Haunting the Prairie Preview

HAUNTING THE PRAIRIE:

A Tourist’s Guide to the Weird and Wild Places of Illinois

by

Michael Kleen

Haunting the Prairie Copyright 2010 Black Oak Press, Illinois Cover and Interior Photographs Copyright 2010 Michael Kleen Icons Copyright 2010 Heather Howard All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an article or review. This book was printed by lulu.com. Acknowledgments Michael Kleen would like to thank everyone he’s met in Rockford for making it an unforgettable experience. To order copies of this book contact: Black Oak Press, Illinois: An imprint of Black Oak Media Rockford, Illinois [email protected] ISBN-10: 0-9790401-4-0 ISBN-13: 978-0-9790401-4-6 Pertinent Websites: www.blackoakmedia.org www.trueillinoishaunts.com www.michaelkleen.com

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 7

NORTHERN ILLINOIS

Northwest Illinois 15

Fox River Valley 29

Chicagoland 41

CENTRAL ILLINOIS

The Tract 61

The Heartland 75

East-Central Illinois 93

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

Metro-East 107

Little Egypt 117

FURTHER READING 135

PARANORMAL RESEARCH GROUPS 139

INTERVIEW WITH LARRY WILSON 143

Haunting the Prairie

INTRODUCTION

If you are reading this, you are part of a small but dedicated

group of people who relish in the exploration of the unknown. You are a paranormal tourist—someone who goes to cemeteries to admire the scenery, who patronizes bars late at night in the hopes of seeing the lights flicker without explanation, and who risks being fined for trespassing at abandoned buildings. If you are like me, you might even drive an hour and a half to southwest suburban Chicago in the hopes of seeing Resurrection Mary. For someone interested in visiting the mysterious places of Illinois, there is no better moment to be young, independent, and have a lot of free time in which to travel. You see, most of the resources available to you today did not exist fifteen years ago. When I first began exploring Illinois in 1998, I still had a dial-up connection and AOL 3.0. The only way to locate a rural cemetery was to visit the local genealogical society, call a funeral home, or ask a gas station attendant. Most small-town ghost stories never saw the light of day, unless you heard about them on a tour, or read about them in a book. Unfortunately, in the mid-1990s, there were less than a half dozen books on haunted places anywhere in Illinois. If you were a child of the 1960s and ‘70s, your prospects were even worse. Until Beth Scott and Michael Norman came out with Haunted Heartland (1985), Illinois ghost stories resided in the

1930s – Professors Harry Middleton Hyatt and Charles Neely collect folklore and ghost stories from around Adams County and Southern Illinois.

1950s – John W. Allen writes a weekly column called “It Happened in Southern Illinois,” culminating in the 1963 book Legends & Lore of Southern Illinois.

1970s – In 1973, Richard T. Crowe begins the first supernatural-themed bus tour in Chicago. Brad Steiger publishes Psychic City: Chicago (1976). In 1977, Martin Riccardo founds the Ghost Trackers Club, later known as the Ghost Research Society. James Shelby Downard (aka Jim Brandon) includes Bachelor’s Grove in his book Weird America (1978).


GUIDE TO SYMBOLS “Creep factor” (A totally objective and scientific measurement):

= Unusual but not haunted, or defunct for over three decades.

= A local story. Somewhat active or most likely an urban legend.

= Sightings occur regularly, involve more than 2 different ghosts, and/or has been active for several decades.

= Legendary. Highly active, involves a number of closely-related haunted sites, or is widely known.

= Ghostly Activity

=

Defunct/Demolished

= Patrolled by Police

= Cemetery

= Building

= Occult Activity

= Hazard (cliffs, old

building, wild animals, etc.)

= Wilderness

= Road or Railroad

Northwestern Illinois


Northwestern Illinois is a very diverse region of the state. Anchored by the metropolitan areas of Rockford and the Quad Cities, this area varies

widely in its settlement. For example, the population density of Winnebago County (home of the City of Rockford) is more than 542

people per square mile, while the population density of Henry County is a meager 62 people per square mile. Two of Illinois’ six nuclear power

plants are located in this region. Prominent waterways include the Mississippi and Rock rivers. Historically, the corridor from Chicago to

Rockford and Galena (at the NW tip of Jo Daviess County) was an important trade route. Northwestern Illinois was heavily settled by

ethnic Germans and was a Republican stronghold during the Civil War.

