Contents From the Author 1 Your Letters 1 A Quick and Dirty Guide 2 The Fallen Investigate 3 Personal Experiences 5 Trivia 5

A Short Message From the Author

There are some people, and they shall

remain nameless, in the community of

‘paranormal investigators’ who seem to feel that

certain facts about these infamous locations

should be kept secret from everyone. Like most

specialists, they want to retain privileged

information for themselves in order to maintain

their usefulness to everyone else who might want

that information but is too lazy to do any of their

own research. Of course, they claim keeping this information

from the public, usually the exact location or name of the

location, is for the ‘protection’ of something. Sometimes, as is

the case for Bachelor’s Grove, these fears can be legitimate.

On the other hand, anyone wanting to vandalize the

cemetery has either already done so or could find out where

it is rather easily.

I feel that by highlighting these locations I am not

promoting devious behavior, I am promoting a type of

tourism that brings revenue to often struggling areas who

otherwise would not attract many visitors. In other words,

the people who visit these locations have to eat and fill their

gas tanks somewhere.

As pubs like the Red Lion in Chicago have

discovered, possessing resident ghosts can be financially

advantageous. Residents of small towns like Chesterville

should take an active interest in promoting any kind of

tourism they can, even if that tourism is drawn by something

nefarious. In the end, what harm could really come from

someone taking pictures and hoping to see ghosts? In my

experience, most of these ghost-chasers are respectful and

have an understanding that they are in a hallowed place. g

Your Letters

In subsequent issues, we hope to print your letters

commenting on what you have read. Only the best (shortest)

letters will be published.

Please e-mail your letters to thefallen2@gmail.com

Despite “no longer appearing on maps of the

state” (it does), vandals still managed to leave

their mark at the site.

ISSN: 1934-9106 Page 1

A Quick and Dirty Guide to Chesterville Cemetery

Chesterville is a small Amish and Mennonite

community that consists of no more than a few dozen

houses located a couple of miles away from

Rockhome gardens. If you are traveling from the

direction of Arcola, you will have to cross the

Kaskaskia River twice to get to the Chesterville

cemetery, once on Rout 133 and once over an old one-

lane bridge just north of town.

Within the neatly trimmed grounds of

Chesterville Cemetery, an old oak tree stands at the

edge of the woods that separates the graveyard from

the river. The peculiar thing about this tree is the iron

fence that surrounds it, and the old stone marker that

no longer bears a name.

According to Troy Taylor, our Central Illinois

ghost expert, this is the grave of a woman who turned

up dead after being accused of witchcraft in the early

1900s after she challenged the conservative views of

the local Amish church elders. The town planted a

tree over her grave to trap her spirit inside and

prevent her from taking revenge. (Picture something

like the opening scene of Ernest Scared Stupid… “and

here ye shall be buried…”) Her ghost can still be seen

from time to time hanging around the area.

However, an alternative theory exists that the

grave’s occupant was a young woman who lived

during the mid 1800s and was reputed to possess healing

powers, as well as the ability to control humans and

animals. When she died of natural causes, her father

planted a tree near her grave to preserve her spirit. This is

not an unlikely story, as there are a few other examples of

the graves of girls around Illinois who allegedly possessed

healing powers, such as the grave of Mary Alice Quinn in

Holy Sepulture Cemetery, Worth, Illinois.

Planting an oak tree over the grave of a loved one

has Biblical roots, and would have been reserved for

someone who was especially cherished by the

community. In Genesis 35:8 Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse,

died and was buried under an oak tree. The deeply

religious Amish would certainly have been familiar with

this practice.

Like the witch’s grave in St. Omer Cemetery,

outside of Ashmore, and the warlock’s grave in Ramsey

Cemetery, Effingham, the grave in Chesterville Cemetery

is probably the victim of a few active imaginations. It

seems that every particularly unique gravesite has a story

about it, and accusations of witchcraft have just enough

ambiguity to keep the tale alive. After all, it would be

very difficult to prove the person buried there wasn’t

accused of witchcraft.

On the other hand, Troy Taylor claims to have

convincing testimony from people in the community who

not only corroborate his version of events, but who have

also seen the ghost of the woman! Until more people

come forward, we may never know for sure. g

From the outside, Chesterville Cemetery looks just like

any other small rural cemetery.

This fence hides many secrets, but the grave itself seems

relatively well attended.

ISSN: 1934-9106 Page 2

The Fallen ― Investigation file 004

The rickety bridge groaned as Manowar’s “All Men Play

on 10” blared from the speakers of the dark blue, Toyota Corolla.

Mike, with his thick, furled brow, nervously played with his keys

behind the wheel, hoping the bridge over the swollen Kaskaskia

River would hold. Davin, dressed in a plain black, hooded

sweatshirt and jeans, gazed out of the back window as Aurelia,

with her characteristically tired face and matted hair, sat in the

front passenger seat.

“Do you think it’s healthy to go to these cemeteries all the

time?” Davin yelled over the music.

“I don’t know,” Mike replied in a steady voice. “Do you

think it’s healthy to sit on your computer all day?”

The reply went unanswered as the three cleared the

bridge and made it safely to the other side. The road curved

harshly. Beyond an old, abandoned car in a small dirt quarter off

to their left, sat a long, neatly trimmed graveyard. A white

farmhouse and barn stood on the other side of the road, and a

forest grew behind the two structures. Several horses hugged a

nearby fence to get a look at the strange visitors.

Mike pulled his car off to the side of the road and handed a jar to Aurelia. “Here,” he said. “Put this blueberry jam

somewhere.”

