According to: Fivay,this article apparently appeared in the Brooksville Sun on Aug. 17, 1951. It is reprinted here in it’s orginal text.
By EDITH F. CRAIGIE
Bayport, long a favorite rendezvous of Brooksville people who like its quiet appeal, has undergone a sort of face-lifting in recent years. But one place which has not changed is the old cemetery on the hill, just this side of the Adrian Bell cottage.
Nobody seems to know much about its history, except that it has been there a very long time. Not far from the road into Bayport, and still accessible by foot, the wilderness is creeping up on it, and some of the tombstones are a bit askew. Huckleberries grow in profusion in the vicinity of the old graves, and no doubt snakes find it a happy hunting ground, for very few sightseers visit the place these days. In the spirit of brooding peace, there is a sense of forgotten people and forgotten times, an eerie, out-of-the-world atmosphere that is almost palpable.
The following inscriptions were copied from the headstones in the ancient burying grounds:
• Sacred to the memory of Wm. D. Underwood, born March 15, 1825; died March 28, 1859.
• John E. Johnson, born Rye, New Hampshire, March 21, 1823; John P. Johnson, son of above, born January 28, 1853, drowned at Bayport June 3, 1859. “A widowed mother and her son mourn their loss.”
• Sacred to the memory of the Rev. A. M. Barrington, born April 4, 1820, died March 20, 1886.
• Erected to the memory of Maj. Isaac Garrason, died 1865.
• Rev. Johnson Wright, died May 17, 1877. Age 51 years.
• Marie Nissen, wife of Jens Norskov, born in Denmark July 10, 1850, died at Bayport June 16, 1886. Anne Katherine, her daughter, born in Denmark Apr. 3, 1874 died at Cedar Keys July 18, 1881.
• Hannah Johnson, born February 14, 1814, died July 24, 1899. Greenlief Johnson, born March 7, 1849, died Aug. 17, 1880.
No one knows how the tombstones were transported to Bayport but perhaps they were brought in by water. According to the Hon. H. C. Mickler, a retired Hernando County Clark, [a son of] Maj. Garrason (or Garrison) was the first white male child born in this county. There are said to be more people buried in the Bayport cemetery than are accounted for by headstones, the graves having long since been leveled and eradicated by the inroads of time and nature.

Five incredible buildings all over a century in age with history that speaks for itself; combined, is a haunting combination. Roger’s Christmas House and Village located in Brooksville, Florida in Hernando County specialize in the sale of unique Christmas household decorations. Although this establishment is geared for the Christmas holiday, the rumors of strange occurrences within these walls, makes it incredibly interesting during the Halloween holiday!

There are tales of a murder taking place during the 1930’s at this very location. It is said that the Roger’s Christmas House was once the home to a married couple that engaged in a heated argument one evening. During the course of this disagreement, the wife stabbed her husband to death as well as a police officer that arrived on the scene. This prompted the other officer on scene to retaliate and shoot the wife to death.

Witnesses have reported seeing the apparition of a woman carrying a shotgun wondering aimlessly throughout the halls of Roger’s Christmas House. Other reports include items being found on the floor upon the opening of the store in the morning, when the store was tidied up with nothing out of order the night before. Tales of dark shadows and unexplained bangs and bumps makes Rogers Christmas House and Village a chilling spot to shop for the chilly holidays!

Continuing through our Haunted Tour leads us to the Spring Hill Cemetery in Brooksville, Florida found in Hernando County. The Spring Hill Cemetery is said to be quite an active place to be when you’re looking for spirits of the past. Located deep within a forest off of Fort Dade Road, the old Spring Hill Cemetery is rumored to have once been a battlefield from one of the Seminole Wars back in the 1800’s. There has been many tales of this incredible piece of land, tales of slaves being hung from one of the many oak trees encompassing the area and buried right in the ground without a funeral or marker.

Many orbs have been photographed in this cemetery, but it is quite a dusty place. The things that can’t be explained however, are the cries heard in the night or the apparitions that have been seen walking aimlessly throughout the grounds. There are many accounts of an apparition that can be seen around or hanging from the tree that is rumored to have been the place where the hangings of slaves once took place.

Spring Hill Cemetery is also rumored to be located in the vicinity of an old slaughter house which adds to creepiness of the area. When you follow the twists and turns of the dirt road that leads to the cemetery, the closer you get you feel the pain that surrounds this piece of land. The area is beautiful, full of thick forests and century old oak trees, but the anguish that encompasses this small cemetery is evident.

What was once a 7-11 in the early part of the 1980’s in Spring Hill, Florida is now the home to a spirit of the past. One evening, an intoxicated man came into the store to purchase a case of beer. The clerk on duty made the decision not to sell any more alcohol to the obviously inebriated man which in turn angered the customer. After much profanity and yelling, the man decided to purchase a pack of cigarettes instead. When the clerk turned his back to continue with his duties, the customer pulled out his gun and shot the store clerk in the back of the head, taking his life.

The 7-11 store is now a Hungry Howies Pizzeria that documents some pretty eerie occurrences. One worker reports leaving the store one night only to come back a few hours later to find all of the pictures and posters on the ground, after reviewing the security camera tapes, he found them to be blank but still recording. There are incidents where cups and utensils fall off the tables, hanging lights will begin swinging back and forth, the saloon doors will swing open on their own and the arcade games will shut themselves off.

The spirit has never been seen, but he certainly makes himself known!