Babbtown, Mo
Located fifteen miles south of Jefferson City, where SR133 and Highway P meet. The old church and cemetery in this very small town is rumored to be haunted.
Prairie Du Rocher, Illinois
Between the hours of eleven & midnight, when July 4th falls on a Friday, legend has it that three people on a dusty road will see the dead walk amongst us once more. The legend of the phantom funeral began in July 1889 when two women witnessed a mourning entourage of more than 40 wagons, 13 groups of soldiers and a casket rolling along the road outside of the village. Despite the size of the group, the procession made no sound. It disappeared in the direction of the small cemetery located outside of town and never returned to the ruins of the old fort from where it had come.
Illinois
Near the end of the nineteenth century, the Mississippi River broke through the low peninsula that separated the town from the Kaskaskia River, changed it’s course, and eventually destroyed the town. Much of the old village can only be reached from Missouri.
Legend says that in 1735 an Indian named Ampakaya cursed Kaskaskia right before he was killed after he was caught running away with a French woman named Marie. A log was bound to his leg and he was thrown into the water. The ghost of Ampakaya has been seen by numerous people and it is said that he will haunt the town forever for the wrong that was done to him.
All that remains of Kaskaskia is an island that is only accessible from Missouri, though technically it is still Illinois. The remains of the town can be seen and felt and is widely regarded to be extremely haunted.
West Virginia
Some say she walks Holden 22 Mine Road. Tales of her ghostly appearances may cause one to wonder if she still cries out for justice. Since her death has never been solved, rumors have survived and some feel her ghost will continue to walk up and down the mountainside until someone finally tells the truth about her death.
The ghost of Mame Thurman, a lady killed on June 22, 1932 by a still unknown killer, has been seen walking the woods where she was killed. According to Logan County folklore, many claim that Mamie Thurman’s ghost wanders the hills, searching for the person who took her life. Others say that her spirit is still there, waiting for justice. Some claim to have seen her while passing by the Holden 22 Mountain mine road. Folklore even tells that certain coal truck drivers would pick up a woman wearing outdated clothing, only to see her vanish from the cab moments later. It is also known that if you put your car in neutral on 22 Mountain, it will roll backward up the hill. This is believed to be the spirit of Mamie Thurman pulling you up the hill.
This is a well-known Appalachian ghost story that is told in a small town called Logan in Southern West Virginia. This story involves a lurid story of sex, secrets and evildoing. It is a tragic tale of murder and a cover up which even today remains a mystery. It also involves a magistrate by the name of Hatfield a descendant of Devil Anse Hatfield, from the Hatfield-McCoy feud who lived in Logan. The following is based upon research that has been done in recent years.It was at the height of the “Roaring Twenties” in America. But in the small remote community of Logan, in Logan County West Virginia most people were peaceful, law abiding, church going folks. The fast and loose lifestyle of the twenties it seemed had not touched this town–at least not on the surface. Mamie Thurman and her husband Jack Thurman moved from Louisville, Kentucky to Logan the heart of the coalfields in 1924. They settled into an apartment over a garage in the backyard of one of Logan’s leading citizens, Harry Robertson.
Roberston worked for the National Bank of Logan and served as a treasurer for the Logan Public Library. His wife Louise was involved in the Logan Women’s Club. He and Louise were very active in their church. Mamie’s husband, Jack Thurman, had been hired by the city of Logan to be a patrolman. He owed a debt of gratitude to Harry Robertson who recommended him for the job. Robertson was also the president of the Logan City Commission. On the surface Mamie appeared the ideal wife and faithful churchgoer. But her husband Jack didn’t make much money as a deputy and it is said Mamie got bored. As it is in most small towns the gossip mill kicked in. People often smirked about Mamie’s fast and loose ways. Their whispers included tales of her spending time at the town’s speakeasies, drinking too much, flirting and engaging in sexual relations with various local married businessmen. One of these prominent citizens was Harry Robertson who had noticed her because she worked at the Logan National Bank with him.
There have been several reasons put forth as to why a seemingly happy housewife who volunteered in the community and was involved in her church would also be an avid “party-girl.” Some state the cause was how she was raised. Her father was known to be iron willed and very strict and after her mother died, he abused her. Regardless, it seems Mamie had a split personality. One bright morning in 1932 Garland Davis, a young deaf-mute stumbled upon Mamie Thurman’s lifeless body as he was picking blackberries atop a mountain by the Trace Mountain Road near Holden–today it is known as 22 Mountain Mine Road. Mamie’s body had been dumped alongside this road. Mamie had been brutally murdered. She had two gunshots to her head, her throat was slashed open, her neck was broken and her face was badly disfigured.It was apparent she was not murdered for her possessions for she still wore her diamond and silver wedding rings and money was found in her purse. It was obviously a crime of passion.
