HGB Ep. 428 - Haunted Cemeteries 22

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Moment in Oddity - Jack Daniels Dies From Stubbed Toe (Suggested by: John Michaels)

Jasper Newton Daniel was an American distiller and businessman. He was known to everybody as Jack. So yeah, he was THAT Jack Daniel. He founded Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey Distillery in Lynchburg in 1875. Jack reportedly learned how to work a still from a preacher or possibly the slave of that preacher who was named Nearest Green. He was good at distilling, but not very good at remembering combinations. At least, the combination to the safe in his office. Legend claims that he became so frustrated one day that he kicked the safe hard and injured his toe. That toe festered and became infected and then got gangrene, which traveled further up his leg leading to it needing to be amputated. That didn't stop the gangrene and it traveled further causing blood poisoning. This would kill him on October 9, 1911. So basically, Jack died from a stubbed toe and as if that isn't odd enough, he died from an infection, for which alcohol can be an antiseptic and that, certainly is odd!

This Month in History - "Oklahoma" Debuts on Broadway

In the month of March, on the 31st, in 1943, "Oklahoma" premiered on Broadway. The musical started with the name Away We Go and was predicted to be a huge flop. Gossip columnist Walter Winchell said, "No girls. No legs. No chance." The show was also going to take risks like not having a big name star, the source material was obscure and this was being helmed by the new duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. There would not be much spectacle and the show opened with a lone cowboy singing about meadows. The show debuted under the new title Oklahoma and had been slightly retooled. The solo performance of the song "Oklahoma" was changed to a full-cast showstopper. The musical set a Broadway record of 2,212 performances before closing after a five year run. That song that the cowboy sung to open the show is known by nearly everybody today, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'."

Haunted Cemeteries 22

Every life is worth remembering. And that is what cemeteries are all about. Remembering those who have lived. Some of those people in graveyards were famous, some were powerful, but most are just like us. A mom or dad, sister or brother or perhaps a friend. Some of those who are buried have chosen to stay with their bodies. Their spirits glide through the tombstones. Other haunting activity in cemeteries seems to feed off the legends told or the rituals held. Join us on Haunted Cemeteries 22 as we share haunted cemeteries in Indiana, Mississippi, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania! 

Crown Hill Cemetery (Suggested by: Ed Jones)

Indianapolis' first cemetery was Greenlawn Cemetery, but the amount of death that accompanied the Civil War made it necessary to create more burial ground. Crown Hill Cemetery was the answer. It was established in 1863 by a group of businessmen who formed the Association of Crown Hill. They met with landscape architect and cemetery superintendent John Chislett, Sr. to discuss the creation of a garden-like cemetery. These garden cemeteries were growing in popularity during the Victorian era as we and our listeners all know well. The association bought a 166-acre farm and tree nursery at Strawberry Hill, which overlooked the city. Chislett's son, Frederick, was hired as the first superintendent for Crown Hill and he would made sure that his father's plans were followed. This design used many of the natural features already on the land and the roads were laid out in winding curves. The cemetery was dedicated on June 1, 1864.

Lucy Ann Seaton was the first burial. She had died of consumption at the age of thirty-three. She would be joined by more than 700 Union soldiers who died in Indianapolis during the Civil War and had originally been buried in Greenlawn Cemetery. And Lucy would also be joined by her daughter who shared the name Lucy. She died four months after her mother. The first Memorial Day was observed on May 30, 1868 and Crown Hill took part with around 10,000 people attending a special ceremony. That number wasn't surprising because Crown Hill Cemetery had become a popular place for families to hang out. They enjoyed picnics and walks through the park-like setting and the cemetery quickly added more to enjoy, building a Gothic chapel and vault in 1875, a new three-arched gateway in 1885 and a new gate and gatehouse in 1900. More land was added as well and by 1911 Crown Hill covered 550 acres making it the third largest nongovernmental cemetery in the United States.

The cemetery association decided they wanted to add something special in 1912. Indianapolis' pioneers were buried in Greenlawn Cemetery and they wanted to bring them here, so they established Crown Hill's Pioneer Cemetery and moved the bodies of 1,160 early settlers. This area is bordered by a black metal fence. The Confederate Mound was created in 1933 and over 1,600 Confederate burials were moved here. The Community Mausoleum was dedicated in 1951 and a series of Garden Mausoleums that were outdoors was completed in 1962. To help with preservation at the cemetery, The Crown Hill Heritage Foundation was established in 1984. A new crematorium and mortuary were added in the 1990s.

Famous burials here include President Benjamin Harrison. There is a Harrison family plot that includes his first wife Caroline, who died while Harrison was President, and their son Russell. Their daughter Mary is buried nearby. She served as First Lady while her mother was ill. Caroline died during the re-election campaign that Harrison lost. Booth Tarkington was a well-known novelist and playwright in the early 1900s and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, twice. He is buried in a mausoleum in lot thirteen. Writer James Whitcomb Riley was the richest writer of his time and when he passed away in 1916, he was buried here. He has a large Greek Revival monument that includes ten white columns and a sculpture of a young boy reading a book. The chemist and founder of Eli Lilly and Company, Colonel Eli Lilly, is buried here in an ornate mausoleum. He was inspired to found the company after his young wife died from malaria. And Richard Jordan Gatling, founder of the Gatling Gun Company, is buried in section three, lot nine. He created the Gatling Gun, which was popular during the Civil War. This gun had six barrels on a revolving frame and was powered by a hand crank. This gun could shoot twelve hundred rounds per minute. The more portable machine gun would make it obsolete.

And the infamous gangster and bank robber John Dillinger has his final resting place here. Maybe. There are doubts that the body buried in Dillinger's space is really him, but attempts to have him disinterred have failed. Family members and others believe there are inconsistencies in the autopsy including eye color, fingerprints, the shape of the head and ears. The grave is in section forty-four, lot ninety-four. Riots nearly broke out on the day he was buried in the cemetery on July 26, 1934. This was four days after he was shot outside of the Biograph Theater in Chicago. Souvenir hunters started breaking off chunk of his tombstone and over the years the stone has been replaced several times. The family eventually covered his plot with concrete to be sure no one actually stole the body.
 
There are spirits here and we'll start in one of the most poignant spots in the cemetery. This is Section 37, which is a memorial for children that died while at the Indianapolis Children’s Asylum, the Children’s Guardians Home and the Asylum for Friendless Colored Children. These children died between the years 1892 and 1980 from neglect, starvation and disease. And some even died because formaldehyde was added to milk to kill any pathogenic microorganisms. This is a mass grave numbering 699 children. Indy Ghost Hunters investigated the cemetery and they focused on Section 37. They caught several EVP. A couple were humming, another said "help her" and another said "they think it's me." This makes sense because there are claims of people hearing the playing of children and disembodied humming. Unfortunately, there are sometimes screams also heard.

Visitors to the graveyard have also seen the apparition of a woman holding a baby and wandering around the graves. People wonder if she is lost nor looking for something. She vanishes after being seen. The ghost of soldiers in uniforms are also seen and it is said that these spirits are from all of the wars. They disappear after being seen as well. Unexplainable lights are seen in the cemetery too and disembodied footsteps are heard. And there is a version of the Resurrection Mary story connected to Crown Hill. This one goes the opposite way though. This hitchhiking ghost gets picked up at the cemetery and gives an address to be taken to, but disappears before arriving. Then if the driver goes to the door, they find out that she has passed away or no one at the address knows the girl.

Cedar Rest

Bay St. Louis on the Mississippi Gulf Coast was once called Shieldsborough and located on South Second Street is a very old cemetery known as Cedar Rest. The cemetery was founded in 1820, but the oldest burial dates to 1815. There are around 2,400 graves here. We thought this was a fun story. The Sea Coast Gazette was a local Victorian era paper and it reported that a J. B. I and his wife were buried in a crypt with a spire that was facing west across from the bathtub. We of course wondered what the bathtub was and apparently that was what people called a watering trough for horses that sat in front of the first courthouse in Bay St. Louis. In 1993, the Hancock County Historical Society started an annual cemetery tour at Halloween.

Bud Steed shares a chilling story in his book "Haunted Mississippi Gulf Coast." Some hippies were hanging out in the cemetery smoking some pot in the 1970s. Their group was suddenly joined by another man that nobody knew, but they weren't against joiners. The group grew uncomfortable though because the man just gave off a menacing stare. He was kneeling and had mutton chop sideburns and a long scar that ran down the left side of his face. One of the guys finally told him to get lost, but the stranger just kept staring. The guy then reached out to push him away from the group and his hand went right through the stranger. This was clearly a ghost and the group tore out of the cemetery, except for the young man who had challenged the ghost. The spirit had grabbed him by the shoulders, told him to get out of his house and threw him to the ground. The ghost then turned and faded away. Now we would normally be like, well they were high so of course they saw a ghost, but this particular apparition has been seen many times in the cemetery. There are also strange orbs of light seen dancing among the tombstones and the spirit of a young woman holding a parasol has been seen. She usually nods at whoever sees her, turns into the cemetery and disappears.

Rock and Roll Graveyard

The Rock & Roll Cemetery is also known as the William Seymour Cemetery and is located in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. This small private graveyard is located near Back Bay and Fort Bayou. The cemetery probably earned its name from its most famous haunting. An elderly woman is seen rocking in a rocking chair. There are strange sounds heard like growling and moaning and shadow figures have been seen. Sam Seymour has explained that this is his family's cemetery. He said, "I know a lot of history to the place and even have the keys to the gate. I believe the old woman that everyone sees is my great grandmother Ada...her grave is located 4 graves down on the right of the tree. I can remember her sitting on the porch in her rocking chair every evening."

