"Those who don't believe in magic will never find it"- Roald Dahl
If you've never heard of the impossible date, now would be a good time to learn. As we all know, early witches were people who practiced witchcraft, using "magic spells", calling spirits, and in most legends offering sacrifices. Many, if not most, witches were thought to be pagans doing the work of the Devil himself, however, most were misunderstood and were just healers and seers. Modern depictions of witches are women, usually clad in black with a funny hat, and typically green or off-tinted skin, got to love Hollywood. Witches were known to have "familiars", also known as a spirit double or guardian spirit, which goes a lot deeper than most believe and are not always just a black cat. The history of witches is so vast, we could go into detail for most of this website and still not cover most but will eventually touch base on them under Lore & Legend.
Back to the impossible date, so we know that witches were said to have mystical powers and could do all sorts of things from turning you into a newt to raising the dead, even placing a curse. What most do not know is that a witch is believed to be able to rise from her own death after a "life curse" is placed, but only to be risen on the day of their death. Hence, the impossible date, February 31. This date was often placed on the tombstones of supposed witches in hopes that they would never be able to rise again, with the date never actually attainable. This date is actually a big plot point in Evan Spiliotopulos' 2021 film The Unholy, featuring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and I do recommend checking it out. With that said, I bring you the tale of The Barnes Witch.
Like most of Southern Illinois, St Omer is a hotspot for legend. Located in the east central area of Illinois, roughly an hour west of Terre Haute, IN, lies a ghost town known as St Omer. It was small, prominent mining town that was abandoned for nearby Ashmore, IL due to a new train line that was built. St Omer had around 50 families at its peak, and by the end of 1800s it was only home to about six houses, a post office, a blacksmith, and a small general store. Today, St Omer is not on any maps, but you can find the cemetery on Google maps through Ashmore, IL, with all that remains are the grave plots surrounded by trees. As with most cemeteries, this ghost town cemetery is upkept by the local utility department, partially believed to be due to the strange plot that is rumored to be a witch's grave.
In the 1880s Caroline Barnes was accused of being a witch, and what do we do with witches? BURN THEM! And what do we burn apart from witches? Monty Python aside, they hanged her, and when she would not die from the hanging, they opted to bury her alive. Her gravestone is an orblike sphere sitting on a pyre, listing her husband, Marcus, and her deaths upon it, with hers having the impossible date February 31 as her date of death. Legend aside, the living descendants say Marcus died in a sawmill accident in December of 1881, and Caroline died from pneumonia two months later at 23 years old. It is also said that there was a mistake by the mason tasked with creating the grave and the cost of correcting his mistaken date was too costly to fix.
Many Christians bury their dead facing with their feet facing the east, this is because Christ's second coming, in which he will come from the east; thus, allowing the dead to meet Christ face to face. However, Caroline Barnes grave faces north and south, mistake, vandalism, or purposefully done? Of course, over time delinquents have vandalized the grave, because why let the dead rest in peace, and the grave has been found knocked over, so it may have never been set back up properly.
Many photographers claim they are unable to take photos of the grave at certain times of day, although digital photos will turn out fine, developed photos do not. The sphere, or crystal ball, is said to emit an eerie glow on moonless nights. Regardless of the true nature of the story, there is suggestion of cult/satanic activity at the site, with candle wax, coins, remains, and trinkets being left behind.
A brief phone interview with utility worker who mows the cemetery did come up with a couple of stories worth mention. He and his wife were mowing the grass one evening in mid-summer when his wife saw something near the grave. While she could not explain what it was that she saw, she did hightail it, ditch the riding mower, and run to the other side of the cemetery to tell her husband she would not be mowing in that area again. He also told me that another city employee loves taking photos of old cemeteries and the like, and she happened to visit St Omer. While taking photos, she encountered an odd shadow near the gravesite, the sun in front of her and not casting her own shadow back at her, she moved to another nearby grave. Again, the shadowy presence appeared in that photo in a different location, still looming in the background with nobody nearby to cast it. Furthermore, my contact reported that while maintaining the lawn, he will not stay late in the cemetery, and the area closest to Barnes' grave is mowed first so he is not in the area long. He makes sure he is never there as the sun begins to set and will leave to return another day if it begins to set. There is always an creepy feeling of being watched, or an ominous presence about he continued.
While I have not had the pleasure of visiting St Omer yet, I very well intend to sooner rather than later. During my phone call, I was also informed of another local haunt in the town, Ashmore Estates. The historic building was built as an almshouse (building for the poor to live in built by a charitable foundation or person) in 1916 and used until around 1959. The facility is believed to be haunted and featured in TV shows and books. It is often said you can hear voices of someone who is not there, as well as seeing apparitions, even during the daylight hours. One believed ghost is that of Elva Skinner, a young four year girl that lived in the estate that perished in a fire, and is said to be behind one of the common EVP recordings heard that merely says "momma".
Under new ownership since 2006, the abandoned building now houses a commercial haunted house. It suffered massive damage to the property when a horrible storm came through in 2013, it has since been renovated and is used to this day. Today, you can book a ghost tour and 12-hour stay at Ashmore Estates that includes a ghost hunt vigil, a "ghost hunt" with an experienced team of paranormal investigators, use of ghost hunting equipment such as EVP recorders and EMF detectors, and private time to explore the estate on your own.
To book a tour, visit the website at Brown Paper Tickets (bpt.me)
or visit them on Facebook at Ashmore Estates | Facebook
You can also check out Ghost Adventures when they visited Ashmore Estates here
Submitted and Researched by Phreak
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