C.C. Pegues & His Most Unusual Home

C.C. Pegues and His Most Unusual Home. . , The Unusual Home , of Christopher Claudius Pegues and his beautiful wife Caroline was the center of social life in Cahaba. The brick structure had been built as a jail in 1823, but was remodeled into one of the loveliest homes in town., The grounds on which the house sat were unusually spacious. Chestnut Street was relocated 150 feet to the west making the Pegues block three acres in size instead of the usual two-acre block., Today, only an iron wellhead in the shape of a face remains, but this most unusual yard once included a mysterious maze of cedars and an overflowing fountain., Colonel C. C. Pegues , C. C. Pegues had been a lawyer since 1845. By 1860, he was Cahaba's intendant, an elected position similar to a mayor. Then in May of 1861, he led the Cahaba Rifles into the Civil War as their captain., A year later, he returned to Cahaba to recruit more men for the Confederate cause. Reportedly, a strange ghostly presence repeatedly appeared near his house that spring, perhaps as a supernatural warning. Pegues and most of the men he recruited never returned from that war. , Pegues was promoted to Colonel of the 5th Alabama Infantry when he returned to the front, but was soon severely wounded in battle. He died in a hospital in Richmond, Virginia, on July 15 of 1862. , Mystic Cedar Maze , The following is a firsthand account of a strange phenomena associated with the cedar maze in Pegues' yard. , "In the Spring of 1862, on one of those brilliant moonlight nights, a young lady and gentleman, promenading near the maze of cedars, turned to enter one of the circular walks leading to the center of the labyrinth, when they were startled to see a large white, luminous ball moving a few feet above the ground in front of them, apparently floating in air. This ball would dart first on one side of the walk and then on the other, approach close enough to almost touch them, recede and disappear in the shrubbery, to suddenly be seen again floating beside them. The gentleman attempted to grasp it; it darted beyond his reach and disappeared, to be seen no more that night. This apparition appeared to other parties, and became known as the Pegues Ghost.'" , - Anna G. Fry.