Anonymous, "Hi,my name is Kim and I am 27 years old I have lived in Mississippi for 21 years. In high school my friends and I, looking for a cheap thrill, would hop in the car and drive to rock-n-roll graveyard. I can honestly say that I have never seen anything in the graveyard but have heard things. One night my friends and I went there and on the way in something dragged over the top of our car, we were so scared that we immediately decided to leave. On the way out something ran across the road in front of our car that looked like a big blob of water or something,I still to this day don't know what it was. I still live 10 minutes from it. My in-laws own property on Ft.Bayou Rd. I have not been there since then I pass there often and will not look down that road."

Swan Point Cemetery

Swan Point Cemetery is located in Providence, Rhode Island and was founded in 1846. But that isn't when people started to be buried here. The oldest section of the cemetery can be found overlooking the Seekonk River and there are burials here dating back to 1722. This is a garden cemetery that started on 60 acres, but now covers 200 acres. There are beautiful flowering shrubs, azaleas, magnolias, rhododendrons, daffodils and much more. Two hundred varieties of trees have been counted here. The gorgeous landscaping is complimented with Victorian statuary. The First Congregational Society were among the first to buy plots and they transferred their dead from West Burial Ground to this new graveyard. In 1886, landscape architect H.W.S. Cleveland was hired to layout plans for Blackstone Boulevard. Boulders from the property were gathered and used to build a boulder wall to border the cemetery. A new cemetery entrance was constructed as well. The greenhouse was added in 1917 and other buildings were added in 1923 and 1932. In 1933, the Alexander Farnum Lippitt Memorial Park was established.

Notable burials here include 23 former governors of Rhode Island and Major Sullivan Ballou. Major Ballou had been a successful attorney in Providence, Rhode Island when the Civil War started. He had also been a former Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives. He volunteered and was enlisted in the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry and they elected him major. He was wounded and died at the First Battle of Bull Run. His body was disinterred by Confederates who thought he was Colonel John Slocum and they desecrated the body and dumped it in a ravine. He was found later by a contingent of Rhode Island officials, including Governor William Sprague. They identified the body by tattered remnants of his uniform. His body was transported back to Rhode Island and buried here at Swan Point. He had written a final letter to his wife that became famous. It reads, "My Very Dear Wife: Indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days, perhaps to-morrow. Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write a few lines, that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more. Our movement may be one of a few days duration and full of pleasure and it may be one of severe conflict and death to me. Not my will, but thine, O God be done. If it is necessary that I should fall on the battle-field for any country, I am ready. I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American civilization now leans upon the triumph of government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution, and I am willing, perfectly willing to lay down all my joys in this life to help maintain this government, and to pay that debt.

But, my dear wife, when I know, that with my own joys, I lay down nearly all of yours, and replace them in this life with care and sorrows, when, after having eaten for long years the bitter fruit of orphanage myself, I must offer it, as their only sustenance, to my dear little children, is it weak or dishonorable, while the banner of my purpose floats calmly and proudly in the breeze, that my unbounded love for you, my darling wife and children, should struggle in fierce, though useless, contest with my love of country. I cannot describe to you my feelings on this calm summer night, when two thousand men are sleeping around me, many of them enjoying the last, perhaps, before that of death, and I, suspicious that Death is creeping behind me with his fatal dart, am communing with God, my country and thee. I have sought most closely and diligently, and often in my breast, for a wrong motive in this hazarding the happiness of those I loved, and I could not find one. A pure love of my country, and of the principles I have often advocated before the people, and "the name of honor, that I love more than I fear death," have called upon me, and I have obeyed. Sarah, my love for you is deathless. It seems to bind me with mighty cables, that nothing but Omnipotence can break; and yet, my love of country comes over me like a strong wind, and bears me irresistibly on with all those chains, to the battlefield. The memories of all the blissful moments I have spent with you come crowding over me, and I feel most deeply grateful to God and you, that I have enjoyed them so long. And how hard it is for me to give them up, and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when, God willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and seen our boys grow up to honorable manhood around us.

I know I have but few claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me, perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar, that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, nor that, when my last breath escapes me on the battle-field, it will whisper your name. Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless, how foolish I have oftentimes been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears, every little spot upon your happiness, and struggle with all the misfortune of this world, to shield you and my children from harm. But I cannot, I must watch you from the spirit land and hover near you, while you buffet the storms with your precious little freight, and wait with sad patience till we meet to part no more. But, O Sarah, if the dead can come back to this earth, and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you in the garish day, and the darkest night amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours always, always, and, if the soft breeze fans your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air cools your throbbing temples, it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah, do not mourn me dear; think I am gone, and wait for me, for we shall meet again. As for my little boys, they will grow as I have done, and never know a father's love and care. Little Willie is too young to remember me long, and my blue-eyed Edgar will keep my frolics with him among the dimmest memories of his childhood. Sarah, I have unlimited confidence in your maternal care, and your development of their characters. Tell my two mothers, I call God's blessing upon them. O Sarah, I wait for you there! Come to me, and lead thither my children." This letter was featured in Ken Burn's Civil War documentary.

And Howard Phillips Lovecraft, more well known as H.P. Lovecraft, is buried here at the intersection of Pond Avenue and Avenue B. Fans took up a collection in 1977 to place the gravestone here. This is a low gray granite tombstone which reads, "I am Providence." That is a line from one of his letters. Lovecraft joins the ranks of many historical figures that have done great things with their art or service to humanity, but that have problematic personal lives and bigotry. We have found that we often have to separate the art from the maker. We love the stories of Lovecraft and the world that he built for so many of his famous characters like Cthulhu. He had a very small readership during his lifetime, which is surprising considering his popularity today. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island on August 20, 1890. He was raised mostly by his mother and her sisters after his father died when he was relatively young. He was often ill and as a teenager, he and his mother had financial issues. He used writing to escape his circumstances. This didn't prevent him from having a nervous breakdown that prevented him from graduating from high school. He launched his career in weird fiction with "The Tomb" and "Dagon," both published in 1917. Lovecraft married Sonia Green in 1924 and they had a short and difficult marriage, divorcing in 1929. Only one of his works appeared in book form during his lifetime, "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" in 1936. His life was cut short at the age of 46 by intestinal cancer on March 15, 1937.

One of the reasons we may have spirits at unrest here is that this cemetery inherited a lot of burials from other cemeteries. But the main haunting here is connected to Lovecraft. Annual gatherings are held around his death date and this is when the activity increases. Murders of ravens are said to gather in the trees near his tombstone. There are unexplained noises and there was once a brief freak snowstorm that occurred during a gathering. And Lovecraft's spectre is said to appear as a strange, cloudy distortion. 

Laurel Hill Cemetery

Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was founded in 1836 and covers 78 acres. This is the second oldest garden cemetery in the United States. The cemetery sits above the Schuykill River and the initial founder of the cemetery was John Jay Smith and several partners. Smith was a Quaker and librarian and he realized the Friends Graveyard was not going to work for the growing city. The men found a rural area outside of Philly for the cemetery and it started as 38 acres. Scottish architect John Notman laid out the design. Notman wanted this to be a place of nature and art and he created a Doric Roman Gatehouse, chapel and superintendent's house as the first buildings. John Smith had planted 2,400 trees by 1844. By the 1860s, the cemetery became so popular that tickets had to be issued to control how many people visited. People would come for walks and picnics or just to drive the carriage through.

Over the years many monuments and statuary were added to the cemetery in the Egyptian Revival, Classical Revival and Gothic Revival styles. The oldest statues at Laurel Hill are the three that makeup the Old Mortality, which is located directly in front of the main gatehouse. There is also a Yellow Fever Memorial that was erected in 1855 and this was dedicated to the first responders who helped fight the Yellow Fever epidemic in Portsmouth, Virginia. Several historic cities that we have featured have had streets with old mansions that are known as Millionaire's Row. Laurel Hill has a grouping of mausoleums that is referred to as Millionaire's Row. One of the coolest memorials belongs to the William Warner family. It features the Angel of Death as a stern looking woman with a gown slipping down one of her shoulders and she is opening the granite sarcophagus behind her as though she is releasing the soul trapped inside. This soul appears as a winged face rising from the open tomb in a flame made of stone.

In 1913, a Doric terra cotta receiving vault was built in South Laurel Hill. During the 1970s, Laurel Hill fell into a bit of disrepair and suffered vandalism. It wouldn't be until 1973 that people of color were allowed to be buried here. The Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery oversee the care of the burials. In 2013, a bronze statue of a Civil War soldier that was made in 1883 and used to be at Mount Moriah Cemetery was brought here and rededicated. More than 75,000 people are buried at Laurel Hill and burials continue today. Some of these burials are of notable and prominent people, including 40 Civil War-era generals, that includes General George Meade.

Matthias W. Baldwin was the founder of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, which became one of the largest and most successful locomotive manufacturing firms. He has a statue in front of the Philadelphia City Hall and his monument at Laurel Hill stands tall over his and his wife Sarah's graves. Sarah Josepha Hale was an American writer and she wrote the nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb." She also was known for campaigning for the holiday of Thanksgiving to be created and she pushed for the Bunker Hill Monument to be built. She died at the age of 90 and has a very simple tombstone that contains only her name and birthdate and death date.

Six passengers from the Titanic are memorialized here. William Crothers Dulles died and his body was recovered. His marker states he "Died from Titanic," which is a little odd. Mrs. Lily A. Potter survived the sinking and lived to be 98 and helped found the Southeastern Pennsylvania chapter of the American Red Cross. Mrs. Olive Potter Colius was Lily's daughter and she survived as well. Mrs. Eleanor Elkins Widener survived the tragedy because she had boarded the last lifeboat to leave the Titanic. She left behind her husband and son and they both perished. Her husband George Dunton Widener was never recovered, so he has a cenotaph in the cemetery as does their son Harry who was also never recovered. His mother founded the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library at Harvard in her son's honor and legend claims that she made this contribution on condition that every Harvard graduate be taught to swim. 

