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Paranormal Ghost filled tales of voodoo - hoodoo and zombies, Bigfoot, El chupacabra, Banshee's, witches, ghost hunting Cemeteries, the undead, the dead, Cryptids, Vampires, ghouls , Monsters, Ufo's, Haunted Locations, Haunted Buildings, People and objects, Paranormal Phenomena and strange Urban Legends perpetrate a type of folklore or "Fakelore," endlessly circulated by word of mouth through generations, repeated in television news stories, Documentaries, Radio Talk shows, Newspapers, Blogs, magazine articles and distributed by e-mail.
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Taken from first-person accounts and historical documents, this book chronicles more than 300 examples of alien encounters, conspiracy theories, and the influence of extraterrestrials on human events throughout history. Investigating claims of visits from otherworldly creatures, aliens living among us, abductions of humans to alien spacecraft, and accounts of interstellar cooperation since the UFO crash in Roswell, this discussion of the theories and mysteries surrounding aliens is packed with thought-provoking stories and shocking revelations of alien involvement in the lives of Earthling
Chicago--America's "Windy City"--is wildly haunted with ghosts from the city's past. Chicago's early settlers and gangsters still linger at historic hotels, restaurants, monuments and alleys.
FORT DEARBORN MASSACRE
The city of Chicago--first called "Chekagou"--was founded in the late 17th century. But, the city's oldest ghosts linger from an 1812 tragedy. On August 15, 1812, over 50 men, women and children left Chicago's Fort Dearborn and were massacred by Potawatomi Indians in a surprise attack.
Today, the site of the tragedy--around Chicago's 16th Street and Indiana Avenue--is profoundly haunted by figures in pioneer and colonial clothing. Similar ghosts have been seen at the site of the old fort, at Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive. Although the fort was torn down in 1856, a plaque marks where it once stood.
Take your flash camera and use high-speed film (at least 400 ISO) to capture photos of "spirit orbs" at this haunted site.
CAMP DOUGLAS
Civil War sites are consistently haunted, and the North's largest Confederate burial ground is no exception.
Camp Douglas in Chicago was the North's Andersonville, and served as a prisoner of war camp during the Civil War. The facility was demolished after the War, but its site--around Calumet and 33rd Streets--may still be haunted.
However, far more ghosts appear where as many as 6000 Confederate soldiers and sailors--former inmates of Camp Douglas--are buried. Their coffins were placed in circular trenches at the Oak Woods Cemetery memorial known as "Confederate Mound." Look for a 46-foot Civil War monument surrounded by cannon and cannonballs.
This is another site where you may discover surprising images on your photos. For the best pictures, visit this site at dawn or dusk.
THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE
Whether or not Mrs. O'Leary's cow started the Great Chicago Fire, the 1871 tragedy started near her west side barn on DeKoven Street. No doubt, some of Chicago's many ghosts in Victorian garb were among the 300 victims of that fire. And, the Chicago Fire Academy (on the site of the former O'Leary home) may be the home of several ghosts today.
But, ghosts also predicted the Great Chicago Fire:
Holy Family Church is the second oldest church in Chicago. Father Arnold Damen, a Jesuit priest from Holland, founded it. In October 1871, two drowned former altar boys warned the church's parishioners that a terrible fire was about to occur. Father Damen prayed that entire night and the wind shifted so that the church was spared. Seven candles are kept lit in front of the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, in memory of that miracle.
Father Damen's ghost--dressed in clerical garb and also as a white, filmy spirit--has been seen at the Holy Family Church on West Roosevelt Road, and at St. Ignatius College, next door to the church.
If you see a priest walking briskly around the church or college, keep watching and he may vanish abruptly. If he does, you're one of the many people who's seen Father Damen's ghost.
Since the fire, there have been several other tragedies in Chicago, resulting in modern-day haunting.
HARPO STUDIOS' GHOSTS
In 1915, a rusting Lake Michigan steamship--the Eastland--sank abruptly in the Chicago River killing over 800 passengers, including over 20 entire families. Immediately after the tragedy, the corpses were brought to the 2nd Regiment Armory until they were identified and released to the families.
