HGB Ep. 608 - Haunted Cemeteries 31

Moment in Oddity - Yeti Crab (Suggested by: Michael Rogers)

Diane, do you know what the definition of hirsute (HER-suit) is? Hairy, and it's usually used to describe men's chests or sometimes circus performers when they grow an excessive amount of hair on their body. But did you know that there is a crab by that name? Let me introduce you to the Kiwa hirsuta. This crustacean was discovered in 2005 in the South Pacific Ocean along the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge. It is approximately 6 inches in length and is also known by its common name, Yeti Crab or Yeti Lobster. The reason for the Yeti name is due to the quantity of silky blond to white colored setae (SEE-thai) that covers the decapod's body, making it look like a furry yeti. The crabs live along hydrothermal vents, deep in the ocean. Their hairy arms and bodies collect toxins released by the hydrotherms in their environment. This process is known as chemosynthesis. They are thought to be blind and their diets consist of epibiotic bacteria. Our vast and deep oceans contain many strange and unusual creatures, with many of them, likely not having been discovered yet. But a furry white crab that clearly resembles a Yeti, certainly is odd. 

Haunted Cemeteries 31 

Cemeteries just lend themselves to ghost stories.There is hardly a town that doesn't have that one cemetery that has a legend or myth connected to it. These legends are hard to prove, but even without evidence they have staying power. And most people like to believe that their loved ones hang around even after they've died, so why not hang out at the cemetery where they're buried. In this 31st episode of haunted cemeteries, we share cemeteries in Arkansas, Texas, Canada, Oklahoma, Illinois and Indiana. 

Kellers Chapel and Cemetery - Jonesboro, Arkansas

The chapel and cemetery are located at 2401 Kellers Chapel Road in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The Keller family came to Jonesboro in the 1850s and it is believed that this cemetery started as their family cemetery. The earliest burial was for J.W. Keller in 1859. . Many settlers to the area are buried here as well as veterans of the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World Wars I & II, Korean War and Vietnam War. The oldest person in the cemetery is a man named William Murphy Loudermilk who lived to be 105 years old and was the last living veteran of the Confederate Army. This cemetery has a legend connected to the chapel within its borders. It is said that if a guest knocks on the door of the chapel, they will hear a knocking in return. Apparitions are seen walking in the cemetery and the sound of babies crying is also heard. 

Concordia Cemetery - El Paso, Texas

Concordia Cemetery in El Paso, Texas is known as El Paso's Boot Hill. It was established in 1856 and has around 60,000 burials. The site started as a family cemetery for Hugh and Juana Stephenson, who had moved to El Paso from Chihuahua, Mexico. Juana passed in 1856 and Hugh buried her in what would become Concordia Cemetery. People from El Paso would travel the three miles to Concordia to bury their dead. In the 1890s, various areas were bought and set aside for the Jews, the Catholics, the Masons, the Chinese, the Military and Blacks. There are Buffalo Soldiers here, Texas Rangers, gunslinger John Wesley Hardin, Lawmen John Selman. 

That Old West gunslinger Hardin is said to be one of the sirits in the cemetery. There is also a Lady in White people call Lady Flo. The hoofbeats of horses are heard and some people claim to catch children's laughter. Three sisters on a ghost tour in El Paso in 2012 asked the tour guide to take a picture of them in Concordia Cemetery. When they looked at the picture later, they could see what seemed to be a dark figure walking to the side of them. Their brother brightened the picture and there is a clear dark figure of a man in a hat walking. If there wasn't a real person walking there, it certainly is interesting. But what makes it even more interesting, is that this figure has popped up in several pictures through the years. 

Ghost Adventures visited Concordia Cemetery during their 13th season. This was part of their Route 666 Halloween special. The crew was investigating the nearby De Soto Hotel where Richard Ramirez may have conducted Satanic rituals and it is believed these rituals spilled over into the cemetery. The X camera picked up three shadowy figures walking in the distance after Billy does a reading. Billy is so convinced that these are real people, he calls the police to come, but they find no one in the cemetery. 