Oscar Allis who invented the Allis Clamp is buried here. The Allis clamp are those scissor like clamps used to hold tissue with these sharp teeth. Anne Francine was an actress and cabaret singer in places like the Copacabana. She performed on Broadway, starring in Mame with Angela Lansbury and on television she played the role of villain Flora Simpson Reilly on Harper Valley PTA. And speaking of villains, she starred as the Evil Queen in the 1979 musical adaptation of the 1937 animated film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." She's buried on Millionaire Row in Michael Ehret's mausoleum. Circus owner Adam Forepaugh is also buried here. Elisha Kent Kane was a prominent explorer of the Arctic in the 1850s. He was the first to chart the course that Robert Peary would use when he claimed the North Pole in 1909. Kane's body was shipped around America for two weeks before he was buried because he was so revered. Historian Henry Charles Lea has a bronze sculpture of the muse of history, Clio, sitting on his tomb.

Fun fact: Adrian Balboa and Paulie Pennino, fictional characters from Sylvester Stallone's Rocky movies, have tombstones sitting near the main gatehouse. Adrian Balboa's tombstone was used in the 2006 movie Rocky Balboa and both headstones were used in the 2015 movie Creed. And speaking of movies, a man named Charles Vansant was buried here. He was the first to die from a shark attack in a series of attacks that took place on the Jersey shore in 1916. His story was immortalized in the movie "Jaws."

There are some interesting stories connected to some of the burials as well. One of these belongs to Dr. Ellwood Kirby. He not only practiced medicine, but taught it and he offered care to anyone, regardless of their financial standing. When he died from a heart attack on Christmas in 1935, he left behind a small fortune to his family. But rumors circulated that he had been buried with much of his riches, including precious stones and jewelry. Some vandals  broke into the Kirby family mausoleum and pried open Ellwood's grave. They found no riches, but they stripped the corpse naked and stole a pair of $10 cuff links. Kirby was redressed and given a new casket.

Catherine Drinkhouse-Smith and her family were Spiritualists. Catherine considered herself a medium. The final resting place of the family is just south of the gatehouse and is probably one of the most wordy monuments ever created. The writing features favorite quotes, street addresses, religious affiliations and the exact times of death. Martha Drinnan was the daughter of Laurel Hill's caretaker when she died in 1903. She was considered a spinster at the age of 39 and went missing in November of that year. She had been heading towards the Laurel Hill train station and was last seen walking along Kelly Drive. Her body wouldn't be found until March of 1904. A fisherman hauled in Martha's headless body. She was buried with no marker because her family couldn't afford one. And a Civil War veteran named Maurice Fagan took his own life at his family's burial plot, unable to deal with the migraines and the PTSD he suffered from. 

Free Spirit Paranormal Investigators regularly investigate the cemetery and help guide tours and hunts there. Frank Cassidy is a member of FSPI and he said that he has experienced enough unexplained stuff here to claim that the cemetery is very active. The group has captured moans, groans and whispers. And they claim to have seen shadow figures and indistinct shapes moving around headstones.

Disembodied whispers are heard near the area where Martha Drinnan was buried. There is also wailing heard and this continued even after a headstone was placed on her grave. A group in 2018 heard audible whispers at Fagan's family plot. The sounds of gunshots are also sometimes heard. NapoleonicCode on YouTube attended one of the hunts offered in 2011 and they were near Dr. Moray's mausoleum and said, "Paging Dr. Moray. Are you here?" Behind this is an audible sound that resembles something like a scream. (Laurel Hill Scream) (Laurel Hill Scream Amped) An electronic device also went off at another plot for about 20 seconds. One of the investigators named Gina claimed that she was knocked down by something she couldn't see. She felt the pressure on her chest before she fell back. 

These five cemeteries are historic and beautiful. We would love to visit any of them because every graveyard is special. These are places filled with people who were cared for by someone at sometime. From the children that fill the nurseries to the wives and husbands to murder victims to the downtrodden to the most prominent people in a city, all were special to someone. Do some of their spirits linger? Are these cemeteries haunted? That is for you to decide!

Show Notes:

https://laurelhillcemetery.blog/2018/04/30/is-laurel-hill-haunted/

Ep. 273 - Haunted Cemeteries 11

 
Moment in Oddity - Dungeon Rock

There is a legend dating back to the early 1600s about some pirates who were seen rowing a boat up the Saugus River in Lynn, MA, landing the craft and carrying a chest ashore. Several locals had seen this and they went to investigate. They did not find the chest, but they found a note that stated if a quantity of digging tools, chains and other supplies were brought and left in the woods, some silver would be left as payment. The men returned the next day with the tools and the following day, they found some silver waiting for them. The place was called Pirate Glen after this exchange. Authorities eventually raided the area where the pirates were hiding and they got three out of the four that were there. Thomas Veale was the fourth pirate and he hid himself in a cave. He lived there, only venturing to town for food on occasion. An earthquake hit in 1638 and split the cave and part collapsed in, trapping Veale. This cave came to be known as Dungeon Rock. People assumed that Veale still had the pirate treasure and that it had been buried with him. They tried for 200 years to find it. In 1852, a man named Hiram Marble bought the land and he became obsessed with finding the treasure. For 30 years he searched with the help of his son. They funded their efforts by offering tours through the cave for a small fee. They also enticed investors, promising a share of the treasure when it was found. The Marbles never found the treasure and eventually the City of Lynn bought the property and it is today known as Lynn Woods. Dungeon Rock can still be seen today, but as for people spending a lifetime looking for a treasure that is just part of a legend, certainly is odd!

This Month in History - Empress Elisabeth of Austria Assassinated

In the month of September, on the 10th, in 1898, the Empress of Austria-Hungary, Elisabeth, was assassinated in Geneva by an anarchist. That anarchist was Italian Luigi Lucheni who was a poor man full of rage. Empress Elisabeth of Austria spent a night in disguise at the Hotel Beau-Rivage in Geneva, Switzerland because the Rothschild family had invited her on holiday. The next morning, she and her lady-in-waiting walked the short distance from the hotel to the pier to board the steamship “Genève.” She usually traveled with an entourage, but this time, it was just the two ladies and they were easily rushed by Lucheni as they walked on the promenade. He stabbed Elisabeth in the heart with a small sharp file. The empress and her lady-in-waiting did not realize that the Empress had been stabbed. They boarded the ship and a few minutes later, Elisabeth lost consciousness and died. Her body was brought back to Vienna and she was put in the tomb of the Capuchins. Her assassin Lucheni was caught and confessed immediately. He spent the rest of his life in prison and always claimed that he had not planned to kill the Empress specifically. He had made the decision to “murder the first high-born person” that he would meet in Geneva and it just happened to be Elisabeth.

Haunted Cemeteries 11

Cemeteries are not really a place I would seek to investigate when looking for ghosts. After years of hearing stories of paranormal experiences in graveyards, it would seem that a fraction of the cemeteries located around the world, really may harbor more than just the bones of the dead. Perhaps some do stay there in spirit. Is it because they are trapped by some kind of energy? Are these spirits just really attached to their bodies? Could they be waiting for a loved one to die and be buried in the plot,so that they can move on together? Whatever the reason, the swirl of leaves blowing across the graveyard grounds may be more than just the wind. A wandering soul could very well be taking a stroll among the tombstones. On this episode we will look at the history and hauntings of two cemeteries in North Dakota, Dartford Cemetery in Wisconsin, Logan City Cemetery in Utah and St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans.

North Dakota Cemeteries - Tagus Lutheran Cemetery & Cass County Cemetery #2

Tagus Lutheran Cemetery is located on Old Hwy. 2 in the ghost town of Tagus in Mountrail County, North Dakota. Tagus had always been a small town with only around 140 residents in 1940. By 1976 there was no one left and Tagus became a ghost town. The only people left here are buried in the cemetery and they number around 30. The first dates back to 1908 and the most recent was in 1927. The church that once stood where the graveyard is located was supposedly taken over by satanists who claimed to be drawn there by a mysterious energy. Either they or some vandals led to the chapel catching fire and burning to the ground, leaving behind only a stairway that is covered over by earth. There are those that claim that this is the gateway to Hell.

We've heard this same story about several cemeteries: that a stairway leading down is some sort of gate to Hell. This legend goes a bit further in claiming that if one stands in just the right spot, they can hear the screams of the tortured souls in Hell. And that is the haunting that is here. Those disembodied cries.

Another supposedly haunted cemetery in North Dakota is located on Elm Street North in Fargo. This graveyard is known by the boring name Cass County Cemetery #2. It is a fairly small graveyard with around 315 burials and none of them are marked. Cemetery #2 is one of three cemeteries that are located within Trollwood Park and this area was once home to the Cass County Hospital and Poor Farm. This eventually became a nursing home starting in 1947, with a name change in 1962 to Golden Acres Haven. The nursing home closed in 1973 and the property was taken over by the Fargo Park District. To find the marker for this cemetery, park by the playground and take the path north towards the river.

The earliest burial I could find was from 1911 and they went through the 1940s, so I think it is safe to assume that these people buried here, died on the poor farm and this is basically a potter's field. Rumors of multiple hauntings here would not be surprising then. People claim to have seen multiple apparitions to hear disembodied footsteps. There are those that swear they have heard their name being called. One of the more frequently seen spirits is that of a woman who is wearing a dark blue 19th-century style dress. She is seen walking in the cemetery, but never ventures out into the park. She seems to enjoy music and will more readily appear if there is music playing nearby. She loves to dance beneath a willow tree that is the graveyard.