Today, the armory is part of Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios, and this is private property. However, ghost stories from the armory rank it among the most haunted sites in America. The ghosts range from a benevolent "gray lady" to the sounds of laughing (but unseen) children.
Ghostly screams have been heard at the Clark Street Bridge, close to where the steamer sank. Coincidentally, ghosts from Chicago's St. Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929 also haunt Clark Street.
GANGSTERS AND MOB BOSSES
Chicago's most famous ghosts are related to Prohibition and the early 20th century.
Al Capone's ghost haunts Alcatraz Prison, not Chicago. But, the spirits of his victims--from the famous St. Valentine's Day Massacre--still make appearances in the Windy City.
Gangland's most spectacular and legendary hit took place on February 14th, 1929. Seven men--members of Bugs Moran's gang--were machine gunned to death at the back wall of a liquor warehouse. The killers wore police uniforms; their real identities were suspected, but not one gunman was ever arrested.
Al Capone was behind the massacre, though he was far from Chicago when it happened. As portrayed in the movie, "Some Like It Hot," Capone and many of his cronies were vacationing in Florida on that fateful day.
The warehouse at Chicago's 2122 North Clark Street is gone. However, apparitions and strange noises have been reported at the site. This is an ideal site for photos as well as your tape recorder. Examine your pictures and recordings carefully when you get home, for the most gruesome evidence of these hauntings.
GRACELAND CEMETERY
While you're on the infamous North Clark Street, continue to 4001 North Clark Street, at the corner of Irving Park Road.
First, look for the grave of Inez Clarke, a child who was killed by lightning. It's easy to identify her memorial, because the lifelike statue is enclosed by a glass case. That case isn't to protect the statue, but an attempt to keep it from moving. Especially during thunderstorms, the figure vanishes; the next day or so later, it reappears. If the figure of little Miss Clarke is on display, examine it closely. The statue sheds tears from time to time.
Next, find the hooded monument of Dexter Graves. His statue was entirely black in 1844 when he was buried. Today, the rest of the statue is green, while his eerie black face stares at visitors from beneath the folds of his hood.
Finally, look for the hillside vault of Ludwig Wolff. It's a large site, about 30 feet long and 10 or more feet tall. On nights of the full moon, ghouls and supernatural monsters are reported at the entrance to his grave. The most common figure has glowing green or yellow eyes, and howls to protect the remains of Mr. Wolff.
DILLINGER'S GHOST
Not far from Clark Street, you can visit two more of Chicago's most haunted sites. Take West Fullerton Parkway west from North Clark Street. The next major intersection is the 2400 block of North Lincoln Avenue. Stop for a drink at the Red Lion Pub, located 2446 North Lincoln Avenue. Ask the staff about the ghostly girl whose lavender perfume lingers in the halls, and nearly a dozen other ghosts who frequent the pub. But, stay away from the ladies' room upstairs; a ghost likes to trap women in it.
Before leaving the Red Lion, get directions to the abandoned site of the Biograph Theater on North Lincoln Avenue. The blue figure of John Dillinger--or perhaps a look-alike gangster, Jimmy Lawrence--haunts the alley next to the theater. His form runs up the alley, falls, and then vanishes each night around 9 p.m. At other times, visitors report an unexplained cold spot or a chilling breeze that comes out of nowhere and lingers mid-alley.
OTHER FAMOUS ILLINOIS CEMETERIES
There are two more sites worth visiting if you're in the Chicago area and looking for ghosts.
Bachelor's Grove Cemetery reports more ghosts than all other Chicago-area sites combined. It is located at the town of Midlothian, Illinois, on the edge of the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve. Bring your camera and take a lot of pictures. When you examine the prints, look for baffling orbs and perhaps a very clear figure of a ghost. But, the cemetery is a deserted site and favorite of vandals; don't go there alone.
Resurrection Cemetery at 7201 Archer Road in Justice, Illinois, is famous for "Resurrection Mary." She was a young woman who loved to dance, and was struck by a car on Archer Avenue as she was hitchhiking home one evening. Since the 1930s, this legendary ghost has appeared in a white dress near the cemetery on Archer Road, or at the O. Henry Ballroom where she used to dance. Today, that site is known as the Willowbrook Ballroom, and Mary is seen inside and near the building.
