Chesterville Cemetery Witch Investigation

Teenage witches in the 1800s didn’t stand the same fate as Sabrina. They were met with a sufferable fate that resulted in being beaten, tortured, suffocated, and hanged. The particular story we are going to share with you today is one of a fifteen year old girl in an old, Amish community. She was accused of witchcraft, beaten, and left for dead. This wasn’t because she had actually been seen performing acts of witchcraft, but this was because she spoke up and used her voice to advocate for women’s rights. 

During her adolescence, the young girl questioned her Amish upbringing. She wondered if there was more out there than what they believed, she questioned the church, and she spoke up about women's equality. What she thought would make a difference took a turn for the worse. The whole community turned their other cheek to the little girl.

Word began to spread, and the young girl was rumored to be a witch. She was said to have played with the dark arts, and soon to follow, she disappeared. No one had seen or heard from her for days. Weeks had gone by, and the girl was later recovered from a field. She was said to have died from natural causes, and she was laid to rest in Chesterville Cemetery.

The kicker to this story is it didn’t end there. Once she was buried, an oak tree was planted on top of her plot. It grew larger than expected, engulfing the fence around her headstone and looming over multiple graves. Their purpose for planting this tree was to trap the soul of the little girl so she could not return to seek revenge. Despite markings on the tree indicating attempts to cut it, the tree remains where it was planted in the present day. 

When the girls and I came across this story, our first thought was why they were afraid of her seeking revenge. Was it because she was truly a witch, or had someone attacked her in that field? With the rising questions each of us had, we further investigated this folklore by going. 

We went to the cemetery the Sunday we drove back from Knoxville, Tennessee on May 19, 2024. We got into town midafternoon, as we often do. The cemetery wasn’t hard to find, and neither was the oak tree. It was the largest tree in and around the cemetery perimeter. When we approached the tree, the lines of someone’s attempt to cut it were still very visible. Around the tree and along the fence were offerings of all kinds. 

When we looked down at the headstone, we saw the initials A.H. enagraved. After investigating, I searched a list of names buried at Chesterville Cemetery. The only ones who have A.H. were infants who passed away, and their headstones did not match. We knew the only way we were going to get other answers while we were standing there was to start our investigation. 

We sat the cat balls out, and it was only a few minutes before the right one started going off. They were set up on two sides of the fence, and Swan happened to notice it before it stopped. Moments after, a large black spider came out of nowhere in the grass. It crawled straight to the tree, into the shrub, and disappeared. Immediately, we knew it was time to conduct an Estes method session.

I began recording while Swan put on her headphones. As I was rearranging the cat balls, Swan asked, “What’s your name?” We introduced ourselves to the spirit Swan was channeling. As the spirit box continued to sweep stations, Swan replied, “Info.” I agreed that they were getting all the info from us. I also brought to the spirit’s attention that we were also witches. Swan continued to repeat what she was hearing and asked, “How long?” When we said a few years, she asked, “Since I-?” which we guessed meant since she passed. We said, “Yes, since you’ve passed.”

Because we were bringing her death to her attention, she said, “Uncle.” I tried asking if he played an important role in her accusing, but Swan couldn’t quite make out her responses. She heard a word and then “bear/bare,” but we were unable to piece it together to make sense. Immediately after the bear/bare response, Swan was already changing the subject with, “Well hello.”

We said hello again to the girl and praised her for her ability to set the cat balls off. Swan said, “On the move.” We asked for her permission to speak with her a few minutes if she had the time, and her response was, “You’re something.” I wasn’t sure if she was telling me I was something else or if Swan couldn’t make out the second word. I asked if she would like to try again, but we didn’t get a response.  

There was a part of our Estes where Swan was continuously saying, “Come shop,” and “Store.” She even set the cat ball off while discussing it. When asking for more information about the store, she said, “Mother.” We confirmed she worked in the store with her mother and got that it was possibly a bakery or they made bread. She brought up cake and rye a few different times throughout the remainder of the session. 

