|
| LinkExchange Member | Free Home Pages at GeoCities |
GHOST STORIES OF BURKITTSVILLE AND FREDERICK COUNTY, MARYLAND There is no doubt about the fact that Frederick County in Maryland played an important part in the state’s history of the war. In October of 1859, when word was received that John Brown had raided the arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, the first offer of assistance accepted by President James Buchanan was from Frederick’s militia. In July of 1864, the city of Frederick was forced to pay a ransom to Confederate General Jubal Early. Lee had sent Early to the north to take some of the pressure off the poorly supplied southern troops by harassing northern towns, exacting tribute from those who could pay and to even threaten Washington itself. Early burned the Maryland home of Union Postmaster General, Montgomery Blair, in retaliation for a Union General razing the Virginia Military Institute. To avenge this fire, General Benjamin Butler sent troops to Fredericksburg to burn down the country home of James Seddon, the Confederate Secretary of War. During this series of events, Early was ransacking and terrorizing northern cities with demands of payment to keep his men from burning the cities to the ground. Besides Frederick and Hagerstown, Early also threatened Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. When the residents refuse to cough up the money, he burned the business district. While the people of Frederick eventually paid up, they purposely delayed the negotiations with the Confederates so that Union forces could form a line of defense and prepare for the Battle of Monocacy. While Early was tied up with this, reinforcements were sent by General Grant and after fighting at Fort Daniels, the Confederates were sent back to the south. Throughout the war, troops of both armies crossed through the state. At one point, Frederick County alone had as many as 17 hospitals for wounded Union and Confederate soldiers. Many area homes and buildings were also commandeered as headquarters for both armies. There remained a sympathy toward the Confederacy among some Frederick County families. One family welcomed a wounded Rebel soldier into their home and when a company of Union troops appeared, they hid him in their cellar. The Union soldiers were expected to take whatever supplies they could from the house and leave, but unfortunately, they did not. The company commandeered the house as a headquarters and set up a field camp on the front lawn. They stayed for weeks and the family was unable to get to the cellar and free the wounded Confederate. Finally, after more than 2 months had gone by, the cellar was opened.... only to find the decayed and rotting corpse of the young southern soldier. After the discovery of the body, moaning and scratching sounds were often heard in the cellar and below the floor of the kitchen. It was also said that occupants of the house and visitors were often startled to see a young man in a Confederate uniform stomping through the house. On September 10, 1862 the armies of the south under Generals Lee, Jackson and Longstreet began to march west across Frederick County toward Antietam Creek and Sharpsburg. On September 14, those same armies would be forced to retreat from South Mountain after a costly battle. There were other places in Frederick County where the fighting extracted a deadly toll from the Confederacy. One such place was on the outskirts of Burkittsville, just below a spot that is now a memorial to Civil War correspondents. The town of Burkittsville was built in 1807 around a tannery complex, complete with blacksmith shop, which employed about 50 men. General Lee had two wheels of an ambulance repaired there and at another point, Lincoln and McClellan ate a meal in the house next door. It was here that both armies decided to attack each other by surprise, both at sunrise. The Confederate troops were poorly prepared and while spending several hours positioning cannons on the hill, were attacked by Union troops, armed only with rifles. The southerners retreated, taking heavy losses. In 1862, the wounded were attended in the tannery and in every other sizable place in town. Many of those buildings are still standing, but the tannery, which was abandoned for years, finally fell into ruin. It was said that strange sounds and voices haunted the area for many years and later, a more unique phenomena began to be reported. It was said that anyone who left their car in the vicinity of where the old tannery once stood would discover that footprints had appeared on it during the night. Some believe that the soldiers who were killed here have returned to haunt the place. Many of the troops who were killed had to be left behind by their comrades, so the people of Burkittsville buried the men in shallow graves, believing that once the fighting subsided, the armies would come back and bury the men properly. They never did. The area around the town is also believed to be haunted by soldiers from the past. For many years, there have been accounts of sightings and odd occurrences in the area. Occasionally, eerie campfires can be seen in the mountains and open fields. Phantom soldiers have been seen to be warming themselves near the fires.... only to vanish. One of the strangest places, located on the edge of town and near the Civil War Correspondent’s Memorial Arch, is a place known as Spook Hill. It is said that if you stop your car here, and shift it into neutral, your car will move by itself and pull you back up the hill. Many believe this strange movement is caused by the spirits of the fallen soldiers..... possibly believing that they are still pulling their cannons up that same hill.
Excerpted from Troy Taylor's book SPIRITS OF THE CIVIL WAR! At www.prairieghosts.com
Bachelor's Grove Cemetery is the most haunted graveyard in the Chicago area. This small cemetery is in the Rubio Woods forest preserve near the southwest suburbs. Just west of Cicero Avenue, the Midlothian turnpike makes a curve to the right. The cemetery was established in 1864. It, and the surrounding woods, were named for the large number of unmarried men living in the area. This cemetery was reportedly used as a dumping ground for murder victims who had been "taken for a ride" by 1920's gangsters. The cemetery is said to have been abandoned in 1965 Although there are a few burials from the mid 1980's). It has gained a reputation for being haunted - no doubt contributed to by its isolated location and the vandalism that has taken place. Over one hundred sightings have been reported here. Many people have seen a white house in the distance, usually described as a Victorian farmhouse with a white picket fence, a porch swing, and a warm light coming from within. The house disappears whenever anyone tries to approach it,though one version of the legend claims that anyone who succeeds in entering the house will never return. Ghosts have been seen near the pond to the north, including a two-headed man, and a farmer with a horse and plow (said to have died in the 1870s when his horse bolted, pulling him into the water). A blue light was seen on numerous occasions, floating from stone to stone. Faces in the mist have been reported, as has a face that formed on the surface of a tombstone and soon vanished. Another ghost here is called "Mrs.Rogers", or the "White Lady". Appearing entirely in white, she seems to be searching for something amongst the graves - thought to be her baby. Ghost cars have appeared on what was once the road to the cemetery, as well as the Midlothian turnpike nearby. Several people claim to have swerved to avoid hitting these cars, or to have actually passed through them. The cars have vanished within plain sight of these witnesses. One of the most dramatic encounters involved local psychic Norman Basile and a friend, around 1984. The two were spending the night in the cemetery, with cameras and recording equipment, when Basile's skeptical friend saw a man in a yellow suit and hat, who quickly vanished. This was followed by red streaks of light darting about the cemetery, and a nearby tree shaking violently. Basile calles Bachelor's Grove "probably the most ghost-infested cemetery in the Chicago area and maybe in the world".
Back to MysticalWorld Content Page
