Equality, Illinois: Hickory Hill-The Old Slave House

One of my favorite haunted spots in Illinois is a place called Hickory Hill, or THE OLD SLAVE HOUSE, in Southern Illinois. It is located near Equality and Junction, just a few miles away from Harrisburg, Illinois.

Hickory Hill was built by a man named John Hart Crenshaw and became a blight on the history of Illinois. In those days, it was illegal to own slaves in Illinois but because no man would work the brutal salt mines of Saline County, it was allowed that slaves could be leased from other states to work. Crenshaw owned several salt tracts and quickly took advantage of the law.

He built Hickory Hill in 1842 and began a new scheme that would bring him even more money than the salt mines could. He devised a plan to kidnap free blacks and put them to work in the salt mines. He also sold these people back to slave owners in the south, creating a sort of reverse "underground railroad."

Once the house was completed, Crenshaw added a few finishing touches like a carriage door that opened directly into the house so that slaves could be taken up a secret passage directly to the attic. In was in the attic that the slaves were imprisoned during the night and some say, subjected to brutal torture. According to the stories, there was also an underground tunnel that led from the basement to the river, where slaves could be loaded at night.

Crenshaw devised another plan, this one to create slaves of his own. He selected a slave for his size and stamina and set him to breeding more slaves with the females that could bear children. This man, known simply as "Uncle Bob" was said to have fathered as many as 300 children. He lived until the age of 112 and died in 1948.

The attic at Hickory Hill was a chamber of horrors. A dozen cells opened off a wide corridor. They were small rooms with bars on the windows and with iron rings where shackles could be bolted to the floor. The attic had only a small window at either end, so the air was stifling. A whipping post was also constantly in use and many of the valuable slaves were said to have died at the cruel hands of Crenshaw and his men.

In 1842, Crenshaw was brought to trial for selling a free family into slavery. The case could not be proven until after the trial and by then it was too late. The prosecutor would try again in 1846, the same year that one of Crenshaw's slaves attacked him with an ax, severing his leg. His slave trade days were over and his mill was burned to the ground. He died in 1871 and he and his wife were buried at Hickory Hill Cemetery.

Many years later, the house was opened as a tourist attraction and it was no secret that strange things were going on in the house. Tourist were reporting hearing strange noises coming from the attic. . .noises that sounded like cries and whimpers, and even rattling chains.

The legends say that on one could ever spend the night in the attic of the house, especially after an event in the 1920's that got the attention of ghost researchers all over the country. An "exorcist" from Benton, Illinois named Hickman Whittington wrote an article about the house in a local newspaper. He was in perfect health when he came to visit the old mansion but took ill later than same night and died just hours later.

As the years passed, no one dared to spend the night in the room. In the late 1960's, two soldiers who had seen action in Vietnam ran screaming from the house after being surrounded by ghostly shapes. A year or so later, the owner stopped letting people in the house after dark. A small fire had accidentally been started by a lantern.

In 1978, he finally relented and a reporter from Harrisburg named David Rodgers was allowed to spend the night. Despite hearing a lot of strange noises, he managed to beat out 150 previous challengers to become the first to brave the night in the former slave quarters.

Today, the Old Slave House has been closed down. Because of poor health, the owner, Mr. George Sisk, cannot continue the operation of the house. He tried to get the state of Illinois to step in and take over the location but negotiations are still at a stand still. The house was closed down at the end of 1996, possibly never to reopen.

A few years ago, I asked Mr. Sisk if he believes that the house is haunted. He told me that he never goes to the attic and if he does for some reason, he leaves as soon as possible. He has never encountered a ghost in the house. . .but his wife hasn't been so lucky. She refuses to set foot in the former slave quarters.

The John Hart Crenshaw and his wife, Francine "Sina" Taylor:
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How the Old Slave House looks as of April 2007:
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Sounds like a interesting spot. There was a similar house in the area I grew up in located on the Illinois River. There was a large home that was used in the underground railroad, but the stories were all good, nothing like the horrible things that happened in the house you describe. This home also had a secret tunnel used to smuggle ex-slaves to the river, it eventually collapsed and the tunnel entrance was covered and forgotten. At the time it was said that a cache of money used to help the slaves was buried in the collapse, fueling the fantasies of the children that grew up in the town.


