Mausoleums - Haunted "Homes" of the Dead

 

By Joy Neighbors

Haunted cemeteries are especially in vogue this time of year, but haunted mausoleums seem to be a major attraction any time. There’s something about this “house-type" structure that intrigues us, and then throw in a ghost or two, and we're hooked.

Here are four mausoleums that house more "spirit" than most.

Spring Grove Cemetery – Cincinnati, OH

Dexter Mausoleum

Edmund Dexter

This mausoleum was built in 1869 for whiskey baron, Edmund Dexter, one of Cincinnati’s wealthiest residents in the mid-1800s. When Dexter died, he was laid to rest in this Gothic Revival mausoleum, which contains 12 marble crypts where four generations of the Dexter family are buried. Besides it’s claim of being haunted, it also boasts the only two flying buttresses in Cincinnati.

It has been rumored that two large white dogs protect the mausoleum, although it isn’t known if they were once pets of the Dexter’s. Legend has it that if you sit on the steps of the mausoleum, the dogs will appear. If they believe you to be good, they will run past. If they are not sure of your intentions, they will stop and watch you. If they sense you are up to no-good, they will growl and advance. (Best to be up to only good when you visit.)

Greenwood Cemetery – Decatur, IL

Public Mausoleum

The Public Mausoleum was built in 1908 but soon ran into trouble when leaks developed due to shoddy construction. The cemetery association soon ran out of money and ghost stories began to circulate as the grounds fell into disrepair. By the 1950’s, what had once been a beautiful, rural garden-style cemetery became a magnet for negativity. People reported hearing disembodied voices, crying and screaming coming from the mausoleum. By 1957, the building was declared unsafe and was closed. Family members were notified to relocate their loved ones. One hundred bodies were never claimed – some were never identified. Eventually the cemetery association buried them in common graves across from where the mausoleum had been.

Former Location of Mausoleum

It was 1967 when the mausoleum was finally razed. Today that site is still vacant. No burials have ever been made here, and there are still reports of voices along with lights seen wandering near the common graves – perhaps a lost soul searching for their remains?

Highland Lawn Cemetery – Terre Haute, IN

Sheets Mausoleum

Martin Sheets was born in 1853 and lived into his early 70s. He saw many technological changes during that time, and one of the new-fangled inventions he found an odd use for was the telephone. Martin had one installed in the family mausoleum, just in case he was buried unconscious, but alive, and needed to summon help. It was stipulated in his will that a phone line be run from his crypt to the cemetery office. He then set up an account with Indiana Bell Telephone that kept the line paid for and active, just in case he ever needed it.

When Martin died, he was placed in the family mausoleum with his infant daughter. Several years later his wife Susan passed away. When family members found her, she was in the kitchen with the phone in her hand. They assumed she had been attempting to summon help.  But according to legend, when the mausoleum was unlocked to place Susan’s casket next to her husband, cemetery workers discovered the phone in the crypt was off the hook! Coincidence … or a call to "come home?"

Highland Lawn Cemetery – Terre Haute, IN

Heinl Mausoleum

John Heinl

And then there’s my favorite haunted mausoleum tale - that of Stiffy Green.

Terre Haute businessman John Heinl and his dog, Stiffy Green would stroll through town, visiting with the folks. Stiffy had received his name because of his stiff walking gait and green eyes, and everyone knew the pair.

On December 31, 1920, John Heinl passed away. Stiffy was inconsolable. He sat be the coffin at the funeral and followed the family to the graveyard where he took up post at the mausoleum doors, and there he remained, guarding his master in death as he had guarded him in life. Family and friends made many trips to the cemetery that winter to retrieve Stiffy and take him home, only for him to return to his master’s crypt doors.

Stiffy Green

Stiffy slowly mourned himself to death. Heinl’s wife was so touched that she paid tribute to his unwavering love and devotion by having him stuffed in the sitting position he had assumed for so long on those cold mausoleum steps.  Stiffy was then placed inside the tomb, reunited at last with his master.

But it wasn’t long before cemetery workers noticed that Stiffy mysteriously moved from one side of the tomb to the other, and back. Sightseers began to visit after dark and vandals would not leave the site alone, damaging doors and windows. Then, in 1985, thugs shot out Stiffy’s right glass eye. The family decided it was time for Stiffy be moved and the Vigo County Historical Society Museum agreed to take him. There, the Terre Haute Lions Club built a replica of the Heinl mausoleum so that Stiffy could still be “on guard.” 

But rumors spread that just at twilight on autumn evenings, you can see an elderly man and his small dog walking near the Heinl crypt, the smell the rich pipe smoke wafts though the air, and a low voice can be heard talking to his devoted companion who answers him with a happy bark as they take another stroll together.

The History of the Ghost Story (and Why We Love Them)

Hidden Full Moon

Ghost on Stairs

Autumn is the season for falling leaves, cozy fires, candied apples, and ghostly tales. No other season lends itself with such atmosphere to those stories of lost souls, unseen beings and mysterious beasts traveling just beyond the perimeter of our world.

