Nestled in the quiet town of Ashmore, Illinois lies the St. Omer Cemetery, a serene resting place marked by the passage of time and the whispers of folklore. Among its weathered gravestones and fading epitaphs, one particular monument stands out—a solemn testament to the Barnes family and the obscure figure of Caroline Barnes.
Founded in 1852, the village of St. Omer flourished briefly before succumbing to abandonment by the mid-1880s, leaving behind only the remnants of its existence in the form of the lorn cemetery.
One monument in particular, adorned with a peculiar sphere atop stacked logs and kindle, serves as the final resting place for four members of the Barnes family: Granville, Sarah Ann, Marcus, and Caroline. Yet, it is Caroline's death that has sparked a lingering legend of witchcraft within the cemetery's confines chiefly due to the erroneous inscription—February 31st as Caroline's death date.
According to Heidi E. Carpenter's article 'The “Witch’s Grave” of St. Omer Cemetery', we know for certain that Sarah Ann died July 20, 1877. Marcus died in a sawmill accident December 6, 1881, at age 24. Caroline, aged 23, suffered complications from pneumonia and died at the end of February 1882 either on the 26th or the 28th, and patriarch Granville died days later, on March 2, 1882.
Thus, the supposition surrounding Caroline's purported association with witchcraft commenced. An additional oversight on the monument was the misspelling of Granville's name as "Granvil". With no surviving family members present to rectify these errors and the gradual decline of the town into obscurity, it is probable that these inaccuracies were overlooked. However, amidst the peculiarities of the monument and the discrepancy in Caroline's death date, a tale emerged alleging her execution for witchcraft. This narrative, perpetuated over time, continues to cast a shadow over the St. Omer Cemetery, drawing attention to an otherwise secluded burial ground nestled in rural Illinois.
Indeed, the notion of a witch's grave is not unique to St. Omer Cemetery. Across the country, similar stories abound, each rooted in the intrigue of unconventional grave markers and whispered tales of the supernatural. Yet, upon closer examination, many of these myths unravel to reveal a more mundane truth—a natural death obscured by the passage of time and the embellishments of storytellers.
The legend of St. Omer Cemetery serves as a reminder of the everlasting power of folklore and the human propensity for storytelling. While these chilling stories are fun to tell at sleepovers and around the campfire, it's important to remember that most often they derived from the life or death of a real person who lived, loved, and experienced the complexities of human existence. After all, every death had a life and every life had a story.
Photo by: L.G. 09/21/2023 and posted to www.findagrave.com
(Cited Source: Carpenter , Heidi E. "The “Witch’s Grave” of St. Omer Cemetery ." https://medium.com. 11 Nov. 2019. medium.com/chicagoland-haunts/the-witchs-grave-of-st-omer-cemetery-350871b7c869. Accessed 15 Apr. 2024.)