Burkholder United Cemetery - Hamilton, Ontario 

Some of the first people to arrive on Hamilton Mountain were Jacob Burkholder and his wife Sophia and they came in October 1794. Some of their land was used as a cemetery starting in 1800. The cemetery was officially founded in 1839 as a public burying ground and a small log school was built just inside the entrance. A small church was added in 1850 and everyone called it the "The Little White Church." That church stood for 100 years, until it was demolished in 1955 and replaced with the bigger Burkholder United Church. Stories of weird activity in the cemetery date back to the small church, which would have a strange light run along the roof of the church every time a prominent person died. Occasionally, this orb of light would float over to the house of the person who passed and rest above it. People claimed that this was an angel of some sort. Some claim that the new church has the same mysterious light run along its roof. The churchgoers were very superstitious. They believed that if the cemetery claimed a victim, two more deaths would follow. Kinda like our "deaths in threes" today when it comes to celebrities. A woman in black is seen walking in the cemetery. There is supposedly a double headstone for a wife and husband and when people bend down to get a better look at the husband's name, his wife appears and scares them away. Some pioneer doctor is reputed to have done some grave robbing in the cemetery, once getting away with a body that he boiled pieces of in a huge wash-boiler in his house. A servant girl reported him and he was busted. 

Arapahoe Cemetery in Arapahoe, Oklahoma  

The Arapahoe Cemetery is located in Arapahoe, Oklahoma and was established in 1893. The town of Arapahoe was established after the 1889 Oklahoma Land Run. This had been the land of the Cheyenne and the first American settlers arrived in 1892. The most notable person buried here is Jesse J.W. Lawton. He was the newspaper editor of the Arapahoe Bee for 32 years. As a matter of fact, he passed away at the newspaper office. 

A man named Walter S. Mills wrote of his passing, "LAWTON is dead. The word flew from lip to lip last Monday and it was true. An old timer has passed on. One who for more than thirty years sat at his old table at the Bee office, is gone. And with the passing of Jesse W. LAWTON, Arapaho loses its strongest character. He had his faults. He had his enemies. He knew it, and like a man did not try to deny either. Lawton's pen cut like a knife at times, and his blows were often sledge hammer blows that raised welts and sometimes left scars. But no lick he ever struck was without a purpose. When timid men scudded for cover, Lawton took up his pen and hit the bull's eye. He ridiculed the foibles and lambasted the idocies of the community. In a larger town or a more sophisticated community, they would have laughed-- because the thing did not sound so personal. But in a community that has only one or two fat men, and one or two extra lean ones, and only a handful of all kinds, generalities took the form of personalities and often one with an imaginary injury went gunning for the editor. Lawton had a keen sense of humor and a dauntless courage. He never advocated the side of wrong of lawlessness and he didn't know the meaning of the word policy. But long after lesser lights are forgotten, Lawton will be remembered. He was a man of brain and of character. In other environments, he would have been a great newspaper man. Arapaho has lost its staunchest friend, its truest advocate. Custer County has lost its one outstanding editor. The Bee will go on--but the personality that created it is gone."
       
The haunting here at the cemetery is connected to Robina Smith. She passed away in 1936 when the car she was riding in hit a creamery truck on U.S. Highway 183. When police arrived at the scene, they found several victims frozen to death. Robina had died when her head impaled on the floor-mounted gearshift. She doesn't haunt her plot, but apparently her father does. The haunting started when her father passed in 1972. He had worried that his daughter wasn't a Christian and so wasn't saved and his spirit is heard wailing. EVPs have been captured of him saying "Oh no, oh my God, Robina has not been saved." Others claim to hear it audibly. 

Auxiliary Sable Cemetery

People claim that Auxiliary Sable Cemetery is the scariest cemetery in Illinois. The cemetery is located along Brown Road in Minooka, Illinois. This is one of the oldest rural burial grounds in the area and was founded in 1834, with many burials going back to the 1800s. There are a few hundred burials. What makes this cemetery creepy is that one must drive through a forest on a narrow gravel road to reach the iron gates at the entrance. A windowless shed at the back of the cemetery has been rumored to be a portal. This was more than likely a receiving structure for storing bodies to wait for temperatures to warm up. It's made of stone with metal doors. The main ghost here is a little girl named Adeline Stevenson and much of the activity happens to people's cars. Their electrical may go crazy with lots of bells and whistles and lights going off. Cars may even stall or not restart. Electric windows go down, even without a key in the ignition. Mysterious mists and fires have been seen. Many people have shares their experiences online.

Not Right posted: "As soon as went through those gates the whole energy changed, this was at around 11 at night. You just knew we were not supposed to be there. I was doing a spirit box, and I’ll never forget what it said, Thomas crash die. At the time didn’t take it seriously, but two years later a buddy of mine name Thomas crashed and passed away, and it makes me think."

