The Revenge of Aunt Jenny Johnston
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- Опубликовано: 9 дек 2023
- Lawrence County, Alabama holds the legend of Aunt Jenny Johnston; the matriarch of the notorious Brooks Gang. In present day, the site also holds the ghost of Aunt Jenny. Join us for a story of revenge straight from the Appalachian foothills of Alabama.
Got a story you'd like to see here? Drop us an email and we'll see what we can dig up.
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She is my great great great grandmother. When I was a child my grandmother had the picture of her with the white hair holding the cane and it used to scare me. She was an incredible lady. You did a great job telling her story.
I'm so glad you approve. Thank you so much.
♥️🙏🏻 blessings to you
How are you related to her? She is my wife’s great great great grandmother as well.
@@rodneysmith5576I hope she sees ur comment were finding family!
This reminds me so much of my family. They were mountain folks from W. Virginia and N. Carolina.
My grandfather made a living making moonshine, and could have been a twin to her youngest son, Henry. His ancestors came over from England.
My grandmother was a mix of Cherokee and Irish. They had a total of four children- one of whom was my mother. She was quite a beauty, but boy! did she have a temper. She knocked her cousins out with a metal lunchbox when they crossed her. And like Jenny Brooks, you did not mess with her family- especially her kids. I learned from a young age, not to tell her about schoolyard bullies. She would react by going on the warpath like a Valkyrie😅.
This must be a southern thing..dangerous Beauty?😂 Anyway I enjoyed your documentary on this woman and her family. I'm 62 now, and far removed from that life. My grandfather moved his family out to the West Coast just before WW2. He became a logger out west. Still..I remember the crazy stories, and this made me realize my family was part of a larger culture.🙏🏼
Thank you for sharing that with me. Bless you and your family.
As a current day mountain woman raising my family 75%+ off the land I love this story and say hell ya aunt Jenny, you deserved your vengeance, only a coward would hang and shoot a man in front of children. God bless us Mountain folk, just leave us be or take kindly to our hospitality when offered. Don’t take advantage, mind your manners, can’t say I’d want to do any less if I saw my kin murdered like that.
Thanks for the story God bless and happy new year from this hillbilly mamma in the backwoods of East Tennessee
Happy New Year to you and yours as well. I'm glad you enjoyed the story.
With all the out a staters buying up all our land at costs our young folks startin out can’t afford and with their rude manners and loud mouths, here in Tennessee our Southern Hospitality is turned into Southern Hostility! I don’t know what’s going on but we got more Californians movin here than I can understand! They drove property up 10-15x or More! 40acres I bought 4-5 years ago for $192k was just appraised for $500k and was told I could sell it for $750k! But ONLY out a staters will pay that much! I would NEVER do that! Sell MY land to those holier than tho assholes!
I disagree she involved her children and turned them into murderers who all died young.
Well here it is almost 2024 100 years after Aunt Jenny's passing and the story is still be told. That says a lot right there.
I hope the story stays alive for another 100 at least. Thanks for watching.
I’ve read so much about that time and how the Home Guard was hated just as much if not more than the Yankees. Savageness was expected from their enemies at war but these were men they knew, sometimes even kin. They stole their food and killed their men. They were no different than the enemy. People now are so shocked by the revenge the people wanted and often took, but I think if we found ourselves in those same situations we just might be surprised at what we’d be capable of. Frankly, I’m surprised Jenny let one get away..😉Thanks for another great story, Dixie man!💞
Things ain't changed much either. Rich people pick the fight and expect us less fortunate to do the fighting for them. I'm with you...I don't blame Aunt Jenny one bit.
Exactly
He didn't get away. He's dead and so is she. There will be hell to pay.