The day after her body was found two men were arrested. Harry Robertson and a black handyman, Clarence Stephenson who worked for him as a sometimes chauffeur. Robertson admitted to having an ongoing affair with Mamie and that he continued to see her even though she refused to stop seeing other men. According to him she was keeping company with 16 others. The Magistrate who served on the case was Elba Hatfield–one descendant from the famous feud. He concluded that all the evidence presented was “circumstantial” but then amazingly he stated it was damaging against both men. Both Robertson and Stephenson were held to answer any indictments returned by the Grand Jury. What is most telling about this case are the men who served on this Grand Jury.Many of them were directly connected to Robertson or had been one of the “16” involved with Mamie so it is not surprising they didn’t indict Harry Robertson. They did indict Clarence Stephenson. During his trail for the murder of Mamie Thurman witnesses confirmed “every minute” of his whereabouts but despite this the jury convicted him. Soon after, the Logan County branch of the NAACP raised the money needed to appeal his case. Fifty-six churches collected these donations. Many local people felt that Stephenson a mild mannered, soft-spoken man could not have committed such a heinous crime. More than three thousand people both black and white attended a mass meeting to help gain the appeal but The Supreme Court turned down Clarence Stephenson’s appeal in 1933. He spent ten years in prison for a crime he abated but did not commit. He died of stomach cancer in 1942.
One resident of Logan County who spent time in prison with Stephenson stated: “He told me he was hired to take the body to Trace Mountain, and that he didn’t do anything to Mamie Thurman. He never said who killed her, but he said that he didn’t do it. Stephenson told me it was all politics.”
What happened to Mamie Thurman’s body is also very telling. Her death certificate states she was buried in Logan Memorial Park but Harris Funeral Home records indicate that a prominent businessman from Logan paid $1000 to have her body removed to a cemetery in Chauncey. Where she is buried was effectively covered up. It seems someone didn’t want evidence found in the future. Her death remains a mystery. According to local stories many witnesses have seen the ghost of Mamie Thurman. Some state her spirit wanders the hills searching for the person who took her life. Others state she is still waiting for justice. Many motorists over the years have stated they have seen her ghost while passing by the Holden 22 Mountain Mine Road. Several coal truck drivers have reported picking up a woman wearing outdated clothing only to see her vanish in their cabs moments later. Local teens for years have used the spot where her body was found for “Legend Tripping”. They are dared to visit this spot late at night. A well-known local legend is that if a person puts their car in neutral on 22 Mountain, near the spot where her body was found, it will appear to roll backwards up the hill. It is said this is Mamie Thurman pushing them up the hill. Actually this is a very convincing optical illusion. Mamie Thurman was a volunteer in the Logan Women’s Club along with Robertson’s wife Louise. It is stated that these two women were initially good friends–but learning of her husband’s affair through gossip their friendship understandably soured. Some even speculate that it might have been the “frumpy”Louise who murdered Mamie.
Until recently a tavern from the 1820s still stood outside of Columbia, MO. The tavern had been a stopping place for travelers west, including the author Washington Irving and politician Thomas Benton. Made of logs and chinked with mud, the tavern was usually packed to the rafters, and it wasn’t unusual for men to share rooms with strangers. However, one room was always empty. The tavern keeper, Ishmael Van Horn, refused to rent it out because the room was haunted: no one could stay a full night, complaining of blankets being pulled to the floor and crying coming from the dark corners.According to the tale told in The Haunted Boonslick, one night a minister arrived at the tavern and was told that there was no room. He begged to sleep anywhere, so Van Horn told him about the haunted room. The minister put his faith in God and said he would take the room. Not long after he got into bed the blankets were pulled off him. The minister replaced them and it happened again. Finally he called out “Who are you, in the name of God?” A small voice answered, saying he was a boy who had been killed and buried in the wall. The minister promised to help the boy, and the rest of the night passed quietly. The next day Van Horn had the wall torn down and there was a small skeleton found. Apparently the boy had asked a workman for some food and the man struck at the boy blindly with a shovel, killing him. He then buried the child in the wall. The minister held a burial service for the small victim and the tavern was never disturbed again. The tavern is being reconstructed at Boone Monument Village, in Marthasville, MO which is open for tours.
Haunts of Missouri 