My Knowledge And Experience wrote: "I’ve had friends go out there and were demonically attacked. A blue glowing dog jumped on the hood, car engines die, the windows going up and down, and the gate closes behind you after you cross the bridge and come into the cemetery. These were some bad-ass guys, and they still to this day will not go back into that cemetery. I have more info, I don’t want to post it, but I think much worse happened out there. My advice would be, all those spirits need to be left alone, and I truly hope they cross over or find some kind of rest, salvation, or find their way home to heaven."
Many of the headstones inside Aux Sable Cemetery date back to the early 1800s. John Ferak/Patch

Awesome remarked: "Went during the middle of the night with a group of like 5. We absolutely 10000 percent saw a ghost car come down the narrow wooded road."

There's Something Off About This Cemetery commented: "I go to a lot of cemeteries because I find them peaceful, and I like to take photos of the cemeteries I've been to. I have never felt that any of them were haunted or had a weird feeling, even at Bachelor's Grove, until I went to this one. I went twice in the same day because a friend wanted to come along later, and I caught a glowing white orb and a transparent dark orange glow with my professional camera. One in the day, and one at night ... I am officially spooked out. When I was here alone in the day, I had a really weird feeling. I heard crying twice from the forest and lots of shuffling and footsteps behind me. When I walked up to the rusty door, there was a loud bang once coming from inside, and it scared the shit out of me because it was completely quiet until I walked up to it. I'm not blowing smoke. I have NEVER encountered anything unusual in cemeteries before this one! Really weird!" 

Handprints And A Welcoming Feeling Wrote: "Handprints in the dust on my buddies previously clean car. We go all the time. Using a box, the spirits like to speak to us, as we’re younger, both 17. They seem to remember us. I wore pink the first time I went and every time I go they seem to say 'he’s back, pink' over and over. It’s surreal, but I don’t feel weird being there. I feel like I’m welcome, it’s odd." 

Stepp Cemetery

And then there is what is said to be the most haunted cemetery in Indiana. This is the Stepp Cemetery located near Bloomington, Indiana. It was named for Reuben Steep who owned the land. Apparently, the cemetery was already on the land when Stepp bought it in 1856. We're not sure when the cemetery was established, but the oldest burial is for Isaac Headstocks in 1850. He was a veteran of the War of 1812. It's unclear how many people are buried here, but only around 50 tombstones remain. This is a rural cemetery, so doesn't get much care. The state of Indiana bought it in 1929. But before that, a group of people who had some weird religious beliefs, would meet in the cemetery. They were known as Crabbites - which sounds like a tasty appetizer - but definitely was not. A man named Reverend William Crabc founded a cultish religion named Church of the First Born. He had quite a following in the early 1900s because he was a great orator even though he had little education. He detested worshiping inside a meeting house, wanting to be out in nature. So he would bring his flock of 300 out into the woods near the cemetery and he would clamber up on a tree stump and start preaching. And then he would bring out the snakes. Oh yes, these were snake handlers. This is really how Reverend Crabb got his start with people following him. He was like a sideshow who charmed people into listening to him. Crabb asked for no money and he fathered thirteen children, twelve of them girls. He got his followers comfortable with handling rattlesnakes and they would speak in tongues ans sometimes even dance naked among the tombstones. The group eventually moved on, but they left in their wake the negative energy they may have conjured in the cemetery with their bizarre rituals.

After the state took over the cemetery, stories began to circulate about haunting activity. There was a tree stump in a far corner that had the appearance of a chair and so people started calling it the Warlock Chair. This was next to an infant's grave and visitors would claim to see a woman in black visiting the grave. She often sat in the stump chair and appeared to be rocking. People would swear she was holding a baby as she rocked. On some nights, she would have no baby and would be heard weeping. She disappears when approached and that isn't a good idea - to approach her - because sometimes visitors have had trouble starting their cars or their headlights won't work. 

