Quick answer: Clear Rock's ghost story is an attributed performance by Mose Platt preserved in the John and Ruby Lomax collection. The Library of Congress places the recording in Taylor, Texas, in 1939. The archived voice and collection notes are historical evidence of storytelling. They are not proof that the events narrated in the tale occurred.
Clear Rock's ghost story in the collection
A 2015 Library of Congress essay directs readers to Platt's recording and identifies John and Ruby Lomax as the collectors. It uses the example while discussing uncertainty over whether a person described as dead is truly dead. That is a description of the tale's problem, not a medical finding about a named historical person. (Library of Congress: Spooky Stories for Halloween)
The 1939 field notes group Ghost Story with other stories and songs attributed to Clear Rock. A Taylor entry gives May 10, 1939, for a recording session and mentions stories recorded under a temporary disc number. The notes support the collection context. The precise catalog record should remain the authority for assigning an individual take to that session. (Library of Congress: 1939 Southern Recording Trip field notes)
The fear at the center of the telling
The LOC's presentation places the story alongside other narratives about death, grief, and encounters with spirits. Its reference to uncertainty about death helps explain why this recording belongs in a ghost-story collection without requiring a supernatural conclusion. A frightening situation can arise because people do not know how to interpret what they have seen or heard. (Library of Congress: Spooky Stories for Halloween)
That makes the listener's judgment part of the experience. Is the tale asking for belief, producing a surprise, or playing with a familiar fear? Those are questions to bring to the original recording. The available performance preserves pacing and delivery that a brief written summary cannot reproduce.
Reading the collectors' notes critically
Field notes are not neutral windows into a recording session. They contain titles, working identifiers, and the collectors' evaluations. In the Taylor entry, a short evaluative comment appears beside the stories. It records the collector's judgment, rather than a universal assessment of Platt's ability. (Library of Congress: 1939 Southern Recording Trip field notes)
A careful listener can distinguish that judgment from the performance itself. The difference matters when archives preserve a teller's work through the vocabulary of a collector. Clear Rock deserves identification as the source of the telling, while the notes deserve recognition as another authored layer around it.
What the evidence establishes
| Category | Statement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Documented | The LOC identifies Platt, the collectors, Taylor, and 1939. | Library of Congress: Spooky Stories for Halloween |
| Documented collection context | Taylor session notes list Ghost Story among Platt's material. | Library of Congress: 1939 Southern Recording Trip field notes |
| Folklore | The narrative engages uncertainty about death. | Library of Congress: Spooky Stories for Halloween |
Questions about this story
Who was Clear Rock in this archive?
The LOC identifies the teller as Mose Platt, known as Clear Rock. The article uses that attribution rather than treating the recording as anonymous. (Library of Congress: Spooky Stories for Halloween)
Where and when was the recording made?
The LOC essay places it in Taylor, Texas, in 1939. Session-level notes supply additional dating context, but the individual item metadata should be checked before specifying the take's exact date. (Library of Congress: Spooky Stories for Halloween) (Library of Congress: 1939 Southern Recording Trip field notes)
What theme does the LOC highlight?
It introduces the performance as an example involving uncertainty about whether someone is dead. That identifies a narrative theme rather than confirming a death or resurrection. (Library of Congress: Spooky Stories for Halloween)
Are the field notes the same as a transcript?
No. They provide session and collection information and brief judgments. They should not be expanded into dialogue the recording has not supplied.
Does preservation in a national archive validate a haunting?
It validates the existence and provenance of an archival item. The narrated ghost claim needs its own evidentiary assessment.
Read the sources
- Library of Congress: Spooky Stories for Halloween
- Library of Congress: 1939 Southern Recording Trip field notes
Continue exploring
Read HauntsUSA's evidence standards. If you know an earlier source for this account, contact HauntsUSA with its author, date, and archive reference.