by
Denny Lancaster

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.

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