The actions of the Home Guard remind me of the book Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning. It tells the true story of Reserve Police Battalion 101 of the German Order Police, which was responsible for mass shootings as well as round-ups of Jewish people for deportation to Nazi death camps in Poland in 1942. Browning argues that most of the men of RPB 101 were not fanatical Nazis but, rather, ordinary middle-aged, working-class men who committed these atrocities out of a mixture of motives, including the group dynamics of conformity, deference to authority, role adaptation, and the altering of moral norms to justify their actions. Very quickly different groups emerged within the battalion: a core of eager killers, most who carried out their duties reliably but without initiative, and a small minority who evaded participation in the acts of killing without diminishing the murderous efficiency of the battalion whatsoever. While this book discusses a specific Reserve Unit during WWII, the general argument Browning makes is that most people succumb to the pressures of a group setting and commit actions they would never do of their own volition.
So sad.
No more wars between brothers.
With so many RUclipsrs using AI to tell these stories, it is nice to hear a human voice for this story. Wonderful story, well told.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I NEVER watch them AI videos. In fact, I sub to every small YT’er channel I come across, even if I know I’ll probably never watch again, just to support.
@@myeyeswentdeaf6213 you're the hero people need! Thank you.
This is so much better!!
Ppl say AI is the future...to who?!?!!?? Weirdos that want to stay in their mother's basement. Real ppl like real ppl and real things.
Bless you jenny.....the pride, the determination and love of family was strong in you. And you were a real true pioneer woman with strong southern family morals.
My husband's family was from southwestern va, and their generations go back to early pioneer days.
His great,great, grandfather fought in the troops with genl george washington and received a letter of praise from him, his great grandfather and his sons, fought down home in the civil war, and like Jenny's family,was strong in family values,bonds.
Sounds like a great family. Thank you for that, and I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
What a woman! The Appalachia women in my family history are tough as nails, too. Nothing to be ashamed of, but I admire them! Thank you for telling us her story. ❤
Glad you enjoyed it
The world needs more Aunt Jennys ❤️
Things would ultimately calm down sooner or later, that's for sure.
Yes all her soms bcame criminals 😂😂
@@paulandriessen489and yet, you’re still stupid
Um, yeah, I think Southerners still make soap dishes out of their enemies skulls. Thanks for another great story.
My lips are sealed LOL 😆
These are mountain people..not your average southerners.
@@rbra9611absolutely
Thank you! I always wondered about the Confederate Home Guard portrayal in 'Cold Mountain:' as pure evil. Now I know it's not exaggerated. I'm glad someone paid them back in real life, despite the ongoing feuds that resulted. A big mistake on the part of the Confederacy. And thanks for preserving the story.
Thank you so much. Yeah, anytime I've stumbled across the Home Guard in researching different stories...it's never been good.
Dang. What a woman. Wow. I have admiration for her story and motivation
you and me both!
I loved this!! People don't stand up and bond the family ties like they used to. It's sad. She had the right to be proud of her boys.❤
Agreed
Never bring shame on your name
You are absolutely the BEST storyteller! One of my beloved grannies was born in Kaintuck (as she called it) in the 1800's. She came from a long line of Appalachian homesteaders. She moved to Indian Territory (later called Oklahoma) when she married. But there's still a passel of Boggs in those mountains.
Thank you for that. I'm sure she was an amazing woman.
Born and raised in Winston County Alabama where she lived and grew up hearing stories about her. Everyone calls her Aunt Jenny Johnson.
Love the story, and proud to be from the same state as her.
My Bibb family is from Winston County Alabama. They left for Texas when the war was over.
What a great story! I’ve heard of the Appalachian people being tough as nails when they needed to be. I would have to say that Aunt Jenny got the last jab in when she washed her hands for the last time in the skull of her enemy. Dixie after Dark you’re the most amazing storyteller I’ve ever heard! I’m glued to everything you say …..and thank goodness for a “pause” button so I can run to the bathroom and back again without missing a thing! Lol. Please never stop telling these awesome stories! Blessings always! ❤️✝️
Aw, thank you so so much!!
@@DixieAfterDark You’re very welcome! ❤️✝️
i love how he narrates and unfolds the stories. AWESOME!!!
Who doesn't like a spooky story?💀👻💀
Thank you so much!