When we asked for other intel on the store, Swan said, “Charter and-.” She never finished her sentence but given that charter can mean “a contract between a man and a man,” we believe there were men who owned the store, and the mother merely worked for it. 

Our discussion was interrupted by Swan changing the subject. She said, “I like her.” We asked if she was referring to Swan, and she said, “There.” I confirmed for her the girl she was channeling with was Swan. She asked, “You know her?” And we told her we’ve known Swan for a really long time. The girl also tried to ask if Swan and I were something, but just like Ed over at Old Gray Cemetery, we had to let her know we were just friends. 

There was other small talk we shared with the spirit, but it was the choice of words towards the end of our session that really threw us for a loop:

• Beat me up

• Cold

• Live

• Unsaintliness

• Home

• Pneumococcal

• Horrible, right?

• Witch

This is what brought Nicole and I back to the importance of talking about the store and the uncle. Maybe he worked or ran the store, and he was the one who got rid of her. Our theory is that he took her into the field, beat her for embarrassing the family, and left her for dead. She didn’t die right away, suffered from a horrible case of pneumonia before she finally passed away. That is when she was found and laid to rest by the community. 

We came to the question a lot of others were wondering themselves: Was this girl really a witch? When we asked the girl for her side of the story, she responded, “Child,” “pretty,” and ”From home.” She also threw in the word “Racketed.” There were a few other words shared between the four of us, but we were interrupted twice with the same visitor wanting to say hi to their loved one. We told the young girl we had to go and thanked her for her time.

When it comes to the research of this investigation, we really wanted to find her online; however, records were difficult with her headstone being removed so early and there only being a slab with A.H. by her grave now. The only name we received during our investigation was Teresa, but even that name led us to a dead end in terms of relatives. Our mind’s eye kept showing me an Abigail or an Annette, but without the proper resources, we are limited on uncovering the truth.

When it comes to folklore, the point is to fall for the story and not question the truth. We believe there are parts of this story telling the truth, and others covering up a crime. This isn’t your average “around the campfire” story, and there are a few different factors that make us go “Hm” along the way. For example, they say she died of natural causes, but the fact that our device was able to tell Swan “Pneumococcal” says a lot about this spirit. It tells us she is an intelligent spirit, aware of her death and current surroundings. Her having the vocabulary she does supports it. For those who do not know, Pneumococcal is pneumonia of the throat. We believe this girl was beaten and left for dead, only she didn’t die right away. Her saying “Cold” and “Live” tells us she laid there for quite some time. Her ability to tell us all of that together is simply astounding.

The next thing that stood out to us from the very beginning was “Uncle.” I was seeing a man and woman with a relationship that wasn’t romantic, which led me to believe the mother is significant because the uncle is her brother. They ran a store together, with his name on the papers, which gave us a small lead for research. (Unfortunately, even with hours of searching Ancestry documents, we came up empty.) This could mean when the daughter began questioning her upbringing and the rights of women, the uncle took matters into his own hands. He didn’t want the family name tainted or the reputation of their store to be ruined, so he harmed the girl and played victim to hide his shame. 

The 1800s were a different time then. People were able to get away with so much more than they are able now, and that is only thanks to the technological advances we’ve invented throughout the years. If we didn’t, there is a good change more would continue to get away with acts like this. While the uncle may never serve karma in his recent life for the crimes he committed, may his debt meet him in the next one.

Thank you for reading.

Supporting Links: 

• Chesterville, IL - Grave of the Chesterville Witch (roadsideamerica.com)

• The Chesterville “Witch’s Grave” – M.A. Kleen (michaelkleen.com)

• A Cemetery, A Witch and an Oak Tree - Lost In The States

• Ghost Stories of East Central Illinois: The Chesterville Witch (chambanamoms.com)

• https://www.hauntedillinois.com/realhauntedplaces/chesterville-witchs-grave.php

• https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2257362/chesterville-cemetery

• https://lostinthestates.com/a-cemetery-a-witch-and-an-oak-tree/

• https://michaelkleen.com/2018/08/28/the-chesterville-witchs-grave/