Archer Road is famous for many other hauntings, including a phantom hearse on its way to a second haunted graveyard, the St. James-Sag Cemetery. At the St. James-Sag, watch for the ghosts of eight hooded monks that roam the site.
Ressurection Mary
Many cities around the world have a multitude of ghost tours going on at anyone time. So as Chicago is a very haunted city there is only one ghost tour that one should ever take and of course that is the best the city has to offer. The state of Illinois is a very haunted state as we all know but the most and best hauntings are always show cased by the best tour in town The Chicago Hauntings Ghost Tour!
I must honestly say that in taking this tour I was more then delighted and entertained. Ursula Bielski in my book hosts the very best the windy city has to offer.
Many believe locals believe that if you want the truth about who this ghost is and what the paranormal activity is all about then Ursula Bielski is the best there is in explaining the haunting. On Bielski's The Chicago Hauntings Ghost Tours you will certainly hear all about the many appearances of the ghost of Resurrection Mary. And after all she is the most sought after reported as real ghost in the state of Illinois.
Resurrection Mary is a famous ghost story and is considered by many to be the original hitchhiker ghost story. It takes place around the Chicago area in Justice, Illinois. Many travelers down Archer Avenue -- a street which runs through the city of Chicago -- and its South Suburbs, have reported seeing a young blonde girl walking by, some who have seen her have claimed to even have given her a ride. The girl is said to be very quiet once picked up and disappears once the driver passes the gates of Resurrection Cemetery in Justice Illinois.
The very first, first-person account came from Jerry Palus, a south-side man who recently died. He picked up a girl at the Liberty Grove and Hall near 47th and Mozart and danced with her the entire evening. The only strange thing is that she was very cold to the touch. Later she asked for a ride home which was somewhere in the Bridgeport area of Chicago but decided she'd like to go for a ride past the large Catholic cemetery along Archer Avenue, Resurrection. As they began to approach the main gates, she began to act very strangely. She told Jerry to pull the car off the road and, for some reason, she had to run toward the cemetery and that Jerry could not follow. Before he knew what was happening, she darted from the car, ran towards the main gates but disappeared before reaching those gates in plain view of Jerry. He then began to put all of this together and surmised that he had been with a ghost that evening. On a later visit to the home of Mary, he was greeted by a woman who told him that her daughter had been dead for sometime. He even saw a picture of her sitting on a table and was convinced that she was the same girl he had been with. However, that was impossible!
Resurrection Cemetery is located at 7600 S. Archer Ave. in Justice, Illinois.
Resurrection Mary Legend
One of the many legends of Resurrection Mary is that she was a young Polish girl, perhaps named Mary Bregovy. Even though Bregovy was killed in an auto accident in 1934, it is unlikely that she was returning home from the Oh Henry Ballroom/Willowbrook Ballroom, as some have claimed. The accident in which she was killed took place on Wacker Drive in downtown Chicago. The car that she was riding in collided with an elevated train support and she was thrown through the windshield. This is a far cry from being killed by a hit-and-run driver on Archer Avenue.
Others have claimed that Mary was actually the ghost of a young woman named Mary Miskowski, who was killed crossing the street one night in October 1930 on her way to a costume party.
Reprinted from the Suburban Trib, January 31, 1979 and written by Bill Geist:
"It was Thursday night - would have been two weeks ago - and I was lost, basically," says Ralph , a cab driver.
"I'd dropped this big spender way the hell down in Palos Heights or Hills or someplace like that and was trying to make my way back to the tollway. I'd just turned on to Archer, down there where it's still a lonely road, especially at midnight.
"And there she was. She was standing there with no coat on by the entrance to this little shopping center. No coat! And it was one of those real cold ones, too.
"She didn't put out her thumb or nothing like that. She just looked at my cab. Of course, I stopped. I figured maybe she had car trouble or something.