Have you ever gotten the opportunity to explore the house yourself?

Do you know what city the house was in? There are other homes in Illinois that were a part of the underground railroad and share similar stories to that one, such as The Three Mile House in Edwardsville, built in 1858. Unfortunatly, it burned down in 1985. That last part of your story kinda reminds me of Vishnu Springs, where it was said that thieves and other criminals hid much of thier loot in the caves around the settlement. No one's ever found it...which makes me want to go search.

My fault for not stating that I copied this from the prairie ghosts website, I myself have never talked to Mr. Sisk and no, I've never been there. It's about 6 hours away from me, so maybe I'll have to take a trip down there someday.

I wanted this thread to be about any haunted places in the Midwest area, especially Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, and Kentucky. If anyone has any information/pictures/anything on any haunted places in the Midwest, please feel free to post them on this thread. I was also interested in meeting people in the area whom I could potentially investigate ghosts with. Let me know.

I am from Ohio and looking for the same information. So thanks for starting this thread. We have a few places here in Ohio that are pretty note worthy.

This is from the site ForgottenOhio

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The art center on Toledo's Collingwood Boulevard is located in a gothic, hundred-year-old mansion which once served as a convent, a Catholic college, and a retirement home for nuns. Its basement is haunted by a terrible entity which is draped in black and walks the same route every time, through the basement. It also lingers on the basement stairs on occasion.

Gerber House, another part of the arts center, is located very nearby. It was built in 1872 and is haunted by a ghostly bride who appears in the main parlor, and the ghosts of children who run out of the closets in the back room. A malevolent nun haunts the back rows of the theater, sending "sparks and images" at those she doesn't like. Employees sometimes see strange blurry things, "molecular windstorms."

Chris Woodyard talks about a visit to this building in Haunted Ohio III, and she claims it was one of the most frightening places she's been.

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Currently the Collingwood is a residence and performance center for artists, who are offered dorms there at reduced rents. A number of people have e-mailed me about it, and a few have even run across mysterious things in the building.

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Above you can see a photo taken inside the Collingwood. The sender assures me that no one was smoking nearby when it was taken.

After hearing so much about the place, I was pretty anxious to go. So on June 29, 2000 I visited the Collingwood Arts Center with Hoss. We parked in the side lot and walked around, assuming it was a museum of some sort and that people wouldn't mind if we just walked in. There's a regular house out front which serves as sort of a facade in front of the gigantic, gothic Arts Center, which definitely looks haunted, if nothing else.

Unfortunately, all the doors were locked, and looking inside we saw nothing but empty rooms. We walked around the side and examined the place. Some windows were open; some were broken out. There were no lights on, and no cars in the parking lot. It looked abandoned.

We slipped around to the back through a hole in the gate and happened to see, up in one of the second floor rooms, the silhouette of a man and a boy facing each other. The didn't move. Eventually we realized that this was a statue of Jesus and a little boy, left in the window--maybe to scare people away.

A boy and girl of about eight and five came over to play in the playground behind the Arts Center, and we asked them if they knew if the Arts Center was abandoned or haunted. The boy told us that he hears piano music there sometimes. He also suggested that ghost Pokemon might inhabit the building, and that we should be careful.

We were going back to the truck and had just about made up our minds to return that night and sneak in when a car pulled up and two bearded guys used keys to open a side door and went inside. A couple of minutes later one opened a window and we could hear them talking.

So that's my experience at the Collingwood. We didn't make it inside this time, but I may be able to get into the basement through an invitation sometime. Hopefully I'll have a further update soon.

All information provided above is from ForgottenOhio

I will PM you the exact location, and anyone else that wants to know feel free to ask send me a PM (in case I miss it here). But the owners might not appreciate me posting it here for anyone to find in a google search so I'll keep it private, I still know people in town and fear their wrath! But generally speaking it is located in central Illinois.

