of a new brave must first be completed by one of the elders. In
the hundreds of years of our tribes existence in this area, there is no
oral or written record of anyone spending four nights in the hollow or of
bring back the woman who cries."
Having related why bravery was required to search the area, let us return
to our story.
As agreed, the search parties would return to the "common ground" not later
than the afternoon of October 18, 1741. One by one the search parties began
to return, slowly at first, and then by mid day all parties had returned
except one - the Cedar Creek search party. Panic began to set with the
community, for no one was willing to search for these lost souls. Several
days passed, still no one from the Cedar creek party had returned. Suddenly
on the morning of October 21, 1741 bedlam broke out in the village. John
Carmichael who was with the missing search party had returned. Within a few
minutes, so it seemed, the entire village, every man, woman, and child had
gathered to hear what John would say. The following is statement is taken
from the conversations recorded that day.
"We had searched for several days and found no clues as to what had happened to
Jock Luke D'Clue. The eight of us made camp in an area on the creek which had clay
shoals and was completely devoid of vegetation. A rather eerie place which contained a
low handing greenish mist which gathered at sun set. After eating and playing cards
for a while, we all retired for the night. At
about midnight, there was a loud explosion, everyone awoke to see huge
pillars of fire which seemed to reach the heavens. The fire was so bright
that the whole area of our camp was like day. Then out of the smoke I
could see the outline of four legs on the bottom of a large ball and slowly
the ball settled to the ground. Windows along the outer edge of the ball
opened and beams of light shot out like rifle shots. One by one the beams
hit members in our camp and they suddenly vanished. I dove into a deep
ravine, covered myself with brush and did not move until the next morning.
Slowly I emerged only to find no one, none of our equipment, and the ball
had vanished as well. Friends, the once barren site of our camp was now
covered with vegetation and looked like a garden of Eden."
The entire community had listened to John. No one had asked a question and
there was no disbelief in what had been said. Still no one was willing
to continue a search. They mutually decided to send riders to Montgomery
and request the aid of the state militia. The governor declined to have
the state become involved in a local matter.
No one really forgot about the incidents which left their village nine
less residents. Nor did John Carmichael ever waver in his story of the
events which he had recalled. Slowly the entire matter subsided until the
summer of 1804. A small pox epidemic hit the town of Mount Vernon and
only a few members of the community survived the winter of 1804. In 1806
the community was abandoned and a new community on the present site of
Mount Vernon emerged. Logging and the timber industry brought prosperity
to the region and the small township grew into a town of 2,500 by 1808.
In 1810 events in the area of Cedar creek which was a few miles from the
new town of Mount Vernon revitalized the stories of the missing town
people. Loggers had begun to vanish. From the spring of 1810 through
the fall of 1811, thirty seven loggers were unaccounted for and finally
the state militia was sent to investigate. After a year long campaign
no evidence of the loggers was found, nor was there any indication that
there had been foul play. The governors commission and militia officers
concluded that the loggers had probably just left their work and returned
to their home towns. No effort was ever made to locate any of the missing
in their recorded home towns and the events were again allowed to simmer
and eventually be dropped.
The incidents and conversations as recorded here would probably have fallen
into obscurity had it not been for Mr. Charles Sullivan who was Scoutmaster
of Troop 28 at St. Lukes Episcopal Church in Mobile, Alabama. During the
winter of 1998, Mr. Sullivan and twenty four members of the Boy Scout
troop were camping on Cedar creek in the vicinity as recorded in the
journal of John Carmichael. One boy unearthed a large metal object which
contained foreign markings. The object was sent to NASA in Huntsville,
Alabama and the agency has not yet rendered an official statement of
findings. From what Mr. Sullivan can determine from conversations with
NASA officials involved in the investigation, the metal object is definitely
not of this earth and the markings are from no known language on earth.
When we have further information this story will be updated.