"She hopped right in the front seat. She had on this fancy kind of white dress, like she'd just been to a wedding or something, and those new kind of disco-type shoes, with the straps and that.
"She was a looker. A blond. I didn't have ideas or like that; she was young enough to be my daughter - 21 tops.
"I asked her where she was going and she said she had to get home. I asked her what was wrong, if she'd had car trouble or what but she really didn't answer me. She was fuzzy. Maybe she'd had a couple of drinks or something or was just tired. I don't know.
"Oh, the only thing she did say really was 'The snow came early this year' or 'The snows came early this year' or like that. Other than that she just nodded when I asked sometimes if we were supposed to just keep going up Archer. She was just looking out the window at the snow and the trees and that. Her mind was a million miles away.
Maybe she smoked something or something. Who knows?
"A couple miles up Archer there, she jumped with a start like a horse and said 'Here! Here!' I hit the brakes.
"I looked around and didn't see no kind of house. 'Where?' I said. And then she sticks out her arm and points across the road to my left and says 'There!'
"And that's when it happened.
"I looked to my left, like this, at this little shack. And when I turned she was gone.
"Vanished!
"And the car door never opened. May the good Lord strike me dead, it never opened."
I hope Ralph is reading this, because I've learned since talking with him that there's a simple explanation for what happened.
He was understandably upset - and not just about being stiffed for the fare - both when he told me the story over the phone and when he repeated it in person.
He wouldn't tell me his last name. He wouldn't give me his telephone number or let me see the car he was going to leave in. "You might trace my phone or my plates and put my name in the paper and make me look like a maniac or an idiot," he said. "No way. I'll call you."
He says he is not an idiot or a maniac, but rather "a typical 52-year-old working guy, a veteran, father, Little League baseball coach, churchgoer, the whole shot."
This simple explanation, Ralph is that you picked up the Chicago area's preeminent ghost: Resurrection Mary. All you have to do to accept this explanation and start resting easy is to start believing in ghosts - something you seem reluctant to do.
I hadn't heard of her either when we talked. But Resurrection Mary is a legend and has been one - particularly in the Polish neighborhoods on the Southwest side and southwest suburbs of Chicago - for about 40 years. There have been numerous reported encounters with her in that time.
The ballroom was closed Friday, January 12, and for about two weeks thereafter, owing to the blizzard. But Thursday the 11th it was open until midnight, an estimated ten minutes before Ralph says he picked up his gowned hitchhiker three blocks north.
It was a special night in the ballroom: a single night, for those without escorts to come and dance the waltz and the foxtrot just the way they did here for 40 years.
Other theories suggest that Resurrection Mary is the ghost of a twelve-year-old Polish girl named Anna Norkus, who called herself Marija (Mary) in devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus. "Marija" loved dancing and persuaded her father to take her to the Oh Henry Ballroom/Willowbrook Ballroom as a birthday present. However, they were both in a car accident on the way home, an accident which killed "Marija." This leads some to claim that Resurrection Mary is really Anna "Marija" Norkus. However, Resurrection Mary's dance partners are the first to vigorously note that their spectral date was closer to eighteen or twenty than to twelve or thirteen years old. Other researchers have turned up stories of girls named Mary who died on or near Archer Avenue, but none of them precede the first sightings in the 1930s.
The entrance to Resurrection Cemetery is recessed from the road. These gates were closed when a person driving by afterdark reported seeing a young woman trapped inside, clutching the bars. Hand prints found on the bars the next day were attributed to Resurrection Mary.That building you see straight ahead is NOT a mausoleum. It is the cemetery offices and is where the rest rooms and other conveniences are located. NEVER ask about "Resurrection Mary" in the office. No they want nothing to do with the "legend" and will not answer any questions about it.
Resurrection Mary (Trailer) - starring Kevin G. Schmidt
Starring Kevin G. Schmidt, Sally Kirkland and introducing Pamela Jean as Mary.
"On a trip down Archer Avenue, you never know who you might run into, or fall in love with."