I recently told this story, compiled from what I've heard from others and my readings, so it's a repeat for many but here's a cut and paste for ya. This happened at the old state hospital which is now abandoned in Bartonville, Illinois. It is famous in the area for being haunted, quite a spooky place! --

One of my very favorite ghost stories comes out of Bartonville. I actually knew a person who was living at the hospital either at the time or shortly after and he often talked about the story of Old Book. There were over 400 witnesses to this event!

The story goes, there was an old man who they think had a breakdown and was a mute. All they knew about him is that he once worked as a bookbinder so they called him "Old Book". He often watched from the window as they held grave services for those that passed on. Noticing his interest, and in need of help, the staff asked Old Book if he would like to assist. Not only did he help bury these often friendless patients, but he showed great emotion at each funeral. There was a giant elm tree which he would grasp and passionately cry on during each service. When he got older he was no longer able to help with burials, but even when he was confined to a wheelchair and in poor health he dutifully attended each service, rain or shine, and stayed near his tree paying his respects.

Eventually it was Old Book's turn and he was to be buried close to his favorite elm tree. Word spread quickly, Old Book was well liked and Dr. Zeller decided everyone should attend. Over 100 nurses and several hundred patients attended, far more than the dozen or so that usually attended most patient's services. Dr. Zeller officiated the services himself and wrote about his experiences, much has also been written and passed down by the hundreds that attended and witnessed the events that unfolded. According to Dr. Zeller's writings, "Just as the choir finished the last lines of 'Rock of Ages', the men grasped the ropes, stooped forward, and with a powerful, muscular effort, prepared to lift the coffin, in order to permit the removal of the crossbeams and allow it to gently descend into the grave. At a given signal, they heaved away the ropes and the next instant, all four lay on their backs. For the coffin, instead of offering resistance, bounded into the air like an eggshell, as if it were empty!"

Many ran away. Many came closer to see what the commotion was about. But all near began to hear a strange wailing noise. It didn't take long for everyone present to figure out where the noise was coming from - the old elm tree! There stood Old Book, for all to see, wailing and grasping his tree.

"It was awful, but it was real," Dr. Zeller wrote. "I saw it; 100 nurses saw it and 300 spectators saw it."

Within days the tree started to wither and slowly die away. They tried everything, dousing it with water, bringing in specialists (it was a large and beautiful tree), but nothing seemed to help and the tree continued it's slow death. Within a year of Old Book's funeral the tree was dead. Dr. Zeller ordered the tree cut down, but the workers quickly came back to Dr. Zeller, refusing to attempt any further work. Apparently, each time they would strike the tree they would hear the mysterious wailing of Old Book. Dr. Zeller then ordered them to burn the tree. But shortly after the flames were lit, the workers again heard the crying and painful wailing of the tree and quickly put out the flames. The doctor gave up his efforts and let the tree fall into decay, leaving it as the lone marker of Old Book's grave.

Most that lived there at the time are now passed on, but if you visit the old timers or nursing homes in the area, you may be able to hear some interesting second hand stories of Old Book. I was always fascinated by this story because of all the eye witnesses, how could 400 people, including one of the most famous mental health doctors of the era lie about such a thing?! Or maybe it was just the moon refracting off of Venus...

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Then there is the story of the curse of Old Lady Grey. Around 1840 Mrs. Grey Lived on the land where the Peoria Public Library now stands. Her brother died and she was left to take care of her troubled nephew. He was a shiftless drunken young man and soon got into trouble with the law. Many have heard of David Davis, one of the most noted politicians in the country later, but at the time a simple lawyer working from a small snanty on the banks of the Illinois river. Mrs. Grey was his first case, and knowing she couldn't pay his fees, he agreed to accept her mortgage as security. When the fees were due and the Greys did not pay, Mr. Davis forclosed on the property. Mrs. Grey then cursed the land, "May this land turn into thorns and thistles and bring ill luck, sickness, and death to its every owner!" Some believe the curse lasted for seventy seven years. Three days later her nephew's body was found floating in the river. Mr. Davis was shunned, and soon moved his practice to Bloomington, Illinois. Mr. Davis had no interest or time to tend to the property and it fell into neglect. Soon the house burned, it was said the ghost of Mrs. Grey was seen dancing in the flames.

