Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Haunted Macomb
    Haunted Macomb
    Haunted Macomb
    Ebook133 pages2 hours

    Haunted Macomb

    By Garret Moffett

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The Illinois town of Macomb is the perfect example of an old prairie town that has grown from an unforgiving frontier into a modern and diverse community in the twenty-first century. Since 1828, spirits of departed citizens have stubbornly remained dead above ground within the county. Meet the Woman in Black, who gave the coal-mining community of Colchester an additional burden of dread to the one they faced every day beneath the earth. Both kindness and suffering indelibly mark the old orphanage where the unselfish hands of Josie Westfall still care for unseen children. And then there's the presence of Belulah Wagle, the brutally murdered wife of a bootlegger, in the cemetery where her remains were finally laid to rest. Garret Moffett will guide you among witches and poltergeists in this expert tour of Macomb's haunted history.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe History Press
    Release dateJun 1, 2010
    ISBN9781625842336
    Haunted Macomb
    Author

    Garret Moffett

    Garret Moffett started Macomb�s first historical tours and brings twelve years of research into its haunted lore to this project. Topics on tours included pioneer and cemetery tours, haunted history tours and bootlegging and true crime tours. Moffett received several awards for his historical tours and preservation of local history. In 2004, he took top honor in the state out of fifty-five other communities vying for the Illinois Main Street Award for historical development. The award was presented by then lieutenant governor Pat Quinn.

    Related to Haunted Macomb

    Related ebooks

    United States History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      City of Culture

      Oct 15, 2021

      City of Culture
      6 min read

    • Article

      Literary MagNet

      Aug 18, 2021

      In the past few years Aurielle Marie (they/she) says the manuscript that became their debut poetry collection, Gumbo Ya Ya (University of Pittsburgh Press, September 2021), grew more “wildly audacious.” After walking away from a book deal that didn’t

      4 min read

    • Article

      Bread: Feeding The Workers Of The Industrial Revolution

      Apr 20, 2023

      What was the state of bread-making prior to the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries? For 1,000 years before the Industrial Revolution, making bread was done in the home. You would make your dough and then you’d take it to a communal

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Price Of Love

      Feb 3, 2022

      The Price Of Love
      6 min read

    • Article

      Sweeping Sorrow

      Mar 29, 2022

      Sweeping Sorrow
      15 min read

    • Article

      Also On The Bookshelf

      Oct 28, 2021

      The Burgundians: A Vanished Empire by Bart Van Loo (Head of Zeus, 624 pages, £30) By the end of the 15th century, Burgundy had reached its day of reckoning, undone by poor military and marital decisions and dynastic wrangling. Yet for over 1,000 year

      2 min read

    • Article

      ‘Too Much’: Featured Nonfiction from Rachel Vorona Cote

      Feb 25, 2020

      In Too Much: How Victorian Constraints Still Bind Women Today, Cote examines how the "unspoken rules" that govern the expression of women’s emotional and physical desires date back to the 19th century. The post ‘Too Much’: Featured Nonfiction from Ra

      6 min read

    • Article

      How Dark Were The Dark Ages?

      Feb 20, 2020

      How Dark Were The Dark Ages?
      10 min read

    • Article

      Small Wonder

      Apr 1, 2020

      Small Wonder
      3 min read

    • Article

      Drinking With The UNDEAD

      Oct 27, 2020

      At this time of year, it’s usually wonderful running a pub, seeing the regulars crowd in for a glass of their favourite tipple and some Christmas cheer! I’ve been running The Rose and Crown in Tewin, Hertfordshire, since August 2017, with the help of

      4 min read

    • Article

      Preliminaries

      Oct 19, 2021

      Preliminaries
      6 min read

    • Article

      Twelve Reasons You Should Keep Writing

      Dec 14, 2022

      Sometimes I forget why I should keep writing. I hope you make a list of your own. Here is mine: 1. Write for God. The cave. The envelope. 2. Write for your mother. Your father. Your friend who is sick. 3. Write for the future. Write for the past. Wri

      1 min read

    • Article

      Snapshots

      Jun 10, 2022

      Snapshots
      1 min read

    • Article

      Ehrlich Speaks to Mother-Writers

      Apr 14, 2021

      Lara Ehrlich, author of the short story collection Animal Wife (Red Hen Press, 2020), has a deep narrative investment in the ways the world denies women power and agency. In October 2020 that commitment took a new shape with the first episode of her

      2 min read

    • Article

      You Hunt With The Beaver?