Reports of Mary have been going on for years but seem to have stopped around the early 1980s when Archer Avenue underwent severe construction. The original road that Mary is said to have walked down has since been raised and changed and believers suggest that this may have stopped the walking of her spirit. Despite this reports still show up occasionally from people seen the apparition walking from time to time. She has also reportedly burned her handprints into the gate at the cemetery. These prints apparently could not be painted over until the fence was removed.
Resurrection Mary
She is always encountered as, and perceived to be a real living person - in fact she is categorized as a "Vanishing Hitchhiker Ghost."
Several people have reported picking up this pretty lone hitchhiker and taking her to or from the ballroom. As their car passes Resurrection Cemetery, she usually vanishes into thin air before the startled driver's very eyes.
Resurrection Mary is described as appearing to be a real, living person, pale and blonde with rosy cheeks, speaking very little, and wearing a delicate white 1920's style ball gown. Sometimes they say a chill seems to emanate from her body.
Resurrection Mary's story may have inspired similar legends in other cities. One such story, written in 1965 by fifteen-year-old Cathie Harmon for a Memphis, Tennessee newspaper, was picked up by psychologist-songwriter Milton Addington, who used it as the basis for Dickey Lee's song Laurie (Strange Things Happen In This World).
It's a classic ghost story. A young man spends an evening dancing with a girl he has just met. He offers to drive her home, but she insists on getting out of the car when they pass the cemetery gates. She runs off towards the cemetery and disappears. In many versions of the story, the boy discovers the true nature of his dancing partner when he tracks down the girl's parents who tell him their daughter died several years before. But though the story has many variations, they have their origin in the real-life encounter of Jarry Palus who, in 1936, met Chicago's most famous ghost -- Resurrection Mary.
The first documented sighting of Resurrection Mary was in 1936 when the aforementioned Jerry Palus danced with a young woman at the Liberty Grove Hall in Chicago (now demolished). He offered to drive her home, and Mary directed him to Archer Avenue. When they reached the gates of Resurrection Cemetery, Mary said she had to leave him and warned him he could not follow her. She ran from the car, vanishing as she reached the cemetery gates. Later, in 1939, late-night motorists driving along Archer Ave. complained to police that a woman had tried to jump onto the running boards of their cars.
This stretch of Archer Avenue is part of Resurrection Mary's territory. Mary, the hitchhiking ghost, is picked up by drivers and disappears as they drive past Resurrection Cemetery.
The greatest and most well-documented Resurrection Mary sighting occurred in 1976 when a police sergeant from the Justice Police Department received a late-night phone call from someone claiming a blonde woman in a white dress had been locked inside Resurrection Cemetery and was wandering around just inside the gates. Convinced it was a hoax, the police sergeant arrived at the cemetery only to discover that two of the bronze bars of the cemetery gate had been pried apart. The bars were scarred by scorch marks that bore the unmistakable impression of finger and palm prints. The phenomenon received widespread attention. A year later cemetery employees removed the two bars, sending them away to be blow-torched and straightened. The bars were replaced, but a single depression still remains which many believe is a lingering thumbprint.
On October 10, 1979 there was a massive blackout in and along Archer Avenue but only in Justice. Commonwealth Edison and the police were riding around in the cemetery shining their light in the mausoleum because it was determined that the blackout was centered in the mausoleum in the middle of the night.
Believers say the best time to catch a glimpse of Mary is in the early morning hours, preferably on a full moon night. It also doesn't hurt if you're a man because almost all of the documented sightings of Resurrection Mary have been by men. She may try to hitch a ride, or you might see her walking along the side of the road near the cemetery fence. But no matter who she once was or what form her appearance, she still remains Chicago's most well-known and best-loved ghost.
The Willowbrook Ballroom was formerly known as the O'HenryBallroom. Legend has it that Mary and her friends were dancing here on the cold January night she died in a tragic auto accident. A few years after her death, Mary was reported to dance with young men at the O'Henry. She'd request a ride home and disappear from the vehicle while passing Resurrection Cemetery.
Resurrection Mary Sources
Bielski, Ursula. Chicago Haunts: Ghostlore of the Windy City. Chicago: Lake Claremont Press, 1998.