Most southerners are natural story tellers. It's even part of the language we use our slang tends to have specific and allow the painting or vivid images with words.
I would be curious to find out how the eighth man met his demise. I really enjoy these histories. Keep them coming, Thank you
I know. I wish I could have found that out.
Dang! You sure can tell a story! Brings it out making it alive!👏👏👏❤️❤️❤️
Thank you 😊
Damn that war.
A very poignant story that shows how much was endured of people during the Civil War. Great story, with a very sad message.
So true
A good historic story I don't believe i ever would have heard if not for your telling. I enjoy these accounts. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it. I do love researching and pitting these together for people like you.
Well ain't that there just a plain right out awesome story. Revenge is a powerful thing, most mountain folks when it's spoken,it shall be done. It takes alot to bring a warm, Christianly hearted person to swear revenge, but when it's sworn, just as good as a handshake. Great story and thanks for sharin..
Inl9ve this reply! Thank you, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.
You should totally do the Fort Mims massacre in the Tensaw river delta. Edward Steadham was my (many-times)-great-grandfather. Family legend has it that he was just a teenager and was guided to safety by a black slave boy. The two found his brother Jesse who had escaped but was shot through the leg and they hid out in the swamps for days. Everyone else in my family was burned to death in the fort's bunk house. Its supposedly one of the most haunted places in Alabama. Personally, I hope that's not true - I don't like the idea of my kin folk trapped in such a terrible moment in time.
thanks for the idea. I'm jotting this down to start researching later.
I'm a blood relative of the Wetherfords
I've been to Fort Mims. It is a peaceful place on a lazy afternoon. The air was scented with sun-warmed pine needles which lay thick on the ground.
What happens after dark, I did not stay to find out. Perhaps lost souls still walk the ground of Ft. Mims, but I neither saw nor felt any odd spiritual activity and I have the second sight. Maybe people are wrong and those who lost their lives are at rest.
Thank you Dixie A D. Your voice is great. Your stories are wonderful.
The Civil War was awful, but apparently the Home Guard was worse.
Moral: don't mess with the mountain people!!!
Thank you so much! Yeah, sounds like the Home Guard felt like they had something to prove since they weren't fit for combat.
I'm a NW Yankee myself and I have to say, your channel is amazing, sir 🙏
I appreciate that! Thanks so much.
My family is from Lawrence County Alabama and these photos look so much like our old pictures. We also had an Aunt Jenny but she didn’t have an agenda, thank you, Jesus.
Thank you for your videos. I was born and raised in Southern California, moved to VA in 2014. You are teaching so much about the South. Oh found out that my great grand mother was born in Virginia.
awesome! I'm glad you've liking the channel, and welcome to the south. I should be having some videos based in Virginia soon.
Love this site. A great story well told. I did not realise the Home Guard were so brutal during that war. (I’m English and our Home guard were very different) Jennie was admirably tough and strong. I suppose her ghost still haunts because there was one last Home Guard that was never killed.
Welcome. I'm glad you're enjoying these stories. Yeah, the Home Guard here was a rough bunch. Not good people at all.
Good story
Thank you! 🙂
Thank you, great story. She was a strong woman
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Great late night stories 🇨🇦
Glad you like them!
My great grandmother was a Mcmillian before marriage (a midwife as well) ..she lived to be 106. This picture reminded me of her. She was something else 😊❤
When I was a small child, living in the housing projects of Middlesborough, KY, there was an elderly lady, named Mrs. Loveless, who threw TACKS in her yard to prevent the children from running through her yard.
This was way back in the late Fifties and early Sixties when children played barefoot all day! Now, that is a wicked thing to do. I wonder how she responded to God when He refused to let her in His Heaven?
Brilliant thoroughly enjoyed this story perhaps because the narrators voice is such easy listening takes you into the story right away❤
Thank you so much!!
Its still the same way now. You dont go to the mountains and hollars with shenanigans. These people dont back down and we are strong in our beliefs. God bless that family. And yeah... That story will not be forgotten.