      May 12, 2021

      You Hunt With The Beaver?
      4 min read

    • Article

      Paranormal Cold Case investigating History’s Most Spine-chilling Encounters

      Mar 17, 2022

      “I’ve got horses, cats, dogs, sheep, goats, emus, ducks, geese, rabbits, guinea pigs...” Patti Keane pauses for a moment, then continues – “parrots, seagulls, African frogs...” It’s fair to say Patti likes animals. In fact, she’s turned her house in

      2 min read

    • Article

      Chasing The American Dream

      Oct 27, 2022

      Chasing The American Dream
      2 min read

    • Article

      Dealing With The Locals

      Feb 14, 2022

      Dealing With The Locals
      1 min read

    • Article

      Paranormal Cold Case Investigating History’s Most Spine-chilling Encounters

      Jun 10, 2022

      “Do you believe in ghosts?” I ask. “No,” comes Laura’s firm and immediate reply. “But have you seen one?” I press. “Yes,” she says. “And the ghost I think I saw was my friend. My best friend.” People often ask me which of my cases has sent the bigges

      2 min read

    • Article

      In Atlanta, A Civil War Painting Stops Stretching The Truth

      Apr 11, 2019

      The Cyclorama’s costly restoration has become a teaching moment for Atlanta, whose 1864 defeat by Union troops it portrays.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Making Tracks

      Apr 30, 2021

      Making Tracks
      8 min read

    • Article

      A Vigil In Westwood Lodge

      May 19, 2022

      A Vigil In Westwood Lodge
      10 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Haunted Macomb

    4/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Haunted Macomb - Garret Moffett

      history.

      TALE OF THE GOOSENECK GHOST

      By 1900, tales of the Gooseneck Ghost had been told for fifty-some years amongst the townsfolk in Macomb and Colchester, especially those living in the neighborhood of Gooseneck. The Macomb Journal even reported on the Gooseneck Ghost numerous times in 1908, 1911 and 1915. Gooseneck was located along the railroad tracks along Highway 136 West and Gun Club Road. There was an old country schoolhouse there called the Gooseneck School, and because the hauntings occurred in this area, the ghostly sightings became known as the Gooseneck Ghost.

      Since the mid-1850s, when the railroad first came through the county, numerous witnesses have reported sightings of a ghostly illumination—a bright light seen in the night sky, swiftly flying, sweeping and weaving through the air. Some older reports and sightings even record the ghostly light chasing people down.

      Many folks were skeptics. Some vowed to hunt down and capture the supposed ghost. However, the folks who attempted to chase down the ghostly light often found it too quick and difficult to catch. It would sometimes be within a few feet of the ground and then would suddenly swoop up to several hundred feet in the air.

      Many people thought it was swamp gas, someone flying a kite or a jack-o’-lantern—in any case, a hoax. Others believed it to be the ghosts of two railroad workers killed by a train along the tracks. In the late 1850s, near the same area, other railroad workers murdered two track layers, and some folks claimed that the ghost light was their angry spirits making their presence known. Those claiming that the light was a hoax even suggested that young pranksters were lighting cornstalks and throwing them like spears through the air. One thing was for sure: there was no shortage of firsthand encounters and experiences with the ghostly light of Gooseneck.

      The railroad tracks looking west toward Colchester in the old area once known as Gooseneck. Photo by Garret Moffett.

      Some railroad workers in the 1850s reported a mysterious stranger in the vicinity of the ghost light along the tracks at various times. One team of workers inspecting the rails on a handcar saw the man, but when the rail men approached him, he vanished before their eyes. As the handcar reached the exact spot where they had all seen the strange man standing, they could find no trace of him anywhere. When the rail men returned to the Colchester depot a short time later, much to their amazement, the man they had seen on the tracks halfway to Macomb was now standing on the platform in Colchester. Amongst the bustle of people and workers on the platform, the men lost sight of the mysterious stranger. They all agreed that he was the same man they had seen on the tracks.

      One man who walked along the tracks nearly every day from his home to Colchester to get bread told of being chased by the ghost light one night until it seemed to disappear up a tree.