And we love to hear them, to be scared by them. Just look at the number of urban legends, ghost stories and horrifying tales that are on the internet. Not to mention the recent incursion of paranormal shows on television and radio.

Old Man

Pliny the Younger

Fact is, mankind has told ghost stories since ancient times. The concept of a ghost story began over two thousand years ago when Roman statesman and author Pliny the Younger (A.D. 61 – 115) told such tales in his letters. His accounts were of an old man in chains with a beckoning finger whose restless spirit haunted Pliny’s house. Pliny’s tales were so vivid, he was sought out to tell and retell the story.

Soul Departing Body

Pirate Ghost

Most cultures, then as now, believe that a person’s soul or spirit exists independently of his or her body, and continues to be present after death. It is thought that phantoms appear because they have unfinished business on earth, or because they are apprehensive about how, or if, they were buried properly. Most places that are haunted are associated with the ghost through emotions or something that happened there.

Poltergeist

Specters have been seen all over the world. In 856 A.D. a poltergeist (German for noisy ghost) was reported to be tormenting a family in Germany.

Ann Boleyn's Ghost

In England, the ghost of Anne Boleyn has been seen in the Tower of London many times since her execution there in 1536.

Haunted U.S.

The U.S. is a country that has always been full of ghostly lore. And according to a new Gallup poll conducted this year, 37% of Americans believe in ghosts.

Native Americans would tell spirit stories around campfires as a way to instill values, strengthen their history, and help preserve their culture. Most of these stories involved morals aimed at making the younger members of the community think about their actions and decisions.

From Lithobolia

New Hampshire

The first settlers ghost story is said to have taken place in a tiny town in New Hampshire. In the spring of 1682, the home and tavern of George and Alice Walton suddenly became plagued by falling rocks, inside and out. The rocks fell for three months. No matter where the family went to try and escape, the phenomena followed them and the rocks would continue to pound whatever building they were in. But suddenly, as abruptly as the event began, it stopped. No explanation was ever found for why it had occurred although the secretary of the colony of New Hampshire, Richard Chamberlain, wrote a pamphlet about it, but the incidents remains a mystery to this day.

George Washington

Union Troops

Several of our presidents and founding fathers have been encountered as ghosts roaming their former haunts.

President George Washington’s ghost appeared to Union soldiers outside of Gettysburg during the bloody battle. Washington appeared on a white stallion, raised up his sword and issued the command, “Fix bayonets. Charge!” The Union soldiers, following his order, charged down the hill and forced the Confederates into a full retreat. It is said that Washington can still be seen each summer, galloping across the battlefield of Gettysburg.

Benjamin Franklin

Franklin's Statue

Benjamin Franklin was a statesman, inventor, writer, scientist and philosopher during his long life. But it appears that Franklin had a special fondness for Philadelphia and the American Philosophical Society. He has been seen near the society’s library from time to time, and some report that he has inhabited his statue, located nearby and gone out dancing in the streets.

Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln's Ghost

President Abraham Lincoln’s life ended by an assassin’s bullet and his spirit has never rested easy. His ghost haunts the hallways of the White House, and his silhouette can be seen standing in the Oval office window as he continues to await word on the progression of the war. Lincoln’s spirit has also been seen in Springfield, Illinois his former home, where he wanders the old Capitol Building and the city streets late into the night.

M.R. James

The classic ghost story came about during the Victorian Age, from 1840 to 1920. These stories contained the fundamentals of folklore touched with psychology.  Author M.R. James, known for his ghost stories at the turn of the century, remarked that the essential elements of a ghost story are “the stoney grin of unearthly malice, “malevolence and terror, the glare of evil faces, and “long distant screams.”

Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol

The Turn of the Screw

Some of our best-loved ghost stories are from this period and include A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James and Oscar Wilde’s comedy The Canterville Ghost.

Today, we can sit in the comfort of our living rooms and be scared silly watching such television shows as Ghost Mine, Ghost Hunters, Stalked by a Ghost, and Notorious Hauntings. And since the 1970s, movies about ghosts have been an extremely popular genre.

Urban legends are our modern versions of folklore; they change as our world changes but they still echo our fears and provide us with an ethical message couched in a cautionary tale, warning us about what could happen if we take something too far.

Deatha

The Hammersmith Ghost

Ghost stories offer us a way to be frightened but still maintain control over our lives. They help us to bond with others, sharing stories and fears that will end when the story is finished. Ghost stories are an escape into another realm that delivers more fear than our current situation. When you’re worrying about monsters and ghosts and demons, you’re not worrying about what you have to do tomorrow. And when the tale is done, suddenly, tomorrow doesn’t seem so bad…

~ Joy

*Thanks to Leonard Bruce Olin for the suggestion of this post!

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