A Very Personal Ghost in Williamson County

Photo: Pinterest from the Library of Congress

In 1864, a Confederate deserter named Sawyer–the last name hasn’t come down in the tale–was holed up with his wife and baby in a cabin about a mile and a half west of where I had my experience. About a half mile to the east, there’s a large live oak. It’s called ‘Sawyer Oak.’ It seems the Confederate authorities caught up with Sawyer at his cabin. They gave him a drumhead court martial and sentenced him to hang.

Photo: sodahead.com

He was hanged from what was, in 1962, still called Sawyer Oak. His wife brought the baby to the site of the hanging so he could kiss it–and her– goodbye, but she got there too late. Apparently she was still trying to make it in the spring of 1864.