      William Taylor of Macomb reported that the ghost had chased him one night. On the fifty-cent wager that he was not afraid of the ghost, Taylor had to make it to the residence of his friend Til Bowen several hundred yards away. As he approached the elm tree where the ghost was said to live, a bright light appeared and moved up and down the tree several times before swooping toward Taylor. He began to run a bit, and the bright light picked up speed and headed right for him. He said it was as if the ghost was challenging him to run and get away. As he ran faster, the light gained even more speed, staying just behind him in midair. Now admittedly afraid, Taylor, exhausted, fell into the front yard of the Bowen residence and claimed his fifty cents. But by that time, the ghostly light was nowhere to be seen.

      One night, two men went out to hunt down the ghost. As they walked down the dark tracks, the brilliant light suddenly wisped up from the ground right in front of them, startling them. The bright light lit up the men’s faces, blinding them, and then just as quickly, it was gone. Both men made a dead run back to town. The men boasted of running two hundred yards quicker than a jackrabbit!

      Late one night in 1908, Ed and Charles Culp went out to Gooseneck to see if the ghost would appear, and they were not disappointed. They first saw it glowing up in a tree, only to disappear and then reappear a moment later a quarter mile away. They claimed that the ghost light was brighter than the searchlight on a locomotive.

      At one point in 1908, going to see the ghost became a social event. A group of citizens in Macomb called the Moonlighters organized a late-night picnic to go out and see the ghostly light. Three hundred people loaded onto wagons and headed out to the Gooseneck area hoping to glimpse the light. Other wagons ferried folks back and forth from town. Tables and chairs were set up, with lanterns in the grove of trees by the tracks, and some people carried lassos with them in hopes of capturing the ghost.

      A report in the June 22, 1908 edition of the Macomb Journal made reference to the ghost:

      He only made a few appearances and then only for a short space of time. While most of the people in the grove probably saw it, yet many did not, as it was bashful and timid, and when it did appear it was only very faintly. While the ghost was not captured, yet lots of ice cream was consumed by those assembled.

      The mystery was so intriguing by now that faculty from the local college—Professors Hursh, Barnett and Johnson—went out one night to catch a glimpse of the ghost and perhaps offer an educated explanation as to the nature of the mysterious light. According to the professors, at about 9:30 p.m. a bright light suddenly flew up from the low, flat ground south of the tracks and disappeared. The light appeared to them for about one minute every ten minutes or so before it disappeared into the distance. After an hour had passed, the men had seen enough, and the mysterious light ceased to appear anymore. The men agreed that the nearly ten-mile walk from campus out to the ghost site had been well worth the experience.

      Professor Hursh believed he had solved the sensational mystery of the Gooseneck Ghost. He believed that the lights were the result of a phenomenon that only occurs in damp, marshy areas. According to Hursh, a chemical reaction occurs in the marshy soil generating a gas composed of phosphorus enveloped in water vapor, which in turn creates the brilliant glow of light floating through the air. Simply put, swamp gas was the explanation offered by the professor. However, right away people had problems with this explanation. Why was it that the light seemed to chase people? Could a gas fly through the air against the direction of the wind? And could a cloud of gas in the air suddenly swoop up and down, changing speed?

      For most people, the ghost was not yet explained. Farnum Camp, who was well respected in the community, lived in the area of the ghost sightings and didn’t accept the professor’s explanation. He believed there were things that our philosophy cannot explain. He recalled an experience that had taken place several months prior to prove his point.

      Mr. Camp’s wife died of a terminal disease. Before her death, she had attended the Spiritualist church several times and had enjoyed the services and message. She told her husband that if it were possible for her to come back after she died, she would do so. One night after his wife’s death, Farnum awoke from slumber. Near the wall of his bedroom, he could see the image of his wife’s face within a halo of light. Her apparition manifested and approached his bed; he could see on her finger the ring that he had buried with her. Moments later, he felt a firm but gentle pressure on his hand as he sat up in bed. The light and presence moved to the floor and disappeared.

      Despite the years of ghostly sightings, the mystery of the Gooseneck Ghost was finally explained. A group of five citizens set out one night, as had many before them, to see the ghost and possibly capture it. As they walked along the tracks and approached the Gooseneck area, they saw the mysterious light suddenly swoop up from the ground into the air about four hundred yards down the tracks. The light continued to swoop up and down through the air, and a member of the

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1