Freaky Friday: Gallery 202 has a number of spooky residents

By RICHEL ALBRIGHT

At Gallery 202 also known as Clouston Hall on 2nd Avenue South, it seems some of the residents have decided to make the gallery their permanent after-life home.

Second in a four-part series

Franklin has a storied history that dates back more than 200 years, which ranges from Civil War battles to lifelong residents who seemingly never wanted to leave.

At Gallery 202 also known as Clouston Hall on 2nd Avenue South, it seems some of the residents have decided to make the gallery their permanent after-life home.

Margie Thessin, who owns and operates the Franklin on Foot historic and ghost tours, told the many spooky tales of Clouston Hall to Franklin Home Page.

eThis house has some tragedy associated with it,e Thessin said. eA young woman was engaged to be married, and normally you would think happy times but this was not the case.e

The night before her wedding she committed suicide by hanging herself from the banister rail that is seen when first entering the gallery.

eWhen her parents found her it was already too late,e she said. eShe was still swinging from the stairs.e

After the Battle of Franklin in 1864, Clouston Hall was used as a hospital for Confederate Soldiers.

eMany wounded soldiers were brought in and out of this house, including one man whose entire lower jaw had been shot away,e Thessin added. eHe died here because he could not eat, which is a terrible way to go.e

Over time the house became rundown and was almost torn down in 1964 to make way for a gas station, according to Thessin.

eThe house was saved by a man named Bunn Gray,e she said. eNow, Bunn was an artist and this was his gallery, studio and his home and spent the next 38 years here.e

As many artists know, additional income is often needed when times are tight, so Bunn began renting out the downstairs rooms to tenants, which were usually young men.

eWhen Bunn died in 2002, he left a house to a friend of his named Rusty Womack who spent about 18 months restoring the house,e Thessin said.

Thessin asked Rusty if he had any experiences that led him to believe the house was haunted and he replied that he had a number of things occur that were eweirde but only unexplainable event had to do with an old piece of furntiture.

eBunn owned an old secretary that stayed in the house after his death,e she said. eRusty said the secretary was in the way and they kept having to move it around and finally one day he stuck it behind a door.e

Those who moved it found that when they opened the door it would hit the piece of furniture very loudly.

eFinally after several hours Rusty decided to move it well out of the way of the door, even testing to make sure the door can completely swing open and not hit the desk,e Thessin said. eAt the end of the day Rusty leaves for about an hour, locks up and comes back and when he opens the dooree

WHAM!

eThe door hits right into the secretary.e

Rusty said he could never explain why or how that happened.

Check back next week for the conclusion of our look inside Gallery 202.

Richel Albright is a reporter with Franklin Home Page. She can be contacted at richel@franklinhomepage.com or you can follow her on Twitter @rwalbright.