Crowe, Richard T. Chicago's Street Guide to the Supernatural. Oak Park, IL: Carolando Press, 2000.
Chicago is one of America's most haunted cities, and offers many opportunities for encountering genuine ghosts. You'll certainly have some memorable experiences at these haunted sites. Take as many photos as you can while you're there. They may be your best evidence of real encounters with spirits from beyond the grave.
Edward L. Shanahan
Spiritual Observer - Psychic Reader - Paranormalist - Chicago land area. Above photo was taken during 18th Psychometry reading for the day.
A Chicago Psychic Reader that has been written about in two books and two more coming out in 2009.
Has been in the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune's Red Eye Newspaper 'Best Bet' section,
Time Out Chicago Magazine, Chicago Tribune's Weekend section, Southtown Star Newspaper,
News Harold Newspapers, WTTW TV, Orland Park Prairie Newspaper and other local papers.
Listed on City Psychics - Chicago .......................................................................................
Edward is a Column Writer for the National Examiner
Chicago Paranormal and Spiritual
' Fall and Winter Psychic Parties '
(Chicago land area and possibly travel)
Also providing Paranormal / Psychic Nights for
you and your friends at two haunted locations.
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* Also possible to arrange for two Readers - details here.
More people are having Ed Shanahan for Entertaining Psychic House Parties! From Allison in April 2009 - Thank you Ed. We had a great time, you were a big hit!
As he Reads all those present and Channels with all involved with what he calls his
' Readings in the Round ' and it has become an entertaining part of his Psychic House
Parties. He has also done it on stage at night clubs. Also as other Psychics do at .........
house parties, Ed will do private readings or combination of both Psychic Readings
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Start reserving your date now for your entertaining Psychic House Parties and
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Would you be interested in having your party at a haunted location? Edward
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arrange that for you if there is an interest. Details at this web page. .............
Bachelor's Grove Cemetery has often been called the most haunted ghost filled graveyard in the Chicago area. With so new and timeless accounts and many new stories of Ghosts, Spirits, The Paranormal, Satanic worship & more how could it not be!
Bachelors Grove / Batchelors Grove Cemetery Chicago, Illinois
There many haunted ghost Bachelors Grove Cemetery stories and eerie tales and legends told about this actual abandoned cemetery than any other place in the Chicago.
Located on the edge of the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve, near the suburb of Midlothian, Illinois. This haunted cemetery is said to be filled with ghosts. Many Tales of Paranormal reports of strange phenomena have been collected about the place. but now it is abandoned and in ruin, but still very haunted by the living and the dead.
Bachelor's Grove Cemetery - Near Haunted Chicago: Said to be the most scariest haunted cemetery in the U.S.A..
Bachelor's Grove is located in the suburbs of Chicago. It gained its name from the number of single young men buried there during the creation of Illionois-Michigan Canal.
The graveyard was taken out of commission in the mid 1960's but it still maintains its haunted status. The Ghost of George Harwell Federman, and Janet Lorraine Logan or said to be the most seen ghost in the graveyard and that their tombstones have been removed to keep people from finding them. They are said to materialize quite solid and real ... then just disappear before your eyes. People say the ghost of a child can be heard crying in the evening hours violently. And that many say it's sounds too, to real to mark off as an animal or a hoax.
Today, a section of the Cook County Forest Preserve (at 143rd Street and Justamere Road) bears the name Bachelors Grove in recognition of the early history of the area. The last remaining section of roadway known as Bachelors Grove Road, which ran between 135th Street and 143rd Street, was closed in December 1994. Cook County and the Forest Preserve District have followed through with their intended removal of the road, and another reminder of this piece of local history will completely disappear in time.
This enigmatic site has been a thorn in the side of southwest suburban officials since the closing of the old Midlothian Turnpike in the 1960s, which barred the one-acre cemetery from vehicle traffic and simultaneously created the most legendary lovers lane in the metropolitan area.