Soon a wholesaler bought the property for taxes due and gave it to one of his father's former slaves, Mr. Tom Lindsey, who promptly moved into a shanty that had been built for him. Three months later the shanty was struck by lightning and burned. Someone told Mr. Lindsey about the curse, he rebuilt the shanty and decorated it with symbols of luck - rabbits feet, horseshoes, and whatever he could find. He lived there a few more years until his death of natural causes.

Soon after his death a wealthy banker bought the property and built a large house. He married a beautiful young woman who soon bore him a child. Eighteen months later mother and child were dead. A year after the child's death he remarried and again had another child. The child screamed whenever it came near the fire burning on the hearth. Soon the child passed away and the mother was permanently hospitalized out of state.

Shortly after it was turned into a boarding house, expectedly short lived. The keeper of the boarding house had a young son and daughter. Her daughter drowned in the lake and her son fell from a balloon. Convinced of the curse, she moved on and the boarding house was closed.

A group of milliners rented the house for a short period of time, but strangely they left because it stank. They searched and searched and never found a source of the strange odor. Not being able to stand it any longer, they soon left.

In 1894 the grounds were purchased by the Peoria Public Library, and shortly after construction of the new building began. It is said that the old lady's curse struck each sucessive librarian until 1924. E.S. Wilcox, the first librarian, was ran over by a streetcar. The second, S. Patterson Prouse, died in the library during a board meeting in 1921. The last to die unexpectedly was Dr. Edwin Wiley, he was only 52 years old and died from poisoning. Finally, Earl Browning was appointed and lived to the ripe old age of ninety four years old, and those that followed lived normal life spans.

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And that's enough typing for me tonight! The sources for the names in the above story come from "Historic Haunted America", a fun and tattered old book. The rest was pulled from that book and several other sources, but mostly just memory. Going so far back in history there are some points that are in dispute, but that's half the fun in these types of stories!

Hi Ad,
thanks for the info on this home. I remember reading about it years ago. Your report gave me the same feeling of dread about the history of the place. I have question, you attached a pic of the home and said the owner closed it down. But clearly there are potted plants and a barbecue grill on the porch, indications of habitation. Did you mean to say it's been closed down to visitors/investigatons?

As far as I know, the Sisk family still owns it because the state never took them up on their offer. I have no idea if they've been living there or if they just decorated as part of the "restoration" process that has been going on, to make it look like its inhabited maybe? There was talk of making it into a historical site of some sort, but as of now it hasn't happened. It is said that the place is highly patrolled though, and tresspassers for sure will have the police called on them, which makes me think that maybe someone does live there now.

Thanks! Those are ones I've never heard of before. What was the name of the state hospital in Bartonville? Is it still being used today, or what is in its place?

It was called the Peoria State Hospital, but was located in Bartonville so is often called the Bartonville State Hospital or other names. Here's a linky.

It's closed down but some have gotten permission to go on the property, which can be difficult. That hasn't stopped many from going in anyway... I plead the fifth. Most don't have the nerve to go very far, the place is spooky.

Nice, thanks. That one is added to my list of places to visit. Here's another story of haunted Illinois:

"The Gate"
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Enter the North suburban town of Libertyville. Traveling down the four-lane highway of Route 137 an exit is made onto the desolate River Road. River Road can often be an experience of its own, especially at night. The road is long and narrow. The left side is bordered by the Independence Grove Forest Preserve while the right side is dotted with houses. The car's headlights provide the only illumination, as there are no streetlights to speak of along this thoroughfare. Often the experience is even more heightened as ponds to the left of the street mix with summer air and massive banks of fog occupy the many low points of this hilly street.