Michael Kleen

BOONE COUNTY Population: 41,786 County Seat: Belvidere Total Area: 282 square miles Per capita income: $21,590 Year Established: 1837

BELVIDERE

Nellie Dunton Home A broken-hearted woman is said to haunt this h ome ov erlooking the K ishwaukee R iver. Nellie grew up in Belvidere prior to the Civil War and fell in love with an older man, who promised to m arry h er a fter t he w ar. Wh en h e f ailed t o return, N ellie r efused t o fall in lo ve a gain. S he spent the rest of her life in this house. Eventually, she wandered into the river and drowned, some say while wearing her old wedding dress. Her ghost has been seen by residents of this home, as well as by its neighbors.

Source: G orman, W illiam. Ghost W hispers: T ales f rom H aunted Midway. Rockford: Helm Publishing, 2005.

The Nellie Dunton home is located at 401 E. Lincoln Ave near the intersection of Lincoln and Webber. This is a private residence.

FLORA TOWNSHIP

Blood’s Point Road and Cemetery A cornucopia of urban legends have attached themselves to this aptly-named r ural a venue and i ts ne ighboring cemetery. V isitors have reported seeing p hantom v ehicles a nd a d og w ith g lowing r ed eye s. According t o l egend, t he r ailroad b ridge w as t he s cene o f a d eadly school bus accident, as well as more than one hanging. These hangings have also been attributed to a bridge along nearby Sweeny Road.


The cemetery i tself i s s aid t o be v isited by a w ide variety o f phenomenon—from orbs, to a phantom dog, to a vanishing barn, to the disembodied l aughter o f c hildren a nd e lectrical m alfunctions. Blood’s Point w as n amed after Arthur Bl ood, the f irst w hite s ettler of F lora Township. S ome l ocals m aintain t hat he b rought a c urse w ith hi m t hat remains to this day.

Source: G orman, W illiam. Ghost W hispers: T ales fro m H aunted Midway. Rockford: Helm Publishing, 2005; Kleen, Michael. “Blood’s Point Road.” Legends and Lore of Illinois 2 (September 2008): 1-7.

Blood’s Point Road is located southwest of Belvidere in rural Boone County. The cemetery is located at the intersection of Blood’s Point and Pearl Street.

BUREAU COUNTY Population: 35,503 County Seat: Princeton Total Area: 873 square miles Per capita income: $19,542 Year Established: 1837

SPRING VALLEY

“Help Me” Road

A l ocal l egend m aintains t hat in t he 1980s a c ouple w as r eturning h ome a long t his road from a night of drinking at a nearby biker bar w hen t heir m otorcycle crashed. Bot h r iders were terribly injured, but the man managed to write “help me ” on t he road i n hi s o wn blood before h e d ied. A ttempts to r emove t he w ords from the pavement failed. Even when the county repaved t he road, t he words m ysteriously returned. Som e h ave suggested t hat “help me ” was w ritten on to t he r oad i n t ar b y a mischievous construction worker. The road has recently been repaved and the words are no longer visible—for now.

Michael Kleen

Source: http://ghosttraveller.com/spring_valley_il.htm.

“Help Me” Road is located west of Spring Valley along County Road 2775 E,

past the pub at the junction of 2775 E and Route 29.

Massock Mausoleum The Massock Mausoleum in tiny Lithuanian Liberty Cemetery has long been the focus of local curiosity. Visitors have brought back stories of a “hatchet ma n” that g uards t he g raveyard. The mausoleum itself is said to be warm to the touch and t he scene o f a nimal sacrifice. R ed paint is spattered o n t he d oor, w hich h as b een sealed with concrete ever since the late 1960s when two vandals stole a sk ull from o ne o f t he M assock brothers. The M assock brothers’ mansion was located in the woods nearby, but was torn down in t he late 1980s. Local t eenagers u sed t o refer t o i t a s t he “Hatchet Man’s House.”

Rosemary E llen G uiley, i n h er b ook The C omplete V ampire Companion, related the story of several men who encountered a “gaunt, pale figure,” in the cemetery at night. Fearing for their l ives, they shot at the figure and ran. Later, a reporter who had heard about the men’s strange encounter came to the cemetery and poured holy water into a vent i n t he mausoleum, which p roduced a g roaning sound. Because o f the attention this location receives, police routinely patrol the area.

Source: Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. The Complete Vampire Companion.

New York: Macmillan, 1994; http://ghosttraveller.com/spring_valley_il.htm.

Lithuanian Liberty Cemetery is located northeast of Spring Valley along Peru-Princeton Road, just west of the intersection of 3450 E and Peru-Princeton Road

(1350 N).

