Your Letters

Legends and Lore,

Keep the presses rolling! This is good stuff. I

love your attitude and style. I've lived in the southwest

burbs my whole life—all the haunted Archer Ave.

locations are near by. I used to be able to see the steeple

of St. James Sag through my kitchen window in my old

townhouse. My favorite fallen character is definitely

Emmer (the atheist kid).

Steve, 36, Lemont

If you are a fan of the Legends and Lore of Illinois, we want to

hear from you! Please e-mail your letters to:

thefallen2@gmail.com. Unless indicated otherwise, all letters

and messages will be considered for publication.

http://www.myspace.com/legendsandloreofillinois

http://www.youtube.com/Illinoisghosts

A Short Message From the Author

These are more exciting times than the last time

I said these were exciting times for the Legends and Lore

of Illinois. First of all, this is the first issue that I am

releasing in a hard copy version. You will be able to

order a hard copy from the website, or by mailing a

check (made out to your’s truly) for $3 to: Black Oak

Media PO Box 138 Cherry Valley, IL 61016.

Also, we had our first ever contest and I

consider it to be a great success. We had so many

wonderful submissions to our fake ghost photograph

contest that it was hard to pick a winner, but I’m

confident that we picked one of the best. The runners-

up can be seen in a gallery on our Myspace page. The

winner has been printed on the next page!

We continue to be blessed by our diverse and

intelligent readership. At the beginning of the year a

man wrote in who lived in Sunset Haven for a time, and

now we’ve received an e-mail from someone who

attended St. Francis Boy’s Camp in the early 1960s. His

account is proudly featured on the next page.

I can only do so much as the writer and

publisher of the Legends and Lore of Illinois. This

publication would be nothing without its fans. Please

keep exploring and keep writing in! g

Contents From the Author 1 Your Letters 1 Fake Ghost-Photograph Winner! 2 A Quick and Dirty Guide 3 The Fallen Investigate 4 The Top 5 Books on Illinois Ghosts 7 Ghostly Games 8 Trivia 8

Page 1

The sign to Old Union Cemetery is peppered with buckshot.

camp that was on the other side of the river).

And we could go on hikes unsupervised (older

kids). This is how we found the mansion. They used to

have big parties there in the summer but we were not

allowed to go. We would sneak over there.

We also participated in President Kennedys 50

mile walk. Since this was a catholic camp it was

mandatory to go to church on Sundays. There was no

getting out of this. There was the movie night and a

biweekly talent show (these all took place in the old

auditorium), and the nightly camp outs (weather

permitting).

An Indian tribe would come down river in

canoes and put on a little show every 2 weeks. And

there was a Saturday night bazaar. Games of skill and

prizes. There was also the weekly dinning alfresco and

marshmallow roasts. There were about 30 kids to a

cabin and we all got up the same time in the morning.

There was the 9:00pm curfew. The older kids could

stay up late.

Now some spooky stuff.

There used to be tales of a guy who lived in the

woods and carried an axe. You know the rest. We never

heard about the school murders, but the guy who lived

in the woods would hack up the campers (ha ha). There

were a lot of trails that went through the woods and we

were warned not to go at night, even with flash lights.

Your Letters Continued… A man who attended St. Francis Boy’s Camp (later known as

Independence Grove, or “Devil’s Gate”) writes in to tell us about

his experience! (See: Vol. 1 Issue 3)

I went to Camp Saint Francis in 1962, 1963, 1964,

and 1965. It was run by the Franciscans friars who were

based in West Chicago.

There were 5 cabins: Grecio (kids 8-9), Sienna (

10-11), Padua (12-13), Assisi (older kids), and

Capistrano (counselors in training). These guys were of

the title brothers and the fathers, usually 2, kept watch

on the cabins. The camp periods were based on 2 week

stints. Which started in Mid June and ended in mid

August it was 9 weeks.

There were miscellaneous out buildings; arts and

crafts, nature building, auditorium, the resident doctor,

the giant mess hall, swimming pool, locker room, and

church.