After a journey of about two miles down this road, it makes an abrupt 90-degree right turn. Directly ahead sits a horse ranch; to the left of that, set back further from the road, sits a menacing vision. This is what local residents commonly refer to as "The Gate."

According to the widely known legend, the gate marked the entrance to an all-girls school in the 1950s. All was well in the area until the fateful day when the principal snapped and killed four of his students. As the legend goes, it was at this very gate, on the posts, that the heads of four young students were placed after they were removed from their bodies.

The stories vary depending on where the story is being told. According to some, instead of a school, it was once a sleep-away camp, or even an asylum. The killer isn't always the same either. Some versions of the story claim that a madman who escaped from an institution stumbled across this location and went to work. Others talk of an escaped convict who caused the mayhem, and those who believe it was an asylum state that it was a counselor who ended up losing his own sanity. As would be expected from a sensationalized story, the final death toll is often inflated.

The sheer predictability of the tale is the first clue that this is an urban legend. More than one location covered in this guide of the haunted Northeastern corner of Illinois also share this or a strikingly similar story.

The type of residue left behind also differs depending on the story. Libertyville and Vernon Hills versions often contain people visiting the gate at night only to find blood still running down the wrought iron supports of the gate. Other versions state that on the anniversary of the slaying and on Halloween, at the bewitching hour of midnight, the phantom heads of the fallen girls reappear on the fence posts. The legend about the fence, when told by a resident of Wauconda, claims that a small boy has been seen on numerous occasions walking or staring out from behind the fence.

Sorting out the truth from the speculation is frequently a difficult challenge when forced to rely on eyewitness accounts rather than printed documents. Most towns across the country have their fair share of skeletons in their respective closets. It is customary for a verbal history of a neighborhood to get edited in order to preserve a peaceful illusion of reality.

Libertyville is already the home of the "Murder Mansion." In 1980, Bruce and Darlene Rouse were brutally murdered by their son. By the mid 1980s the same home was purchased by the Ferriola street crew, which operated a casino in the house for the Chicago Mafia. Modern era gangsters like Salvatore DeLaurentis, Rocco Infelise, BJ Jahoda, and Harry Ferriola brought in a reported $800,000 every month just from gambling at this location. In September of 1984, the Murder Mansion was also the location of another slaying. Independent bookmaker, and competition, Bobby Plummer was killed on the second floor. In 2003 the house was demolished.

This being said, in recent years Libertyville has shown its resiliency in being able to bounce back from negative press. Though a number of very famous murders have happened, catching wind of it is often a difficult task. Usually the only time these events are mentioned anymore in the press is on an MSNBC look back in time, but hardly ever in a local newspaper.

Libertyville has been mostly successful in hiding unnatural deaths from just twenty years ago. If alleged events happened in 1950, then there's more than half a century for people to forget.

It is also possible that a horrific event did in fact happen at "The Gate," but over the years it simply grew out of proportion due to overactive imaginations. If this were the case, then there could very well be a legitimate haunting at this location. What can be said for sure, however, is that a trip to "The Gate" can be quite a harrowing experience. On humid summer nights a fog actually forms in the distant fields, rolls in, and hovers just beyond the entrance. The mere presence of the structure leaves some to keep the door of possibility open. Obviously there is some reason for such a massive structure to stand.

What can be said of the legend that is true is that at one point in time the land behind the gate did serve as a camp. The St. Francis Boys Camp opened for operation sometime after the year 1950. Before that it was used as the Kathrine Dodridge Kreigh Budd Memorial Home for Children. This orphanage for over 100 children opened in 1925.

What caused this orphanage to close may be the answer to why this gate has such a famous reputation. Unfortunately, it is also this answer that is lost in the past. One thing that is for sure though is that for years to come it will lure area high-schoolers, curiosity-seekers, and hikers alike to ponder the possibilities. Currently the Des Plaines River Trail, which is part of the forest preserve, passes through the opening.

