Halloween is fast approaching. This month, A Grave Interest has taken a
look at several haunted cemeteries.
Get ready as we explore one of America's most haunted cemeteries.....
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| Greenwood Sign |
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| Greenwood Cemetery |
What
is now Greenwood Cemetery, in Decatur, Illinois, was first used as sacred burial grounds by Native
Americans, hundreds of years ago. Settlers to the area in the early 1800's continued burying their dead here, and in 1857, the cemetery was incorporated as Greenwood Cemetery.
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| Broken Window |
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| Security Fence Cut |
Greenwood is supposedly one of the ten most haunted cemeteries in the U.S. Ghost stories began to circulate during
the 1920’s when the cemetery fell into disrepair. The cemetery association was financially broke; upkeep
and repairs could no longer be made.
By the 1950’s, what had once been a beautiful, rural garden-style
cemetery became a magnet for negativity.
Gangs roamed the cemetery at night, cults used the grounds, and
paranormal activity surged. While some cemeteries have spook lights, others
have devils chairs, still others have apparitions; Greenwood seems to have them
all.
The
legends of ghosts and mysterious occurrences are numerous for Greenwood Cemetery. Here are just a few –
Barrackman
Steps
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| Barrackman Graves |
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| Barrackman Steps |
Greenwood
is made up of hills and valleys.
On a slight hill is a set of five stone steps, which leads up to four
gravestones for the Barrackman family.
Many have reported seeing a woman standing at the top of the steps with
her head bowed, crying. But the
phantom only appears in the evening, near sunset. Once the sun has disappeared,
so does she.
Greenwood
Bride
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| Bootlegger |
Local
lore has it that in the early 1930’s, a young couple decided to elope because
their families did not approve of their marrying. The couple planned to leave at night after the man, who made
his living as a bootlegger, dropped off his last order. The girl waited for him, as planned, but
he never arrived.
The
next day she was told that a rival bootlegger had killed her fiancé and tossed
his body into the Sangamon River, near the cemetery. His body was later found and buried in Greenwood Cemetery. Unable to bear the news, the young woman
plunged into the river and drowned.
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| The Bride's Grave |
Her
parents buried her in her wedding gown. It has been reported that a young woman
in a white wedding gown walks through the cemetery, weeping and peering at
headstones, searching for her lost love.
Devil’s
Chair
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| Devil's Chair? |
The
legend of the Devil’s Chair, or haunted chair, as it is some times known, has
been handed down through folklore. The chair is actually a mourning chair. It was placed by a grave, so that
family and friends would have a place to sit when they visited the deceased. Mourning chairs are considered to be funerary sculpture.
According
to various superstitions, when someone sits on the chair, they will incur bad luck,
or die within a year. Other legends promise good luck, or riches.
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| Greenwood's Devil's Chair |
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| Seat of the Chair |
According to the legend of the Devil's Chair in Greenwood Cemetery, if you sit on the chair at a
certain time, you can make a pact with the Devil. You will get anything you want for seven years. At the end of the seven years, the devil
comes to claim your soul. Many
cemeteries have removed their mourning chairs because of vandalism. Greenwood’s
chair remains...
Mausoleum
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| Greenwood Public Mausoleum |
The
Public Mausoleum was built in Greenwood Cemetery in 1908 and problems developed soon after. According to reports, the construction was shoddy, and the
mausoleum leaked. Repairs were not made and the mausoleum began sliding into
disrepair. Reports began to surface of voices, crying, and screams heard coming
from the building.
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| Inside Mausoleum |
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| Graves Related to Mausoleum |
In
1957, the mausoleum was declared to be unsafe and was closed. Families were notified and asked to
relocate their loved ones. Over
one hundred bodies were never claimed; some were never identified. The cemetery buried these remains in
several common graves, located across the road from the mausoleum. The building was demolished in
1967. But, it seems, many do not
rest in peace.
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| Former Mausoleum Location |
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| Overlooking Where Mausoleum Was |
The
site of the former mausoleum is still vacant, almost 45 years later. No burials have taken place on this
stretch of empty, unclaimed ground. Across the road, several common graves hold
the remains of over 100 unclaimed bodies.
Reports of voices and screams continue to be heard in this area, along with lights seen moving at night among the common graves, searching for.........
Civil
War Burials
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| Civil War Burial Area |
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| Civil War Train |
This
is said to be the most haunted area of the cemetery. During the Civil War, troop trains, on their way to
confederate prison camps near Chicago, would stop in Decatur. One such train stopped to unload most
of its cargo; the bodies of southern prisoners who had died of yellow
fever on the way north.
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| Union War Memorial |
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| Union Gravestones |
Wagons
carried the Confederate bodies to the cemetery for a mass burial in a huge
unmarked grave, located on the side of a hill. It was rumored that not all of
those buried had yet died. After the war, a memorial in honor of Illinois’
Union Troops was built on the top of the hill.
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| Unknown U.S. Soldiers Graves |
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| Retaining Wall in Place After Flood |
Several
years later, the Sangamon River, located next to the hill, flooded. When the
flood receded, it was apparent that many of the Confederate remains had been
washed away.
Those that were found were reburied and marked as “Unknown U.S.
Soldier.”
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| Hill Where Confederates Had Been Buried |
It
was soon after the flood that reports of ghostly soldiers began. Cries and wails of some very tormented spirits could be heard in this area. Unexplained lights have also been
seen roaming the hill. Many claim
the lights belong to those lost Confederate soldiers, still searching for
their missing remains.
Phantoms
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| Hill Where Phantoms Were Seen |
And,
along with phantom lights, comes phantom mourners. Greenwood has been the site of many spectral funerals and
mourners. Staff, and those visiting, have witnessed phantom funerals occurring throughout the cemetery.
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| Greenwood Cemetery |
Greenwood
Cemetery certainly has a vibe all it's own, and stories continue to surface about the grounds being haunted. The cemetery is well cared for now and definitely worth a visit any time of year. Greenwood Cemetery is located at the
end of South Church Street in Decatur.
The cemetery is open from daylight to dusk, and a caretaker lives on-site. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenwood-Cemetery-Decatur-Illinois/106976936023491
~
Joy
According
to various superstitions, when someone sits on the chair, they will incur bad luck,
or die within a year. Other legends promise good luck, or riches. 