There were a lot of activities; arts and crafts (I

almost cut my finger of carving a totem pole), archery -

rifle range (BB guns), how to identify floral and fauna,

and swimming in the big blue pool (this is where I

learned). There were lots of sports like soccer and

baseball. We also had field events like track and high

jump cross country racing. We would play the Serbian

kids in baseball games (they were from the Serbian

Most of the kids

were from Chicago and

Sundays were parents

visiting day. That's when

the big whoppers were

told and we would

watch our parent gasp. It

was fun back then.

I could possibly

give you a layout of the

camp but the gates was

the entrance. Also the

electric statues that

would shock you if you

touched them. These

were outside "the gate"!

—Danny

Kuczmierczyk

Page 2

office in nearby Clinton. Mr. Bowles died in 1846, and

the article related that Old Union Church only

remained open for fifty years because its attendees

moved to Clinton when the railroad was built.

According to Troy Taylor, however, a fire destroyed

“Union Christian Church” in 1931.

The 1882 History of DeWitt County, Illinois

cleared up why a name discrepancy existed between

the two accounts. In Chapter 14, the book explained

that “old Union Church” was organized in 1833, but

had no formal house of worship until 1838. It was then

known as “Union Christian Church” because its

congregation recognized no particular denomination.

A second church, which had a seating capacity

of 600 people, was erected in 1864 in front of the

cemetery. “Springs of never failing water” flowed from

the foot of the hill on which the new building sat. That

second building must have been the fire-ravaged

church that Troy Taylor described in his article.

As for the ghosts, Taylor maintained that he had

obtained testimony from two cemetery workers and a

sheriff’s deputy that visitors had seen “glowing balls of

light” in the cemetery at night. A private plot near the

back of the cemetery, which is surrounded by an ornate

fence and contains a single monument that is, contrary

to Taylor’s claims, clearly legible, was also accused of

giving visitors bad vibes.

Troy Taylor himself claimed to have seen a ball

of light in Old Union during an investigation in

daylight hours. He also described temperature drops of

40 degrees! So far, no one has stepped forward to offer

any similar accounts. g

A Quick and Dirty Guide to Old Union Cemetery

A forgotten graveyard squirreled away in the

cornfields of central Illinois makes for good storytelling,

and almost every one has its ghostly tales. Old Union is

no exception. This cemetery first received attention on

Troy Taylor’s website, Prairieghosts.com, but he has

subsequently failed to include it in any of his books for

the past eight years (at least none that I am aware of).

Old Union Cemetery is one of Taylor’s “secret

cemeteries,” the location of which he refuses to disclose

to the public, making it difficult for anyone to

independently verify his claims. Luckily for us, Old

Union is clearly marked on cemetery and plat maps

available to the general public through the DeWitt

County Genealogical Society.

A history of the cemetery is difficult to find, and

several sources appear, at first glance, to be fractional or

contradictory. Troy Taylor provided a general

overview on his website, but Genealogytrails.com, in an

excerpt from an article entitled, “The Disciples of Christ

History,” filled in some of the details.

According to the article, Old Union Church was

established 10 miles west of Clinton on October 13, 1831

near a large, white oak tree. The stump of the tree, and

“the gravestones of the cemetery which grew around

the house of worship” are “silent sentinels of faded joys

and departed glories,” the article opined.

The preacher at the church was a man named

Hugh Bowles, a Kentuckian by birth and a friend of

Abraham Lincoln while the future president ran a law

Page 3

Unfortunately, some visitors have been disrespectful.

No one has been interred here for over a generation.

The Fallen Investigation File 022

The Fallen’s dark blue Toyota Corolla splashed

and skidded its way down the long, dirt road that was,

currently, a sea of mud. Tall rows of unharvested corn

flanked the vehicle on either side, making it virtually

invisible to prying eyes.

“It’s a good thing this car can take punishment,”

Mike said as he swerved to avoid the most obvious of

the potholes. Even still, every few moments the Toyota

hit one dead on and rocked violently.

“Watch out,” Greg complained from the back

seat. “I get motion sickness.”