Metro-East

Michael Kleen

Metro-East is a sub-region of Illinois that falls within the St. Louis

Metropolitan Area, and as a result, residents here are much more likely to root for the St. Louis Cardinals than for the Chicago Cubs. This region

is also the commercial center of central and southern Illinois. For hundreds of miles around, consumers flock to Fairview Heights to patronize its malls and shopping centers. With its position at the

juncture of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, the Metro-East region is steeped in history and has always been culturally diverse. It was at the heart of the Mississippian culture for hundreds of years, and its early

European settlers were predominantly French.


JERSEY COUNTY Population: 21,668 County Seat: Jerseyville Total Area: 377 square miles Per capita income: $19,581 Year Established: 1839

GRAFTON Ruebel Hotel The Ruebel Hotel has survived the test of time and has seen the best a nd w orst t he I llinois a nd M ississippi ri vers h ave to o ffer. It is named after its original owner, Michael Ruebel, who opened the austere, b rick h otel in 1 884. After o ne hund red y ears of s erving t he miners and river workers of Grafton, it was abandoned. Its clientele had long dried up. In 1997, new owners acquired the Ruebel Hotel and opened it for business once again. The new staff quickly discovered that one guest—a young girl named Abigail—had never left. Her ghost has been spotted roaming the hallway, but no one knows who she was or why she might haunt the building.

Source: Taylor, T roy. Haunted Alt on: His tory & Ha untings o f the Riverbend Region. Alton: Whitechapel Productions Press, 1999.

The Ruebel Hotel is located at 217 E. Main Street (Route 100) in downtown Grafton. It is open during regular business hours. www.ruebelhotel.com.

MADISON COUNTY Population: 258,941 County Seat: Edwardsville Total Area: 740 square miles Per capita income: $20,509 Year Established: 1812

Michael Kleen

ALTON McPike Mansion Built in 1869 by Henry Guest McPike and designed in the Italianate-Victorian s tyle, t his m ansion ha s l ong c aptured t he imaginations of Alton residents. Although it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, it has sat abandoned for decades—attracting vandals and the curious alike. Ghost s tories were told about the mansion even when i t was o ccupied. I n the 1940s, boarders o ften heard c hildren running up and d own t he stairs, but c ould f ind no o ne when t hey i nvestigated t he no ise. A fter t he m ansion became d erelict, passersby reported seeing faces in the windows. There are two known entities here. The mansion’s new owners named one of them Sarah. She is thought to have been a hired hand in l ife, and teases visitors with a spectral touch or hug. The other ghost belongs to a former owner, Paul Laichinger. He has been spotted wandering the grounds.

Source: Lewis, Chad and Terry Fisk. The Illinois Road Guide to Haunted Locations. E au Claire: Unexplained R esearch P ublishing, 2 007; T aylor, T roy. Haunted Alton: History & Hauntings of the Riverbend Region. Alton: Whitechapel Productions Press, 1999. The McPike Mansion is located at 2018 Alby Street, at the corner of Alby and E.

20th Street. This is a private residence. www.mcpikemansion.com.

COLLINSVILLE Lebanon Road On or a round L ebanon Ro ad a re seven railroad bridges, some no longer in use. All of them are heavily coated in graffiti—a testament to their popularity for nighttime excursions. Local visitors have c rafted a he llish t ale a round t hese seven bridges, which they dubbed the “Seven Gates to H ell.” The l egend i s t hat i f someone were t o d rive t hrough a ll s even b ridges a nd enter the last one exactly at midnight, he or she would be transported to Hell. In some versions, the person entering the final tunnel must be a skeptic. In other versions, no tunnel can be driven through twice in order for t he m agic t o w ork. L ike C uba Road i n B arrington, a n a bandoned property n ear L ebanon R oad h as g iven r ise to r umors of a “death


house.” A closed road or driveway is alleged to lead to an old house in which a family was murdered. Moreover, a group of Satanists are said to sacrifice animals and children at the location.

Source: Kleen, Michael. “Lebanon Road.” Legends and Lore of Illinois 3 (January 2 009): 1 -8; L ewis, C had a nd Te rry Fi sk. The Il linois Roa d G uide to Haunted Locations. Eau Claire: Unexplained Research Publishing, 2007. The “haunted” section of Lebanon Road begins at Spring Avenue on the west side of Collinsville and runs to Longhi Road. Not all the bridges are along Lebanon Road. Some are along Lockmann Road. Follow the railroad tracks on a map of

the area.