Since these earliest reports of a haunted Bachelors Grove, myriad tales have taken root in the area's fertile soil, which is credited as the place of origin of a number of popular modern American folktales; for example, these woods are supposed to have been the site where the original "Hooked Maniac" of urban legend preyed on lovelorn victims after escaping from a mental institution. In addition, numerous other phantoms have joined the magic house in haunting the grove, including a two-headed man, a woman in white called "The Madonna of Bachelors Grove," ominous, darkly-hooded figures, and a man in a yellow suit who is reputed to appear and disappear in a shower of sparks.
Though anywhere from 150 to 200 persons are estimated to have been buried in this tiny enclosure, fewer than 20 headstones remain. Fortunately, largely owing to the efforts of historian Brad L. Bettenhausen, a plot map was compiled in the mid-1990s, which was published along with background notes in the Fall 1995 issue of the South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society's journal, Where the Trails Cross. Gathering research from area maps, students of Bremen High School, and members of local historical societies, Bettenhausen matched up burial records and plot locations to create a picture of the true Bachelors Grove, despite the vandalism, missing stones, and waist-high foliage of recent years. The result is an intriguing tale of settlement and growth and, sadly, of decline.
Located on 143rd Street in between Ridgeland Ave and Central Ave in Midlothian, Illinois.
Directions: Take I-94 West. Merge onto I-294 North. Go 7 miles and then take the US-6 West/159th Street Exit. After about 3 miles you will see Cicero Avenue. Turn right onto Cicero Avenue. Stay on Cicero Avenue for 2 miles and you will see the Midlothian Turnpike. Turn left onto the Midlothian Turnpike. Go for about .5 a mile and you will see the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve on the right side (North). You can park there (only from sunrise to sunset) and it's better to park in the front of the parking lot to shorten the walk. After parking your car, you will need to go directly across 143rd Street (Midlothian Turnpike). After crossing the street head West for about 500 feet and you will see a dirt/kind of paved path. Follow that path and it will lead you right to the front gates of the cemetery. It's about a 5 minute walk from your car to the cemetery.
The following is an excerpt and was written by Brad L. Bettenhausen, President of the Tinley Park HistoricalSociety:
The settlement at Batchelors Grove began as early as the late 1820s, with larger numbers of immigrants arriving in the 1830s and 1840s. The initial settlers were generally American "Yankees" of English, Irish, and Scottish descent, most of whom came here from New York, Vermont, and Connecticut. The second wave of settlers arriving from Europe, primarily of Germanic origin, began in the late 1840s and became the predominate nationality for immigrants to the area for better than the next fifty years.
Ghost Photos of actual solid apparitions are common , and even glowing balls of light appear in the trees in broad daylight, unexplained audible ghost sounds. EVP's have been recorded and many in in the German language.
There have been no burials here for years . But ask any ghost investigator where to go to find a actual ghost or real haunting's in chicago,Bachelors Grove will be Number 1 on their haunted Cemetery list! Access to the cemetery is gained by way of a narrow road,(The Cemetery is not open to the public or appears on any haunted Cemetery tour) many visitors, Investigators to the area have reported seeing a phantom ghost farmhouse that seems to appear and disappear at random. The house is always described in the same way, as a white house with porch pillars, a swing and a soft light burning in the window, but it is never reported in the same place. As witnesses approach the house, it always disappears. A number of completely independent witnesses have reported the house, not realizing that it was unnatural (until it vanished) and all of them have pointed to different locations when they spotted it.
The house has been reported during both daylight hours and at night but historical files show no record of a house ever existing here!
Favorite dumping ground for Chicago gangsters during the years of Prohibition. A number of bodies were said to have been found here. Even the turnpike near Bachelor's Grove is said to be really haunted. For a number of years, witnesses have reported many a phantom car that always disappear along this road. Visitors to the cemetery are advised to go there at their own risk.
Real Ghost Stories about Bachelor's Grove Cemetery
The White Lady (Mrs. Rogers or The Madonna of Bachelor's Grove):
The lady dressed in white is known to walk the grounds of the cemetery during a full moon. The deceased woman rumored to be the White Lady is buried in the cemetery beside her son and can sometimes be seen holding a baby in her arms.