“Why did you buy that?” Davin asked with his own brand of excited distain as the engine and music cut off

simultaneously.

“That’s small-town-American jam,” Mike shot back. “You can’t get that just anywhere.”

Aurelia rolled her eyes and placed the jar on the floor of the car.

As the four climbed out of their car, the cemetery unfolded in front of them. It was a typical rural cemetery;

rectangular and park-like, with the older graves in the back and the newer graves sprawled out near the road. A chain-linked fence surrounded the acreage, which

was pressed up against the Kaskaskia River.

Mike stopped next to the gate and spread his

arms out. “Listen,” said. “Silence. No Paranormal

Research Society bastards with their TV cameras

anywhere.”

“What are we looking for again?” Davin

inquired as he pushed his way past.

“A tree with a fence around it,” Mike replied.

“Supposedly a woman spoke out against the Amish

community in the early 1900s and was accused of

being a witch. She turned up dead one day and she

was buried in this cemetery. A tree was planted over

her grave so that she couldn’t rise up and take

revenge.”

“I think that’s the tree over there,” Aurelia

interrupted.

“I don’t know if I buy that story,” Mike Chesterville is so small that a population sign is lacking.

ISSN: 1934-9106 Page 3

continued as the three headed toward a tall oak

near the back of the cemetery. “The Amish are

pacifists. They don’t believe in violence under

any circumstances.”

Aurelia stepped around the short iron

fence that surrounded the base of the tree.

“Well, whoever was buried here we’ll never

know,” she said and pointed at the base of what

used to be a headstone. The letters ‘ML’ had

been carved into the old granite. “Someone

stole the top of her marker.”

“Maybe you can try and sense

something,” Mike suggested.

“God,” Davin sighed. “Aren’t we too

old for this?”

“What?” Mike responded with irritation in his voice. “No. I’ve been doing this for my entire life. Why

should we stop now?”

“Yeah,” Aurelia cut in. “Remember when we were kids and you used to pretend Lydia from Beetlejuice

was your girlfriend?”

“You shut up about that,” Mike shot back. “Winona Ryder is a goddess.”

David rubbed his forehead and turned away while Aurelia took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes.

“I can just sense someone saying ‘hi,’ that’s all,” she laughed. “Just ‘hi’.”

“Great,” Davin interrupted. “Can we leave now?”

“Stand a little closer to the tree,” Mike suggested. “Let’s try something.”

Aurelia moved closer until she nearly touched the fence, then rested her left hand on the trunk.

“Okay. You’re going to ask questions, and if the answer is ‘yes’ we’ll hear a knock. If the answer is ‘no’

we’ll hear two knocks.”

Aurelia thought for a moment. “Are we alone?” she asked. For a long moment the three heard nothing but

the wind. Then, very faintly, two hollow taps emanated from the oak.

With a grin, Mike encouraged her to continue.

“Is the ghost of the woman buried here with us now?” she asked. A quick tap followed her question, but before she could say anything else, two more hollow

taps quickly issued forth.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Mike said.

Aurelia shrugged her shoulders and Davin

broke out in laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Mike demanded.

Davin pointed up at the treetop, where a

series of sharp sounds rang out. “It’s a friggin’

woodpecker,” he chuckled. “All that time watching

the Discovery Channel has finally paid off.”

Mike grumbled to himself and folded his

arms across his chest. “Fine, whatever,” he spat.

“Let’s get out of here then. Maybe something will

show up on the pictures.”

“Probably more birds…” Davin mused as

the three walked out of the lonely cemetery. g

Some people say this is the grave of a witch, others say she

was a cherished member of the community.

ISSN: 1934-9106 Page 4

A much older picture of the grave, courtesy of the

The Fallen archives.

The “infamous” bridge over troubled waters.

True! Amazing! Unbelievable! Personal Experiences

I was canoeing on the Kaskaskia River one

afternoon with some of my friends when we saw this

cemetery on the ridge above the floodplain. It seemed

unusual, so we decided to check it out. It was about that

time that one of my buddies, Jimmy Bowels, says he saw

someone up there who looked like she was lost.

Now, I didn’t see nothin’, but he swears to me. So

we beached the canoe and went to check it out. When we

got to the edge of the woods, Jimmy claims the girl wasn’t

in the cemetery anymore. “That’s impossible,” he says.

“She couldn’t have gone far in that amount of time.”

Well, I just rolled my eyes because he’s always

making stuff up. But that’s my story.

Marc, 44, Springfield

I come from the area and I’ve heard plenty of

stories about that place. Being a mother of five kids

myself, I hear the stories all the time. But I tell my oldest

to stay away from there, because that’s supposed to be a

peaceful place, that cemetery.

Now I don’t know much, but I’ve talked to people

in the neighborhood and they tell me it’s all a bunch of

nonsense. The good lord didn’t give us souls to have

them stick around on earth scaring people. Ghosts don’t

exist, they’re in heaven where they belong.

Betha, 56, Arcola

Trivia

In this new section, tough questions will be asked.

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. What type of plant rests predominantly at the

base of the “witch’s grave”?

2. What letters are carved into the headstone

adjacent to the oak tree?

3. What is the name of the only restaurant in

Chesterville?

4. What river runs behind Chesterville

Cemetery?

5. How many miles is it between Chesterville

and Arcola?

6. What two distinctive religious faiths are most

predominant in this area?

7. In what county does the town of Chesterville

reside?

8. What is the brand of blueberry jam that Mike

bought in Arcola?

Go out and explore, and good luck!

ISSN: 1934-9106 Page 5