On June 16, 2015 we headed out on an adventure in search of a local legend about the witch that guards a cemetery nearby where we live. This is the story of The Witch of Bowman Cemetery.
Located off Lusk-Lock Road in Elkton, Ohio, way back in the woods where there are no house or any other structures of any kind what-so-ever is a small little cemetery called Bowman Cemetery.
We made a video about this location some time ago. It features some of the photos from this trip, as well as, text talking about the legend you will read below as well. We should get Boris to re-record this one at some point.
Local legend states, that in the 1800s, there was a woman who lived in the area surrounding the cemetery, and she was asked to treat the children of the village that were getting extremely ill. Although she tried all that she knew, more and more children began to die. The locals believed that her treatments were making the epidemic worse. They believed that she was actually killing the children instead of making them better.
After several deaths of children from the village, they tried the woman as a witch and she was found to be guilty. They hung the woman form a tall tree that was near the cemetery so she could look down at the graves of the children as she hung there dying.
With her final words she cursed the villagers and the area for eternity, and she vowed she would return to get her revenge.
Since it was believed that her soul was evil, they refused to bury her body inside the cemetery. Instead, they buried her outside the parameter of the hollowed grounds in an unmarked grave.
It is believed that the witch cannot enter the cemetery; however, she does haunt the woods around the cemetery. People have reported the strange feeling of being watched while in the cemetery. They have also seen the apparitions of children dancing around within the cemetery grounds. There are also reports of being touched and strange sounds coming from the wood as if someone was walking around.
Another very eerie thing that is reports by everyone and something that we experienced ourselves is that once you are in the center of the cemetery, there is absolutely no sound coming from the woods or the surround area. Not even the sound of wildlife can be heard.
We also found several graves the were vandalized, broken and toppled over, which is extremely disturbing. We did not spend very much time in the cemetery since that "uneasy" feeling you get in places such as this, was just too strong for any of us to take.
I have to admit, this cemetery does rank up there on the "creepy" scale. Just the fact that it is in the middle of absolutely nowhere, and the quietness when you are in the center of the cemetery... wow. Please let us know down in the comments if you have visited this cemetery before, or would like to visit it sometime in the future.
