Main piece:

“ So this story is about the goat man back in the 18/1900s [1930’s] who was an African American Goat farmer who uh produced dairy products and gained pretty large recognition. He apparently was doing very well for himself and it caught the attention of the Klu Klan Klan once he had started advertising around town. So one night they grabbed him from his bed, dragged him to the bridge [Old Alton Bridge], tried to lynch him by throwing him over the side of the bridge. When they went to confirm his death he was nowhere to be found and the noose was empty. It is now called “goat bridge” and they say when you go to the bridge his spirit still lingers.” 

Background:

My informant is a 20-year-old college student who attends USC and is actually in the same folklore class! We came to this discussion after trading ghost stories early on in the semester during a breakout session. He knows this story because it takes place in his hometown.

Context:

This story was brought to my attention after I had told BS a ghost story that has been passed down through my family. He thought this one was very fitting and knew the story well. 

Thoughts:

I had never heard of this ghost story before so it was very interesting to hear about. I was so intrigued I had to dig deeper and find other recounts of the story. I found this one particularly interesting because I had not heard many ghost stories that stemmed from racist acts, specifically from the KKK. It not only saddened me, but I could see why the goat-man hung around for years attempting revenge if the story is true. I am very interested to learn more about stories that have to do with murders stemming from racist acts of violence as these would make more sense as to why the murdered would stay around and seek vengeance on the murderers.