Thank you for that!!!
@@DixieAfterDark of course. Love your channel! Keep up the great story telling!
Thank you for this Story 😊i could listen to you for hours. Greetings from Germany, Carmen 🙃
thank you so much for the kind words, and thanks for letting me know where you're from. I have ancestors from Germany, actually, although it was hundreds of years ago.
This was a beautiful story of family. Sad but beautiful.
Thank you!
This is the first I’ve heard, nice history lesson! Thanks for sharing!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Wow what story, I don’t believe in taking revenge, to me it hurts you in the long run just as much, but I’m sure Aunt Jenny felt like she had no other choice because what they did to her was unforgivable and horrific. I think when she washed her hands in the skull it was symbolic of her her being absolved for the revenge and putting the guilt of the whole matter where it belonged. Thanks for sharing this story!
I love your view on the end of the story. I'm going to join you with that theory. It's very fitting. Thank you.
I’m so glad I just happened upon your channel!!!! I’m a proud Southerner born in Atlanta, Georgia and still reside in the Peach State! I’m really enjoying hearing your extremely well told stories!!!! Blessings to you! 🍑 ❤
thank you so much for the warm comment, and welcome from your Alabama neighbor.
I love that woman. Her rage is a fire that can never be extinguished. I understand that level of commitment to see justice done. Mountain justice at it's finest and well told. You have a new subscriber.
Thank you so much! Yeah. This one was a great story. Don't mess with mountain folk, no doubt about it.
Wow that’s a great piece of history story! Thanks for sharing it!
Glad you enjoyed it
Been waiting on you my friend!!! I absolutely love this channel! Nobody can tell us a story like you can my brother
I appreciate that,more than you know. I'm glad you're enjoying these stories.
@@DixieAfterDark as
You made my day/night with your awesome fan service
You're one of the best, brother. You guys make me feel even better.
Love these old stories thank you ♥️
Glad you like them!
Wow! That Home Guard...now could they do that? Very tragic.
There's a lot of terrible stories about the Home Guard. Not good people at all.
@@DixieAfterDark They sure didn't include the Home Guard in our history books! No wonder the mountain people resented them.
Hey Dixoe 😊love to hear ya'll & been awaiting your delightful delivery with ur ❤❤delicious dialect
Well that was just fantastic what a lady!!! God rest her and her fine boys xxx
Thank you so much! I'm glad you are enjoying these stories.
❤ Awesome as always thanks
Thank you too!
Sometimes hate is all one has to get them through a tragedy. I can’t imagine watching my husband and son murdered before my eyes. Nor have the fortitude this woman had to see her revenge through. I’m sure I would be so traumatized I couldn’t get out of bed. Right or wrong that woman is amazing.
Absolutely loved this story! My family have a nice connection to the South starting in the 1830s, I've journeyed all over flying out from misty old England. Similiar climate, similiar folklore, similiar country, lovely people and great food! Not to mention the history. You've earned a new subscriber:) thanks for these
Glad you enjoyed it!
I just found this channel & im loving the history & the stories! Thanks
Glad you enjoy it!
I love your channel so much!!! Thank you for all the stories sir! Y'all do a great job.
Glad you like them!
Another great story! I look forward to every new one. Thank you.
Glad you like them! Thank you.
What an amazing story! Thanks for sharing xxx
Thank you. I'm glad you liked it.
Wow! You have a wonderful way to tell the stories. The details you give us are amazing.
Thank you so much!
Now that is some great story telling.
Loved it!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I'm from Carrollton, Ga and love these documentaries on your channel !! I just saw a video 2 days ago about Tilley Bend and the witch. The video said the tombstone looked shaped into on top horns on it with some writing on it carved in backwards, electronic equipment going crazy, etc. It seems like the video was from the My Ghost Story series maybe.. ?
Great video here !! Love your channel !!
Thank you so much
New sub and really enjoying your channel and the way you just jump right into the stories with no fluff or fanfare! Thanks 😃
Thank you so much!!!