Dartford Cemetery

Dartford Cemetery is an old pioneer cemetery that takes its name from the original village of Dartford, which became Green Lake, WI. No one is sure when the cemetery was founded, but graves date back to the 1800’s. Many of the early pioneers of the area are buried here. A recent burial is for Adrian Kennedy Karsten who was a sports journalist. He was employed for over 20-years with ESPN and covered The Great Outdoor Games, The Tour de France, The America’s Cup and was a sideline reporter for NCAA Football. He was known for wearing his trademark suspenders. He was fired from ESPN and sentenced to jail for tax evasion in 2005 and he committed suicide just before he was to report to jail. There is a mausoleum with several soldiers buried nearby and children regularly visit to lay flowers on the soldiers' graves.

Dartford Cemetery gained some notoriety after being featured on the TV show "A Haunting." The episode was titled "Legend Trippers" and featured three teenagers who wanted to test out a legend that they had heard about the cemetery and a mausoleum found there. The legend claims that if you sit on the roof of the mausoleum, a ghost will push you off. Corbin VanBuren of Berlin was one of the teens. He claimed to have been pushed off and all three teens said they saw s shadowy figure of a woman. One of the other teens said that he never even made it to the top of the mausoleum because he felt as though something were holding him down, preventing him from climbing up. Others have reported the same kind of experiences, but many residents said they had never heard of any such legend until the episode aired.

There is more than just a legend about the mausoleum here though. People claim to see dark shadowy figures, to hear strange noises, feel the sensation of being followed or watched and even more weird are the claims that grave stones change or vanish altogether. There is a legend about the Native American Chief Highknocker who once ruled and lived in the Green Lake/Princeton area. He was the last Winnebago Chief to rule in the area before the tribe was forced onto a reservation. Even though the tribe had to leave, it expected that every Winnebago would return to Green Lake at least once in their lifetime to worship the Water Spirit. This area was said to be its home. The group left behind mounds and other burial sites. Chief Highknocker was called by this name because he wore a stovepipe hat. He had been born in 1820 as the son of  Big Shoulder, a chief who was said to have lived to the ripe old age of 106. Highknocker stayed behind in Green Lake and got along with the whites in the area, making bows for the kids. On August 12, 1911, Highknocker was returning from the town of Berlin. He needed to cross the Fox River, but he had no canoe, so he decided to swim. He was drunk and ended up drowning. He was buried at Dartford Cemetery and donations paid for the boulder that marks his grave. Chief Highknocker is not at rest though and many have claimed to see him walking down by the river near his burial.

A small girl ghost has also been seen in the cemetery as well. There are children buried here who died from polio and other ailments.

Logan City Cemetery (Suggested by Jennifer Jones in her book, "Ghosts of Ogden, Brigham City and Logan.")

Logan City Cemetery is located in the middle of the campus at Utah State University. There are over 17,000 burials and the first one took place in 1865. One of the better known burials here is for Leora Thatcher. Leora Thatcher was an actress who was the daughter of prominent Salt Lake Theater Company owner Moses Thatcher, Jr. Leora was born in 1894 and she performed on stage, particularly Broadway, on the radio and on television. She appeared in 3,180 performances of "Tobacco Road" in the role of Ada Lester. Her grandfather owned an opera house in Logan, Utah that burned down in 1912 and she rebuilt the building in 1921 and it became known as the Capitol Theater. She died in 1984 in Salt Lake City. The Thatcher Mansion still stands in Logan.

A burial located in the very center of this graveyard is reportedly where our haunting here comes from and this spirit is known as The Weeping Woman. The monument itself depicts a weeping woman who is crouching and holding her head. The statue was made for a woman named Julia Emelia Cronquist. She had been the wife of one of the first city commissioners in Cache County named Olif Cronquist. He had been a prominent farmer as well. Several family members contracted Scarlet Fever, with two of the children succumbing to the disease. Julia suffered from heart problems all her life more than likely from contracting Scarlet Fever too. She died in 1914 at the age of 52. Many people claim that the statue was inspired by the many visits Julia made to her children's graves at the cemetery, where she wept over them. Her husband had it made in 1917 out of Barrie granite.

And this is where our ghost story for this cemetery comes in. It is said that during the full moon, the statue appears to cry. The sounds of a woman weeping have been reported as well. Jennifer wrote that people have reported seeing the water for themselves, running from the face of the statue on nights when there had been no rain. Others who have heard the disembodied weeping will not go by the cemetery at night anymore. Could this be residual or the mother still crying for her children in the afterlife?

St. Louis Cemetery #1

The last haunted cemetery episode featured Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans, but it is not the only haunted cemetery in the city. That's a no-brainer, of course. Probably the cemetery that comes up as the most haunted in the city is St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. The most obvious reason is because it is the final resting place of Voodoo priestess Marie Leveau. We covered Leveau in episode 75, so we will only touch on her briefly here, but she is said to be one of the spirits roaming about the graveyard.

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is one of three Roman Catholic cemeteries which make up Saint Louis Cemetery. The cemetery was founded in 1789 to take the place of Saint Peters Cemetery, which was too close to the main city. The city of New Orleans had just been ravaged by a huge fire in 1788 and the city took the opportunity to move burials to a healthier spot away from the people. The graveyard was laid out much like a city and a tall wall was built around it. The property only stretches out over one square block, but it is full of bodies. Around 100,000 it is estimated. One might wonder how it is possible to bury that many people in a small graveyard. The burial customs in New Orleans make this possible.

Most burials in the city are above ground in crypts or vaults because of the water table. As we all know from the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is below sea level and this means that anybody buried in the ground has a high chance of being disinterred when there is flooding. So families would buy a vault together and as one strolls through these cities of the dead, they will notice that some are very simple and others are grand. When someone died they were placed in a wooden coffin and this was placed in the above ground rectangular slot in the vault. It would be kept there for a year and a day. The coffin was then removed, the bones were put in a bag that was labeled and the bag was shoved to the back of the vault. I've also heard that there were slots in some vaults and that the remains were swept back into that slot, which dropped down to a lower level. If multiple members of a family died in the same year, another vault space would be rented until the remains were ready to be removed.

Within St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, there are also group vaults. These were sometimes purchased by a large family, but most of the time an organization would purchase the vault. Both these large group vaults and the smaller family vaults give the graveyard a real sense of being a miniature city with pathways and alleys. And like all cities that have their poor, this cemetery has a paupers field with unmarked graves near the back. Protestants and Jews were also buried in the back to make sure they were separated from the Catholics. One of the large group vaults was dedicated to the remains of the men who died in the Battle of New Orleans. Another pyramid shaped tomb was purchased by actor Nicholas Cage in 2010. As of 2015, the Roman Catholic Diocese of New Orleans, which owns and manages this cemetery, has closed it to the general public and charges tour companies for access ($4,500 per year, or lesser amounts for short periods). Families who own tombs can apply for a pass to visit.

The cemetery has many notable people buried within its walls. The family vault of Etienne de Boré is here. He was a Creole French planter, who produced the first granulated sugar in Louisiana. This made it profitable to raise sugar cane. de Bore owned a large plantation upriver from New Orleans. In 1803, the American governor of the territory appointed de Boré as the first mayor of New Orleans. there is also the family vault of Paul Morphy who was a world famous chess champion. He was the greatest chess master of his era. He only competed from 1857 to 1859, but he was the best. People begged him to return to playing after he retired, but he refused. He died young at the age of 47 from a stroke.

Bernard de Marigny was the great-grandson of one of the city's founders who is best known for his love of gambling and bringing the game of Hazard, otherwise known as craps, to New Orleans. He was also President of the Louisiana Senate. He owned a large plantation that he sub-divided and sold as lots for home development. Some say to pay off his debts, but this venture into real estate was good as New Orleans was bursting at the seams and people were looking for places to live. He purchased the Bonnabel Plantation and renamed it Fontainebleau. He ended up creating St. Tammany's first industrial park on this property by building a brick kiln, sugar mill, blacksmith's shop, saw mill and an infirmary. The Panic of 1837 did him in though and he had to sell Fontainebleau. The only thing left today is the ruin of the sugar mill. Marigny died in 1868 and it is said that he was penniless at the time

Barthelemy Lafon was a Creole architect, engineer, city planner, and surveyor in New Orleans. He was French and moved to Louisiana around 1790. The Lower Garden District follows some of his plans, although much of his grand plan for tree-lined canals, fountains, churches, markets, a grand classical school, and a coliseum were never realized.The grid pattern for the streets that he designed does exist and some of the street names he chose still remain as well. He had originally wanted to name the streets after the nine muses of Greek mythology: Calliope, Clio, Erato, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Euterpe, Polymnia, and Urania. He designed parts of the Bywater and Bayou St. John neighborhoods and he recommended improvements to the fortifications of New Orleans during the War of 1812. It was after that battle that things went a bit south for Lafon. He decided to join the notorious Lafitte brothers and became a pirate and smuggler. He died from yellow fever in 1820.

Ernest N. "Dutch" Morial was the first African-American mayor of New Orleans. He served from 1978 to 1986. Morial was born in 1929 and grew up in the Seventh Ward. In 1954, he became the first African American to receive a law degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and he used that degree as he fought to dismantle segregation. He was limited to serving only two terms as mayor, but he tried to convince voters to give him a third term. His tenure as mayor had both its good points and bad with most of the bad coming in his second term. He had planned to run for mayor again in 1990, but he passed away in 1989 from complications due to his asthma.

