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Southern Mysteries Podcast

Episode 176 The Mystery of the Surrency Poltergeist

Southern Mysteries Podcast

Shannon Ballard

True Crime, Society & Culture, History

4.81K Ratings

🗓️ 20 October 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 1872, the quiet Georgia town of Surrency became the center of one of America’s strangest mysteries. Inside the home of Allen Powell Surrency, glass shattered, clocks ran backward, and furniture moved without a hand touching it. The events drew scientists, skeptics, and spiritualists, including one from Salem, Massachusetts. Was it a hoax, hysteria, or something that defied explanation? In this episode of Southern Mysteries, uncover the story of the Surrency family and the haunting that shook a town, blurred the line between faith and fear, and became one of the most documented poltergeist cases in U.S. history. Join the Community on Patreon: Want more Southern Mysteries? You can hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries 🎧 Explore More Southern Mysteries Visit SouthernMysteries.com for more episodes and source lists. 📱 Follow on Social Media: Facebook: Southern Mysteries PodcastTikTok @southernmysteriesInstagram: @southernmysteriesEmail: southernmysteriespodcast@gmail.com  Episode Sources The Savannah Morning News (Oct–Dec 1872) – Coverage of the Surrency disturbances The Atlanta Constitution (Nov 1872–Jan 1873) – Reports on the “Surrency Mystery” The Augusta Chronicle (Oct 1872) – Editorial accounts of the Surrency haunting The New York Times (Dec 4 1872) – “Spiritual Manifestations in Georgia” The Albany Patriot – Reprinted witness letters and commentary, 1872 The Philadelphia Inquirer (1872–1873) – Syndicated reports on the haunting Harper’s Weekly (1873) – “Poltergeists and the Marvels of Surrency” John W. Truesdell, The Bottom Facts Concerning the Science of Spiritualism (1873) The Boston Globe (1872–1873) – Reports on Charles H. Foster Georgia Historical Quarterly Vol. 47 (1963) – “The Surrency Ghost: A Georgia Poltergeist Reexamined” The Georgia Encyclopedia – Entry on Surrency, Appling County Alan Brown, Haunted Georgia: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Peach State (2008) Charles Elliott, Strange Tales of the South: Haunted Houses and Ghost Legends (1974) Dennis William Hauck, Haunted Places: The National Directory (2002) Jim Miles, Haunted South Georgia (2017) J. Michael Norman, Spirits of the Southeast (2010) Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, 3rd Ed. (2007) Tiya Miles, Phantoms of the Past: The American South and the Supernatural (2021) Alan Gauld & A.D. Cornell, Psychical Research and the Poltergeist (1979) Michael Norman & Beth Scott, Haunted America (1988) Nancy Roberts, Haunted Houses: Tales from the American South (1972) Jim Miles, Haunted Georgia: Ghosts and Legends of the Peach State (2010) Randy Russell & Janet Barnett, Spirits of the South: Ghost Stories of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi (2000) Alan Dundes, Dictionary of American Folklore (1993) William G. Roll, The Poltergeist Phenomenon (2012) Nancy Roberts, Haunted Houses: Where Ghosts Still Roam (1979) Kathryn Tucker Windham, Southern Spirits: Tales of the Supernatural from the Deep South (1983) Ann Braude, The American Spiritualist Movement, 1848–1920 (2001) Muriel V. Murphree, Mysteries and Legends of Georgia (2009) Georgia Public Broadcasting (2021) – “The Surrency Poltergeist: Georgia’s Most Documented Haunting” Georgia Archives – Appling County records and land grants, Allen P. Surrency estate (1870s–1880s) U.S. Census Records – Appling County, Georgia (1870–1880) Library of Congress Chronicling America – Digitized newspaper archives, 1872–1873 Frank Podmore, The Poltergeist in History (1896) American Hauntings Podcast, Season 4, Episode 14 – “The Surrency Ghost” Beast of Bladenboro – “The Surrency Haunting: Georgia’s Most Infamous Poltergeist” Otherworldly Oracle – “The Surrency Ghosts: True Terrifying Tales of Haunted Georgia” PANICd.com – “ParaPedia: The Surrency Family Polt

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey there, I'm Shannon Ballard, creator and host of Southern Mysteries.

0:04.8

This show exists because of the incredible support from listeners who love stories like the one you'll hear today.

0:11.8

Southern Mysteries is an independent podcast. I research, write, record, and produce every episode myself,

0:19.7

and patrons help keep it going. So I always take a moment

0:23.8

to say thank you to folks who make it possible through Patreon. Big thanks to Mary Jane

0:29.4

Cothran of Portland, Tennessee, Jennifer Free of Bordentown, New Jersey, J.J. Kistner of

0:36.2

Pocatella, Idaho, and Laura Delgado of Houston, Texas.

0:40.9

And to those supporting from mysterious locations, Krista, Laura Mashburn, and Stacey.

0:48.1

Thank you so much. If you want to join these very kind folks in helping me create Southern

0:53.9

Mysteries, your support gives you access to join these very kind folks in helping me create Southern Mysteries, your support

0:55.5

gives you access to ad-free episodes and the first three seasons of the show, which are only

1:01.6

available on Patreon. Plus exclusive stories through my monthly patron podcast, Audacious,

1:08.7

where I share some of the most shocking and scandalous crimes in American

1:12.8

history. Your support helps cover the real world cost of creating this show, from research

1:19.6

materials to website and hosting expenses and so much more. I couldn't do it without you.

1:27.1

You can join Southern Mysteries on Patreon and start

1:30.1

listening right now at patreon.com slash Southern Mysteries or just search for Southern Mysteries

1:37.0

podcast in the South. Inside the home of Alan Powell

2:03.4

Surrency, a respected businessman and namesake of the town, the impossible began to happen. Books flew

2:11.6

from shelves. Furniture moved on its own. Clocks ran backward.

2:18.3

Neighbors, travelers and newspaper reporters said they saw it too.

2:24.3

And for months, the Surrency family lived at the center of a mystery.

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