The Walking Dead Man
One of the most famous of recent sightings of a strange ghost is of a man walking around the area and high shrubs near a few gravestones. What makes this account so strange is you can only see he from the waist up it was caught on film in a recent video and on camera. A very real picture shows the transparent image of a man fressed in a white shirt comfortably standing in the woods.
The Phantom Farmhouse
Not all ghosts are confined to the cemetery, and not all ghost are people. On the path leading to the cemetery, a picturesque white farmhouse appears and then quickly disappears. Most reports of this phenomenon happened around the 1950s.
The Farmer and his Horse
In the 1870's a farmer plowing the land near the cemetery got too close to the famous lagoon, proving to be a fatal mistake. The horse fell into the water first, pulling the plow and farmer in with him. Almost 100 years later, two forest rangers reported seeing the same farmer still plowing his land by the lagoon.
The Two-Headed Ghost
No substantial information can be found on this strange apparition. The sinister background of the famous lagoon is known for making this ghost; the reason for its two heads is open to interpretation.
Lights and Orbs
This site has common sightings of blue colored lights and orbs that fly about the cemetery. Some other accounts talk of reds comet-like lights flying over the graves.
Naked Ghosts
Some recent Drivers walking through on the turnpike say they have seen naked or half dressed in rags beople or so they thought walking slowly or moving real strange. When coming around the actual curve, they collide with what seems to them real solid nude people. And in a flash they are gone.
Ghost Cars
Drivers passing through on the turnpike outside of the gravel path will come up to a sharp curve in the road. When coming around the curve, they collide with what seems to be a vintage 1940's gangster car. What they learn after the first shock has past is that there is no damage, no pain, and no other car.
The Woman sitting on the Grave
One of the most famous sights is the woman sitting on a gravestone. What makes this account so famous is that it was caught on camera and featured in the Chicago Sun-Times. A very real picture shows the transparent image of a woman sitting comfortably and staring away from the camera out into the woods.
The Crying Baby
One of the most recent EVP's at two gravestones. is a reoccuring EVP of a infant crying loud and long ... Several have recently captured it on tape and digitsal recorders and video sound tracks. The child is said to wail, scream and gasp for breath between it's sobbing.
Bachelors Grove Cemetery Ghost Stories, Photos and current investigations posted on the internet.
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The Devil Baby of Hull House: A SCULPTED HEAD OF THE DEVIL BABY BY ARTIST RICARDO PUSTANIO
The most famous American Devil Baby has to be the Chicago’s Devil Baby of Hull House. At least, this is certainly the most widespread legend.
Hull House represented the life’s work of Nobel Prize winning philanthropist Jane Addams. It was a place envisioned as a stepping-stone for underprivileged and impoverished members of Chicago’s poor immigrant society. Because of Addams’ particular interest in suffrage and women’s and children’s rights, it was natural that immigrant women and mothers would be attracted to the beacon of Hull House.
Despite Addams’ fervent denials (she dedicated more than 40 pages to the legend and its impact on her life in her autobiography) the story persisted that Hull House was the home of a creature not of this earth.
Over the years, too numerous in the telling, real reported stories of ghosts' Devil's and hauntings have surrounded Hull House, making it a stop on many of the "ghosts in Chicago" tours. Charles Hull's wife had died in her bedroom, which was later used by Addams after the establishment of Hull House. Addams did not believe in ghosts, but noted that many believed that building to be haunted in her book Twenty Years at Hull House.
In 1913, another Hull House ghost story began circulating. According to this legend, after a man claimed that he would rather have the Devil in his house than a picture of The Virgin Mary, his child was born with pointed ears, horns, scale-covered skin and a tail.
The mother was said to have taken the deformed child of Satan, or deformed innocent baby to Hull House, where Addams was said to have attempted to have it baptized and wound up locking it in the attic.
While initially annoyed about the story, which had no basis in fact, Addams used the episode as a basis for her book, The Long Road of Woman's Memory. Many erroneous stories have circulated about the house, including stories that it was built on grounds cursed by Native Americans and that the devil baby was buried in the garden adjacent to the house (in reality, there was a building on the spot where the garden now stands at the time of the Devil Baby story).
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