Homer Plessy was the plaintiff from the landmark 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision on civil rights. He was born on March 17, 1862 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He worked as a shoemaker, but came to fame with one act of civil disobedience. He refused to move from a "whites only" railcar in 1896. He had purchased a first class ticket and announced to the conductor that he was 1/8th black. When he refused to leave the car, he was arrested. He protested the violation of his 13th and 14th amendment rights and the case came to be known as Plessy v. Ferguson. The Ferguson was Judge John Howard Ferguson who presided over the case. Plessy was found guilty, but the case went on to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896. During the proceedings, Justice William Billings Brown defined the separate but equal clause, which basically said it was okay as long as each race's public facilities were equal. Arguments from the case were used decades later in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954. Plessy passed away March 1, 1925, at age 62.

Marie Laveau learned what she did about Voodoo from a man named Doctor John. He taught her how to make gris gris bags, how to use Voodoo dolls and how to produce charms and curses. Laveau became a very powerful priestess. Laveau lived to the ripe old age of eighty-six and she died of natural causes in her home on June 15, 1881. Marie Laveau's tomb in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is said to be the most haunted in New Orleans. People visit this final resting place from all over the world. Many come seeking to ask the Voodoo Queen for a favor despite the fact that she has been dead for decades. There are a couple of rituals involved with this practice. The first is for the seeker to knock three times on the tomb and then say the request out loud. After the request is fulfilled, the seeker is suppose to return to the tomb with a gift consisting of either coins, liquor, flowers or a Monkey or Cock Statue. In the past, people would mark the tomb with three Xs using paint or a chip of brick, but that practice is illegal now. The second ritual features the seeker drawing an X on the tomb, spinning three times, knocking on the tomb and yelling out their desire. When it is fulfilled, they are to come back and circle their X and leave an offering. Because of the vandalism the vault has suffered, no one can enter the cemetery without a guide. And when I say vandalism, I mean things like painting the entire vault pink. The Catholic Church was able to restore it.

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 is said to be one of the most haunted cemeteries in the world. Ghosts here are said to number in the hundreds and with 100,000 burials, that could be possible. Visitors have claimed to see phantom figures, particularly those resembling Civil War era soldiers. Identifying these ghosts is almost impossible, but there are a few that are more well known. Obviuosly, Marie Leveau the most famous spirit here. Leveau's apparition has been witnessed walking among the crypts and people say she is wearing her turban and can be heard uttering voodoo curses. And strangely, there are some who claim that Laveau appears as a phantom cat prowling the graveyard and that it eventually disappears into Laveau's crypt. The cat's eyes glow red.

The ghost of Henry Vignes is said to haunt the graveyard. He was a sailor during the nineteenth century and had no real home. He chose a local boarding house as his place to stay when he was not at sea. He was worried about bringing his important papers with him , so he asked the owner of the boarding house to keep his papers if he died. These papers included his family tombs. The owner told Henry not to worry, that she would look after everything. And she sure did. She sold Henry's family tomb, which he found out about as soon as he returned from a voyage. He was very upset, but got sick before he could do anything about it. He died from the illness and now had nowhere to be buried. His body was placed in an unmarked grave in the pauper's section of St. Louis Cemetery #1. And that is probably why his spirit is at unrest. That apparition is described as tall with blue eyes and wearing a white shirt. He looks so real that people think they are talking to an actual person. He sometimes will tap a visitor on the shoulder and ask, "Do you know anything about this Tomb here?" At other times he will ask if they know where his family's old vault is located. He walks away when no one seems to know and then suddenly disappears. During funerals, Henry has asked the mourners if there is any room in the vault for his remains. His apparition apparently has been caught on camera and EVP have recorded him saying, "I need to rest!"

Another lost soul here belongs to Alphonse. He has a tomb, but he seems to want to find a home. People not only see Alphonse, but he touches them, often grabbing their hands as he pulls them to a stop. He gives them a broad smile as he inquires as to whether he can go home with them. His spirit has been seen gathering flowers left at other burials and bringing them over to his vault. Now this is something I would get a real kick out of witnessing! Many think he has a connection to the Pinead Family that is not good. People standing near the Pinead Vault  have been told by Alphonse to stay away from the tomb. Is this because he is afraid of them? He has been seen crying too and when someone notices his tears, he disappears.

These cemeteries are all very different from each other, but they all have two very important similarities. One is that the dead are honored in some small way and the other is that legends and restless spirits are connected to them. Could these graveyards be harboring the spirits of the long ago dead? Are these cemeteries haunted? That is for you to decide!

Ep. 269 - Haunted Cemeteries 10

 
Moment in Oddity - Takanakuy
Suggested by: Anthony Ortiz

The mountain folk who have carved out the town of Santo Tomas in the Peruvian Andes observe a very peculiar festival called Takanakuy. These are people who have to be tough because of the area where they live that features steep inclines and craggy slopes. So it isn't real surprising that this festival basically consists of town members beating the tar out of each other. Yep, that's right, this is one big fight party. The tradition starts with a few days of heavy drinking and dancing in Andean horse-riding costumes and then on Christmas morning, everybody meets at the local bullfighting ring. Everybody pairs off, generally with someone they have a beef with perhaps because of a property dispute or stealing some sheep or even spilling a drink. They wrap their hands with scarves and proceed to beat each other. Referees circle the fight with whips to make sure fights aren't one-sided and there is no hitting someone on the ground. Participants are bound by the result of the match. I'm not sure exactly how they decide who wins, perhaps the one bleeding less or still conscience, but holding a festival dedicated to the pummeling of a neighbor, certainly is odd!

This Month in History - The Nautilus Crosses Under North Pole

In the month of August, on the 3rd, in 1958, a nuclear powered submarine called The Nautilus was the first submarine to cross the North Pole under water. The USS Nautilus was built under the direction of U.S. Navy Captain Hyman G. Rickover and was the first nuclear submarine. Rickover was a Russian-born engineer who was in charge of the navy's nuclear-propulsion program. The Nautilus was 319 feet, displaced 3,180 tons and could travel over 20 knots. It could remain submerged for almost unlimited periods of time because its atomic engine needed no air. On January 21, 1954, first lady Mamie Eisenhower broke a bottle of champagne across the bow of the Nautilus and it launched into the Thames River at Groton, Connecticut. On July 23, 1958, the submarine departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, with 116 crew on board for a mission dubbed “Operation Northwest Passage.” It continued to Point Barrow, Alaska, and traveled nearly 1,000 miles under the Arctic ice cap to reach the top of the world. After a career spanning 25 years and almost 500,000 miles steamed, the Nautilus was decommissioned on March 3, 1980.

Haunted Cemeteries 10

Spooktacular Crew Member Lynn Weingarden-Marston said, "I have traveled all over the world. The quickest way to find out about the history of a city or town for that matter is the Graveyard! You can see the whole history of a town or area on the tomb stones. From what was the main industry of the town to plagues and outbreaks of illness. Life expectancy to infant mortality." And that really says it all about cemeteries. They are one of the best historical records of an area. And they are the best place to pay our respects to those who have gone on before us. In this episode, I feature four cemeteries that have reports of paranormal activity. these are Waverly Hall cemetery in Georgia, El Campo Santo Cemetery in San Diego, Bayview Cemetery in Bellingham, Washington and Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans. Join me as we explore these historic graveyards!


Waverly Hall Cemetery in Georgia

Waverly Hall is a small town in Harris County, Georgia. The cemetery here is named for the town and has about 800 burials. One of the oldest graves belongs to the Reverend Thomas Darley who was born in 1760 and died in 1832. He was a Revolutionary War officer that went on to become a Methodist minister who founded many Methodist churches throughout South Carolina and Georgia.
The Waverly Hall Cemetery appears to be quite haunted. A couple traveling to Lanett, Alabama had heard about the cemetery and decided to stop and check it out. They took a few pictures on a digital camera and then left just before dark, mainly because they were feeling sick. The woman became distressed as she scrolled through the pictures. She saw something that startled her and asked her boyfriend to pull over so she could show him. As he started to do that, the pictures vanished. All of them. Including ones that had been on the camera for quite a while. They went to a CVS to get the memory card checked out and an employee told them the card was bad. They replaced it and the camera worked fine. They returned to the car and the woman told her boyfriend that she was really creeped out because the worker in the store looked just like the spirit woman she had seen in the pictures. Several paranormal investigators have investigated the cemetery and one claimed to have stepped out of his car and heard an inhuman screech and the sound of someone running toward him. There are reports of many EVPs captured, cold spots and full-bodied apparitions.

El Campo Santo Cemetery in San Diego

El Campo Santo Cemetery is located near the Old Town San Diego Historic Park where the Whaley House is located. The cemetery was founded in 1849 by the Catholic church. This graveyard was once much larger and now only has about 450 graves that can be seen. So yes, this means that parts of Old Town are built over the former cemetery grounds. The encroachment of the living on the dead started with a simple horse-drawn street car line that went through the cemetery, right over 18 graves. This road eventually became San Diego Boulevard. Many graves were moved as the land was needed for building. But not all of them were moved. This has caused issues with hauntings, not just for businesses and houses in the area, but also for the cemetery.

Several full-bodied apparitions have been seen throughout the decades, hanging around outside of the brick walls that surround the small graveyard. Occasionally, the cemetery hosts tours with employees dressed up in period clothing and sharing stories about some of the burials. Several times, people have thought they were talking to a costumed employee only to find out that whoever they were talking to was not a member of the staff or the figure has vanished before their very eyes. Some people claim to have seen legless apparitions, so only their top half can be seen. Cold spots that are described as freezing have been reported. Even more peculiar is that some people who park their cars in the parking lot in front of the graveyard have had trouble starting their cars.

A paranormal team went into the graveyard to do an investigation in 2003 and they reported:

02/15/03 - CSGR went with a team to investigate the graveyard. While no EMF readings were found along the walls, a jump in the readings happened in the middle of the cemetery. Team member Psychic Virginia Marco saw a young boy, trapped and confused. Also a grave digger entity was seen, who visits the place, according to Marco's report. Psychic Virginia Marco was able to help the little boy find his way to the light. The CSGR team reports a fairly peaceful cemetery, which basically has calmed down a lot since 1996, after ultrasound equipment found 18 graves (mostly children) under the pavement behind the cemetery and 20 graves( all ages) in the parking lot in front. Two plaques memorializing these graves were hung in the front and the back of the cemetery.