The stories don't end there either. There are additional stories regarding the houses that stand across the street from this north side landmark. An easily dismissible, but strangely well-known fallacy, is that the neighborhood is full of devil worshipers. However wild and random these claims are, several more reputable stories have been told about the area.

Several people in the area have made the statement that they are sharing their homes with past residents who move about in shadowy forms. Hunters in the area have come across nearby farms only to see the phantoms of long deceased gangsters from the 1930s.

HI AD - I grew up in Springfield, MO and being a paranormal enthusiast I always kept up with these things. Some areas in MO I know of are:
The Lemp Mansion in St. Louis - This is often referred to as one of the most haunted places in the US. The Lemp Family is one full of tragedy and many suicide/murders occured in that house.
It sounds like you are interested in the undeground railroad/tunnels etc. My grandparents lived in Neosho MO and the underground railroad runs underneath the whole town. They had a secret room under the house that was a stop on the RR. A lot of the houses and businesses there have secret tunnels in them.
Wilson Creek Battlefield is known to be haunted. It is a civil war battlefield. I had friends who snuck in after dark and claimed they heard the sounds of marching, screaming, etc.
The Joplin Spooklight(close to Neosho) - The spooklight is located outside of Joplin close to the Oklahoma border. I have seen it a few times. It is just what it says - a ball of light about the size of a basketball that appears and moves about over the road, into the field, through the trees.
Winoka - abandoned girl scout camp. Myth is one of the camp leaders went nuts and killed several of the girls and dumped their bodies in the pool.
THe Albino Farm - a group of ostracized albino's lived in a commune outside of town because they were shunned by the community. Said to be haunted.
The Crescent Hotel - Eureka Springs AR. VERY haunted hotel. Definetly worth the trip. Look it up on the web - they have a website complete with ghost photos taken at the hotel. It is a beautiful old hotel with a great,, long history.
I worked at the Discovery Center in Springfield and we all swear it was haunted. I actually saw a little boy running up the stairs. A co-worker who was with me saw it too.

Go to http://www.prairieghosts.com/. Specializes in Illinois and Midwest hauntings.

Hope this helps. If I think of any more I will let you know.

Thanks, gaia, I'm not really familiar with haunted places in Missouri, the Albino Farm sounds especially freaky, do you know anything more about it? The Prairie ghost website is very good, I actually took the story of Hickory Hill from there. I have heard of the Lemp Mansion before, here's more information on it:

St. Louis, MO
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Lemp Mansion is believed to be one of the most haunted places in St. Louis City, and in the top 10 of most haunted in North America. Located across Highway 55 in the Soulard Area. The Lemp Family seemed to be cursed with death and depression.

It is believed the curse of the Lemp Family started with William Lemp Sr.'s son, Fredrick Lemp. Frederick's death, believed to have been a heart attack from being over worked, caused William Sr. to fall into a deep depression, leading to him committing suicide in his bed room by shooting himself, and killing his dog. The next to commit suicide was Frederick's sister, Elsa. Though not in the Lemp Mansion when she killed herself, her home is believed to be haunted as well.

William Jr. later married Lillian Hadlan. She was a beautiful young woman. Her favorite color was Lavender and that is all she wore, thus her being nicknamed "The Lavender Lady" (There is a beauty shop 2 blocks away from Lemp Mansion called "The Lavender Lady"). They eventually divorced causing a great scandal all of St. Louis would talk about causing Lillian to go into seclusion. There is a rumor that there was a child born around this time (possibly from an affair William Jr. had with a servant) supposedly this child was mentally disabled, and deformed in some way, causing the family to keep him a secret to avoid humiliation or disgrace. They only know the child by the name of Monkey Boy. There is no record of a child like this being born to the Lemp's, but he has let himself to be known by psychics that have toured the home.

William Jr. eventually joined the rest of his family by shooting himself in the chest with a revolver, in the Office on the first floor of Lemp Mansion, now a dining room!

