St. Omer Cemetery Witch Grave

Picture generated with AI
Location: St. Omer Cemetery, Illinois, United States of America
Dates Active: February 26, 1882
Category: Burial Grounds, Curses, Necromancy, Omens, Witchcraft
Cause: Curse, Witchcraft (Alleged)
Status: Possibly Ongoing
Entry ID: 013024B-00058

Summery: 

A strange gravestone is the focal point of a local legend about a woman who died on a date that doesn't exist, who died in a town that also does not exist.

In Depth:

This story starts in small town in Illinois known as St. Omer, which was founded in 1852 and was big enough to warrant the construction of a post office, a blacksmith, and a store. According to records there were six houses in town, but 40 to 50 families lived in the area at one point. However, over time the population slowly dwindled, and St. Omer became a ghost town.

Before the place was abandoned, there was a married couple Marcus and Caroline Barnes, who met and unfortunate fate. Marcus died in a sawmill accident on December 6, 1881, and Caroline died two months later of pneumonia. This is where the story begins to get a little strange: the date of Caroline's death is listed on county records as either February 26th or 28th, but the date on her gravestone is a little bit further out on February 31.

Now, February is the shortest month of the year, with a maximum of 29 days on leap years. So it is remarkably strange that the grave should have a day that doesn't ever occur on the calendar. Some simply ascribe this as an error by the monumental mason, which may simply have been too expensive to fix or there wasn't really anyone in the town left to care.

However, from this possible mistake grew an urban legend, which claims that Caroline Barnes was actually a witch. According to this legend, Caroline had placed a curse on her grave which would cause her to rise from the dead on the day of her death. The date was purposefully chiseled on the stone with a date that was impossible, meaning that Caroline would be unable to claw her way back from beyond death. Of course, some versions of the story claim that the attempt was in vane and she did so anyway.

That would be an interesting story in and of itself, but there are other strange things about the gravestone that add even more mystery to it. Most of these have rational explanations, but some do not. Notable things about the grave are:

  • The gravestone itself is a large sphere on top of what appears to be a funeral pyre, all carved out of stone. This was a highly intricate design.
    • There is the impression of there being some money in the Barnes family due to the complicated nature of the tombstone, which some people say is reason to believe that the date of death listed on it for Caroline was purposeful: if they had the money to make such a gravestone, they could have paid to have it corrected... unless they had a reason not to.
  • The grave is currently placed facing north to south, which goes against the tradition of facing the graves east to west. Traditionally, the deceased were placed with their feet pointing east towards the rising sun, and their headstones would be placed in a similar fashion.
    • This could possibly be a result of vandalism.
  • The grave has to be cleaned off every so often due to the number of candles that are found to have been lit on top of it. This usually happens at night, adding to the legend that coven of witches gather and perform rituals, seances, and other strange ceremonies when no one is around.
    • While no one has actually witnessed anyone performing any rituals at the site, the fact that people are placing candles on the grave some 140 years after the last person had been buried under it is rather strange.

Aside from the oddities about the properties of the gravestone itself, there is also some interesting activity reported surrounding it as well:

Reported Activity:

  • The sphere glows on moonless nights.
  • Supposedly pictures taken of the gravestone using traditional film does not turn out. Digital photos seems to work just fine.

Related Entries and Connections:

Last Updated: March 31, 2024

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