Bayview Cemetery - Bellingham, Washington (Suggested by: Melisa Nelson)

The city of Bellingham in Washington State was named for Sir William Bellingham, who was the comptroller of the storekeeper's account for the Royal Navy. The first Caucasian settlers came in the 1850s with the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. At the same time, coal was discovered in the area and that mining industry would hold until the 1950s. Bellingham officially incorporated in 1903. There was a need for a cemetery with the growing population of miners and other people and so the Bayview Cemetery was founded in 1887. The first burial was in 1888. This cemetery is the final resting place of the founding families of Whatcom County and Bellingham was originally known as Whatcom. Bayview started at just 10 acres, but 12 more were added later. There are several well known people buried here and many fascinating stories.
 
One of the burials here is for Matthew Bickford. He was born in 1839 and served in the Civil War as a Corporal in Company G, 8th Missouri Volunteer Infantry. For bravery at Vicksburg, Mississippi, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. His citation reads “Gallantry in the charge of the "volunteer storming party." A former governor of Washington is buried here, Albert E. Mead. He served as Governor of Washington from 1905 to 1909 and had been the Mayor of Blaine, Washington and a member of the Washington State House of Representatives.

Ella Rhoads Higginson was an American author and writer known for her poetry, fiction and nonfiction. She wrote for many magazines and from 1900 to 1904, she wrote a weekly column titled “Clover Leaves” for the Seattle Times newspaper. The work that she is most known for is her poem "Four Leaf Clover," which was first published by Oregon’s West Shore magazine in 1890. Higginson was named the first Poet Laureate of Washington State in 1931. She was born in Kansas and raised in Oregon and moved to Bellingham in 1888 with her husband. She died in Bellingham, Washington in 1940. Her burial has a large semicircular concrete bench around a monument topped with a concrete cross. the base reads, "Yet, am I not for pity - trembling I have come face to face with God."

Thomas S. Dahlquist has a simple tombstone. He started the Bellingham Bay Grocery Company and a car dealership with several floors above these businesses with rooms as a hotel. The Dahlquist Building still stands today and was one of the first reinforced concrete buildings erected in Bellingham.

A victim of one of the most notorious murders in Bellingham is buried at Bayview, Frederick Dames. Dames owned a butcher shop and that is where he was found bludgeoned to death in 1905 by his thirteen year old delivery boy. His skull was pinned to the ground with a screwdriver and the top of his head chopped off. This was assumed to be a robbery that went bad, but eventually police pinned the murder on Maple Falls man who had killed a woman he was engaged to for her money. He also was thought to have killed three other people and he was in Bellingham at the time of Dames' murder. Side note: The Redlight Bar now is in the location of Dames' butcher shop and if you look up at the ceiling, a row of meat hooks is still mounted there.

And another more well known burial is that of Issac Smith Kalloch who was a Baptist minister turned politician. He decided to run for mayor of San Francisco in 1879, which was a hotly contested seat at that time because the Editor-in-Chief of the San Francsico Chronicle, Charles DeYoung, wanted another to win. This was prior to the time that yellow journalism took hold of newspapers, but DeYoung's tactics would fit that description. Because he wanted another candidate to win, DeYoung started attacking Kalloch and accused him of having an affair. And in case anyone thought mudslinging during campaigns was a more modern day thing, Kalloch responded to these accusations with one of his own: that DeYoung's mother ran a brothel. DeYoung took things to the next level when he shot Kalloch twice on the street. The Reverend survived and got the sympathy vote and was elected the 18th Mayor of San Francisco. He served from 1879 until 1881. The story doesn't end here. On April 23, 1880, Kalloch's son Isaac went into the Chronicle building and shot and killed Charles DeYoung. Kalloch moved to the Washington Terrirtory after his stint as mayor and it is there that he died in 1887 at the age of 55.

Angel Eyes

One of the haunted monuments in Bayview is known as "Angel Eyes." It is the statue of an angel standing and appearing to step forward atop the Blano Memorial. She is holding what appears to be a wreath. She gives many people the creeps because of her eyes. It is said that her eyes glow at night. There are claims that people paint the eyes with luminescent paint. Some reports of paranormal activity include an apparition that floats along the stone walls of the cemetery. People claim that this spirit belongs to the person buried beneath Angel Eyes. The other supposedly haunted monument here is nicknamed the "death bed." This monument looks nothing like a bed really and more like a Grecian temple in miniature that has been hollowed out. So basically there is a base with six short columns holding up a flat top that is abour a foot and a half high. This is the grave of Edmund Gaudette, but for many, it is the death bed because it is said that when one lies upon this monument they expedite their death. So don't tempt the spirits here!

Death Bed

Metairie Cemetery - New Orleans, Louisiana

Mark Twain was so taken with the way that New Orleans built its cemeteries with above ground burials that he called New Orleans cemeteries, the “Cities of the Dead.” Metairie Cemetery was founded on land that had previously been a horse racing track. The race track was owned by the Metairie Jockey Club. Charles T. Howard had made his wealth by starting the first Louisiana State Lottery and he asked the club for a membership. They refused membership and Howard vowed that the race course would become a cemetery. One of the more famous races there was the Lexington-Lecomte Race, which took place on April 1, 1854 and was advertised as the "North Against the South" race. Former President Millard Fillmore attended.

No racing took place during the Civil War and the grounds were used as a Confederate Camp named Camp Moore until 1862 when the Union took New Orleans. After Reconstruction, the track went bankrupt and the land was sold off for a cemetery, bringing Henry's vow or curse to fruition.  Metairie Cemetery was established in 1872 by the Metairie Cemetery Association. The designer was Colonel Benjamin Morgan Henry and he refused to destroy the foundation of the horse race track, so upon visiting, one will notice that the cemetery and its tombs are laid out within the concentric oval patterns of the original track. The cemetery was eventually taken over by Stewart Enterprises, Inc., of Jefferson, Louisiana and then in 2013, Service Corporation International bought Metairie Cemetery.

What is today the back exit, used to be a grand front entrance with an ivy-draped archway. Metairie Cemetery is amazing for those of us that like beautiful and unique monuments and memorials. It has the most monuments and memorials of any of the cemeteries in New Orleans. One such memorial, the Foto family, features the statue of an angel who has a star on her forehead. This indicates that she has come from heaven. Her right hand is lifted and holds the head of a flower that she is going to drop as though it were a blessing. Her left hand is clutching at material that overlays her gown. The graveyard features a tumulus, which is a manmade hill very similar to those built by the ancient mound builders. The monument includes two notable works by sculptor Alexander Doyle. There is the 1877 equestrian statue of General Albert Sidney Johnston on his horse "Fire-eater", holding binoculars in his right hand and the other is an 1885 life size statue that represents a Confederate officer about to read the roll of the dead during the American Civil War. This tumulus features burials of the Louisiana Division of the Army of Tennessee. These were Civil War veterans that fill the 48 niches and one of these belongs to General Pierre G.T. Beauregard. For those of you who got to see my video on Fort Sumter, you know how pivotal he was to the beginning of the Civil War. He was also key in convincing Jefferson Davis to end the war. Even though he had been a Confederate general, Beauregard spent the rest of his life advocating for civil rights for blacks. He died in his sleep in New Orleans from what is thought to be a heartattack.

The Egan family has an unusual monument. It was designed to look like a ruin with a marble archway open to the sky that resembles a Gothic chapel on their property in Ireland. The blocks were distressed to make them look old and even the nameplate looks as though it had been dropped and cracked. The Brunswig Tomb is a granite pyramid that is quite tall. The statue of a Greek maiden is standing outside and has her hand raised as though she is knocking on the tomb's door. There is a tall Roman urn behind her with an eternal marble flame frozen in its mouth. A sphinx crouches across the entryway.

There are many famous burials here. Interestingly enough, one of the burials here belongs to Charles Howard who died in 1885 when he fell off a horse he had just purchased. His tomb is located on Central Avenue. Andrew Higgins is buried here. He was the inventor of the Higgins Boat. He founded Higgins Industries, the New Orleans-based manufacturer of "Higgins boats" (LCVPs) during World War II. They were small at first, but later became one of the biggest industries in the world with upwards of eighty thousand workers and government contracts worth nearly three hundred fifty million dollars. General Dwight Eisenhower is quoted as saying, "Andrew Higgins ... is the man who won the war for us. ... If Higgins had not designed and built those LCVPs, we never could have landed over an open beach. The whole strategy of the war would have been different."

Josie Arlington, the most notorious madam in New Orleans is buried here, but is no longer buried in her original tomb. She died in 1914 and was placed in a tomb designed by Albert Weiblen. The memorial features a bronze female figure. The grave became a tourist attraction because of her reputation and her family was mortified so they had the body moved. Arlington was born Mary Deubler and started her life in prostitution at the age of seventeen. She was known to have a quick temper and to be a spunky fighter. She wanted the classiest brothel in town and she made it happen. Soon it was the wealthiest and most sought out brothel in New Orleans. Her girls got $5.00 an hour! She suffered from early dementia and died when she was only 50. And speaking of red-light districts, Mayor Martin “Papa” Behrman is here and he wholly supported the civic implementation of Storyville, New Orleans’ legal red-light district, at the turn of the twentieth century. Behrman traveled to Washington, D.C. in 1917 when there was a threat to shut down Storyville and he said, “You can make it illegal, but you can’t make it unpopular.”

