Haunted Illinois

Back in '97, I had started the Y2K Project a few months early for Digital Equipment Corporation (later Compaq Computer, now HP). The recruiter told them it was better to keep me on the payroll for the duration (I started in July and the 'official' kickoff wasn't until September) rather than taking the chance of losing me to another project. So I had time on my hands to surf the 'net. I stumbled upon cemetaries.com, which led me to graveyards of Chicago and some other sites. Not only can cemetaries be spooky, but they also can contain quite a wealth of historical information as well. More often than not, if you were well off in life, you had a 'monumental' monument dedicated to you once your gone.

Chicago alone has enough historical and ghostly sites to keep any spook hunter busy for awhile. There is Resurrection Cemetary for example. There are many versions of the 'Resurrection Mary' story, you know the one: A guy 'usually a guy' is driving down the road late at night and is hailed by a young girl for a ride. The guy picks her up, ask her where she is going, and she says 'home - just down the street a bit'. When they pass the cemetary, she disappears. The guy does some research, visits the home of her parents, there is a picture of the girl on the mantle, he says 'that's her!" and the parents tell the guy that she died a few years before. Many versions of the tale, but Chicago claims to have invented it. There is also Bachelor's Grove Cemetary, Hull House, the site of an exorcism a Druid cemetary, a memorial site to a major Circus fire in teh early 20th century, Al Capone's grave, etc.

Abraham Lincoln seems to be busier in death than he was in life. Not only is he reputed to haunt the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House, he has been seen in the state capitol in Springfield as well. Instresting state, Illinois is.