Haunted History of the Baker Peters House in Knoxville, TN
Blood begets blood until all that remains are the restless spirits whose bodies it once spilled from. Knoxville’s Baker-Peters House illustrates the progression of violence and its profound effect on individuals. What started with a presumed villainous act ended with a vengeance that only further stained the red-brick facade of the Baker-Peters House.
Dr. James Harvey Baker was a known figure in Knoxville, his work as a local physician earning him favor with locals. When the Civil War broke out, a countdown started. No matter the path he took or the beliefs he held, it would continue to tick down until it reached the exact moment the bullet pierced his flesh and ended his life.
The chain reaction that followed left a small trail of bodies that shocked locals and altered the aura of Dr. Baker’s home.
Who haunts the Baker-Peters House?
The original residents of the Baker-Peters House, Dr. Baker and his son, Abner, are believed to have become permanent fixtures of the 19th-century building. Though it changed hands and purposes often, the historic home has yet to shed the remnants of the Bakers. However, the Bakers aren’t the only specters believed to be tied to this historic site.
Keep reading to meet the spirits of the Baker-Peters House. Hear more stories of local haunts and try to spot the ethereal forms of these lost souls, unaware that the war has ended on a Gatlinburg ghost tour.
A Casualty of War
The American Civil War bloodied the United States. Stretches of empty planes on the East Coast became battlegrounds where the ideals of the North and South clashed. Estimates suggest that some 620,000 people were killed during the four-year war. You can’t step foot on a former battleground and not hear, like a whisper just beneath the wind, the sounds of warfare and screams of the fallen.
Of those 600,000-plus people, not all of them were soldiers. Some were unfortunate and happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. When Dr. James Harvey Baker commissioned the construction of his home in 1830, the physician had no idea that its placement would put him right in line with a band of angry Union soldiers, and eventually add him to that list of unfortunates.
The home that Dr. Baker and his son, Abner, occupied wasn’t some meager shack in the woods of Tennessee. It stood out against its surrounding landscape, the red brick facade and white colonial columns of the antebellum home once the focal piece of a stretch of farmland in Knox County. It’s here that Dr. Baker did his job, serving the locals whether they were fighting in a war or not. It was also where he took his last breath, his life swiftly taken one day in 1864 as the Union put pressure on the Confederacy.
It’s believed that Dr. Baker was tending to wounded Confederate troops, though his alliances are often called into question depending on who’s telling his story. In the middle of his work, Union soldiers burst into his home and, for reasons unknown, shot and killed him. As tragic and needless as Dr. Baker’s death was, it was merely a catalyst for a series of events that have made the Baker-Peters House one of Knoxville’s most haunted locations.
Abner’s Revenge
While his father remained in Knoxville, tending to the sick and the wounded, Abner set out for war. He joined the Confederacy as it fought back against the Union Army, serving as a private at only 19 or 20 years old. The young soldier survived the war, but not without tragedy striking his home.
Hearing of his father’s murder and still fueled by a hatred for the North, Abner sought revenge. When he returned from war in 1865, he took no time to find a victim, his rage landing on someone seemingly removed from his father’s killing. William Hall worked as a clerk of the court (though some accounts say a postmaster) and was in Downtown Knoxville when Abner sought his victim.
While there are some accounts that believe the two knew each other and the events that transpired were the product of a fight, the more widespread theories are that Abner wanted vengeance against a known Union supporter or firmly believed Hall was involved in his father’s death. Whatever the reason, a shot rang out in Downtown Knoxville the day of their interaction, and Hall was dead.
Abner could only revel in his satisfied vengeance for so long, for he was arrested and jailed immediately after Hall’s death. Despite being behind the protective bars of his Knoxville cell, Abner’s actions sparked outrage among local Unionists, who stormed the building and pulled the young Baker to the street. James’ son was the third body tied to the doctor’s untimely murder, as the mob hung Abner from a tree.
Enter George Peters and Progress
Contemporary Knoxville residents may recognize the Baker-Peters House as a local hangout, with several restaurants and, later, a doctor’s office having occupied the space. Long before becoming a public venue, though, the former Baker property was sold to George Peters and his family. They were a family like any other, and as far as any of the living know, the Peters introduced no new controversies into the home.
The only ones who would truly know would be the spirits of James and Abner Baker. They watched as their home passed from hand to hand, from the Peters to, later in the 20th century, one V. M. Rogers, and witnessed how progress would ultimately open their home to the public. From Jeremiah’s restaurant to Philips Petroleum, the Baker-Peters House changed hands quite a few times and even faced a potential demolition in the ’80s.
Dr. Baker and Abner witnessed it all, so it’s no wonder they’ve been known to be active throughout the home. However, there’s a darkness that many historical accounts of the Bakers tend to leave out, a hint at why the Union may have targeted Dr. Baker and why businesses tend to last only for so long.
The Baker Family Secret
Some accounts of the Bakers claim that the home had hidden rooms in its dark and damp basement. In the structure’s lowest levels, it’s believed that James held slaves on his property, and there have been whispers that the doctor may not have been the kindest slave owner. One recount of the Baker-Peters House states that a stairwell went directly from James’ bedroom to the basement quarters, allowing him easy access to keep a close eye on them.
There’s plenty of mystery behind the Bakers, between the reason for James’ killing and whether or not he actually owned slaves. There are questions to these answers, but it seems that only the deceased could provide the truth at this point.
Or maybe there’s another spirit wandering elsewhere in Knoxville that knew them—perhaps poor William Hall. Maybe it’s best to have your questions queued up when you book your Gatlinburg ghost tour and plan for a stop at any of the many haunted locations in Tennessee. You never know what spirits you may come across.
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Sources:
https://www.history.com/news/american-civil-war-deaths
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=94311
https://www.finnstavern.com/bakerspetershouse
https://kprcrew.com/portfolio/history-of-the-baker-peters-house-in-knoxville-tn/
https://www.knoxtntoday.com/baker-peters-houses-haints-from-past-wars/