In the 1970's the mansion was sold to Dick Pointer who started renovations on the mansion. Many of the workers started complaining of being watched by unseen, unwelcoming eyes, disappearing tools, apparitions of a gentleman in black, and eerie, unexplained sounds. Many of these workers left, never to return to the site.

Now Lemp Mansion is a bed and breakfast where many employees and guest report sightings of the Lavender Lady, a phantom dog barking, cold spots, the feelings of being watched, disembodied voices, even glasses being picked up from off the bar by unseen hands.

Anyone is welcomed to decide for themselves. The next time you're in St. Louis, Maybe you might want to check out Lemp Mansion. You can even reserve the room that William Lemp Sr. killed himself in!

Robinson Woods Indian Burial Grounds: Norridge, Illinois

The Sign to the Woods:
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Grave Marker:
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Vapor caught on a trail in the woods:
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Alexander Robinson was the English name of Chee-Chee-Pin-Quay, Chief of the Potawatomi, Chippewa and Ottawa Indian tribes. He lived in the Chicagoland area during the time of the infamous Fort Dearborn massacre. At the time of the massacre, April 15, 1812, it was Robinson who helped to save John Kinzie, Captain and Mrs. Heald and their families from the bloodbath that resulted from the destruction of Fort Dearborn which was once located at the intersection of Michigan and Wacker Drives on the South side of the Chicago River.

At the treaty of Prairie du Chien in 1829, Alexander Robinson was granted "two sections on the Rivere Aux Pleins above and adjoining the tract herein granted to Claude La Gramboise." Here he lived with his French wife, Catherine (Chevalier) and children. Mrs. Robinson died in 1860 and Robinson lived until 1872; one year after the great Chicago fire. Actual blood descendants continued on the property until May 26, 1955 when their homestead mysteriously burned to the ground and, soon after, the property was bought by the Cook County Forest Division. It's occupants, Mrs. Katherine Boettcher, 89, a granddaughter of Chief Alexander Robinson; her son, Herbert, 53, and a friend, Tony Bistry, 48, were rescued from the burning building by firemen.

There have been consistent reports since 1955 of strange events taking place at this site. It was also on October 16, 1955 that John and Anton Schuessler ages 13 and 11 respectively and Robert Peterson aged 14 left a northwest side bowling alley never to be seen alive again. Their naked bodies were found on the premises of Robinson Woods. It took some 39 years of tracking to finally bring the murderer to justice.

During research in 1974 and 1975, two researchers carried out more than a dozen investigations in the area near the Robinson graves using various sophisticated recording devices and cameras. At one evening, an unusual recording was made between two small trees very near the grave sites of a dull repetitive sound. Later as the tape was played over and over again, it became quite apparent that the closest thing the sounds resembled was the beating of an Indian Tom-Tom. Needless to say there were no Indians or Indian Tom-Toms present that night.

Lights have been seen in the woods at night after the park has been closed for the evening, and they have been appearing for many years, but particularly in the last twenty years. Witnesses include motorists as they drive past the place, as well as neighbors and local police.

Another sound that has been heard out there is a chopping wood sound and it may be because the last of the family were always out there chopping wood at night to purchase foodstuffs and "firewater" or whiskey. Researchers have noted that people who die drunk or not in their right state of mind often make very good ghosts! So perhaps the drunk ghosts of the Robinson descendants still wander these woods at night.

A psychic smell has also been experienced very near the half-boulder that marks the positions were the Robinsons were buried. It's been described as a scent of lilacs or sometimes violets and it's often reported in the dead of winter when there's no flowers or trees in bloom! The odor appears to hover seven or eight feet up and witnesses claim to be able to sniff up into the fragrance. Strangely, even though there may be a stiff breeze, the odor stays in the same place and doesn't drift away with the wind! The Ghost Research Society, while conducting a senior citizen tour in 1990 around Halloween in the afternoon encountered the strange odor as did the entire group!

The Robinson Woods Indian Burial Ground is located on East River Road near Lawrence in unincorporated Norridge.

Source

WOW Some great stories and photos all..

Oh my goodness I got chills from the top of my head all the way down to my toes.