Police Chief David Hennessy was murdered and this sparked a riot. His most known capture was of an Italian criminal named Giuseppe Esposito. He was murdered by a group of Italian men and a sensational trial followed in 1890. Nineteen men had been indicted for his murder, but there were a series of acquittals and mistrials and this angered locals. They formed a mob and forced the prison's doors and lynched 11 of those 19 men on March 14, 1891. This was the largest known mass lynching in U.S. history. Hennessy is buried under a tall column with a draped urn atop it. Louisiana songwriter Fred Bessel published a bestselling song about Hennessy in 1891, titled "The Hennessy Murder." It begins:

Kind friends if you will list to me a sad story I'll relate,
'Tis of the brave Chief Hennessy and how he met his fate
On that quiet Autumn Evening when all nature seemed at rest,
This good man was shot to death; may his soul rest with the blest.

A couple of restaurateurs are buried here: Al Copeland who founded Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Ruth U. Fertel who founded Ruth's Chris Steak House. Anne Rice's husband, the poet Stan Rice is buried here as well. John Bernecker was an American stunt performer who had worked on over 90 films and television series, including Jonah Hex, Green Lantern, The Hunger Games film series, Logan and Black Panther. He was performing stunts for the television series "The Walking Dead" on July 12, 2017 when a stunt went horribly wrong. Bernecker fell 20 feet onto a concrete floor, missing a placed safety cushion by "inches" and sustained a severe head injury. He died from his injuries the next day and was buried at Metairie.

Louis Leo Prima was an Italian American singer, actor, songwriter, bandleader, and trumpeter known as the King of Swing. Prima made prominent use of Italian music and language in his songs, blending elements of his Italian identity with jazz and swing music. Pelius Benton Steward was Lousiiana's only black governor and he served for just 35 days. He was born in 1837 to a white father and a mother of mixed race. He worked as a Mississippi River boat captain and also served in the Civil War. He became governor during Reconstruction after he was serving as Lieutenant Governor and the governor was impeached. He was buried in a private family tomb in Metairie Cemetery. John Gerald Schwegmann Jr. was a pioneer in the development of the modern supermarket and he owned eighteen stores in the New Orleans metropolitan area. He eventually got into politics as well and died in 1995.
Schwegmann was twice married and twice divorced. He outlived both wives by ten months, and the ex-wives died within three days of each other.

The most famous burial here is Jefferson Davis. He died in 1889 and was laid to rest beneath a 38-foot granite column marking the tomb of the Army of Northern Virginia. His wife later had his body moved to Richmond. Davis had been the president of the Confederate States of America. He had formerly been a member of Congress as both a Representative and Senator. He was not for secession originally, but clearly changed his mind. Because of his military and political background, he was quickly voted in as President. He moved the government to Richmond. He oversaw everything about the war effort, but respected the opinions of General Robert E. Lee as well. There were many strategic failures during the Civil War and he eventually had to surrender. He was imprisoned at Fortress Monroe. He was in jail for two years and then let out on bail and the case was dismissed. He ran away with his family to Canada. Eventually, he was pardoned by President Johnson and he went to England. He returned to America and later in life had a plantation. He became ill during a trip and died on December 6, 1889.
  
There are several stories about paranormal activity in Metairie. One of these stories is about the bronze female figure outside of Josie Arlington's former grave. There are claims that the figure leaves its post at the door of the monument and walks around the other graves. And early on, people claimed that the tomb would appear to burst into flames after dark. Two grave diggers said they witnessed the statue of the girl at the door vanish and walk about in the cemetery. And it is said she continues to do that to this day. The urn outside the memorial is said to glow red as well.

The ghost of David Hennessey is said to walk around the cemetery. His spirit is always dressed in his police uniform and witnesses wonder if he is protecting the cemetery from vandals and grave robbers. And Charles Howard who promised to make the race track into a cemetery apparently speaks around his grave. people swear that they hear a male voice at his grave and it is so loud that visitors passing by stop to glance at each other.

Are these historic cemeteries harboring not only the dead bodies of some well known people, but also their spirits? Are these cemeteries haunted? That is for you to decide!

HGB Ep. 229 - Haunted Cemeteries 5

 
Moment in Oddity - Piano Playing Teens Get Chlorosis

A German physician named Dr. F. Waetzold published a short essay in 1899 in which he claimed that young girls who played the piano had an increased chance of developing mental disorders. According to Dr. Waetzold, his research had uncovered some alarming links between piano-playing and neurotic disorders. One disorder was chlorosis or ‘green sickness’, which is today known as hypochromic anemia and causes a greenish hue to the skin. The Doctor claimed that girls who studied the piano before the age of 12 were six times more likely to contract chlorosis or neuroses than girls who did not play the piano. He wrote, “It is necessary to abandon the deadly habit of compelling young girls to hammer on the keyboard before they are 15 or 16. Even at this age the exercise should be permitted only to those who are really talented and possessed of a robust temperament.” Apparently, the piano was not the only dangerous musical instrument. He claimed “studying the violin appears to produce even more disastrous results." Either Dr. Waetzold was surrounded by young musicians whose playing hurt his ears to the point he needed an excuse to make them stop or something about his research was decidedly very odd!

This Month in History - Inaugural Voyage on the Erie Canal

In the month of October, on the 26th, in 1825, New York Governor DeWitt Clinton made the inaugural voyage on the Erie Canal. Ground was broken on the canal in 1817. It took eight years to complete at a cost of $7 million and stretched for 363 miles. It was the second longest canal in the world at that time. The canal linked Lake Erie to the Hudson River and Governor Clinton predicted that it would create "the greatest inland trade ever witnessed." Many called the Erie Canal, "Clinton’s Folly" or "Clinton's Big Ditch." It took the Governor nine days to complete his trip along the Erie Canal and at the end he poured a barrel filled with water from Lake Erie into the Atlantic and called it a "wedding of the waters." His prediction about the Canal was right. Shipping costs dropped by 90 percent, settlers flooded west and the canal paid for itself in nine years.


Haunted Cemeteries 5

The three cemeteries we are featuring in this episode are some of the most well known cemeteries in the world. They also happen to be famously haunted. Each has beautiful and ornate monuments and have become favorite spots for taphophiles. Hollywood Forever has become the final resting place for a plethora of deceased celebrities. Some of them haunt the cemetery even today. Greyfriar's Kirkyard has a long history that includes Bloody Mackenzie who apparently still haunts the cemetery. Highgate Cemetery has gorgeous Gothic architecture and a story about a vampire that calls the graveyard its home. Join us as we explore the history and hauntings of these three unique haunted cemeteries!


Hollywood Forever

The Hollywood Forever Cemetery sits on 62 acres with over 80,000 gravesites. The cemetery is one of the oldest in Los Angeles and it is the only one in Hollywood. It was founded in 1899 by the Hollywood Cemetery Association and originally called Hollywood Cemetery.  At that time there were 100 acres in total, but RKO Studios bought 40 of the acres and built a studio that eventually became Paramount Studios. The graveyard is a veritable who's who of dead celebrities. These celebrity burials include Mickey Rooney, Douglas Fairbanks, Jayne Mansfield's cenotaph, Cecil B. DeMille, Rudolph Valentino, Peter Lorre, Dee Dee and Johnny Ramone, Judy Garland, Bugsy Siegel and two of the Little Rascals, Alfalfa and Darla Hood. *Fun Fact: Our moderator Ronda was attacked by the guard duck that is at Johnny Ramone's grave.* There are more than celebrities here. Important historic figures in the building of Los Angeles have their final resting place here as well.

A convicted felon named Jules Roth purchased a 51 percent stake in the cemetery in 1939 and he proceeded to use cemetery funds for personal expenses and luxuries for the next six decades. One of those luxuries was a yacht he claimed would be used for spreading ashes, but it actually became a party boat. The cemetery fell into disrepair and it was so bad that when Cass Elliot was being cremated in 1974, several of the crematory bricks collapsed around her body. Relatives of the interred began moving the bodies of their loved ones and in 1986 a class action lawsuit was filed against Roth. Roth also was racist and would not allow minorities to be buried at the graveyard and this included Hattie McDaniel of "Gone with the Wind" fame. In 1998, Roth died bankrupt. After his burial, it was discovered that the cemetery endowment fund was missing about $9 million.

In 1998, Tyler and Brent Cassity purchased the property for $375,000 and they invested millions in renovations and renamed the site Hollywood Forever. One of the items they added was a granite monument for Hattie McDaniel. The cemetery has become a cultural center and every year features a Dia de los Muertos Festival. Controversy still continued for Hollywood Forever though. Brent Cassidy and his father were indicted for a Ponzi scheme in which they stole $450 million from a funeral company they ran selling pre-burial expenses. The renovation funds for Hollywood Forever came from those stolen funds. The men went to prison in 2010. Tyler Cassity was not charged in the case and his brother Brent sold his interest in Hollywood Forever to a family-owned trust.

We wanted to mention a burial that is special to us and that is Maila Nurmi's grave. She became the first ever television horror host in the 1950s. We all know her as the fabulous Vampira. Vampira was born when Nurmi attended Choreographer Lester Horton's annual Bal Caribe Masquerade in a costume inspired by Morticia Addams in 1953. She made her skin pale white and wore a tight black dress. Television producer Hunt Stromberg, Jr. saw her and knew she would be perfect to host horror movies on the Los Angeles television station KABC-TV. Nurmi's husband Dean Riesner came up with the name Vampira. Nurmi's characterization of Vampira was inspired by the Dragon Lady from the comic strip Terry and the Pirates and the evil queen from Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. She hosted "The Vampira Show" from 1954-1955. She also appeared in Ed Wood’s cult film, "Plan 9 From Outer Space" among other films. She died of natural causes in 2008 and was buried in the Griffith Lawn section at Hollywood Forever.