I have visited Jenny's home place and the cemetery. The chimney is all that's left of the home. I felt no erie presence while there. I've heard many versions of this story. Most say that Aunt Jenny was the kindest, sweetest woman ever. She was just pushed too far. I am from Marion county Alabama. I've spent lots of time in Bankhead forest camping and such. Aunt Jenny doesn't worry me but "the creature" does. Supposedly runs on all fours like a dog but has a human like head....?
Hmmm, I need to look into that. Thanks for the info.
So happy I found your channel! Love the creepy stories. The southern voice and the way you narrative the stories captures my full attention. Turn off the lights and bring the 🍿! 😊
Aw, thank you so much. I'm glad you like the stories.
I just happened to come across this video and will definitely subscribe. What a great story. Although I’m a born Yankee, I lived most of my life in Arizona before we moved to North Carolina - and I do love living here! The narration is perfect!!! Thank you!!!
Thank you so much, and welcome to the south!
Great job!! Storytelling is an art and you are an exceptional artist.
Wow, thank you so much!
The book & movie Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier is a very detailed story of an Appalachian (Cold Mt. Near Asheville, NC) woman that endured the Civil War and all its tragedies.. I had never heard of the home guard until I read this book.
The Home Guard, in my opinion, was just like the Nazis during WWII .. Spying on the poor innocent folk while raping, murdering and pillaging simple homesteads of families that wanted NOTHING TO DO WITH THE RICH MAN’s WAR..
Thanks for this story.. It opened my eyes again to remind me of these current Republicans that would love to rid the USA of anyone that supports the Constitution or Civil Rights..
Thank you, and thanks for the book mention. I haven't read that one. Now I want to check it out.
You sound so open minded your brain fell out. Turn off the CNN Mo....
You Americans and your two party system that you adore like a golden calf...
Another amazing video! This story could make an incredible movie in the right hands.
I couldn't agree more!
another excellent episode!!!
Thank you so much!
Love this. Thank you for sharing. Great storyteller you are for sure.
So are you!! I love your content.
@@DixieAfterDark thank you so much
I was drawn to your channel, especially this story…since my birthday was January 22nd and I was born in Alabama! ROLL TIDE! ❤
Happy late birthday!!! I'm happy to have another Bama person her, but I gotta say....War Eagle!!!!
@@DixieAfterDark 🙌🏾 🗣️”Let’s go, BAMA!” 🤷🏽♀️😆
Thanks. Great telling.
Glad you enjoyed it.
This is a mighty good'n and sad one for sure. Amazing job as always brother! God bless and have a good'n
Thank you, Jared.
Fantastic story! Thank you!!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you.
This was one hell of a story!
Very beautifully told. I love it!!!
Thank you so much!
I love Aunt Jenny , great woman xx
Me too.
Thank you for sharing this story and their struggles! YES the civil war was just that! A Rich Mans War!
I'm glad you enjoyed the story
Horrific how Life can Unfold
Absolutely
Interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Well done!!!!👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏WELL DONE!!!
Thank you so much
I’ve been to that gravesite, and interestingly there’s a few Riddles buried in the Johnston cemetery. Interesting!
Cool stuff. I haven't personally made it to the site yet, but it's on my list.
I’m on about 10 straight videos in a row…..I’m HOOOOOKED. My kin is Irish/Scottish/Cherokee. I BELONG!! 😊❤️ …..and yes….we fairies are drawn to music like moths to a flame. I’m 52. Most of my family gone other than mine. Me and my three. I LONG to be in the hills where these stories are all around me. I want to be a granny witch so bad. 😘 Why oh why was I born in 71 in Indiana? Thanks Ball Brothers….not! I will go south in the near future. Jamestown and Cookville TN to be SPECIFIC. SO MUCH LOVE TO THE APPALACHIAN LOVERS. ✌🏼 PS Never stop please. Your sound and cadence are so familiar and soothing. Thank you. Most of us in this time have no idea what are ancestors withstood to allow our existence. Again….so much love and respect.