Suddenly, Mike slammed on the breaks. The

tires swerved and the car came to a stop inches from a

ravine that had opened up across the width of the road.

A pool of murky water almost obscured the fissure

from view, and driving a few more inches would have

left them literally stuck in a rut.

“Well, this is where we get out,” Mike

announced.

Aurelia, Emmer, and Greg piled out of the

vehicle while Mike popped open the trunk. The trunk

hatch lifted up and Davin and Emily crawled out.

“Did you have fun back there?” Emmer asked

sarcastically as Davin and Emily dusted themselves off.

“At least you don’t have to clean the bathroom

anymore,” Aurelia laughed.

“Great,” Davin grumbled.

Mike examined the crevice in the road and

shook his head. “Man, that was close,” he said. “I

almost didn’t even see that.”

“Looks like we’re going to have to go the rest of

the way on foot,” Greg added, tapping his cane for

emphasis.

“Oh, look,” Emmer interjected, peering down

the lane at the fence in the distance, “another haunted

cemetery. Aren’t those a dime a dozen these days?”

“More like a nickel,” Mike said. “But we have to

check it out anyway. In a gallon of lies there might be

one drop of truth.”

Emmer rolled his eyes.

The group cautiously navigated around the

crevice and slogged their way through the mud toward

the tree line, beyond which lay the remnants of Old

Union Cemetery.

Greg caught up to Mike and addressed him in a

low whisper. “I can understand taking Davin back in

after his betrayal, but that girl? She’s not one of us.

What’s up with that?”

“You’re right,” Mike replied. “Davin is one of

us and Emily isn’t.”

Page 4

A cement foundation lies in the nearby woods.

“So what gives?” Greg demanded. “We can’t

trust her. Why let her come along at all?”

“We won’t trust her,” Mike explained. “Not

now. Not ever. But I learned that one of the Satanists

we’ve been having trouble with is her brother. That’s

why she keeps running back to them. We may not like

her, but Davin does. Why sacrifice Davin just to get rid

of her? Besides, this works both ways. We can use her

to get at the Satanists just as much as they use her to get

at us.”

“I guess it sucks to be her,” Greg chuckled.

“Until I get to the bottom of this, she might still

prove to be useful,” Mike added. “I don’t have to tell

you that we need all the help we can get at this point.”

“Still, I don’t like it. I’m going to keep an eye on

her.”

“I bet you will,” Mike muttered under his

breath.

“What are you talking about?” Davin yelled

from the rear of the group.

“Nothing!” Mike shouted back. “Let’s focus on

why we’re here. We have to investigate this place and

then get out. We’ll play it by the book.”

As the six neared the edge of the woods, they

heard growling coming from the trees to their left and

froze in their tracks.

“What was that?” Emily asked frantically.

Mike dug into the pockets of his trench coat and

produced a small pair of binoculars. He scanned the

woods, which luckily were barren of underbrush since

most of the weeds were dead, and saw something

moving in the newly fallen leaves.

“What is it?” Emmer asked.

“I don’t know,” Mike replied. “There’s

something moving around.”

“Let’s check it out,” Greg said as he began

moving in the direction of the sound.

Mike tried to protest, but his friends left him

standing alone as they walked toward the woods. He

shook his head and followed.

Greg entered the hinterlands of the forest and

then stopped dead in his tracks. He was so startled by

what he saw that he nearly fell over backwards and

took Emmer with him.

Aurelia shoved her way past the two. A few

yards ahead, a mangy dog growled and whined

menacingly, but appeared to be stuck. The dog was

covered by patchy, dark gray hair and seemed

malnourished.

“What is that thing?” Emily asked, keeping

herself strategically behind Davin.

“It’s a dog,” Emmer replied hesitantly. “I think

it’s trapped by something.”

“Let’s leave it alone,” Mike said. “We have

work to do.”

Greg ignored his friend and crept toward the

wounded animal. “Aw, who’s a good dog?” he said in

a baby voice. “Yes, you are. You’re a good dog.”

The animal whined and sniffed at its foot, which

was caught in a metal trap and covered in dried blood.

