Greenwood Cemetery

Greenwood Cemetery in Decatur, Illinois is possibly one of the most haunted sites in the Midwest.

On the western side of Greenwood Cemetery, there is a short stone stairway known as the “Barrackman Steps”. At the top of the steps are the four graves of the Barrackman family. Visitors to the graveyard have seen the ghostly image of a woman in a long white gown appear at the top of the steps. They say that her head is bowed and she seems to be crying, although no sound is ever heard.

Greenwood has another ghost that locals call “The Greenwood Bride”. Years ago, a young woman wanted to get married, but her parents did not approve of her boyfriend because he was a bootlegger. The young couple made plans to run away together and get married. Tragically, the boyfriend was murdered while delivering bootleg whiskey and his body was thrown in the Sangamon River. Fishermen found his body the next morning and delivered the terrible news to his girlfriend.

The young woman put on her bridal gown, and was seen walking down to the river where her boyfriend had died. Hours later, she was found floating face down in the water. Driven mad by grief, she had drowned herself in the river. Her body was buried in Greenwood Cemetery and ever since then, her ghost has been seen walking silently among the tombstones. They say she still wears the wedding dress she was buried in and can be seen wiping tears from her eyes.

Greenwood Cemetery also has a Civil War Memorial section where both Confederate and Union soldiers are buried. The mausoleum was torn down in 1967 because the tomb was structurally unsound. The bodies were moved and reburied across the path. However, gravediggers were unable to identify the individual remains, so they just threw all the bones in together and covered them over. Since then, there have been reports of noises and cries coming from the empty mausoleum as well as strange shapes and apparitions lurking around the mass grave where the bodies were reburied.