A woman named Annie Hacker lost three of her children and she was so broken by that that people believe she may be the crying woman in black who has returned to the cemetery. There is a curse connected to the Warlock Chair too. Anyone who sits in it will have misfortune come upon them and there are some whom claim that the person who sits on the stump will die within the year. A story claims that a German Shepherd who jumped onto it was found dead the next morning. Ashley Hood who wrote Haunted Cemeteries of Indiana in 2020 shares that one evening when she was in the cemetery with a group, they heard the weeping of a woman and it was very chilling. Ashley Hood writes in her book about other legends connected to the Lady in Black , "In another version of this story, Anna was a wife and mother. Her husband, Jacob, was killed in a quarry accident and buried in Stepp Cemetery. Anna reportedly turned all of her attention to their sixteen-year-old daughter, Emily, and became protective of the girl. When Emily was invited to a dance, Anna had her reservations but allowed her daughter to attend. The weather turned rainy that night. Returning home from the dance, the car with Emily and her date slid off the road, hitting a tree. Emily was killed instantly. Anna had her daughter buried in Stepp Cemetery next to Jacob. Anna visited Emily’s grave every day and was often seen by locals, draped in black, sitting on the large stump and speaking to her daughter as if she were still alive. Much as with the previous tale, the sorrowful spirit of Anna is said to remain in the cemetery, mourning the loss of her daughter. There is potentially some truth to this tale, as there is a Jacob and Anna Adkins buried in Stepp Cemetery. The couple had eleven children, one of whom, Ida Mae, passed away at the age of seventeen. She was buried in Frye Cemetery, also known as Taylor or McGowan Cemetery, located on North Low Gap Road in the Morgan-Monroe State Forest, not far from Stepp Cemetery."

There is a grave for a baby named Lester buried near the Adkins family that always has gifts piled up around it - particularly toys. It is always so tragic to see these graves for infants. Poor little Lester didn't even have a chance to live. He was born Paul Lester and stillborn. His parents were O'leathia and Harley Lester and they were 16 and 21 respectively. Certainly not equipped to deal with losing a child at birth. Trying to find a real history behind Baby Lester is, as the Orange Bean Indiana blog describes it as finding, "a few flakes and nuggets, but mostly [just] sludge." And the legend goes on to claim that Lester died in a car wreck, or was it a fire or... His mother, the lady in black, comes to visit his grave often. People hear her weeping and sometimes she screams. Ashley Hood shares, "In truth, Baby Lester passed away after taking only a few breaths in 1937. His mother, Olethia Pryor Lester, and father, Harley Lester, eventually divorced. Olethia later married James Walls and moved to Indianapolis. It is unlikely that Olethia is the woman in black, as she lived to be eighty-five years old, passing away in 2007, long after the reports of the woman in black began. She is buried in Oaklawn Memorial Gardens in Fishers, Indiana."

Many of the legends connected to the cemetery started in the 1950s and increased in the 1970s as young people visited the cemetery for late night parties and shared the stories. They embellished real things as well. For example, the German Shepherd did die, but it was at the hands of a group of cruel boys who found themselves in court for their actions. Another story is told about a son of Reuben Stepp dying over a property dispute and being buried here at the cemetery and he supposedly rises to confront people trespassing in the cemetery. But the only Stepps buried here are Reuben and one of his grandsons who died as an infant. A similar story predates the Stepp family and claims that the property dispute was between two sons of the previous owner. They decided to have a duel because their father had passed without telling them, which of them was to inherit the land. And they managed to kill each other. No graves seem to back up this story, but there are those that claim there is at least one angry spirit in the cemetery. This entity could be connected to the Crabbites. There is also the spirit of a woman wearing a long white dress that is thought to be connected to the Crabbites. Another ghost here is said to belong to a young woman who was murdered in the nearby Morgan-Monroe State Forest. Because her killer was never found, she wanders the cemetery near where her body ended up. There was a murder of an Indiana University student named Ann Harmeier in 1977. Her car was found on Indiana 37, abandoned because it had overheated. Her body was found two miles from Martinsville, which is 12 miles away from Stepp Cemetery. So more than likely not her. So who is this young woman seen in the cemetery? 

And then there is a legend about a Hookwoman. She lost her hand in an accident she had, that killed her young son. She replaced that with a hook and she would visit her son's grave in the Stepp Cemetery. After she died, she continued to visit with her hook hand. She chases off trespassers in the cemetery. And this cemetery even has stories about Bigfoot being seen in the nearby woods and a group of strange men wearing white cloaks. 

It really does make sense that there would be spirits in cemeteries since this is where bodies are buried. But we do always wonder who would want to hang around their dead and decaying body. Are these cemeteries haunted? That is for you to decide!