Awww, thank you so much!!!
What an amazing story. Appalachia is such a special place.
Yes it is!!
Interesting story; well told.
Thank you very much.
The movie Cold Mountain reminds me of this story.
I pray America never sees civil war again.
Amen
Fascinating tale.
Thank you
Great video ❤ i enjoy your channel very much.
Thank you so much!
Very welcome. Thank you for sharing 🤗
Awesome story!
Thank you!
Hey Dixie, it’s me again… congratulations on 7K 😮👍👍👍
Thank you!! 😁
I like learning all of this. Ty
You're very welcome.
I just shared this with my brothers and relations, I was joking about her possibly being a relative, but yep seems she is! The wife of my 9th cousin twice removed! I had to look her up on family search site, since I am working on my family tree extended! Thank you for sharing this! a new family branch I knew nothing about! :)
That's awesome. I'm always glad to hear people enjoy these stories, but this makes me even happier that this story helped you with genealogy. Honors to have you commet here.
My grandmothers family were marble miners in Jasper GA! Lots of stories there!
I'll have to look into that area. Thanks.
Awesome story
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I really enjoyed this video.
Thank you so much.
@@DixieAfterDark I subscribed, nice voice.
@@carolmorgan6734 thank you!
@@DixieAfterDark No, THANK YOU. Very informative and entertaining.
I think this is a great story.
Trueness..
Thank you so much!!
loving yiur channel and content ....altho, and maybe it's just me but, the background music is a tad roo loud? i can hear you talk but i can hear the music just as much
You're not the first to say that, honestly. I'm still adjusting the sound levels for newer videos.
Wow I'm from Texas and spent a spell in Oklahoma and my pastor friend is a brooks and his family is originally from that area i think he's kin to them..and alot of my family is from the Appalachian area and my grandpa would know this story and very few of my kin fought on the rough side of the war..a good chunk were either from aunt jennys area or abolitionists and quakers that opposed the war..very few fought for the gray..but growing up here in Tx my grandpa liked to tell old stories from back when our family was in the mountains..and I seem to recall he was telling me about this..then I later made a friend at church that very well could be one of aunt jennys cousins
Small world, for sure.
What a story!
Thank you!
Bless you Jenny and family
Amen
This was so good. This 100% should be made into a movie. I mean wow this jenny! Move over Karen .... Jenny is around HAHAHA . Being serious though what was done to her. I think she thought revenge was her best and only option. This was so well done Dixie. What an incredible tale and woman. Thank you so much for bringing her to life . I am so sorry it took me so long to sit down and watch it , but really glad I did. What a creepy ghost story as well. Shame her headstone has been taken all the time. :(
Thank you, Corrine. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I love finding these stories and researching them for people. There are great stories out there, just waiting for people to tell them.
@@DixieAfterDark I can see you do lots of research. Have to say I absolutely love it. Love the history as well to these legends. ❤️
What an interesting story. I just recently watched a few years old show called Outsiders, about a group of people still living up in the Appalachian mountains and just wanting to be left alone. Much more modern and it wasn't based off anyone in particular but dang was it interesting and good. Every time someone from the outside tried to bother them they were not pleased either, can't imagine the Civil War times. I didn't know that about the Home Guard either. Wretched
Ah, I've seen a few of those episodes. I've been trying to find the entire show on streaming for a while.
@@DixieAfterDark it's on Hulu, that's where I watched it! I absolutely loved it. The only downside is it was canceled after 2 seasons and so nothing got tied up and we didn't get many answers. But it was still worth it to me, it was damn good TV with some excellent actors I already liked
@@angelahuff2776 figures it'd be on the platform I don't have LOL
@@DixieAfterDark time for a free trial and binge watch 😁
@@angelahuff2776 great idea!!!
Amazing...oh to be more like aunt Jenny
Story time 🇺🇸 Blessings 🙏👍👍👍
Blessing to you too, friend.