Hollywood Forever is incredibly haunted. Many ghosts apparently walk the grounds. One of these spirits belongs to William Randolph Hearst. He isn't buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, but the grave of his mistress Marion Davies is located there and he likes to visit in the afterlife. Rudolph Valentino's grave is the site of an apparition of a woman in a black dress and many claim this woman is Ditra Flame. Ditra had been seriously ill in the hospital when she was a little girl. Valentino was freinds with her mother, so he showed up at the hospital bearing a single red rose. He whispered to her, “You’re not going to die at all. You’re going to outlive me by many years. But one thing for sure—if I die before you do, will you please come and stay by me because I don’t want to be alone either. You come and talk to me.” Valentino was right. Ditra got better and he died a few years later from complications from gastric ulcer surgery. As an adult, she brought red roses to his crypt every year on his death date. She died in 1984 and ever since then, people claim to see a ghost woman in black kneeling in front of Valentino’s tomb. Some visitors have seen a rose just appear in the vase on the wall. Disembodied footsteps have been heard and there is a feeling as though being watched by someone unseen.

Clifton Webb was an actor who appeared in the films "Cheaper by the Dozen" and "Laura" and he played Mr. Belvedere in "Sitting Pretty," "Mr. Belvedere Goes to College" and "Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell." He died of a heart attack at the age of 76. He is buried in crypt 2350 in the Abbey of the Psalms Mausoleum. Visitors claim to see his apparition in a suit at the crypt and to hear whispering voices and see strange flickering lights there as well. There are occasional reports of a cold swirling draft that leaves behind the scent of cologne.

Virginia Rappe was a silent film actress who also was an alcoholic. She died after attending a party hosted by Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. Her bladder ruptured while at the party and she was rushed to the hospital and died a few days later. The rumors swirling around were that Arbuckle had raped her at the party and that because of his size and the violence of the encounter, her bladder was ruptured. He was even tried for rape and murder. He was acquitted, but his life was ruined. What really happend to Rappe is a mystery. Some say she had a botched abortion. Others claim that she tickled Arbuckle and he accidently kneed her in the abdomen when he jumped. She was buried at Hollywood Forever and it is believed that her spirit is at unrest there because of her tarnished reputation and unsolved death. Witnesses feel cold spots and hear the sounds of a woman sobbing.
 
Greyfriar's Kirkyard

Edinburgh, Scotland is considered one of the most haunted cities in all of Europe, particularly with Edinburgh Castle sitting above the city as a type of haunted sentinel.  The Castle is said to be the most haunted location in Edinburgh, but Greyfriar's Kirkyard could give the Castle a good fight for that title.  Burials have taken place here since the 16th century and the cemetery sits between an old melancholy hospital and a menacing looking prison.  The tombstones and statuary are ornate and beautiful.  The term "kirk" means "church" and so a kirkyard is a churchyard.  A churchyard is a cemetery that is on church property. The church that sits here is named for the Franciscan Friary that originally was located here and managed by the Greyfriars, an order of Franciscan monks.  The Franciscan Order originally landed in Canterbury from Italy in the 13th century and spread across what we call the United Kingdom today.  The Order was later split into two different groups known as the Conventuals - friars that were in the cities - and the Observants - who wanted to keep the old more isolated ways.  The Franciscans in Great Britain became known as Greyfriars.

Roman Catholicism was pushed out of Scotland in the 16th century.  A group of people signed covenants in Scotland binding themselves to maintain Presbyterian doctrines and denouncing the Pope and the Catholic Church.  They became known as Covenanters and they proved to be a big issue for King Charles I.  The National Covenant was signed at Greyfriar's Kirk in 1638 and it was an oath to maintain the reformed religion and reject all superstition of the Catholic Church.  When King Charles tried to push new reforms on the Covenanters, they revolted and defeated the King in the Bishops' War.  Wars continued and the Covenanters became the de facto government of Scotland.  Later, Oliver Cromwell, fighting for the English Parliament, would defeat the Covenanters and by 1652, they were decimated.  In 1679, another rebellion was formed, but it was knocked down once again and 1200 Covenanters were taken prisoner and put into the Covenanters' Prison at Greyfriar's Kirkyard.  Conditions were awful and many were executed.  By the end of their imprisonment, only 400 Covenanters were alive and they were sold into slavery, most of them dying when the ship transporting them wrecked.

Sir George Mackenzie, who was a Scottish lawyer, became the Lord Advocate implementing the reforms of King Charles II in Scotland and he was the one who not only imprisoned the Covenanters, but had most most of them executed earning him the title of "Bloody Mackenzie."  Prior to this, Mackenzie had been involved in witch trials.  Mackenzie died in 1691 and is buried, ironically, in Greyfriar's Kirkyard in a large mausoleum. Reports of Mackenzie's ghost haunting Greyfriar's Kirkyard began in the 20th century after a homeless man decided to seek shelter in Mackenzie's Mausoleum during a rain storm.  He had noticed that he could get through an opening in the back of the structure.  After he entered, he began to rummage through the coffins like a grave robber and he fell through the flooring that had rotted away, into a pit full of bones.  This pit was where plague victims were buried.  As is the case in so many cities in earlier centuries, it was impossible to do individual burials during times of plague and so mass burials were conducted.  The homeless man ran screaming from the building and now the poltergeist of Mackenzie has been taking out his rage about this desecration on visitors.  The ghost injures people to the point of cuts, bruises and even broken bones.  Most of these attacks happen in the Covenanter's Prison area, so apparently Bloody Mackenzie has returned to his roots.  There is a mausoleum inside the prison called the Black Mausoleum and this is where much of the activity occurs.  And if the hundreds of personal reports do not convince people the place is haunted, perhaps the true story of how the Exorcist Colin Grant died shortly after trying to cleanse the entire kirkyard, and particularly the Black Mausoleum, might convince them.

Greyfriar's Bobby is another famous resident at the kirkyard.  The story is told of a night watchman named John Gray who took on a Skye Terrier as his partner and named him Bobby.  Gray eventually contracted Tuberculosis and succumbed to the disease in 1858.  He was buried at Greyfriar's Kirkyard and Bobby took up vigil at his master's grave.  He refused to leave, even in bad weather and so the townspeople took care of the dog, bringing him food and water and Bobby would sometimes leave to have a meal at a nearby shop.  Bobby kept vigil for fourteen years and then he was buried in the kirkyard and a monument was erected in his honor.  The accuracy of this story has been questioned for years and some have surmised that Bobby was just a stray dog that had taken up residence in the graveyard.  At the time, many strays would live in graveyards.  Whatever is the case, a beautiful monument was built for the dog.

Highgate 

Highgate Cemetery opened in 1839 outside of London. Churches at that time were having a hard time dealing with all the burials, so a plan was implemented to build more cemeteries known as the Magnificent Seven. Highgate was one of them and it was designed by Stephen Geary. The cemetery was dedicated to St. James by Right Reverend Charles Blomfield and burials were sold to people for a limited period or for perpetuity. The graveyard is very Victorian in style with Gothic tombs and it became a very fashionable place to be buried and people enjoyed visiting. Wildlife and wild flowers have made the cemetery home. Notable areas are Egyptian Avenue and Circle of Lebanon and notable burials are Jane Arden, Karl Marx, Elizabeth Siddal, Ellen Wood, Feliks Topolski and William Michael Rossetti. By World War II, the cemetery was abandoned for the most part.

For all of its beautiful monuments and ostentatious memorials, Highgate has a dark side. Rumors of Satanic ceremonies and cult meetings have been rampant. And tales of ghostly experiences have been received by the local newspapers. One man wrote that his car broke down outside of the cemetery. He got out of his car and looked towards the gates of the cemetery and saw an apparition with red eyes. The spirit appeared to be glaring at him and the man was terrified. Some have referred to this as the Devil Ghoul. A spirit on a bicycle was seen by a woman. She was frightened as she watched him make his way up a steep incline. Another ghost was said to be seen wading in a pond. Our infamous Lady in White appears here as well. Could she be the one who is the wailing banshee that many have reported? Another man was knocked to the ground by a creature that swooped down from a wall of the cemetery while he walked down Swains Lane. The creature then disappeared as the headlights from a passing car shone into the cemetery.

Several similar experiences are shared in Westwood and Simpson's The Lore of the Land, "My fiancee and I spotted a most unusual form about a year ago. It just seemed to glide across the park. I am glad someone else has spotted it." And, "To my knowledge the ghost always takes the form of a pale figure and has been appearing for several years." And, "Suddenly from the corner of my eye I saw something move, which seemed to be walking towards us from the gates, and sent us running up Swains Lane as fast as we could."

The most bizarre story about Highgate features a vampire. The Highgate Vampire story dates back to the 1960s. A group of paranormal enthusiasts started investigating the cemetery in the late 60s. One of their members named David Farrant decided to stay overnight on December 21, 1969. Farrant claims in interviews that he saw a very tall and pale figure that appeared to be inhuman with hypnotic eyes. Some time later, a man named Sean Manchester claimed to see a similar supernatural entity. He also said that he found the carcasses of foxes, drained of blood in the cemetery. Manchester came up with an idea that a vampire had been brought to England in a coffin in the 18th century and interred at Highgate. All of the Satanic rituals that took place later, woke up the vampire. Manchester and Farrant became rivals and a public interview of the two caused a frenzy of people vampire hunting in the cemetery. the police had to intervene and kick people out of the cemetery. Both men continued to return to the cemetery with their supporters to find the vampire.

Do several spirits wander around the cool mists of these three cemeteries? Are the ghosts of celebrities hanging out in Hollywood Forever? Is Bloody Mackenzie at Greyfriar's Kirkyard in the afterlife? Does Highgate have a vampire hiding in the darkness? Are these cemeteries haunted? That is for you to decide!