Dartford Cemetery Investigation
This blog post was written by Whitney Dankemeyer and Sierra Swan.
Reportedly one of the more haunted cemeteries in Wisconsin, Dartford Cemetery is located in a small city called Green Lake. Green Lake was first named the Village of Dartford until it was given the name Green Lake in 1907. In 1867, a man named David Greeneway opened the “Oakwood Hotel” on Green Lake, which began attracting tourists and travelers to the area. Due to the hotel’s popularity, railroad tracks were constructed and routed through the city just after a couple of years. You can find Dartford Cemetery just on the edge of town where some of the earliest pioneers were laid to rest.
Green Lake is known for a lot more than being a hotspot for travel. Thousands of years before European settlers came over, the Winnebago tribe (also known as the Ho-Chunk tribe) lived on the land until 1832. They referred to Green Lake as “Daycholah” and would pay respects to “the spirit who dwells beneath the water.” Legend says everyone in the Winnebago tribe was expected to go to Green Lake at least once in their lifetime to pay homage to the water spirit.
Among the tribe was Chief Highknocker, who was the last reigning chief of the Winnebago tribe. He was born in 1820 on the east shore of Green Lake. On August 12, 1911, he was attempting to cross the Fox river without a canoe when he tragically drowned. He was originally buried along the river until he was moved in the 1930s. Because of his strong connection to Green Lake, his son transported his body to Dartford Cemetery where he would be closest to his beloved “Daycholah.”
In terms of paranormal activity at this cemetery, a lot of peculiar things are said to occur after dark. Aside from gravestones mysteriously changing and orbs of light appearing in photographs, spirits of children and Chief Highknocker in his ceremonial dress have been seen with the naked eye on site. There is also a mausoleum on the grounds that spirits are rumored to push people off of on Halloween night. While many speculate how haunted this cemetery really is, a specific comment on one of the websites stated, “The only way people will know if it is haunted is for people who visit the place in which is haunted and find out for yourselves if it is true or not.”
And so we did.
We got to Dartford Cemetery in the middle of the evening, with plenty of sun still left in the sky to get familiar with our surroundings. We brought our dear friend Chloe along for the ride, as we knew her abilities would come in handy for the investigation. Our first discovery upon arrival was that the cemetery was on both sides of the street. We were going to have to walk around each side to figure out where Chief Highknocker resided.
We found him on the South side of the cemetery, with his face in color on his headstone. It was a remarkable piece, one that is hard to go unnoticed. We paid our respects by leaving him offerings of tobacco and cedar at his grave before conducting our investigation across the street. We did not want to overstep boundaries with him, so if he were to present himself during our investigation, it would be all on his own.
The mausoleum was nearby Chief Highknocker’s grave, which was also under surveillance by cameras hung up in a tree. While there is hype surrounding sitting on the mausoleum, we personally find it disrespectful and believe that’s why people are pushed off. If you wouldn’t sit on your grandmother’s headstone, don’t sit on a family’s mausoleum. It's pretty simple. We did take a moment to observe it, but then we headed over to the other side of the cemetery to conduct an Estes before it got dark.
When we got to the other side of the cemetery across the street, we set up for Estes in the lawn at the end of it. That way, anyone in the cemetery who wanted to come forward and speak could. We weren’t limiting our conversations with anyone, though we did establish boundaries and ask that they speak one at a time. As always, they all jumped in talking at once before finally taking turns.
Our first response was “Ally.” Then we received the name “Michael.” When we asked if Ally was with Michael, the response was “Her,” which led us to believe Michael was the one talking. The next thing Michael said was very strange, and that was because he said, “We’re not there.” When we asked for clarification, we received a bunch of random responses. We never did figure out what that quite meant, but we presume they weren’t buried at that cemetery and were passersby. I couldn’t find record of Ally/Allie or Michael that were children buried at Dartford.
We re-established boundaries with the spirits and then asked politely that they come forward one at a time. I started a new conversation by telling them we didn’t have much time. The sun was going down, and the moon was getting higher in the sky. Chloe’s app said, “Sorry.” And we said, “It’s okay!” I piped in and said, “Just kind of get in a line and talk one at a time.” Swan then said, “Walter,” and we did find a seven-year-old named Walter who is buried at the cemetery. We knew it was a kid immediately because he not only felt childlike, but he couldn’t figure out Chloe’s app and said, “Idiotic.”
