Folklore maintains that every August, hikers around Caney Creek Falls in Rogersville hear the screams of a family drown during a cloudburst in 1898.In his 1996 book This Here's Country: Legends and Folklore from East Tennessee's Hill Country, author Bob Bradley, writes that during the late 1800s, a tiny neighborhood sat not too far from the peak. On that fateful night of 08/11/1898, an unimaginable amount of rain swelled the creek. Logs and other debris tumbled in the current and rushed straight for the Compton cabin. It was ripped apart. Roe Compton, his mother and two girls, Jennie and Ester were washed over the falls. Their bodies were found a day or so later. The force of the impact knocked the other side of the cabin to the safety of the bank. Mrs. Compton and five children were safe. She was pinned under a log and was saved by 12-year-old Bird and nine-year-old Johnny. Aside from a broken collarbone and a few cuts and bruises, they were unharmed.Pete Dykes picked up this story for his 2008 book Haunted Kingsport: Ghosts of Tri-City Tennessee, writing that it seems the screams of the ill-fated family members still rings out near the anniversary of this terrible tragedy.