Sometime in the Spring of 1914, a strange occurrence happened. On the corner of Bull and Blanding Streets, a shadowy figure of a horseman appeared in the sky above the large oak trees. Observers described the image as a horse and rider of heroic size. The details of the figure were clearly visible down to the saddle and the reins. As the people looked on, the horse reared up and appeared to want to take off on some journey.
The next day the news of the sighting spread. A crowd gathered on the corner to stare at the treetops. They waited patiently for the horseman to show himself again. The crowd was not disappointed. Above the trees the figure appeared again. Many in the crowd were scared that the white horseman was one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse (a biblical figure foretelling the end of the world). Others believed the image to be the ghost of stately General Wade Hampton, who was there to warn of the upcoming world war.