“Hey, someone get a rag,” Greg said, but Emily

already had a bandana out and quickly handed it over.

Greg knelt down beside the dog and let it sniff his hand

before he gingerly released the animal’s leg from the

Page 5

A solemn reminder of the fragility of life.

Ben Hull’s 124 year rest has been disturbed several times.

trap. Its tail wagged and it licked Greg’s face.

“Aw, it’s a Kodak moment,” Emmer said.

“Can we go now?” Mike insisted. “We still have

work to do.”

Greg finished tying the bandana around the

animal’s ankle and then stepped back. “All right,

you’re free,” he said. “Go!” He pointed somewhere off

in the distance, but the dog whined and limped toward

him.

“I think she likes you,” Aurelia said.

Mike threw up his hands in disbelief.

“We should give her a name,” Greg suggested.

“But I’m not sure what breed she is. I’ve never seen this

before.”

“I have,” Emmer replied, matter of factly. “I’m

pretty sure she’s a coydog. Look at her snout and her

ears. It’s exactly like the pictures I found online.”

“We should name her Casey,” Greg said, “after

Aura’s boyfriend.” He laughed. “Casey the coydog!”

“Hey!” Aurelia fumed, but Greg ignored her.

“You can’t be serious,” Mike protested. “Look

at that thing. It probably has fleas or rabies or scabies

or Crowley knows what else.”

“Didn’t you just tell me that we need all the help

we can get?” Greg replied. “Having a dog around

would be great. She can sense things we can’t, and she

can even guard our HQ. Plus we can take her for walks

and play fetch and brush her and―”

“Alright, alright,” Mike said. “But she has to sit

in the back seat on the way home. Davin and Emily,

back to the trunk. But first we have to check out this

cemetery. That’s the reason we came all this way,

remember?”

“What is it this time?” Emmer asked. “Weeping

women in white? Mysterious vanishing houses? Orbs?

The key to energy independence?”

“Ghost lights and cold spots near the back of the

cemetery,” Mike replied.

“Oh, that’s original.”

The Fallen, accompanied by their new

companion, walked past the barbed wire fence and into

the cemetery grounds. A small plot surrounded by an

old, rusted fence lay in the far left hand corner.

“That must be it,” Aurelia remarked as she

marched toward the spot.

As the group neared, Casey the coydog began to

whine and growl, and she refused to approach the area.

“What did I tell you?” Greg asked. “I knew she

would come in handy.” He bent down and patted her

neck. “Who’s a good dog? Yes, you are. Yes, you are.”

Mike rolled his eyes and turned toward Aurelia.

“Do you sense anything?”

Aurelia closed her eyes for a moment and

concentrated. “I think something is here, but I don’t

think it’s human, or was human, anyway.”

“Interesting,” Mike said. “Let’s document the

area and see how the crystal reacts. We can’t be sure

until we confirm this from several sources.”

“You are insane,” Emmer said. “Nothing that

you’re ‘feeling’ here is evidence of anything. All you

have is a wounded dog whining because it’s in pain,

and the testimony of someone who is going out with a

guy who sells meth for a living.”

Greg tried to suppress a smile, but Mike shook

his head. One day I’ll show him his proof, he thought.

One day very soon. g

Page 6

Willow trees and lambs are common cemetery symbols.

I enjoy this book because it is highly visual in

nature, contains some personal experiences, and takes

you on a tour of not just the haunted locations, but the

bizarre and amusing ones as well. I was delighted to

find the Leaning Tower of Niles in this book, which my

grandma used to take me to see when I was young.

This is a wonderful scrapbook of some of the

most interesting places in Illinois, ghosts and all! g

The Top 5 Books on Illinois Ghost Lore

in the Past 10 Years

Page 7

1. Chicago Haunts by Ursula

Bielski (1998)

Despite the fact that it

only focuses on the Chicagoland

area, this is, by far, my choice for

the best book on Illinois ghost

lore because it is the first book

that motivated me to seek out

and research local haunted

places. You might say that it holds nostalgic value.