While we did speak to Walter more that evening, our first conversation was interrupted by the chief. He made his presence known by literally saying, “Chief,” and when we asked if it was Chief Highknocker, Chloe’s app said, “Hello.” We said hello back and let him know it was a pleasure to speak with him again. We didn’t expect him to come forward and speak to any of us, so we appreciated every ounce of his time. We asked if he liked our offerings, and he responded, “In the moonlight.” He then said, “Help you govern.” He was a chief, after all.
Chief ended our small chat by telling us he was searching for us but had enough of speaking. We believe he came to us to thank us for the offerings we left him earlier. After we thanked him again, Walter came back to talk with us. We made himself known by walking up to the spirit box device and grabbing it. He set the temperature gauge off, and the color was blue to indicate cold touch. We thanked the spirit and said hello to him. He responded, “Hey!”
Swan did say, “Who’s that?” and when we asked who he saw, the response was “Three children.” We’re not sure if Walter was including himself, or if he was indicating that Michael and Ally had another friend with them. Regardless, we believe Walter saw other spirits that he didn’t recognize. This means there really could have been other spirits not from Dartford. I asked why the children were here, and the response was, “All over.” Traveling spirits.
Walter wanted to get to know us, and we knew that because Chloe’s app asked, “What is your name?” Once we all introduced ourselves, Walter said, “Good thing,” while Chloe’s app said, “Okay.” He was talking to us the same way that a younger child would.
What came next was surprising but incredibly cool, as it was compelling evidence for us to receive for this investigation. Swan heard “Move over” and “Hand” during Estes while feeling something on her left side. Chloe said he could be trying to squeeze between Swan and I, so I told Walter I would move so he could sit between Swan and Nicole. While moving, I also moved the spirit box in between them to detect when Walter sat down. I told him to let us know when he was with us, and he said, “Let me, let me,” before the temperature gauge sounded and Chloe’s app said, “Over here.” He then said, “Conversation,” to which he was a part of with us. We thanked him immensely for all the effort he was putting forth.
The next person to come up and speak with us was who Swan said was named “Edward.” She then told us she saw a young man come forward wearing a football helmet. Her take on the experience:
While my eyes were closed after I repeated the name “Edward”, I began seeing a young man in a football helmet face to face with me. He had brown eyes and light brown hair over his forehead. His helmet was white with red wire caging around the face. It was as if I was on the O-Line waiting for the quarterback to hike the ball & he was on the opposing team D-Line. We just stared at each other; no whistle blown or words spoken. He eventually faded in my vision.
We later discovered that in a nearby town called Princeton, the school’s colors are red and white. We are unsure if this was the spirit of a student who may have passed away.
After speaking with Edward, a ginormous flock of birds began flying towards us. The line of birds was so long they flew over us for the next ten minutes and were still flying over us when we were walking back to our cars. They flew in the direction of the moonlight, which is something Chief Highknocker mentioned to us earlier. At the same time these birds began flying, the wind picked up. The spirit response we received after that was “Can you feel me?” We felt you, Chief.
Our time at Dartford Cemetery was nothing short of magickal. Nothing in the cemetery felt like we needed to leave or be cautious of our surroundings. In fact, the minute our feet touched the ground, we almost didn’t want to record; there was something about the Chief and where we were that forced us to be present and in the moment. Our investigation was an exchange of gifts, peace, and tranquility.
If you are to visit Dartford, be courteous. Do not sit on the mausoleum, and do not sit on headstones of any kind, in any cemetery you are in for that matter. Respect your environment, and appreciate the history that came before you. If you visit the Chief, pay him respect. Give him offerings, and thank him for his leadership. You are on HIS land, after all. Do not take from the land, do not vandalize the property, and most importantly, do not provoke the spirits. The spirits of Dartford are strongly connected to the land, and they will match the energy that you put out.
Thanks for reading.
Supporting Links:
Dartford Cemetery - Green Lake, WI - Haunted Places (wisconsinfrights.com)
Dartford Cemetery in Green Lake, Wisconsin - Find a Grave Cemetery
Follow This Route To The Scariest Places In Wisconsin (onlyinyourstate.com)
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/mar/19/landmarks-dartford-cemetery-reminder-of-bustling/
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