EAST ALTON Old Milton School Most recently home to a decorative glass company, from 1904 to 1984 this building served as Milton Elementary School. Locals whisper that during t he 1930s, a dark event l eft a s tain on the h istory of the school. According to legend, a janitor raped and murdered a girl in the gym locker room. Suspicion fell on the janitor after he failed to report to work the next day. Not long after, he returned to the school and took his own lif e. S ince t hat t ime, f emale v isitors h ave experienced very negative feelings in that area of the building, even if they have never heard the s tory. Up until the school closed in 1984, on e educator in particular reported seeing and hearing the ghost of a young girl in her office. Others encountered a more hostile spirit—that of the murderous janitor. A psychic reportedly exorcized this negative presence.

Source: T aylor, T roy. Haunted Alt on: His tory & Ha untings o f t he Riverbend Region. Alton: Whitechapel Productions Press, 1999.

The former Milton School building is located along Milton Road, between Fernwood and Edgewood avenues. This is private property.

Michael Kleen

INTERVIEW WITH LARRY WILSON Larry W ilson is a p aranormal i nvestigator f rom c entral I llinois w ho h as created an independent documentary on Ridge Cemetery and Williamsburg Hill titled “Strange Williamsburg Hill.” What c ompelled y ou t o c reate a do cumentary a bout Ridg e Cemetery and Williamsburg Hill?

There were several factors in selecting a location to do an

independent film. First in order to film and produce an independent documentary on a limited budget the location that I would select needed to be close to my home in Central Illinois. I also wanted a place that had a long history of eyewitness accounts of strange and unexplained occurrences. Being familiar with the legends of many of the so called haunted places in Central Illinois, two locations immediately stood out in my mind. “Anderson Cemetery or Graveyard X” located near Palmer, Illinois and “Williamsburg Hills Ridge Cemetery.” Both places are secluded and the claims of strange and unusual occurrences have been told about these places for years.

Most of the stories about Anderson Cemetery involved people being watched and followed or unexplained cold spots. Feelings of being watched or followed are cool but “seeing is believing.” So to say that the tales of eyewitness accounts at Williamsburg Hill were intriguing to me would be an understatement. Tales of an old man who is reportedly seen both in the cemetery and on the road leading to Ridge Cemetery but who vanishes when approached and stories of the “woman in black” who is also seen in the cemetery and who also vanishes. These tales were definitely intriguing but I was somewhat skeptical at the same time. I figured one way to find out if there is any truth to these legends would be to conduct my own investigation and see if I could locate any of the people who have had strange and unexplained encounters at Williamsburg Hill and to get their stories on film. To my surprise I found some very credible people who to say the least have had strange encounters on the Hill.

Those who are interested in local legends, hauntings and folklore will enjoy “Strange Williamsburg Hill.” This place is in our own back yard, we don’t have to drive hundreds of miles to experience this mysterious place. There are no special effects to


sensationalize what is happening at Ridge Cemetery, the video footage and photos paint a pretty good picture as to how secluded, beautiful but creepy at the same time that this place is. The interviews with average people who have had encounters and experienced the strangeness of the Hill speak volumes. I hope the film will entice a few of your readers to take a road trip to see if they can experience any of the oddness of Ridge Cemetery for themselves. Like I said before “seeing is believing.” There are a lot of stories circulating about the hill, which have you found to be the most credible?

I was an insurance investigator for ten years and probably conducted several thousand interviews with people. Whether it is from the training that I had as an insurance investigator or possibly some type of natural intuition that I believe we all posses, I seem to be able to read whether or not a person is being genuine or honest with me. In my film “Strange Williamsburg Hill” there are interviews with people who claim to have seen both the old man and the lady in black. These people are not receiving any type of compensation for their stories and they are basically putting their reputations on the line by going on camera and telling the stories of their encounters. These are average people from Central Illinois who have nothing to gain by telling their stories and if it wasn’t for the fact that so many people from the area have heard the stories or have talked to people who have experienced similar things, they possibly could risk being ridiculed or laughed at by some of the local people by going on camera and telling these stories.

My personal opinion of the people interviewed is that they have integrity and are highly credible and I believe that they were telling me the truth. So I would label these stories as being credible. With that being said I have had several personal experiences myself while filming at Ridge Cemetery. There was nothing as exciting as seeing an apparition but I did experience some of the strangeness of the Hill such as walking into cold spots, and feeling as though I was being watched and followed. I recorded one EVP that says “Wellman.”

One night around 10:00 pm I was alone in the cemetery and was shooting night footage for the documentary. It was pitch black in the timber that surrounds the cemetery. Out of the blue I heard a strange whistling coming from the timber it was like a beckoning

Michael Kleen

Haunting the Prairie Preview

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