But as a trained historian, Ursula goes beyond

the stories to bring out the history behind the legend.

As a result, this book still represents some of the best

research into local ghost lore, in spite of being 10 years

old. If you haven’t read it yet, pick it up.

2. The Illinois Road Guide to

Haunted Locations by Chad

Lewis and Terry Fisk (2007)

This is one of the most

interesting books on Illinois

haunts to come out in a long

time, and it’s one of the best.

Chad and Terry not only tell the

stories, but they tell you exactly

how to find each and every location in the book, along

with providing plenty of background information and

pictures. This book makes up for what every other

book on Illinois ghosts lacks, plus they bring you

additional places that you may never have heard of!

3. Chicago’s Street Guide to the

Supernatural, by Richard T.

Crowe (2000, 2001)

Richard Crowe is a

humble man, but this book is

not. Chicago’s Street Guide is one

of the best books on Chicago

ghost stories because it is by far

one of the most comprehensive.

Crowe puts all of his impressive knowledge into this

book, and provides years of experience and storytelling

that most other authors simply can’t.

Ever since I saw him speak at my local

community college in the early ‘90s, I have had respect

for his command of the subject. If you want to read the

work of a veteran paranormal researcher in the Chicago

area, order this book.

4. Haunted Decatur Revisit-

ed, by Troy Taylor (2000)

Before Troy turned his

publishing company into the

Wal-Mart of paranormal-

publishers in Illinois, he

wrote some pretty decent

books on local ghost lore.

Haunted Decatur was one of

these. Until Troy came along, no one had ever written

with any length on the ghost stories of downstate. John

W. Allen’s book on southern Illinois is the only one that

I’m aware of, and that was published in the 1970s.

If you want to read about some really obscure

local legends, look no further than this book. It pretty

much covers them all. Greenwood Cemetery is a

personal favorite of mine.

5. Weird Illinois by

Troy Taylor (2005)

Weird Illinois

is part of series began

by Mark Moran and

Mark Sceurman, and

thankfully it’s not just

another cut-and-paste

job.

Ghostly Games

This section is designed to put fun back into the

paranormal. Most of these ideas will have nothing to do with

poking around with an EMF detector and thinking you’ve

detected a ghost when you’re really just standing under a power

line.

Game #10: Halloween Drive By

This is a good game to play if you live near a

university or a bar scene that’s frequented by preppy-types

or girls that dress as “sexy ____” even though it’s 50

degrees outside.

Ingredients

2-3 friends.

4-6 cans of silly string.

1 car (preferably in working condition).

Instructions

One person must be the driver of the car, while the

other two should sit at opposite sides to cover both right

and left. On Halloween night, after the trick-or-treaters

have gone home and the drunken 20-somethings come out

to do their thing, you and your two or three friends slowly

canvass the neighborhood looking for a group of

unsuspecting revelers.

When the time is right, the “gunners” pull out their

cans of silly string and spray away! Seeing the reactions is

fun once, but you may want to include an extra person to

videotape the whole thing for future amusement. g

Trivia

Tough questions will be asked in this section. It is up to

you to uncover the clues and determine the solutions.

Sometimes you will find the answers buried in the current

issue; other times you will need to go to the location itself.

The answers to this month’s questions will be posted in next

month’s issue.

1. Roughly how many miles is Old Union

Cemetery from the town of Clinton?

2. Who was the first preacher at Old Union

Church?

3. The original church was built near what type of

tree?

4. What is the name of the type of standard county

map that lays out all the properties and

landmarks of a county?

5. Old Union Cemetery can be accessed off of

which road?

6. What famous president was a friend of the

Bowles family?

7. How many church buildings existed around

Old Union Cemetery?

Go out and explore, and good luck!

Answers to last month’s questions:

1. 5.26 miles from Fairdale Rd to Pearl Street Rd. 2. 1837, Daniel

Boone. 3. Arthur Blood. 4. Beulah. 5. The Tormented Beast. 6.

“Bl. Point Road”. 7. Thomas Carlson.

Page 8

At least these visitors didn’t litter.