One of the creepiest ghost stories from eastern Tennessee is the legend of the “Cussing Cover” in Cades Cove. Cades Cove is now a scenic valley in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
A couple by the name of Basil and Mavis Estep lived there in a cabin long before the creation of the national park. Mavis was born during a thunderstorm, and she believed that she would ultimately be killed by a lightning bolt. Because of this fear, Mavis never allowed a metal bed into her home, and she made Basil promise always to uphold her wishes.
Eventually, Mavis passed away due to an illness, and on her deathbed, she made Basil swear that he would never sell her handmade quilts that she had worked long hours on or even place them on a metal bed.
Basil eventually remarried a much younger woman named Trulie Jane Lawson. The couple began sleeping on a metal bed in the home, and on one cold night, the new wife asked Basil if they could use one of the quilts that Mavis had made years before. Trulie Jane grabbed a quilt named the “Cussing Cover” that night. The quilt earned its infamous name from Mavis because it contained a piece of a shirt that Basil had worn during their first fight.
Suddenly, a flash of lightning knocked Trulie Jane to the floor. The room quickly filled with smoke, and a burning smell lingered in the cold air. As Trulie Jane made her way to the floor, she found Basil had been burned to a crisp,p and the metal bed had disintegrated.
Oddly, the “Cussing Cover” was found in perfect condition, and nothing else in the mountain cabin was damaged.
Written By: John G. Clark Jr.